Amanda Marcotte

Amanda Marcotte writes for and manages the blog Pandagon, blogs for Slate’s Double X, and has two books out: “It’s A Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments” and “Get Opinionated: A Progressive’s Guide to Finding Your Voice (and Taking a Little Action)”. She’s written about politics, pop culture and feminism for outlets such as Slate, Salon, the LA Times, the Guardian, Bitch, and the American Prospect. A former resident of Texas, she now lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Is Sadism the Driving Force Behind GOP Rejection of Medicaid Expansion?

Amanda Marcotte

There's no reason to reject the Medicaid expansion except pure hatred for lower-income Americans. It doesn't save money; to the contrary, it costs taxpayers more not to expand Medicaid.

Anti-Choicers Can’t Get Around It: Their Arguments Have No Standing

Amanda Marcotte

The underlying problem of the anti-choice movement is that all their arguments go back to the fundamental belief that what strangers do with their own bodies is somehow their business. No matter how hard they try to deny it, this underlying assumption is easy enough to see across a variety of issues.

Anti-Choicers Trying to Drum Up Anti-Girl Scout Sentiment Again

Amanda Marcotte

A new website purporting to "expose" the Girl Scouts' supposedly secret abortion agenda accidentally exposes something else: The way the anti-choice movement uses abortion as a cover story to oppose women's rights and even girls' education.

The Deeply Disturbing World of Modern Anti-Abortion Activism

Amanda Marcotte

Blaming clinics for their own harassment, making violent insinuations, giving a convicted terrorist a leadership position, railroading good doctors out of business, and claiming that 10-year-old rape victims are better off being forced to give birth: Welcome to the anti-choice movement of 2013.

Political Battles Over Abortion Are About So Much More

Amanda Marcotte

While it is true that Republicans are attacking abortion rights at every turn, rhetorically, “abortion” is a dog whistle word to stir up conservative anxieties about sexual freedom.

Texas Adoption Bill Shows How Little Anti-Choicers Think of Women

Amanda Marcotte

Anti-choicers know that calling women stupid or evil in public is bad politics. So why do bills like Sen. Eddie Lucio's, which would require women to take a three-hour webinar on adoption in order to get an abortion, keep cropping up?

Anti-Rape Bill Could Create Wedge Between Different Anti-Feminist Factions

Amanda Marcotte

A bipartisan bill to prevent rapists from suing for custody for children conceived in rape should be the sort of thing that abortion opponents would support. Unfortunately for them, a lot of anti-feminists are hostile to legislation protecting women from stalking, harassment, and abuse.

New Texas Law Unfair, Increases Inequality

Amanda Marcotte

There is a larger theme of the anti-choice movement that the Texas decision really brings to the forefront: The profound commitment to unfairness and inequality that holds the anti-choice movement together. It's unfair to Texans, unfair to lower-income women, and unfair to taxpayers.

Every Reason for an Abortion Is a Good Reason

Amanda Marcotte

Both pro- and anti-choice activists often dwell on women's reasons for abortion, even though they're legally unimportant. Unfortunately, this discourse distracts from the real issue here, which is women's basic right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.

Memo to Trojan: Non-Married People Have Sex. Get Over It

Amanda Marcotte

Trojan has sexy new ads for its condoms, but they only show married couples. Why are we still afraid of talking about non-married sex, even though sex between non-married people is a near-universal behavior in America?

Amanda Marcotte

Search: