Rachel Maddow shares a clip from an Al Jazeera documentary featuring an Ohio State Legislator who is advocating extreme anti-abortion legislation.
(via feistyfeminist)
But we don’t have a cultural script for those women. When women speak publicly about their abortions – which, given the stigma around abortion, happens very rarely – we expect them to speak with reverence, not relief. We expect to hear stories of excruciating indecision, not of easy, obvious choices. We don’t have a blueprint for women who weren’t wracked with indecision, women who felt emotional attachment neither to the fetus nor to the decision to terminate it. And as a result, we also lack a script for supportive friends that doesn’t somehow frame abortion as a tragic illness.
Virginia Medical Board Shoots Down Unnecessary Abortion Clinic Rules
IN UNEXPECTED MOVE, VIRGINIA MEDICAL BOARD SHOOTS DOWN UNNECESSARY ABORTION CLINIC PROVISIONS | In a big victory for the pro-choice movement in Virginia, the Medical Board of the state has protected existing abortion clinics from a series of stringent regulations aimed at closing or debilitating the facilities. After the Virginia legislature voted that all abortion clinics needed to be certified doctor’s offices, the Virginia Department of Health released guidelines for clinics that included unnecessary regulations such as the size of janitors’ closets in abortion clinics. The Board of Health voted 7-4 to grandfather in any existing clinics so that they do not have to get up to code on these superfluous provisions.
It’s a start.
It makes me hopeful.
(via stfuprolifers)
Turkey drops anti-abortion legislation
Turkey’s conservative government has dropped plans for a controversial bill that would have slashed the time limit for abortions.
“The government has backed away from initial plans to curb abortion rights,” an unnamed parliamentary source told the AFP news agency on Friday.
The source said that the Islamist-rooted government would instead seek to limit the number of Caesarean sections being performed in the country.The legislation, initially proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), would have required all abortions to take place within the first six weeks of pregnancy, down from the 10 weeks currently allowed.
Experts said the limit would have effectively outlawed abortions, since most women do not realise they are pregnant until around the sixth week of pregnancy.
(via brazilianveganfeminist)
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
“Hypothetically speaking, what if someone doesn’t have enough money?” I asked.
The social worker looked at me, her eyes alighting on the silver Jewish star necklace I was wearing.
“Are you Jewish?”
I nodded. My face flushed, and I looked down at my shaking hands. I taughtHebrew school at my synagogue. I received the Rabbi’s Scholarship for Outstanding Work in the Jewish Community. I kept kosher. And I was 19 and pregnant.
“Ok that’s good, because there is a philanthropic Jewish women’s group that offers a scholarship of $250 to help cover costs. Would you be interested in that sort of thing?”
I wondered if I would have to write an essay or give them my SAT scores or show them my Bat Mitzvah certificate.
“How would I qualify?”
“By being pregnant, and by not wanting to be pregnant. And by being Jewish,” she replied. “Look, I’ll contact the president of the organization, and I can have a check made out to you by the end of the week. Sound good?”
It sounded great. And not because I had found a way to finance my abortion. But because for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I realized that I wasn’t the first–nor would I be the last–knocked up Nice Jewish Girl.
h/t to my friend, SS, who sent me this link last week
[NB: More people than just cis women need and want access to abortion care.]
This story gives me all the warm and fuzzies.
(via lipstick-feminists)
“I want my tax dollars to support abortion access!”
(via feministsbakecupcakestoo)
Meet the Christian, Formerly Anti-Abortion Doctor Who Now Performs Late-Term Abortions
I saw the dilemmas that women found themselves in. And I could no longer weigh the life of a pre-viable or lethally flawed fetus equally with the life of the woman sitting before me…
As people sit around, and theorize and debate about what should be a reasonable or common ground, the voices of the people who are most affected by this decision are lost. They aren’t represented in these dialogues. Their specific realities don’t count.
(via feministbecky)
krokodile submitted:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/i-thought-i-was-pro-life-but-god-told-me-i-had-the-spirit-of-abortion
…wow.
1) The journalist-style writing of this page is extremely poor. I know it’s meant to be biased, but fucking Jesus on a pogo stick. What the hell is this crap?
2) THAT WOMAN HEARD THE VOICE OF HER GOD3) Anti-choicers take this page seriously. That’s what we’re dealing with.
4) My word. :/
There’s vomit in my mouth after reading this.
(via stfuprolifers)
I’ve heard some people say that they’re pro-choice, but they don’t like the term “pro-abortion”. That’s okay, I guess, but I don’t feel that way. I’m very pro-abortion. I genuinely think abortion is great. An abortion that is performed in a safe environment by a professional is almost guaranteed to be a success, with little or no harm to the uterus bearer. An abortion grants freedom, grants the very choice that is fought so hard for. An abortion allows so many people to live their lives when they otherwise would not be able to. An abortion gives hope, gives happiness, gives life.
I am very pro-abortion, and I always will be.
My feelings exactly! I love abortion.
Talk about interesting! It does get you thinking.
This is definitely something I will use when I next talk to an anti-choicer.
(via stfuprolifers)
