We must stand with Planned Parenthood. But let’s not do so in a way that denies the extreme importance of all the services they provide. As advocates for reproductive justice, the last thing we can afford to do is allow ourselves to become complicit in the stigmatization of abortion.
Now in its "spin-cycle," Komen for the Cure is trying to justify its actions defunding critical breast cancer screening for the poor with a serious case of "pink-washing." Their rationale? They care about women. So they lie to them and deny them services.
The results of a five-year study of the Millennial Generation—people born between 1982 and 1993—are in. We now know that conservative evangelical churches are losing formerly–affiliated “young creatives:” Actors, artists, biologists, designers, mathematicians, medical students, musicians, and writers. The report implies that once Millennials abandon evangelism, the barriers to progressive change can begin to crumble.
This week it became clear there are things more important to the Susan G. Komen Foundation--the fundraising giant that each year during breast cancer awareness month virtually swathes the United States in pink, a la Christo--than ensuring women are able to access exams for early detection of breast cancer. In a word: Politics.
Anyone, of any gender or any age, may not feel like it is best for them to choose to be sexual in a given situation, even when presented with an opportunity for sex, even when that opportunity is with someone they have a strong desire to have sex with.
I've written more than twenty books, but was startled by what I learned: you can raise the possibility of abortion, but it must be rejected. I hit a wall of resistance I believe is self-censorship on the part of the publishers. When a character is pregnant, whether from rape, incest, etc., so long as a baby is born, that's acceptable. The "Juno" scenario.
