moominmuppet

Utah's Feticide Law Puts Miscarriage on Trial: Under a new Utah law, women who miscarry under certain conditions are open to murder charges and life sentences. Feticide laws in other states focus on abusive boyfriends and husbands, but this one targets the woman herself.

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- A pregnant 10-year-old, allegedly raped by her stepfather, has become the latest lightning rod in the country's heated abortion debate.

Natural Miscarriage -- I've been looking at this site, going back and forth about whether to link to it. I'm taking the "information wants to be free" approach, but I have a number of caveats to add. I have not paid for the article, so I have not seen what techniques they recommend. I know from my previous research that many of the herbal options are extraordinarily easy to screw up, and and great harm can result. I would _not_ recommend these options for anyone who has the safer option of reliable medical care. In fact, given the likelihood of a need for followup medical care if an abortion is incomplete, I would advise being even _more_ cautious if in a situation where professional surgical abortion is not available. I am, however, taken by their approach in terms of making sure this information is available to those who truly and honestly do not have another option. This site has some good and sensible information about the significant risks involved in herbal abortion, as well as additional (and free) information on herbal abortions. Again, I cannot say this strongly enough -- I believe people should know about all options, but I believe they should also know the substantial risks.

On the Ground: Access to Abortion in Ireland

The Abortioneers:
The ins and outs and ups and downs of direct service in the field of abortion care.

Trust Women tells the inspiring stories of Dr. LeRoy Carhart and Dr. Warren Hern, two of the last physicians in the country who continue to perform late-term abortions--a vital service that protects women's lives and health--despite constant harassment and threats. By making this film, we want to change the way people think about abortion doctors, and we need your contributions to make it happen.

Remember Roe! How can the next generation defend abortion rights when they don't think abortion rights need defending?

[A]bortion opponents are not satisfied with the restrictions on abortion already in the measure, particularly those on abortion coverage in private plans that will be sold in the new marketplaces known as health "exchanges." So they are pushing one particular aspect of the new law. It lets states ban all abortion coverage in the exchanges.

39Nebraska Abortion Laws Reveal Mental Health Misogyny

What’s Your Abortion Story?

On one side of the street sits an abortion clinic. On the other, a pro-life outfit often mistaken for the clinic it seeks to shut down. Using skillful cinema-vérité observation that allows us to draw our own conclusions, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, the directors of Jesus Camp, expose the molten core of America’s most intractable conflict. -- I've saved this in my Netflix queue; I definitely want to see it as soon as it's out on video.

Still catching up on email, currently working my way through Feministing and Feministe:

Baltimore Archdiocese sues over ban on false advertising for crisis pregnancy centers
The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore is suing the city over an ordinance requiring area crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) to post accurate information about the services they provide. The regulation, which went into effect in January, requires CPCs to post a sign in English and Spanish saying they do not provide abortion and contraception services.
...
I really fail to see how free speech and freedom of religion are arguments in favor of false advertising. The fact that CPCs and the Archdiocese are this afraid of telling the truth is proof that the ordinance was necessary.
-- Ooh, classy. I just ranted about lies in my abortion-related linkety-post earlier today; CPCs get my goat exactly because of this. Wikipedia's got a pretty balanced article on them, including info about Congressman Waxman's minority report on the topic and the research results they found on misinformation

More on the "Fucking While Feminist" discussion I posted a few days ago (like I said then, it's a topic close to my heart, and it's fascinating to listen to other women's similar experiences)

Friedman wisely makes the point that in all relationships, romantic or otherwise, and regardless of our views on gender, compromises are essential. But she's also right when she says that compromises on gender issues, on these kinds of red flags, take on an extra dimension when a person's gender politics are central to her worldview. For those of us who want to do feminism in every aspect of our lives, this stuff cuts to the core of who we want to be and how we want to shape the world. For us, the personal is very political. That said, everyone is different, and each of us has to decide for ourselves what we're willing to compromise on, which battles we'll pick, and what constitutes a relationship-ending impasse.

Lilith Tour Drops CPCs, NARAL From Choose Your Charity Contest -- I'm extremely glad they've dropped the CPCs; two steps forward, one step back, I guess.

Nebraska Lawmakers, Seeking to Restrict Abortion Care, Ignore Science, Evidence, and Pleas of Parents
It is by no means the first attempt to use faulty "scientific data" declaring that fetuses can feel pain in order to implement more restrictions on a woman's right to choose. But one thing that became clear as the Nebraska legislature conducted the first of three scheduled debates on the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act:" It is the intent of the bill's sponsors to have it immediately challenged and brought before the Supreme Court as a chance to strike a blow against Roe V. Wade.

Not Oprah's Book Club: A Paradise Built in Hell -- I really need to read this; it's one of my favorite elements of human nature.
But despite it's shortcomings, A Paradise Built in Hell is a gorgeous re-imagining of what really goes on--both personally and politically--during disasters. It de-genders heroism, de-mystifies emergency services, and challenges all of us to feel safe in knowing that we live in communities that may be anemic during ordinary times, but tend to bring out our natural interconnection and good will during the extraordinary ones. I'll give her the last word: "The possibility of paradise is already within us as a default setting."

A Latin teacher in Arizona has instituted a rule that all of his male students act like "gentleman" to the young women in class. Yes, that's right - he's mandated chivalry.

Transgender Philadelphians protest SEPTA passes -- challenge for the day: Anyone want to give a shot at coming up with an actual real reason to have our sex or our gender on our identification of any sort? A photo helps a lot more with identifying someone that an out-of-view genital configuration. I personally think it's just been habit so long that everyone assumes there must be a good reason.

Policing Gender in Figure Skating -- amazingly enough, not actually about Johnny Weir. Written by ex-figure skaters, and an interesting view into gender and competitive figure skating.

One of the things that's especially annoying about being involved in abortion access rights, which is obviously a huge topic for me, is that in terms of justifications/nullifications of my viewpoints, it's an absolute no-win situation to state whether I've personally had an abortion or not.

According to the antis screaming and preaching at us:

If I've had one, I'm just trying to justify my own past guilt.

If I haven't, I'm just naive and misguided and know not of what I speak.

Apparently, there are no circumstances under which I could've come to the conclusion that abortion access needs to be protected in which my own experiences are not fatally biasing my perception. *eyeroll* Makes me nuts.

Aside from dealing with the antis and more rabid members of the right, I don't bring up the answer to the implicit question very often because of the temptation to use that self-protectively to one's own benefit and to the detriment of other women. When abortion politics come up in day to day life, there's certainly a pressure to distance oneself from the judgment -- to say "Oh, sure, I fight for that, but I've never done that, or never would" (ie I'm not like them). In a lot of contexts, it further the stigmatization of the women one is contrasting oneself against. I'm not cool with that. So, if people, especially antis, assume I have, I let them continue to assume, and use it as a chance to explore what it's like to be judged like that. If it comes up in more general conversation, and it's relevant, I'll probably talk more specifically about my history, and under what circumstances I think I would or wouldn't decide to have an abortion, but I try really hard not to get dragged into the "special case" defense that passively argues that my reasons are "better" than any other woman's; that's another nasty stigmatization/divide-and-conquer tactic. I've even been debating how much to explicitly clarify in this post, for similar reasons. It's tricky stuff, sometimes.

And as long as I'm on the topic, this is the argument I make for why even if you believe abortion is flat-out evil, you shouldn't be in favor of making it illegal:

At this point in our country, we know ways to save lives. We can save lives with blood donations, with organ donations. Blood donation is practically risk-free, and we know lives (big, full, no-one-debates-their-status lives) depend on it. And yet, even though another human being may die because you choose not to donate, we still won't strap you down and forcibly take your blood -- we value individual bodily integrity too highly.

Pregnancy, risk-wise, is much more similar to donating a kidney -- this is going to change your body, change your life, even introduce a risk of death from the process itself. Usually it goes just fine, but the complications can be terrifying. It's a major decision, a major commitment, even if it ends in a totally emotionally neutral adoption at the end (and life isn't that simple anyway, in terms of how adoption works in people's lives). It may be a wonderfully worthwhile commitment and decision, or it may not, depending on your situation and your world view. Regardless, again, we would never forcibly take a kidney from one person in order to maintain the life of another. We won't even do it if it's for your own child and you refuse to donate, and your child will otherwise die. We feel that strongly about the right to bodily integrity. No more than we would do that should we take over bodily decision-making for pregnant women.

I should clarify this is not the sum total of my own viewpoint on the matter, which is not premised on "abortion is evil" at all -- it's the explanation I use for why I am offended by people trying to take away my control over my own body and life, regardless of their wholehearted beliefs about the ethics of the topic.

Heron and Teaotter pulled together some good info about how this particular case fits in with larger issues in international adoption -- the main article referenced is The Lie We Love

And it's not like we don't have similar, although less blatantly egregious behavior going on in the US

And, as long as I'm clearing things up, let's talk about the relationship between adoption rates and abortion rates. Basically, there isn't one. What's happened in recent years, in terms of adoption "shortages" (this only applies to healthy infants, not older kids or those with special needs) as stigma against single motherhood has decreased, is that the easy access to infants has decreased because single women are no longer pressured so intensely to hide their pregnancy and hand over the baby as the only route to "respectable" life.

Special bonus: a hotline even major pro-choice organizations thought was a trustworthy place to refer women who wanted to continue their pregnancy is referring them to CPCs instead (complete with all the pressure and factually inaccurate "info" provided by such organizations)

Among other info, "the state ranks 48th in the nation for access to contraception" *headdesk* And this is a lot of why I stay in Ohio. Maude knows there's plenty of work to do around here!

Also, a post from feministing: Not Oprah's Book Club: Reproductive Edition

Holy hell, is this some victim-blaming bullshit: The Worst Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Ever -- if you're reading the original article, explanations of victim-blaming are laid out in crystal-clear detail in several of the comments (I know, comments sections are generally trainwrecks, but there's some seriously good stuff here). Well damn. Site's down; I suspect they've gotten slammed with traffic or something. Ah, it's back again.

A comment from someone named Alara really nails this all down so well and clearly I think it's worth specifically resharing:

This stuff would not be nearly so bad if women weren’t *literally* treated as if we were responsible for being raped.

I mean, if I leave my car door open, and I come back to find my car stolen, the police will likely say “Well, it was really stupid of you to leave the car door open.” But if they find some guy joyriding in my car, they won’t say, “Oh, she left the car door open, so it’s okay that this guy stole her car! We’re just going to tsk tsk at him and let him go. With her car.” They will *arrest* him, and give me back my car. If my car never turns up, insurance *will* pay for it. People will express their opinion that I was dumb for leaving my car door open, but no one will act as if my foolishness makes the theft of my car NOT A CRIME.

The entire reason “advice to women on how to avoid rape” should die in a fire is that the failure of women to follow such advice is treated, by the police, juries, and judges, as a mitigating factor that made what happened to them not a *crime*. Sure, going out and getting drunk and passing out in a bar is a dumb idea. And if a man did it, and woke up to find his clothes and wallet stolen, and eyewitnesses said Joe Schmoe was seen alone with the victim and is now sporting the victim’s watch and shoes, Joe Schmoe would be arrested for theft and possibly assault even though the victim was drunk off his ass in a public place, always a dumb idea. Friends of the victim, and the police, may tell him he was dumb to get so drunk… but he will be treated as a crime victim, and if Joe Schmoe can be found, Joe Schmoe will be arrested. But when a woman does it, and discovers when she wakes up that she was raped, the fact that she was drunk in public is used as an excuse to declare that what happened to her wasn’t even criminal. Because the things we own belong to us whether we are around to prevent them from being taken or not, but apparently, women’s own *selves*, our bodies, are free game for sex any time we’re not able to fend off men who want to use them.

I don’t object to being given advice on how to avoid being raped, but I do object to three huge things that hide behind such advice:
- 80% of all murder victims, and the vast majority of all mugging and physical assault victims, are men. No one gives men this kind of advice. In fact, given that stranger rape is rare, and mugging and assault aren’t, men are in *more* danger from walking down a dark alley than women are. My husband has been jumped and beaten up four times in his life, after dark each time. No one tells men “don’t go out at night! You could get beaten up!” even though it’s true and the risk’s actually higher than the risk of being raped by a stranger.
- 80% of all rapes are committed by a man the woman knows. This advice is useless against the majority of rapes. The real advice to women to prevent rape should be “Never be alone with a man; always gather in groups of women. When you spend time with men, always have another woman around who you trust.” Except that everyone recognizes that that advice would be psychotic and disruptive to everyone’s lives.
- As I said, women are treated as if, should they not follow this kind of advice, they are to *blame* for being raped and the act wasn’t even criminal. This is not true of any other crime. Well, except domestic violence. Which, surprise surprise, is also largely a male-on-female crime (it exists the other way around, in larger numbers than most of us guess, but no one even bothers to give men advice on not getting abused by their female partners.)

The problem of making sex work a sexual offense. -- They explain much better than I would, because this one hits multiple rant points for me; sex work being illegal at all, sex work that is currently illegal being unreasonably punished, and sex offender status being used for anything consensual (this has screwed a lot of queerfolk, too).

MANSFIELD -- Authorities are considering assault charges against a pregnant 20-year-old who swallowed half a bottle of aspirin Thursday in an apparent attempt to kill her unborn child. -- I don't know what happened with this, or how far along the fetus was. I do know shit like this doesn't happen when women have better options. We're hearing more and more about dangerous and scary home abortion attempts these days. There are reasons for that, and they're not because women like poisoning and injuring themselves, and risking death.

Don't figure you're all set just because you plan to carry to term, though. Samantha Burton was in her 25th week of pregnancy in March 2009 when she started showing signs of miscarrying. Her doctor advised her to go on bed rest, possibly for as long as 15 weeks, but she told him that she had two toddlers to care for and a job to keep. She planned on getting a second opinion, but the doctor alerted the state, which then asked the Circuit Court of Leon County to step in.

She was ordered to stay in bed at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and to undergo “any and all medical treatments” her doctor, acting in the interests of the fetus, decided were necessary. Burton asked to switch hospitals and the request was denied by the court, which said “such a change is not in the child’s best interest at this time.” After three days of hospitalization, she had to undergo an emergency C-section and the fetus was found dead. -- right along the same lines as court-ordered c-sections and other medical interventions against a women's wishes (which have, in at least one case, killed the woman in question). *shudder* This stuff freaks the shit out of me, to be honest.


And on a different topic, I've been going back and forth about saying anything about Haiti. I can't imagine I wouldn't be preaching to the choir, and I don't think I have any additional directions for support that aren't already well-publicized. Still, I feel a general need to acknowledge how tragic and horrifying the whole situation is.

My sweetie Lunatickle's one-act, "How I Learned to Eat Pussy" will be part of this! (and she'll be in town for it, as will FabulousMissT! *bounce**bouncebouncebounce*)

I'll definitely be going Saturday (the 30th), since I'm working Friday night. It's a benefit for NARAL and Preterm, as well, and I've heard awesome things about the other performances planned.

Big [BOX] 2010: Microscopes and Megaphones
Microscopes and Megaphones
Presented by Whisper to a Scream: a feminist performance art collective
Directed by Maura Haas
( Read more... )

A judge could determine Friday whether to allow an Oklahoma law to go forward that will post information online about women who get abortions in the state -- an act critics say would be harassment and an invasion of privacy.

"It requires doctors to ask and submit answers to at least 37 intensely personal questions. There are details in those questions about rape, incest, abuse, relationship problems and emotional health," Stapleton says. "I think women can be identified."

Yup, more. (also, as a note, after this I will be following only my nearest and dearest for the next five days at least, and probably longer -- I'll really only have access via b'berry until Sunday night, though)

Bart described it as a "piece of shit racist gem" -- I couldn't agree more. Way to make your side look like moronic assholes without any semblance of an actual argument. I wish I were surprised. At all. And a particularly relevant piece about Obama, race, and that press conference

BradHicks has a great post about the self-induced doctor shortage in the US, and its relevance to the health care debate (I have as many issues with the AMA as I do with the Insurance and Pharmaceutical lobbies)

Dr. Tiller's Accused Murderer in Court Tomorrow

British Army Magazine Features Openly Gay Soldier on Cover Next to Word 'Pride'

Bill Maher: When Did Making a Profit Become the Only Reason to Do Anything? Amen.

On the whitewashing of book covers

William Shatner does Sarah Palin's farewell speech! (from klwalton)

Setting aside all of the other meta-discussions on race and class that surround this issue, the thing about all of this that creeps me out the most is that so many people are willing to defend this officer who, assuming the most charitable possible interpretation, arrested a guy because he didn't like his attitude. That is what [Mike Barnicle] is defending. That is what the execrable Mika Brzenski is defending. That is what I have read numerous commenters on a multitude of sites from the entire political spectrum defend. -- Yes. This.

Not at all surprising, sadly, but utterly enraging: A woman in New Jersey refused a c-section during labor. She gave birth vaginally, and the child was healthy. But the baby was taken away and placed in a foster home, because the woman allegedly “abused and neglected her child” by refusing the c-section. She was also accused of behaving “erratically” — to which I can only point out that she was in labor. I hear that hurts a lot.

Bi The Way will air on the Logo Network at 8 pm on August 1st (THIS SATURDAY)! (and is now also available for advance DVD purchase) Must remember to set the DVR for this.

Sex Work and Marriage

Well, out of time. Still have about 160 emails (which includes LJ notifications I've set) to get through. Oy.

I don't really know how close we are to being all done and complete and finished with closing on the house. All day has been about faxing one last bit of paperwork after another. I think we're pretty much done, and it is happening now, but I'm rather confused at this point. And exhausted. And headachey. So glad I'm going home now.

Incidentally, I've been keeping a sleep diary in prep for my sleep study next month. I know I sleep weirdly, but wow. Five days so far, and no single sleep period longer than 3-4 hours.