Frances Kissling is President of Catholics for a Free Choice. This article appears in the Winter 2006-2007 issue of Conscience and also on Salon.com.
If abortion is a morally neutral act and does not endanger women's health, why bother to prevent the need for it? After all, the cost of a first-trimester abortion is comparable to the cost of a year's supply of birth control pills-and abortion has fewer complications and less medical risk for women than some of the most effective methods of contraception. This question has plagued advocates of choice since abortion was legalized. It has intensified in the face of antiabortion moralism about sex and responsibility, in the continued stigmatization of women who have abortions and in the increasingly expressed mantra that "there are simply too many abortions in the U.S." Frustration has led some advocates of legal abortion to dig in their heels and insist that any talk about preventing abortions denigrates women as moral decision-makers, misunderstands the reasons women have abortions, retreats from principled support for the right of women to choose abortion without government interference and tacitly lends credence to the contention that abortion is almost always morally wrong.
I adore Katie Couric. There, I've said it. Why does life feel[img_assist|nid=870|title=Brian Rohrbough on CBS News|desc=(click to watch)|link=none|align=right|width=237|height=193] like one coming out process after another? I fell in love with her when I heard her speak at the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association Conference in 1999. There I saw the whip-smart journalist more than the excellent woman to wake up with. I Tivo the CBS News and love what she is doing with it, making complex information and ideas real for people, not over simplifying them. Using the medium of television, admittedly confining in a commercial setting, not to showcase one point of view, but to highlight diverse perspectives.
In this way she reminds us what it is to be American, to be able and willing to understand different points of view, imagine ourselves walking a mile in someone else's pumps (love the legs, love the shoes, love the seating areas away from the desk, the walk, the jeans in her online notebook, and ABSOLUTELY LOVE the sitting on the desk pose for lighter news).
Two nights ago during one of the nightly "Free Speech" segments, the father of a Columbine victim blamed the recent Pennsylvania Amish and Bailey, Colorado school shootings, on abortion.
[img_assist|nid=598|title=Special Series|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]If, as a conference held September 22nd-23rd stated, "Contraception Is Not the Answer," what on earth is the question? Surely it was not, "What is the best way to reduce abortion?" No, the focus of the conference was the evil of contraception throughout society. The speakers presented a comprehensive attack escalating a new political strategy of the far right.
The pro-life organizers of the conference called the decidedly middle-class, white audience "brave" for making history attacking the "golden calf of contraception." According to the Centers for Disease Control, most American women who have had sex have used at least one contraceptive method at some point in their lives. Fr. Thomas Euteneuer told the gathering, "When you sow contraception, you reap abortion." Holding the majority of women in this country responsible for abortion demonstrates the extremism of their agenda.
Dian Harrison is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate. This is the first of a series of posts about California's Parental Notification Ballot Inititiative.
October is "Let's Talk Month." It's a great opportunity to let the young people in your life know that you are there for them and ready to help, even when they are facing issues that can be tough to talk about, like sexual health.
Research has shown that teens that have good communication with their families are more likely to delay becoming sexually active and are also more likely to be safe if they do become active. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, "Teens who are close to their parents and feel supported by them are more likely to abstain from sex, wait until they are older to begin having sex, have fewer sexual partners, and use contraception more consistently."
The Annenberg Public Policy Center's Political Fact Check.org reports that The Economic Freedom Fund (aka, front-group where the Texas real estate developer who sponsored the Swiftboat ads questioning Sen. John Kerry's patriotism, and for ads defending ex-Majority Leader Tom Delay is putting his money) is planning to spend even more money in this election cycle. Already they have been active with automated phone calls suggesting that Indiana House candidate Baron Hill "votes to allow the sale of a broad range of violent and sexually explicit materials to minors," according to Annenberg. The blog Taking Down Words, first reported (and offers a recording!) the calls.
Editor's note: Some of the links in this post are audio clips; click on them to listen to Allan Carlson in a new window.
[img_assist|nid=598|title=Special Series|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]Welcome back to Rewire's series about the emerging war on contraception. In this episode, I will analyze Allan Carlson's presentation on "The Emptied Quiver: The Protestant Embrace of Contraception." As the daughter of two Lutheran ministers, I found Carlson's narrow take on Christianity, Martin Luther and the burden of families on clergy particularly interesting. His anti-feminist lecture examined Protestant roots against contraception and celibacy and their departure from that position, ending with an appeal for Protestants to return to their original opinion.
Congress has gone home to campaign, the Supreme Court is in session and issues of sexual and reproductive health and responsibility are at the forefront. But there is a sense that sexual and reproductive health issues are not on the minds of Americans and that perhaps candidates should avoid them.
What with the increased threats we face as a result of an administration taking its eye off the war on terror to wage war in Iraq, mounting deficits and a scandal-plagued President and Congress, people could choose to focus on "more important" issues. Americans may not list reproductive health issues as "what they are most likely to consider when choosing a candidate" but the issues serve another important role in the political dynamic this election year.
Last week, Andrea wrote an excellent post that pointed to the vulnerability of poor populations-particularly women-when natural disasters force them out of their homes. She reminded us not only to about the limp response of the international community that had just reached into their pockets for victims of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. She also noted the hole in disaster relief: when communities around the world donate housing and supplies to the displaced, these "care packages" generally do not include reproductive health supplies.
I was particularly pleased to see this post because Ipas has just released the second issue of A-the abortion magazine, and our focus for this issue is reproductive health for refugees and displaced women.
[img_assist|nid=598|title=Special Series|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]Two speakers at the "Contraception Is Not the Answer" conference used religion as their main argument against contraception. They used religion as a weapon to attempt to manipulate people into following their narrow beliefs. But it is important to remember that they do not represent the majority of conservatives, nor of Christians. This reality check is for the right and the left.
As of the time of writing for this blog, Focus on the Family has said nothing on its website, and Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America both issued only cursory and confusing statements late this afternoon about Congressman Mark Foley's sexually explicit communications with young boys who worked in his office.
