Roundup: Can Pawlenty Recover from "Abortion Recovery Month"?

Roundup: Can Pawlenty Recover from “Abortion Recovery Month”?

Apr 15, 2010, 8:39am

Robin Marty

Pawlenty declares April Abortion Awareness Month, and much criticism ensues. Plus, if fetuses must be protected after they "feel pain" can we shelve personhood now?

If you weren’t entirely sure that Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is running for president, you figured it out pretty quickly on April 1st, 2010. That was the day that the Republican politician declared April “Abortion Recovery Month” for the state of Minnesota.

It got him attention, just like he wanted, with the anti-abortion base fawning over him for his pandering. However, the criticism is becoming harsher and harsher.

It began with Minnesota Independent noting that this proclamation was really an chance to bring more state attention by local religious groups and organizations.

According to Abortion Recovery InterNational, Inc., the national clearinghouse for abortion recovery, there are five such programs in Minnesota, and all are run out of churches: The Marian Project is a program of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Liberate Ministries is a husband and wife duo from Eden Prairie, while Healing Hearts of Fire Baptist Church in Rochester also runs such a program. Anoka-based Conquerors states on its website that “[t]hrough every service we provide, our hope is that each client will come to know Christ.” New Beginnings Pregnancy and Family Services in Red Wing “nurtures a Christ-like view of human life.”

Pawlenty didn’t make note of that characteristic in his press statement about the proclamation.

Pro-Choice Minnesota was more blunt.

Linnea House of NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota echoed that sentiment. “I was hoping the governor’s proclamation was an April Fool’s Day joke last week, but unfortunately, it is very real,” she said. “Clearly, this proclamation is truly nothing more than Gov. Pawlenty pandering to the anti-choice organizations in the state. If the governor truly wanted to help prevent unintended pregnancy, he would ensure that our youth are equipped with the proper education to prevent unintended pregnancies in the first place.”

Ellen Friederichs does a breakdown of what “Abortion Recovery Month” really means at Alternet.

We are halfway through April, which you may not have realized has been dubbed “Abortion Recovery Awareness Month” for the second year in a row by Texas Governor, Rick Perry and Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty.

Just for the record: Abortion Recovery Awareness Month is not designed to offer comfort to women needing to recover from the experience of trying to obtain an abortion under ever more present restrictions (the newest being Nebraska’s recent law requiring mental health screenings for women seeking the procedure). Nope, this “month” is simply another way for abortion opponents to showcase tired old scare tactics in the hopes of demonizing a procedure that 35% of all American woman will have before they are 45.

Meanwhile, an anonymous writer who has recently had to make the decision to end a pregnancy has a few choice words for Pawlenty over at Salon.

Now, weeks into my recovery process — I’m still bleeding, cramping, underweight, emotional, grappling with my need for children and a partner with whom to raise them — I see my experience grossly manipulated by Pawlenty, a man who doesn’t, can’t, know how I feel. But it’s always like this, the moralists and proselytizers stealing the microphone because I, and millions of other women, didn’t make the choice they prescribed.

That reaction not angry enough for you? How about Bonnie Erbe, in U.S. News and World Reports?

Here we go again. Just when you thought the religious right couldn’t come up with any more outrageous behavior designed to offend mainstream Americans and accomplish nothing of worth, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty proclaims April, again, “Abortion Recovery Month.”

…

So as long as Pawlenty is declaring April Abortion Recovery Month, if he wants to be fair and unbiased on this issue, he should declare May, “Anti-abortion Zealots Recovery Month,” so the rest of us can get a break from their unrelenting proselytizing and tomfoolery.

I guess Pawlenty better not be counting on their votes.

Mini Roundup: A terrifying headline, and the bright side of the Nebraska “fetal pain” threshold. Plus, if we have the greatest healthcare system in the world, why are women crossing the border for birth control?

April 14, 2010

Abortions Declining in Florida – Sunshine State News

ObamaCare High School: Reading, Writing, and Suicide Assistance? – American Thinker

Bill will make it harder for Florida teens to get an abortion – MiamiHerald.com

New laws in Neb. add restrictions on abortions – The Associated Press

Abortion flap stalls cigarette tax – The State

Abortion bill seeks parental notification – Tampabay.com

Taxpayers and Abortions – American Spectator

Supreme Court reporter will talk about abortion – Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Could the abortion debate become more partisan? – Politico

Abortion, Health Care and the Psychology of Compromise – Psychology Today

New Jersey’s Governor Cuts Women’s Health Out of the Budget – Huffington Post