Jen's Green Journal

Birth Control Not Bans Pro-choice rally at the Capitol

Birth Control Not Bans

I've found in the past few weeks that just about every post I make about choice, I get at least one person, and sometimes more that want to debate the same things I'd already debated in an earlier post. So in the effort to be a little more efficient, I've decided to build this post as a resource page that I'll link to on the side bar and refer new commenters to.

Jen's Green Journal Posts on Choice

Most of these posts have several comments from "pro-lifers" and my responses to them.

When I was pro-life

Pro-Consent

Clarification: for Allie

66%

February is Misogyny Month at the Utah Legislature

77%

Morally responsible and loving choice

Calling all scripture enthusiasts

Utah Taliban: Keep your religion off my body

Can someone give this guy a logic transplant?

Blog for Choice Day – Why I’m Pro-Choice

Today is Blog for Choice Day

The Deseret Spectacle:

Abortion is about power. Republicans love the abortion issue. They never attempt to actually do something to ameliorate the problem, they just consistently and self-righteously trade on the passion and anger which the issues inspires in their base.

Wasatch Watcher:

Sometimes I wish the GOP cared about the rest of us as much as they claim to care about fetuses.

Hot Blava:

[in an alternative universe] A court ruled that a woman could kill her husband if he proved to be incapable of repairing large appliances
<snip>
This is our choice and our homes and our appliances and our husbands. Don't you know what a painful decision it is for a woman to kill her husband?

I managed to fit in a honk and wave event before work today, and a letter writing party at Stoneground after work.
This morning's "Honk and Wave" event got a mostly positive response. The only negative response that I noticed was one female driver doing the "shame on you motion" as she drove through her left  turn -- quite a driving feat if you know that intersection.

The letter writing party tonight was at Stoneground and several people came and went in the hour and a half that I spent there -- at one point filling up over half the resaurant seating. One pregnant woman who was eating there with her family came over and asked if she could write a letter and another woman eating there with her partner also came over to participate and sign the petition.

The "Honk and Waves" will continue each Tuesday and Friday at 7:15 a.m. at the northeast corner of State Street and North Temple throughout the legislative session or until this bill is killed-- the location ensures that several of our reps will see us on their way up to the capitol.

Other upcoming events:

Planned Parenthood Legislative Lobby Day -- February 13th (Tuesday) 9:30 a.m. - noon and 1 p.m to 4 (more info at http://ppacutah.org/)

Pro-Choice Rally planned for Thursday, February 15th (time and place to be announced, but will probably be an "after work" rally)

I just found out today that 66% of abortions are sought by women that are already mothers. This is a strong indication to me that many of the women are making the best choices they can for the children they already have.

It kind of meshes with a few stories I've heard the past couple of weeks as I conversed with people over this ridiculous abortion ban bill (HB235 S1).

There were two stories I heard this week about women who were married with children but at the end of their capabilities when they found out they were pregnant unexpectedly -- I think at least one was failed birth control. They got abortions and were happy with their decision.

I heard another story this week about a woman who had raised most of her 8 kids to adulthood when she found out she was pregnant near 50 years old. She had the child because this was pre-Roe v. Wade. She apparently went a little nuts (no indication if child raising was the reason, but if I had to raise 8 kids and was just about done and found out that I had to start all over again at 50 I would go insane myself -- heck, it would take a lot fewer kids to drive me insane) and his mother's emotional state while raising him had a very negative affect on that 9th child.

Another story I heard this week: a friend told me that her mother-in-law admitted to her that if she had been a young woman these days rather than her own, she would not have had children; she said that even though she loved her children, she never enjoyed being a mom.

These stories are hard to hear -- we want to picture mothers as unconditionally loving and self-sacrificing. Many women have a difficult time coming out of the "I don't like being a mommy" closet because they do love their kids and it's a taboo in our society for a woman, much less a mother, not to be a "kid person".

Just because we are all born with the physical equipment to have children and sexual drives, doesn't mean we are all meant to be mothers.

[This post formerly titled "Male dominated legislature" and I've made some additions.]

Is it because they are mostly men in the Utah Legislature, or because they are mostly GOP?

Misogyny

"Subscribers to one model, the mother/whore dichotomy, hold that women can only be "mothers" or "whores." Another variant is the virgin/whore dichotomy, in which women who do not adhere to a saintly standard of moral purity are considered "whores."
_________________________________________________________

Insurance in Utah covers Viagra and breast implants, but not birth control and our legislature will not address this issue.

They'd rather ban abortion rather than trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies -- HB235 (written by a man, and chief sponsor is another man). The chief sponsor man, Paul Ray, wants to make sure that we not only ban abortion, but give women a criminal penalty for seeking an abortion : Pregnant Women Could Be Punished Under Abortion Ban. 

An they're reluctant to take care of the kids we already have in this state: Health care for children, Medicaid not top priorities

As if all the above weren't bad enough, they killed a bill that would give women education and vaccinations for HPV which causes cervical cancer. Couldn't possibly be because women who have sex are at risk, could it? HB358: Lawmakers nix cervical cancer campaign, vaccinations for Utah women

I keep hearing that it's about life from the pro-lifers/anti-choicers and I keep arguing that it's about punishing women for their sexuality. The evidence from our male and GOP dominated legislature proves me right.

More on abortion in the Utah Blogosphere:

The World According to Me: Choice

The Third Avenue: GOP: life begins at conception and ends at birth

"We women know when it is or is not the right time to bring a child into the world...We act out of compassion when we wait to have a child until the time when we can give it the kind of life every child deserves. We act out of love when we consider what we would be taking away from the child or children we already have if we brought another child into our family now...We women know the truth: That given certain circumstances, abortion is the most morally responsible and loving choice we can make."

-Jean Stewart Berg and Anne Baker

Abortion and the Utah Blogosphere:
The abortion bill: a lunch table discussion -- Voice of Utah
Overtune [sic?] Roe v. Wade -- Alienated Wannabe (inspired by my post Utah Taliban: Keep your religion off my body)
Shame on Utah -- Dee's 'Dotes
Roe v. Wade -- Wasatch Watcher

Since the anti-choice opinion is almost entirely based on religion and "God", I'd like to know what "God" has to say on the subject. Do you know of any scriptural reference that addresses abortion? Any that addresses at what stage of fetal development "God" determines is a life or at what stage of the interruption of that fetal development God would consider a murder?

I'd like to see  any scriptures that you know of either in the Bible or the 3 additional Mormon scriptures, or the Koran or Jewish scriptures.

Background info:

Roe v. Wade

H.B. 235 S1

Utah Taliban/American Taliban: A place where laws are made according to the dominant religious/superstitious ideology and tend to result in excessive control over most aspects of one's life, and even more excessive control over women who are seen as inferior to men in that ideology.

What started out as a "trigger law" has become a serious threat against reproductive freedom in Utah. HB235 S1 (substitute bill) as become an all out assult on Roe v. Wade.

Fellow women of Utah, meet Rep. Paul Ray, a Republican from Clearfield, who wants to be in control of your body and your life.

Ironically, the way the legislature does email addresses make Rep. Ray's email: pray@utah.gov
You can also reach him at PO BOX 977, CLEARFIELD, UT  84089 or 801-725-2719

Read H.B. 235 S1

This substituted bill just made it out of committee and is expected to have strong Taliban Republican Support. The last time our legislature tried such an assault on our reproductive rights was in 1991 -- not only did it lose in court, but it cost the state $1.2 million dollars. Looks like our own little good ol' boys club is hoping that the rapture righties will be able to trash Roe v. Wade so that they can get away with this waste of money.

Quotes from Paul Ray:

"The people here have an ideal of protecting children - that's also unborn children." That's why our air is so poisonous -- to keep all those little children healthy.  That's why we are the most pro-war state in the U.S.: Gotta protect all those Iraqi children by bombing their houses and maiming and killing them.

"The honest reason behind this is, No. 1, I'm just plain flat-out against abortion," : Good for you, Rep. Ray! I support your choice on this and I promise to never force you to have an abortion.

and remember, this is the guy who's critical thinking skills gave us this little gem: “If we have to wait until the next legislative session, we’re going to have an onslaught, a rush of abortions to go in and beat the deadline."

I'll be keeping this blog up to date on all actions and organizing on this issue. Let me know if you know of something you don't see on this blog.

[If you think this issue is about the life of an embryo, let me remind you that our legislature in Utah allows insurance to cover viagra and not birth control, two things which add to the number of unintended pregnancies. Looks to me like an indication that punishment of a woman's sexuality as based on religious/superstitious ideology, and not life, is the driving force behind this legislation.]

Say No to HB235 S1

I hate to hinder democracy and all that, but it seems to me that having candidates for office take some type of test to make sure that their criitical thinking skills aren't damaged before being able to run might do us all a big service.

Case in point -- Rep. Paul Ray (R, Clearfield). He's introducing a "trigger law" bill to make abortions in Utah instantly illegal in the event that Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. His brilliant reasoning? If this doesn't pass there will be "an onslaught, a rush of abortions to go in and beat the deadline."

I can just see how that onslaught will happen: "Gee, I was gonna have this baby, but now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, I'd better go get that abortion 'cuz that'll be my last chance to have one." or "Oh crap! Roe v. Wade was overturned! I'd better get pregnant -stat!- so that I can get one last abortion."

Regardless of your personal views on abortion, you have to be worried that a guy who's best thought process came up with this "logic" is in a position to make laws in this state.

(thanks to Deanna for the info)

Melinda Casino at BlogHer summed up some of the best posts from Blog for Choice Day -- something I wish I had time for. I've had a three-year old with a fever and bad cough that I've been taking care of most of the day today and Sunday (and I'm behind on my Sundance schedule posts and I really wanted to have a review of a Sundance film I saw Saturday -- ah, the pressures of motherhood!).

One quote (from Persephone's Box) that Melinda posted that I especially liked:

""No country advocating freedom and democracy can reasonably force women to be life-support systems against their own better judgment."

There are probably lots more wonderful posts out there. The best way to find them is at here at Bush v. Choice, where most of them are listed.

I covered the reasons for my belief that women must have the ultimate say in what happens to their bodies and my experiences in making those choices in my life in last year's Blogging for Choice Day.This year's theme is "Why I'm Pro-Choice" which I really felt I covered in last year's post.

My thoughts keeping coming back to "Why are some people 'pro-life'?" We already know that a good percentage of "pro-life" folks aren't really pro-life, as evidenced by many of those same folks eagerly embracing the policies of war and the death penalty, and the justification of the murder of clinic workers and doctors. Their creditability is further undermined by being anti-contraception and anti-comprehensive sex education, which would lessen the need for abortion. This group isn't so much pro-life as they are pro-punishment -- and what better way to punish a woman for being sexual than force her to go through a pregnancy against her will, and either suffer the emotional scars and uncertainty of giving her child up to adoption, or raise a child for 18 years, most likely in poverty.

Another group are the people who are "pro-life" that I've identified really do believe that there is a life lost with abortion. Many of these people's beliefs come from their religious background, which makes me wonder -- where is their faith? Is their God so incapable that each abortion is a threat to His/Her plan? Is a woman more powerful than God in their viewpoint? If God wants a certain soul to be born on earth, isn't He/She capable of making sure that soul gets born to someone who wants the child? How do we know that abortion isn't part of God's plan to make sure that each child is a wanted child, and to help us to balance out our impact on the planet?

In ancient times the human race perhaps needed every baby that was conceived to be born to ensure the survival of the race; this was a time when many babies and children died due to diseases and famine and just the dangers of living in those times. We now know that not only do we not need every child conceived to be born, but the survival human race may depend on a lot fewer of them being born.

I believe another group taking the "pro-life" side are those who want to see a return to unquestioned male dominance in our society. What better way to keep women in their place, than to force those of them unwilling into the role of producing and taking care of children? I've seen evidence of this in various "studies" of questionable method that have been publicized by mainly conservative media, that "prove" that women who stay home and raise the kids are happier than those that pursue a career -- my personal experience (which is likely as valid, if not more so, than these "studies") is that closer to 75% of the women I know are much happier haivng a career or working outside the home than doing the full time mom thing (of which I am one); I do know a few that do enjoy staying home with the kids, and I respect their choice -- I just do not want policy for the rest of womankind modeled around those few.

So we have pro-punishment people, religious folks with shaky faith, and the misogynists running this "pro-life" movement, as far as I can tell. Not exactly an opposition with a trustworthy authority.

Being out and loud about being pro-choice is more important now that just about any time in the past 30 years. We have to be adamant about our right to choose the direction of our lives, as the legislatures across the country that are  dominated by pro-punishment folks, shaky-faith folks and misogynists are planning legislation to to chip away or do away with legal and safe access to abortions.

I keep hearing conservatives saying that their policies are about personal responsibility. Disregading many of the policies that they support that aren't -- safe and legal contraception and abortion is about being personally responsible. It's about honestly confronting our strong, and very human sexual drives, and balancing that with what we can handle in our lives.

Wow! So many posts for the Blog For Choice event last month. There will be another blog for choice event coming soon covering birth control and preventing unwanted pregnancies -- keep  checking back at Bush v. Choice for more info.

Blog for Choice

Just read a very refreshing article written in 1982 about abortion, written from the point of view of a bible scholar on the feminist community thread. This is the first time I've ever read anything rational on the abortion issue from someone so religious. It feels very timely as well, the only difference I can see from then until now is that the fanatics are in much larger proportions currently.

 

( Is Abortion Murder?  )

feminist

When I participated in the CODE Pink march and rally to prevent the Iraq war back in early March of 2003, there were a number of "pro-lifers" protesting us. They held up large signs with graphic photos of aborted fetuses. I thought it was pretty weird that they would protest us, since we were trying to prevent a war that would cost thousands of lives.

I ganked this off of the sos_usa LJ community. Warning, the photos are pretty graphic reminders of what our country is doing to babies and children in Iraq.

http://www.web-light.nl/VISIE/extremedeformities.html

I'm not usually into the "tit-for-tat" type of protestation, but I think it would be interesting to see these photos on signs where anti-abortions proponents are protesting with their graphic images. How many of those claiming to be "pro-life" support(ed) this death producing war?