June 19, 2008

McCain has been very firm about his pro-life standing. By throwing in his “pro-life” stance into the mix and from what we have learned through the past few months about this stance, we know that McCain does not believe women should be entitled to the right to choose and to have control over their own bodies. What some might now know, however, is that McCain is also against a woman’s right to obtain birth control, (although it is about time he actually made a decision about where he stands on birth control–although someone else probably told him where he should stand on the issue) which 99% of women in the United States will be on at one point or another throughout their lives; to add, McCain is also against the right to emergency contraception.

So what would a John McCain women’s clinic be like?

Yeah, something like that.

Sadly, McCain’s pro-life record couldn’t be worse. He voted to permit federally funded Title X family planning clinics (like Planned Parenthood) to decline to counsel women on abortion services. He has repeatedly voted to deny low-income women access to abortion care except in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. He voted in favor of four anti-choice US Supreme Court nominees, putting a woman’s right to choose under direct attack. He supports and voted in favor of the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and has also voted in support of “almost every important pro-life law proposed in the last decade.” He had also released a statement on the Federal Abortion Ban on April 18, 2007, saying:

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written, and do not usurp the authority of Congress and state legislatures. As we move forward, it is critically important that our party continues to stand on the side of life.”

Taking a look at just these few issues regarding women’s rights and issues that John McCain has voted on, it’s obvious to say that the video above isn’t an exaggeration at all. The truly unfortunate fact of the matter is that according to a recent Planned Parenthood Action Fund poll [PDF] half of female voters in 16 battleground states don’t know enough about McCain’s views on reproductive health. This is due to the fact that the mass media will not cover McCain’s horrendous anti-choice record because they will not admit that there is currently a presidential candidate so anti-woman. What’s even more appalling is that 1 in 4 pro-choice McCain supporters would be less likely to vote for McCain after knowing he opposes Roe v. Wade and backs abstinence-only education.

This is the time to truly educate yourself on the candidates and the issues they stand firm on. McCain is a true misogynist who will do what is in his power to take the rights women have fought hard for since the early 70’s away and moreover, he will stand firm on his belief that teenagers should only have access to abstinence-only education.

June 17, 2008

We all know that “pro-lifers” want to destroy everything relating to reproductive health care and limit the types of reproductive health care women seek and are given. We also know that pro-lifers hate hate hate Planned Parenthood because they are “baby killers” (even though not all Planned Parenthood clinics perform abortions) and they distribute that evil poison-in-pill form known as birth control! Another widely known fact is that pro-lifers also do not give a damn about life after a person is born; no, they’re more interested in what goes on in the womb and they only care that that fetus gets out of the womb so they have more people in the world to fight with about reproductive health care and more people to tell off about how wrong they are when it comes to personal freedom and choice.

Yeah, the people actually alive and breathing on Earth right now really aren’t a concern to them, which can obviously be proven since they recently got a project for Habitat for Humanity shut down.

“An anti-abortion group has broken up a deal between Planned Parenthood and Habitat for Humanity by blasting out 10,000 e-mails to Habitat supporters.

Planned Parenthood is building a 23,000-square-foot regional headquarters on Central Avenue, and planned to sell Habitat the land next door for a token $10 to build three below-market-cost houses. The deal benefited Planned Parenthood because the city required the clinic to put up buildings as a buffer between its parking lot and Cohen Way.

“We could have put up any building we wanted,” said Barbara Zdravecky, president of Planned Parenthood. “We wanted to donate the land so Habitat could build more attainable housing.”

The email blast to 10,000 Habitat supporters started with James Sedlak, vice president of the American Life League, (Wow, a man, what a surprise…) who said it showed a cozy relationship between Habitat and Planned Parenthood. This “cozy relationship” was then compared to pushing pornography onto children, among other things.

The bottom line is that Planned Parenthood is a fabulous place, a great resource to women and whom have helped several women, including myself so I am speaking from first hand, personal experience here. The clinic needed builds to put up as a buffer against this type of ridiculousness and instead of selling the land for an enormous price to someone else, they decided to practically give it to Habitat for Humanity because they are in the same field–The field of helping people.

These groups, while they hide behind their cloaks of “We want to help people!” actually wind up hurting more and more people and this time, they targeted Habitat for Humanity because they feel as if accepting a space to build and to help other people, that means that they have a cozy relationship with Planned Parenthood. It is because of the hatred that these people have against something they do not understand that Habitat will not be able to build in a space that was donated to them and will not be able to help the people who need it.

Go here to contact Habitat for Humanity and let them know that they shouldn’t be bullied by people who want to stop them from helping low income families.

June 3, 2008

I received an email a few days ago from the Medicaid Organizer for The Emma Goldman Clinic in Iowa City, IA. The clinic is starting an abortion stories project detailing the personal experiences of women who experienced financial setbacks or barriers any time in the process of seeking an abortion in Iowa.

The clinic is a non-profit, feminist reproductive health clinic who are doing all they can to ensure that all women receive the reproductive health care that they need regardless of their financial state.

If you are a woman who has experienced financial setbacks or barriers due to having an abortion in Iowa, The Emma Goldman Clinic is asking for your stories. The site goes into detail on ways that you can help share your story, either publicly or privately. In order to share your story, please go here or email emmagoldmanclinic@gmail.com.