skip to main |
skip to sidebar
WTF Wednesday is a semi-regular feature of this blog. It documents the things that have made me pause, slap my forehead and say "What the f**k!" Well, that and I just like saying WTF. I'm retired. I don't have to watch what I say anymore. I'm not any one's role model.
The billboard above reads “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb.” It is located in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood, about a half a mile from a Planned Parenthood clinic. The billboard was erected by Life Always, a group opposed to abortions.
"They're attacking women for choosing abortion while simultaneously destroying family planning," a spokeswoman Mary Alice Carr of NARAL Pro-Choice America is quoted by CNN before the billboard was taken down. "Their hypocrisy is as large and as obnoxious as this billboard."
Read the CNN article here .
What the f**k?
On February 18, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to withdraw federal funding of Planned Parenthood as part of a larger bill to cut government spending. If this bill passes the Senate, all funding for Planned Parenthood services such as birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving care will be terminated. Planned Parenthood would lose $363 million in federal funding.
Our elected representatives are facing difficult choices as they try to balance the budget. There are many competing needs, but there are also forces that are taking advantage of the budget challenges to undermine the reproductive rights of women. Planned Parenthood provides free or low cost health services for women across America. As part of comprehensive reproductive health services, they also provide abortion services. However, no federal money is used to provide abortion services, yet targeting Planned Parenthood for budget cuts is an easy target for the anti-choice members of Congress.
When the spouse and I first married, we were poor college students. We didn't have medical insurance. Planned Parenthood was the resource I used for reproductive health care. Not only did I receive knowledgeable, professional medical care, but I also got my birth control pills for free. If you're poor, birth control can be a luxury. I was so grateful for Planned Parenthood.
All women deserve access to quality reproductive health care that is non-biased. Reduction of federal funding to Planned Parenthood jeopardizes that access for millions of women. I live in a rural area, yet there is a Planned Parenthood facility 30 miles from my house.
Day in and day out Planned Parenthood is providing critical health care services for families who have no other alternatives. That is why federal funding must be sustained. Now is not the time to play politics with health care funding.
If you are concerned about this issue, let your elected representatives know. Sign the open letter to the representatives who voted for this bill, and to the senators who still have a chance to stop it. You can find a link to the letter at the Planned Parenthood website at
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/index.htm
I stand with Planned Parenthood. I hope you will too.
January 22 is the anniversary of the historic Roe v Wade decision that made abortion legal in the United States. The Supreme Court determined that the Constitution protects a women’s right to privacy. A woman, not the state, retains autonomy over her body.
Every year our local Catholic Church, Our Lady of Angels, recognizes this anniversary by setting up a display of white crosses across the street from the church. A large banner proclaims that each cross represents lives lost to abortion. The display evokes emotion in me, but perhaps not those that the organizers intended.
It makes me angry. Angry at a church that doesn’t trust women. Angry at church doctrine that denies the kingdom of heaven to couples who practice birth control. Angry at the paternalistic church that encourages third world women to reproduce, thus ensuring the continuation of the poverty cycle to a new generation. Angry at a church that would deny an abortion to a 12 year old child raped by her father. I’m angry that this church presumes to impose its beliefs on all women. I’m angry that it would take that most personal decision away from me, or my daughter, or my granddaughters, or any woman.
My child bearing years are behind me. I never had to make a decision to terminate a pregnancy. But then, I didn’t follow church doctrine on birth control either. But just because I never had to exercise my right to control my own body doesn’t mean that that I don’t value that right.
Since the shootings in Arizona there has been much in the press about the level of harsh political rhetoric in the media. The abortion debate has been laden with inflammatory language on both sides, and yet it adds nothing to the discussion. It seems that we are not seeking solutions, but passing judgment.
I am not a supporter of abortion, but I strongly believe that the decision to have an abortion is mine to make. If I cannot control what happens to my own body, then I am a slave to the state. I want my government to trust me, to trust that I am smart enough to make an informed decision. This is an issue of privacy. Only the woman who is facing this decision knows all the reasons why or why not abortion is an option for her, and she shouldn’t have to justify that decision to anyone. Trust us to make a good decision.
As a propaganda device the white crosses deliver a powerful message. If we want to continue with the inflammatory language and media manipulation, perhaps it is time for the pro-choice voices to speak up. I’m thinking of running a similar campaign in the local paper. Picture rows of teddy bears on a blank page. The caption reads, “Each teddy bear represents a childhood lost to molestation by a pedophile priest.”
Yeah, it’s a cheap propaganda device, but effective, don’t you think? I won’t be handing out these fliers on the sidewalk in front of the church, inflammatory ad campaigns contribute nothing to improving our society...someone has to show restraint, trust me.
Posts
