update on bush's family planning appointee

just a short note to share some good news...
on november 30th i told you about eric keroack, bush's family planning appointee to health and human services who is anti-choice and anti-birth control.

well, just four months later, he has resigned! hooray!

in other news...there is a new "movement" afoot called generation life.

this is a group of youth who are committing themselves to remaining virgins until they are married. they also come out and intimidate the patients at the abortion clinic where i volunteer.
if you need any proof that the abstinence-until-marriage folks are operating from a misogynistic, patriarchal viewpoint, just check out this page of the gen life website.

some of my favorites:

• "A Real Woman...Loves babies and nurtures her family. She is the heart of her home, finds strength in her husband, understands sacrificial love and is happy and content."
• "How Far is Too Far?... Wrong question! The question that you should be asking is: 'How far can I go to respect and honor my date, leading him to purity?' ...Guys are stimulated differently than girls. Open mouth kissing will lead a guy to become sexually aroused but a girl will simply feel more affection towards him. Knowing how far to go means understanding that guys have a higher sex drive and girls have a higher love drive." (my emphasis)
• And Masturbation..."Though it may be fueled by our culture, masturbation is essentially a selfish act. To combat it, try to remember to be generous and charitable toward others. This will help stop the selfish attitude. Smile to others. Stop gossiping. Stay away from romance novels."

this is so old school it's hardly surprising. and yet, still so maddening.
i don't have words for how sad it is that a new generation of women is getting taught this bullshit.

some pet peeves

a few things that got on my last nerve this week:

1) on friday, i saw this guy riding his bike down the street while smoking a cigarette. needless to say, he was not wearing a helmet. i know that this really shouldn't have bugged me. this totally should have been one of those live-and-let-live-things. but all i could think was ...

dude, why don't you buy a big, gas guzzling car? any help you might have been doing the environment or yourself by riding a bike is getting cancelled out by the cancer machine in your mouth and the fact that when you fall off your bike because some car comes too close to you and you can't react because you've only got one hand on your bike you're going to get a concussion because you're doing a very stupid thing and riding your bike without a helmet.

(ok, i totally realize that he was probably riding his bike because he enjoys riding his bike, or it gets him where he needs to go. and he was probably smoking the cigarette because he enjoys smoking cigarettes, or he's addicted. and yet, his simple act of enjoying himself really got on my nerves. does this make me a bad person? why do i think i can be the bike police, when i only started riding a bike a month ago?)

2) joseph biden. joseph biden's recent comments about barack obama were historically inaccurate and racist. in case you missed it, senator biden (who is running for president) said this about fellow presidential candidate barack obama, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." i'm shocked, and rather disgusted, by how forgiving people have been about this comment. this is the same guy who last year said, “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.” He explained this comment by saying that he has great respect for, and supports, the growing Indian-American population in Delaware. i'm not sure how this comment shows respect, but maybe i'm missing something here...

3) i ride the train to work every day. i've noticed this new phenomenon (sorry for those of you who are tired of hearing me harp on this) of parents, who are riding the train with small children, listening to music with earphones. often their children are trying to talk to them. i say "trying" because the parents can't (or won't) hear them. i find it very sad. your child is trying to communicate with you -- stop ignoring them! i get that it's early, you're tired, and maybe your child is getting on your last nerve, but ... you are still their parent.

4) did y'all hear about this story? a florida college student who was raped went to the police to report the crime, and instead of being helped, was arrested for a 2003 misdemeanor warrant. to add insult to injury, she was denied emergency contraception in jail becuase of a jail worker's religious beliefs. one more example of how the criminal "justice" system is often an instrument of oppression.

i promise my next post will be more uplifting than this one! thanks for letting me vent!
p.s. i love comments...thanks for everyone who is reading regularly and encouraging me via email. feel free to leave me your thoughts/comments on this page too.

anniversary of roe v. wade

today is the anniversary of roe v. wade.

i volunteer as a clinic escort at a local abortion clinic once/month. this means that i help escort patients past the "pro-life" protestors who are at the clinic every saturday. each month i am reminded of one (of the many, many) obstacles that women who want an abortion still face today, over 30 years after abortion was legalized.

my post on november 30th was about bush's appointment of an anti-birth control, anti-sex ed man to head up the country's family planning program. planned parenthood is asking for people to contact their senators about the Prevention First Act (S.21), a sensible way to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies -- by increasing funding and therefore access to birth control for low-income women, and by providing real, comprehensive sex ed for teenagers.

i think it's a fitting action to take on this anniversary. for me, the meaning of "reproductive rights" is that all people, regardless of income, race, gender, and sexual orientation, would have the information, resources, and access they need to make good decisions around sex and reproduction.

click here to contact your senators and urge them to support funding for birth control and sex ed.
if you'd like to make a donation, you could donate to the women's medical fund, an amazing organization here in southeastern PA that provides financial assistance to women who want an abortion but can't afford it.

from "Right to Life," Marge Piercy
I will choose what enters me, what becomes
flesh of my flesh. Without choice, no politics,
no ethics lives. I am not your cornfield,
not your uranium mine, not your calf
for fattening, not your cow for milking.
You may not use me as your factory.
Priests and legislators do not hold
shares in my womb or my mind.
This is my body. If I give it to you
I want it back. My life
is a non-negotiable demand.

A woman's concern, indeed!

Hi all,

Welcome to my blog! I'm planning on sharing thoughts and pictures and questions here and am hoping you'll use the comments section to have a dialogue with me. I figure this will be a good way to both keep you updated on my adventures/misadventures and a place to rant about my many pet peeves. Which leads me to ...

Bush recently appointed Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the federal office that oversees federally funded teen pregnancy, family planning and abstinence programs. Dr. (if we can really call him that!) Keroack is the medical director for A Woman's Concern, a nonprofit group based in Dorchester, Mass., that believes "the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness." The Christian nonprofit runs "crisis pregnancy centers" that "help women escape the temptation and violence of abortion." Check out this link to read some of their so-called "scientific" theory.

This fool is going to be in charge of $283 million in annual family-planning grants that are "designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons."

If you feel a little worried after reading this, here's two things you can do:

1) Click here to tell the Bush administration you don't approve.

2) Back up your birth control. Take advantage of Planned Parenthood's Free EC (emergency contraception) Day.
Everyone, regardless of age, can get EC at Planned Parenthood® — and now, for people 18 and older, EC is available over the counter. Come in to your nearest Planned Parenthood health center for a short visit on December 6, 2006, and receive FREE EC* to keep at home — just in case. Call 1.800.230.PLAN to reach the Planned Parenthood health center nearest you.
For more info on EC, see Planned Parenthood's info page.