I wish to share something I had in my Google in box today. If we are to uphold women's rights we must address the illness as a whole and the interconnectedness of the attacks on our democracy.

A Lion’s Tale, A New Parable for Our Time

By Nicholas Wiedenhoeft

There is a Moron and a Lion. Between the two there is a large block wall. The lion laments to the moron: “If only this block wall were torn down then our lives would be perfect, for only by ridding ourselves from the tyranny of this cursed wall can we be free to experience our true potential. This wall is holding us back, I tell you. Tear down this wall!”

The Moron hears the Lion’s words and thinks to himself, “Boy, that lion is really on to something. He’s right; we have to tear down this wall. It’s surely the cause of all my problems!” So with financial backing from the Pride of Lions the Moron goes out and forms the Tear Down the Wall Party, we'll call them the "T" Party for short. With the help of his fellow Morons he begins to tear the wall down.

The Morons work franticly to tear down the wall but because they’re morons, and necessarily somewhat inept, and because the wall is so well and carefully made their progress is slow. Then the Moron looks to his right and sees a Republican next to him working franticly, he says to the Republican, "What the hell do you think your doing?" and the Republican replies, "Oh, the Lions are paying me to help tear down this wall." Then the Moron looks to his left and sees a Democrat and says, “Why are you cradling that block in your arms?” and the Democrat says, "Well, I don’t feel I can do anything to stop or reverse the destruction of the wall, but I will preserve this one block because it’s mine. I can hide behind it when the Lions come. This block alone will surely protect me!"

Finally, the Morons succeed in making a substantial breach in the wall and just as they do the Lions leap through the breach devouring them all. However, with characteristic lack of foresight, having eaten everyone the Lions soon die of starvation and their bones are scavenged by a flock of Chinese Vultures.

The moral of the story: The wall is there for a reason, you Moron! It protects Morons and Lions alike.

Outrage Fatigue

The news out of the Capitol just keeps getting grimmer. Today, the Wisconsin State Senate is voting on a bill that would decimate the state's family planning programs and defund Planned Parenthood. It's the culmination of several weeks of anti-choice bills, a constant onslaught against the health and rights of Wisconsin citizens.

And that's just Wisconsin. Every day brings new, awful developments. In South Dakota, a law will go into effect on July 1 that will require women seeking abortion to wait a mandatory 72 hours--the longest wait in the nation--and would also require them to receive counseling at an anti-choice Crisis Pregnancy Center. (As of May 24, no CPCs have registered with the state government to provide this counseling). The US House passed an agriculture bill with an anti-choice amendment that would ban discussion of abortion on the internet or through video conferencing, a blow to rural women who do not have easy access to doctors. In Louisiana, the State House passed a bill that would ban abortion entirely in the state, in a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, but it was sent back to committee under concerns that the bill's passage would cause the state to lose $4.e billion in federal health care funds.

These constant attacks not only threaten our physical well-being, but our morale as well. I have seen more than one pro-choice activist with the thousand-yard stare. They tell me that there are days when they dread checking e-mail or Facebook out of fear of what they will find. They sometimes have to take a break from checking the news for the sake of their own sanity. We are in danger of mass "outrage fatigue," that we are encountering so much bad news, with no escape, that we become numb. It gets to a point where it feels like we can't possibly write to every politician, submit letters to every newspaper, over every anti-choice development. After a while, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain enthusiasm and action for something that yields no positive results.

This is the very time when we need to make an effort to recommit ourselves. Try to do something, whatever is in your capacity. If you have the time and a love for public speaking, sign up to speak at a hearing. If you are more comfortable with writing than with speaking, write a blog entry or send a letter to your local newspaper. If you have little free time, take five seconds to send an e-mail to a politician, or a fraction of a second to share a story on Facebook. We live in a time where communication technology allows a story to travel at light-speed, and it only takes one person. Even if an anti-choice bill passes, you can inspire one more person to take action. With more people acting, our support base grows and the burden isn't left to a small number of people.

On May 25, I went to the capitol and signed up at a hearing to speak out against Senate Bill 92, which would prevent an insurance company from covering abortion if that company participates in the health care exchange. It was a miserably rainy day. The committee had an anti-choice majority. By the time I spoke, half the committee had left and the other half were past the point of caring. The person who called me up mispronounced my name so badly that I wondered if they could read English. I knew that no one was listening, so I just took the time to say my prepared speech, one where I said everything I had ever wanted to say to someone in power.

I was wrong. Some people were listening. People from organizations outside of NARAL came up to me afterwords and shook my hand, saying, "Great job! Thanks for telling it like it is!" We exchanged contact information, and decided to collaborate in the future.

Keep up the fight, even when things look bleak. You never know who might be listening to you.

Male contraception any one?

One of the things I have noticed about being a responsible family man is that all the fun has been taken out of contraception. Used to be contraception was a stimulating topic of intimate conversation with your loved one: a world of possibility and exciting potential, with its application ranging from absolute seamless subtlety to downright playful at times.

In any long-term relationship such as marriage, contraception eventually must be examined with a mind to considering how you will integrate the aspects of your sexuality, procreative objectives, intended life style and the possible health risks into a safe and useful control of fertility. If sterilization is not one of the desirable options to be considered then you are immediately faced with a glaring inequity. Contraception is seen overwhelmingly as a woman’s responsibility. It seems the medical community is willing to offer a staggering array of now mostly hormonal based contraceptive alternatives for Women. Men however are left with the two statistically least effective options: condoms, less than 80% in independent actual usage testing; or WITHDRAWL, OMG are they serious? An old Sanger Institute (Planned Parenthood to people born after 1970) study conducted over a 50-year period places withdrawal, also known as continence, at just over 46% effectiveness. I’m astounded that any reasonable adult would consider withdrawal a method of birth control. I would say it’s more of a playful gambling opportunity so long as you and your partner are ready to get pregnant anyway. You just keep playing the odds until that jack pot pays off in a lovely baby.

My wife and I really want to get away from hormonal contraception. Neither of us are ready yet to commit to permanent sterilization. I would very much like to shoulder the contraceptive burden. So where are all the male contraceptives we have been told to anticipate for the last 40 years? I can remember hearing about the development of the male birth control pill ever since I was a child. So where is it? It has been known for over 2000 years that hemp seeds can reduce male sperm production by as much as 50%. Hemp and other herbal compounds have been used for male contraception with some success for Millennia. So why hasn’t modern science been working on a naturally derived compound for men to induce temporary infertility? I would argue that there is no incentive to do so. It has always been easier for the male dominated medical science profession to focus and experiment on Women than on Men. Research for Men has been more interested in improving erectile function, for which we now have several pharmaceutical alternatives. Sort of the wrong direction, wouldn’t you think? What we have been working on in the arena of Male contraception seems almost tailor made as a stalling tactic rather than a genuinely determined effort to offer men an effective contraceptive alternative. Science seems determined to follow a course of less productive investigation concerned with poor yield results from such techniques as altering the lipid metabolism of sperm with calcium channel blockers such as Nifedipine. Or working on pharmaceuticals that will block ejaculation. Also, male contraception research is often too involved in unnecessarily complex procedural alternatives. Such as injection of the vas deference with compounds like Styrene Maleic Anhydride to induce temporary sterility, that can later be washed out to restore fertility.

If the humble African Yam can be used in the production of estrogen compounds for female contraceptive pills why cannot we also look to nature for male contraception from plants that are already known to significantly reduce sperm production in their natural form? You would think this would be a no brainer. I mean COME ON! Get on the stick guys! In 5 years tops we could have a safe and effective male pill from natural plant based compounds. I’m totally ready for that. Bring it on! We can’t just sit back and allow society to consider that pregnancy, contraception, and abortion are exclusively women’s issues or concerns. There is no human reproduction without representative involvement of both sexes. This is a human concern; in this we are undivided in the most literal sense. Don’t let political representatives off the hook for this one. It seems we need to take this issue directly to men and change a societal mind set. We must all accept our responsibility here. These are Human issues.

As for the male birth control pill, it’s clear that medical science has a nasty case of being the naughty boyfriend. You know the guy who claims he meant to get a pack of condoms when he was at Walgreens this afternoon, but conveniently forgot to do so.

“Really, I just forgot. I really meant to do it, honest. We’re still going to have sex, right?”

~ anonymous.

Dave

Solidarity

I'm back from a my hiatus! My first post was published back in January and not too long after, Gov. Walker announced he would strip public employees of their rights as workers. The battle has taken me away from my other commitments these past few months because I work for a union that represents public employees in Wisconsin. It has been the fight of our lives and the sense of urgency and solidarity between unions and progressive community organizations has been incredible.

The week it all started, I received an email from both NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin expressing the immediate need for everyone to stand together against Gov. Walker and Republicans legislators.

Here's an excerpt from NPCW's email blast:

"I have an unusual, but absolutely critical, request of you today. We are asking you to join with us to support our Union brothers and sisters who face an unprecedented attack. NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin has never made an ask like this before, but the rights of Wisconsin citizens are in jeopardy.

"On Friday, we heard about Governor Walker's budget repair bill, including his plan to strip all rights of public employees to organize and bargain collectively. Walker's attack will impact ALL public employees on the state and local levels, including our teachers, nurses, child-care workers, public defenders, and thousands of other workers that provide the services we depend on.

"As reproductive rights advocates, we know that government should never be in the business of taking away people's rights. The Unions have long stood by NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin in our collective fight for progressive values. And the Unions were critical partners during our fight for health-care reform last year. Now, we must stand together with the Unions to protect working women, men and families."

Solidarity between those who advocate for workers' rights and those who advocate for reproductive rights has been crucial in more than just the fight for federal health care reform and the fight to save collective bargaining rights.

Just weeks ago, we saw a federal attack on women's rights when conservative politicians attempted to cut all funding for the vital health care services Planned Parenthood provides nationwide. And labor stepped up to stand with women.

I sincerely thank all those who have joined in the fight for workers' rights and women's rights. We can see firsthand how standing together can truly make a difference. Keep the pressure on! Our fight for basic rights is never over.

Book Review: The Girls Who Went Away

Baby Boomers might vaguely remember that one girl in their class. In the middle of the year, she suddenly disappeared for a couple months. The excuses for her absence were varied. "She's studying art in Paris." "She's on bed rest for mono." "She's visiting relatives in Florida." Whatever the reason for her absence, she'd come back to school as quickly as she left. Though she was gone for months, she was reluctant to talk about what she did on her fantastic adventures. Sometimes, she would barely be the same girl that she was before she left.

Ann Fessler explores their stories in The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden Story of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade. Between the end of WWII in 1945 and the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973, thousands of pregnant, unmarried teenaged girls were forced to give their babies up for adoption. Fessler, herself an adoptee, interviewed women about their experiences.

One of the first things that struck me was that this was a largely middle class phenomenon. Upper class girls came from families that could afford to pay a reputable doctor under the table for an abortion, or send their daughters on "vacation" to a country where abortion was legal. Lower class girls tended to come from communities where single mothers were common. They had no reputations worth losing. It was the middle class girls who had parents that could not afford to pay for abortions or lose their hard-earned status.

Many of these girls were sent to unwed mother homes. Others stayed in host homes and were treated as servants and free babysitters. Others were essentially prisoners in their own homes. One woman recounted how her parents forced her to never leave the house and avoid walking by windows when she was pregnant. When she went to the basement to get something and a neighbor dropped by unannounced, her mother locked her in the basement for two hours until the neighbor left.

Many of the women described this time as feeling like they were on an assembly line. The only direction to go was forward, and other people seized control of their lives. Their parents decided the girls were going to give up their babies for adoption, and the matter was settled. At the unwed mother homes, the girls were given almost no information on what was happening to their bodies, their legal rights after their babies were born, or resources that would help them if they wanted to raise the babies themselves. The girls were not treated as individuals, but rather conduits for giving babies to older couples. One woman was resistant to adoption until her counselor said, "One day, your son will be on the playground and another child will call him a bastard. Is that what you want?" The girl decided then that adoption was the better choice. Later in life, she joined a birth mother support group and found out that other girls had been told the same thing, literally word for word. The conversation that changed this woman's life had been nothing more than a script.

Quite a few woman faced lifelong problems as a result of their experience. Some decided never to have children again, feeling that it would be unfair to the child that they "gave up." Others had many more children to fill the void left by their first child. Some women entered abusive relationships, convinced that they didn't deserve anything better, while others had lifelong guilt and depression Health problems are rampant in women who were victims of the Baby Scoop Era. When looking at the psychological and physical problems experienced by these women, one can't help but draw a comparison to the anti-choice movement's (repeatedly disproven) claims that abortion causes health problems and depression. These birth mothers are experiencing real problems, but for the longest time they were denied the right to even acknowledge what they went through.

It's no contest--this is the saddest book I ever read. The stories are heartbreaking, and it makes me wonder how many women I encounter from that generation are carrying this pain inside of them. I have also learned that these unwed mother homes and strong-arm adoptions are not just the product of the past. According to Kathryn Joyce's article from The Nation, "Shotgun Adoption," many Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) have relationships with Christian adoption agencies and unwed mother homes that funnel women to these agencies. For example, the CareNet location in Madison is connected with Elizabeth House. The ultimate goal of the CPC model is not just to use lies and scare tactics to convince women not to get abortions, but to coerce women into to placing their babies for adoption. Christian adoption agencies such as Bethany Christian Services, the nation's largest adoption agency, have been accused of withholding information on the mother's legal rights regarding adoption, lying about the availability of open adoption and counseling, luring the mothers to give birth in states that restrict birth parent rights, and refusing to connect women with resources if they ultimately decide to raise the child. These agencies call the mothers "saints" for "doing what's best for your child," but when the mother raises objections to how she is treated, they respond, "Well you should have thought of that before you spread your legs."

We have an anti-choice, anti-contraception governor who is committed to removing the Family Planning Waiver. If he succeeds, he will ensure that more women will face unplanned pregnancies and be at the mercy of these organizations. More than anything, I finished The Girls Who Went Away with a renewed commitment to fight so that women can continue to have access to accurate, non-biased information for every possible sexual, reproductive, and parenting choice. It is through access and information that women will be best equipped to make the decisions that are best for them and avoid the injustice that has afflicted a generation.

What would it be like.

Seems no one has had much time to blog lately, as I’m sure we have all been preoccupied with the unprecedented attack on citizen’s rights here in Wisconsin.

We cannot allow ourselves to compartmentalize such attacks as unrelated. Stupak on steroids (HR3), Walker’s budget repair bill, Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 - one attack after another on America by conservative extremists. Using the economic crisis as an opportunity to further a political agenda, radical conservatives seek to extend their influence and power by imposing absurd, unnecessary, and extreme economic cruelties. None dare mention taxation of corporations and the rich, making them finally pay their fair share, to meet an economic crisis they created. Instead, we the common people are told we must again carry the burden of their debt. All the remedies proposed by these extremists accomplish nothing towards balancing budgets or mitigating the economic crisis. We are told we must be stripped of social programs that seek to improve conditions for the average American. Programs that reduce crime and poverty provide jobs and opportunity. We are told we must accept the devastation of public education. We are told we must sacrifice our most basic rights as citizens. Stripping this nation of all that is humane, decent and just will not improve our situation or moved us closer to economic recovery. So what is the real goal? The goal would seem to be the creation of an ignorant, easily controlled electorate economically contained by poverty without access to information other than official conservative propaganda.

Let us think for a moment and imagine what it would be like to NOT have this constant struggle with our own government simply to maintain our basic rights. What would it be like to be able to devote the time, energy, and money wasted countering such assaults, on dealing with the real issues that now demand our attention? Issues like our economic situation, the creation of sustaining employment for our people, improving public education and creating accessible higher education, the eradication of poverty and ignorance, developing sustainable lifestyles and protecting our environment.

By continually revisiting the same unnecessary power struggles the ignorant and greedy of our society are holding back the true potential of this nation. Holding back the evolution of our society towards the fulfillment of humanity’s great promise. The founding premise of our National Character: all our citizens enjoying social, political, and economic equality.

It must be clear even to the most disinterested observer that such attacks on the American people are part of a coordinated effort across the nation to further the consolidation of wealth and political power into the hands of an oligarchy of the privileged few. The painful imbecility of the conservative extremists, the absurdity of their wealthy masters’ flawed notions of humanity and government simply defy description. But it represents the most significant threat to our national security this country has ever faced.

It is time to work towards the passage of laws forbidding tampering with the function of democratic government by the wealthy and by corporate special interests. Forbidding the transmission of lies, innuendo and falsehood as news or campaign ads. We must halt, and reverse the consolidation of wealth and deny it a strangle hold on democracy.

Dave

WI Stands in Solidarity

Of all the opportunities I have had through my experience at UW-Madison, witnessing 13,000 outraged activists protest at the capital is one I will remember forever.

Governor Walker has proposed his Budget Repair Bill to address the large budget deficit incurred in previous years. I agree that changes are necessary, but the approach being taken is unfair to WI's middle class.

Vital services such as education, protection, and healthcare are all under attack in this proposed bill and I am proud that many people residing in WI are stepping up, many for the first time, and are asking for another option. This is not a partisan issue. This is an issue of WI public sector being asked, no, forced to take on more cuts, to make more sacrifices than their well off private sector counter parts are ever asked to take on.

I hope that everyone will take into consideration the effects this bill could have on the education of the children who are our future, the access to healthcare provided to us by Badgercare, the protection provided to us by our correctional facilities, and the future of this great state. Where will everyone go when WI becomes the backwards state?

I witnessed teachers plead for their students. I witnessed firefighters plead for their futures and their public sector colleagues. I witnessed students plead for their futures, their teachers, and their parents.

Solidarity. It moved me today. It invigorated my passion. It revived my spirit.

One attack after another....

It's been one attack after another. Relentless. Reprehensible. Repugnant.

By any adjective, the actions of the newly-elected Congressional representatives belie the reasons for which they stated they were running for office. Instead of fulfilling campaign promises to focus on jobs and the economy, there appears to be a lottery for the most outrageous and vicious plan to deny basic health care services, birth control and abortion services for the women of this county.

If these women get their services from such places as free clinics or Planned Parenthood, they are typically among the poorest. Preventing them from accessing birth control will keep them poor. That means their children will be poor. Children who grow up in poor families don't have the opportunities that children in better financed families have. Do the math.

In an economy like ours is now, making it difficult for women to access birth control is truly one of the most unjustifiable positions anyone can take. In addition to the affront against women making decisions about their own health care, it borders on economic terrorism. Providing birth control reduces the need for abortions. Providing basic, preventive health services are less expensive than restorative health services. Do the math.

And the idea of redefining rape to make it more difficult to get an abortion is also insane. Rape is always forcible. Why should women have to put themselves near death's doorstep to prove that they were raped?

And allowing hospitals to deny women a life-saving abortion? And preventing women from purchasing insurance that covers abortions even when they use their own money?

What next? How about something on jobs and the economy? Something that doesn't include keeping women and children in poverty. Something that won't drive this country into a poverty-ridden, third world country.

Where is the outrage?

Since the University of Wisconsin announced its intention not to continue with plans to provide second trimester abortion services at the Madison Surgery Center or an alternate location in Madison, the medical community has been eerily silent. Throughout the debate over whether or not to provide abortion services at the MSC, doctors and others in the medical profession spoke out in support of the plan. They stood with us, testifying to the need for this critical service.

Two years ago, the plan was approved. We waited. And waited. And waited. In May of last year, the UW announced that the MSC was not a suitable location and went to work finding an alternate site. Again, we waited. And waited.

The MSC never began providing the services. In December, shortly after the election of Governor Scott Walker and anti-choice majorities in the State Senate and State Assembly, the UW announced that it would not be moving forward with its plans, citing security concerns:

Monday's announcement ends that attempt, said UW Health spokeswoman Lisa Brunette. She said the surgery center "was really the only viable option within our system, and we have concluded that it cannot be secured to the extent necessary for patient safety and privacy."

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and other advocacy groups reacted immediately, expressing our disappointment and outrage that the UW and MSC let down the women of our community.

Subeck, of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, said most second-trimester abortions are performed when the woman is in medical danger or has learned that something has gone terribly wrong with the pregnancy. "I would have hoped (UW Health) would have continued its commitment to the entire spectrum of women's reproductive health," she said.

Outraged citizens spoke out through their letters to the editor, their blog posts, and even their Facebook pages. The community was outraged, but where were the doctors? The nurses? The medical students? The medical community as a whole has been eerily silent in response to this news.

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Dr. Doug Laube - a Madison physician who chairs the national group Physicians for Reproductive Choice - wrote a column calling on his colleagues to express their outrage that the UW and MSC let down the women of this community and left a gaping hole in the availability of reproductive health services with their decision.

“It is just appalling to me that there is not one lick of criticism out there from anybody who represents the physician practices in town,” says Dr. Doug Laube, a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Wisconsin, who was not involved with UW Health’s plans.

He calls the Dec. 13 decision a hypocritical one, counter to both UW Health’s claim to offer comprehensive women’s health services and an earlier vote by its board to offer the abortion services at the Madison Surgery Center, which is jointly owned by UW Hospital, UW Medical Foundation and Meriter Hospital.

We agree with Dr. Laube and join him in calling upon his colleagues to express their outrage. NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin is committed to ensuring the full range of reproductive health services is available to women in our state, but we cannot do it without the help of the medical community. We know that medical professionals in the Madison area are upset, outraged, and concerned for their patients who can no longer access this critical care. Now it is time to step up and let the University of Wisconsin and Madison Surgery Center know that they let the community down.

3am

So it’s 3 in the morning and I’m using this time to write, not having had a chance for the last week. Why 3am you ask? Why would a man with 2 toddlers not be sleeping at 3am when he knows he desperately needs that sleep? Because I am sick to death of evil lunatics forcing their way into political office rather than being arrested for treason or shuffled off to the mad house where they belong.

Yes, I refer to the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”. There is a good article in Mother Jones about this if you need an update.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-plan-redefine-rape-abortion

Among the more odious provisions of this ill conceived, poorly drafted, and vaguely defined act is a redefinition of rape! WHY would anyone wish to empower a rapist, you ask? Because if we can only redefine rape as something that is not a crime we can prevent women from having abortions! Bravo! And by that logic we could cure cancer by simply killing the patient, no more cancer, problem solved!

We currently have no federal (tax payer) funding for abortion, so any reasonably intelligent person made aware of this would probably ask why would we need a No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act now? The obvious answer is we don’t. This bill is only a political expedient. The people who proposed this bill know they cannot safely make any sort of direct challenge to Roe vs. Wade because if it were somehow over turned they would lose their political power base. This singular issue, the issue of abortion, consolidates and controls an otherwise disparate voting group who could not be unified by other means. Anti-choice politicians have to pretend like they’re doing something so they make these ill-conceived attacks as a show to their constituents that they’re going to deliver on their promise about fighting abortion. In my opinion, I don’t believe they want the bill to pass or they would have taken there time and done a better job on it. There will be greater political mileage for them if it doesn’t pass and they know this. When it doesn’t pass the anti-choice politicians can make other lame half- assed attempts and claim they’re still in the fight. Because the fight is all they have to offer. If the fight were ever over people might start paying attention to the fact that such individuals are dangerously ill equipped to govern and should never have been voted into office in the first place.

A little voice in the night just called to me to change a diaper. I went to her, changed that diaper, hugged her tight, gave her a kiss, managed to find her pacifier in the dark and put her back to bed. What sort of world will the irresponsibility of single issue voting offer her? When misogynistic people are placed in power, people who are willing to brutalize and endanger all our children with diminished rights, diminished protections under the law, we must ask the question: is our national interest served by this sort of unnecessary subterfuge? What is accomplished? Other than that the undeserving managed to gain power to line their pockets and the pockets of their wealthy masters. We as Americans and responsible voters cannot allow locale state or national elections to be viewed as a referendum on a single issue. The people we entrust with our power derived from our assent, our vote, will have a broad impact on our future beyond the limited scope of any single campaign issue. Depend upon it!

I am pro-choice

I am also pro-life. No, these two ideas aren't mutually exclusive. Let me explain:

I do not like these classifications for the abortion debate. Using the 'pro-life' name for the anti-abortion argument creates the idea that the other side is 'pro-death,' and that's not the case AT ALL. Advocating to keep abortion legal is only advocating for women's rights. Criminalizing abortion will not save lives, it will only take more lives. If someone has decided they are going to get an abortion, nothing is going to stop them, but eliminating safe, sterile facilities where women can go will cause them to turn to unsafe arenas, or 'back alley abortions.' More often than not, these procedures leave women sterile due to infection or scarring, and they can even kill the woman. Explain to me how a woman dying is pro-life.

Within this argument lies, for me, another issue: sex education. I do not think abstinence only education is at all helpful. All it does is teach kids that sex is bad, and that they should wait. Never in any of those conversations are kids actually taught about safe sex. They don't learn how to protect themselves from STIs, unwanted teenage pregnancies, HIV, etc. In my own experience, I came from a school district that didn't necessarily advocate for safe sex/sex education, but it wasn't completely abstinence only. We had our 8th grade health class that taught us about drugs and an overview of sexual diseases and contraception, but it wasn't until my sophomore year that I learned anything of value.

In my second semester that year, I was continuing with my Aerobics class, and one day a week we would take the day off from exercising and learn about healthy food choices, etc. One day, my teacher surprised us by bringing in a gynecologist to talk to us about contraception. She felt that because we were all there to learn how to take care of our bodies, we should have the knowledge to make safe choices for ourselves, and that included knowing about our options. We all got handouts with information regarding the most common types of contraception, from condoms to diaphragms to cervical caps to 'The Pill,' and the gynecologist even brought in a few examples and passed them around so we would know what they looked like. This was the first time, outside of lunch table conversations with my friends, that I'd actually learned something about my options regarding birth control.

I am pro-choice. I think a woman has a right to choose what happens to her body. I don't think anyone should be able to tell her what she can or cannot do. I think it's wrong when the ones making decisions about women's bodies are middle-aged (white) men who will never have to worry about getting pregnant. I think people need to be educated in regards to contraception before they become sexually active. I think it's complete idiocy to be pro-life and advocate for abstinence only education in schools...it's only going to make things worse in the end.

I am pro-choice, pro-life, pro-child, pro-woman.

Pre-Pregnant

I am getting married in the summer, so I am trying to get in as many doctors appointments as possible before then. While discussing this with my mother, we had the following conversation:

Mom: When you see your doctor, ask her about putting you on prenatal vitamins.

Me: . . . Why?

Mom: In case you get pregnant.

Me: I'm not planning on having kids for at least a couple of years.

Mom: But just in case.

Me: I'm on the Pill.

Mom: It's what they're recommending now, for all women who are sexually active, just in case.

Me: I really disagree with that reasoning.

Mom: You never know. Your Aunt X got pregnant with her son Y while she was using a diaphragm.

Though she is well meaning, my mother puts me between a rock and a hard place. If I don't go on prenatal vitamins, I must be a baby-hating monster. If I do go on the vitamins, I am contributing to a mindset where women's needs are pushed aside in favor of the needs of a fetus--a theoretical, non-existent fetus that I am doing everything to prevent.

Her recommendation is part of a growing trend in medicine. In 2006, a group of medical organizations released federal guidelines asking all women capable of conceiving "to treat themselves--and to be treated by the health care system--as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon." They wrote these guidelines on the grounds that half of all pregnancies are unplanned. If early prenatal care is better for preventing birth defects, then surely beginning it before the pregnancy starts is the best possible scenario. Some of the things they ask sexually active women do include:

• Take folic acid supplements or prenatal vitamins
• Stop smoking and avoid alcohol
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Keep chronic conditions under control
• Make sure vaccinations are up to date
• Avoid contact with lead-based paints and cat feces
• Avoid workplace hazards

These guidelines sound innocuous enough. Most of them are good guidelines for any adult, male or female, who wants to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I certainly agree that a woman should take prenatal vitamins and follow the other guidelines if she is actively trying to conceive. I have no problem with a doctor asking a female patient if she is planning on getting pregnant within the next year, and discussing the guidelines with her if she responds in the affirmative. I support healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.

The problem comes when the label of "pre-pregnant," and the guidelines that follow, are applied to every single woman at every single moment, without regard for the woman's health or autonomy. It leaves no room for a woman's actual level of sexual activity or her sexual orientation. It does not factor in whether the woman actually wants to get pregnant or the steps she's taking to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I've read stories of women who were writhing in pain in the emergency room, but were delayed medical care because they had to wait on the results of a hospital-administered pregnancy test. Women have been denied medication on the grounds that they are women of child-bearing years and the best medication available is one that can cause birth defects. In some of the stories I read, the only way the women were able to get the care they needed in a prompt manner was to say, "I am on birth control and if I am pregnant, I will have an abortion." Women's health care is being detrimentally effected in favor of the health of non-existent pregnancies. This treads very close to the worldview of the anti-choice movement. The "pre-pregnant" woman is just a vessel, with no needs unto herself and no worth other than her future childbearing ability.

Besides the way it complicates health care for women, the "pre-pregnant" guidelines can also have legal ramifications. What begins as a "guideline" can easily morph into an "obligation," which can eventually become law. There are already proposed laws and creatively interpreted laws in many parts of the country that limit the actions of pregnant women. Some past incidents include:

• In 2006, an Arkansas state representative proposed a law in his state legislature that would ban pregnant women from smoking.
• In Alabama, 35 women have been arrested for "chemical endangerment of a child" because they tested positive for drugs immediately after giving birth. Most of the babies were healthy and full term. Of the babies that did not survive, none of their causes of death were attributed to drugs. The original law was meant to apply to people who allow children to be around meth labs.
• In 2010, a pregnant Iowa woman was arrested for "attempted feticide" after falling down a flight of stairs and admitting to a health care official that she was originally ambivalent about keeping the pregnancy.
• In March 2010, the Utah state legislature passed a law that would allow up to a life sentence for a woman who has a miscarriage or stillbirth as a result of "reckless" behavior. After criticism erupted around the country, they changed the law to remove the word "reckless," but would still allow for the prosecution of women who commit "knowing" acts that can result in miscarriage or stillbirth.

If the medical establishment automatically assumes all women to be pregnant until proven not, such laws can inhibit the freedom of all women. They even open the possibility of more laws. Can all women be barred from smoking or drinking alcohol? Can women be denied drivers licenses, on the grounds that they might crash and harm a theoretical fetus? Can women be pushed out of certain occupations with "workplace hazards" that harm fetuses? Can women be forced to diet if they are overweight? This sounds like a situation out of 1984 or The Handmaids Tale, but it isn't so far fetched for women who are currently in jail for supposedly harming their pregnancies.

Even without the laws, these guidelines leave women open to judgement from the very medical professionals who are supposed to help them. Women, especially those with substance abuse issues, might avoid medical help out of fear that they will be accused of harming a potential pregnancy. (Note that in the above scenarios, women were reported to the police by health care workers.) These guidelines also ignore the class issues involved with women's health. Many women are unable to afford medical care for themselves, let alone prenatal vitamins for a non-existant pregnancy. They lack the time and money to eat healthy and exercise. They are in a position where they can't quit jobs that have "workplace hazards." These factors need attention so that women can become healthy for their own sake.

When I go to the doctor, I want my doctor to think about what is best for my health. With the "pre-pregnant" guidelines, the attention is no longer on me, but rather on a role I'm expected to fulfill. While I want what's best for my future children (again, when I decide to have them), it cannot come at the cost of the health, autonomy, and desires of women in general. Incidentally, if my mom wanted to scare me with the dangers of not taking prenatal vitamins immediately, she picked a bad example. My Aunt X's son Y grew up to be a doctor.

Bumper Sticker

From time to time we have all seen offensive bumper stickers. During our recent gubernatorial election I managed to see some that displayed an almost unbelievable level of willful ignorance. That species of shameful delusional rhetoric you would think people would want to keep to themselves rather than plaster on their vehicle. The sort of bumper sticker that puts a person’s fears and weakness out there for all to see.

Yesterday I saw something that for so many reasons shouldn’t have bothered me but still managed to. The slogan was simple. “YOU CANNOT BE CATHOLIC AND PRO ABORTION!“ Nothing so demanding that it couldn’t be easily dismissed as just another tactless missive.

What really began to bother me about it was the person behind the bumper sticker. Who was this person? Why did they feel the need to put this slogan on there SUV? It seemed to me that they were trapped by it, this fearful, unreasoning, brutal command. It is a truth that the violence of such slogans is directed inward, perhaps even more than outward.

As such it seems so unnecessary, so regrettable that any one would willingly make such a small and self-destructive world to inhabit. We most certainly do create our own realities, for what we are willing to believe about the world around us and what we put out in to the world will, by and large, be the measure with which the world repays us. In short the world and people will, for the most part, rise to our expectations.

As a Roman Catholic and father of two toddlers I represent living proof of at least the inaccuracy of the statement. I would argue that no one is Pro Abortion. The demands of humanity require our understanding, compassion, and fairness of thought and action. Neither legislation nor religious dogma can end abortion, but legislation can make abortion a safe option for those in need. It is a human imperative that if a woman is to be charged with bringing new life to this world then she must have that measure of fullest autonomy over her own body and its process. By her choice alone.

So why are so many people willing to live in that fearful, small place behind the bumper sticker? Choice is an integral component of women’s health, an acknowledgment of autonomy, and a measure of respect. I have two children to raise, children that were brought into this world in perfection. It shall be my care to insure they know the world for what it is, a place of immense beauty and complexity. No one can afford to waste their gifts or their time in this world behind the bumper sticker.

Dr. David Bowman

before the pill

My best friend in high school had three older brothers and one day I must have asked why they were so much older than she. Her story was that her dad's first wife had the three boys and got pregnant again. She could not handle another child financially or emotionally so she decided on a coat hanger abortion. She died from the infection and the three boys were living from one relative to another while their father worked and until he married again. They loved their new stepmother but this would never have to happend today because of all that planned parenthood has done. My daughter had a friend who was having sex and was only 16, so I told her to take her to planned parenthood for information. I knew I could not get involved. They went and it was a happy ending. Her friend got on the pill and about ten years later sent a birth invitation to my daughter. Their friendship had ended because of schools, etc. but she never forgot who helped her control her life. heleng

Three Sisters

HI. I am Frankie. I am 58. I have two sisters and two brothers. My sisters and I were born within a three and a half year time span of each other. We attended the same public schools and grew up in a very entrenched Catholic heritage that harkened back generations on both sides of our family. As adults, we found ourselves leading very different lifestyles and making very different choices and decisions. Among the three of us, one of us gave up a baby for adoption, one of us was treated for infertility and one of us had an abortion.

This is what being pro-choice means to me. 

It means that each woman, each family, has choices about family planning, pregnancies, unintended or intended. It means that these decisions are made by the individual, in consultation with their physicians, caregivers and other significant members of their families. It is not a decision dictated by government or religious doctrines.

Each of us may have made a different choice at a different time in our lives. But the point is that we had a choice, we evaluated those options and, based on our needs, situations and resources at the time, we made our decisions. And that's how I believe it should be.

Don't Just Treat the Symptom. Cure the Disease!

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, puberty hit me early and hard. My brother and I got our first pimples around the same time, only he was 16 and I was 10. I had premenstrual cramps that even four ibuprofen at a time didn't stop. My mood changed at the drop of a hat. My anxiety about my appearance took a hit when I found stray black hairs on my chin. It wasn't until high school, when I went 3.5 months in a row without getting my period--twice--that I realized something was very wrong. Several rounds of doctors visits revealed the cause. I had Poly-Cystic Ovary Syndrome, a condition in which the body produces too much testosterone. If left untreated, PCOS can cause infertility, heart disease, uterine cancer, and diabetes. I later learned that this condition is fairly common among American women.

My reproductive endocrinologist, an expert on PCOS, prescribed Yasmin, a type of hormonal birth control pill. It would regulate my hormones, ease my symptoms, and hopefully reduce my risk of developing worse complications. The Pill is a standard treatment for a variety of hormone imbalances.

A couple months after starting the Pill, I found out the disturbing fact that my family's health insurance was not covering it. My parents had to cover my necessary medical treatment out of pocket every month. This was a fairly large sum, since Yasmin was still new and did not have a generic version.

After about a year, my dad had good news. Our insurance would start covering the Pill--as long as they received a signed letter from my doctor stating that he was not prescribing it for contraceptive purposes. I was annoyed enough when our policy wouldn't cover the Pill at all, but what should have been good news instead left me angry. The insurance company didn't support a medication being used for it's intended purpose. I could be on birth control, as long as I wasn't using it for birth control! I knew that the insurance company would never get away with treating other medications in this way. They continued this requirement until then-governor Rod Blagojevich signed a state law requiring all insurance policies to cover birth control.

This was the incident that lead to me here, at 26, volunteering as an intern for NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. Reproductive health should be a medical issue, not a political one. It's not enough to make exceptions for conditions like mine. We need to ensure choice for all women. Whether a woman goes on the Pill for contraception or disease management, whether she wants to have an abortion or undergo fertility treatments . . . these choices should be hers to make under the guidance of a non-biased physician. As someone once said, politicians make lousy doctors.

Hey There Blog World

Hello NARAL supporters! I’m excited to begin blogging and sharing my thoughts with you especially in this new legislative session. Rather than going on about any particular topic, I’ll share with you a bit about myself and my interests in the pro-choice movement. My name is Victoria and I am a Junior at UW-Madison studying Community and Nonprofit Leadership as well as Gender and Women’s Studies. I have been volunteering with pro-choice organizations for over a year now and have definitely found my passion in doing so. Upon graduation I hope to secure a position in a nonprofit working towards reproductive justice, but we’ll see what opportunities arise!

I am known among my friends as being up front and honest about my feelings and perspectives, and I’m also known as the pro-choice advocate. Whether they look upon that favorably or not, I think they respect me for it, and I hope that my posts will at the very least, get you to think and respect my perspective. I welcome your comments and hope that we can all learn something in the process.

Finally, I am pro-choice for the families who are struggling to get by, the children who are craving attention but can’t seem to find it, the teens whom are still children trying to dealing with very adult situationst, and for the women who deserve their right to choose….but more elaboration on those thoughts will come at a later date. J

Getting real about abortion in Wisconsin

The Too Many Aborted campaign, sponsored by The Radiance Foundation and Pro-Life Wisconsin, features 13 billboards in Milwaukee with the messages "Black Children are in Danger" and "Black & Beautiful." The campaign positions adoption as the only option for unwanted pregnancies and accuses abortion clinics of having a secret agenda to eliminate African-American babies. Here's a look at the real numbers, issues and solution concerning abortion in Wisconsin.



The real numbers

PolitiFact Wisconsin analyzed Pro-Life Wisconsin's claim that in Wisconsin, "6.2 percent of the population is black yet 24 percent of all state abortions are on African-Americans," which wrongly compares the overall African-American population to that of African-American women of child-bearing age.

PolitiFact's research shows that in 2009:

• 88.3% of women ages 15 to 44 in Wisconsin were white and white women accounted for 69% of the abortions performed in the state.
• 7.5% of women ages 15 to 44 in Wisconsin were African-American and African-American women accounted for 24% of the abortions performed in the state.

PolitiFact concluded that "socioeconomic factors, rather than race, have been identified as key contributors to the higher abortion rate among black women."


The real issues
In a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel op-ed, Sarah Noble, Managing Director of Milwaukee's Reproductive Justice Collective, an organization led by women of color, responded to the billboards: "Black babies not only deserve to live; they deserve to live healthy lives in healthy families and in healthy communities. Ensuring the health of black babies means addressing the current state of black families: impoverishment, lack of education and joblessness, at crisis levels in Wisconsin."

Statistics from the op-ed:

• Milwaukee's poverty rate is the fourth-worst among the biggest cities in the nation.
• African-American males in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) have a 31% graduation rate, African-American females in MPS have a 46% graduation rate, and white males in MPS have a 66% graduation rate.
• In 2009, Wisconsin's unemployment rate was 9.4% overall and 33.3% among black males.
• In Wisconsin, a black baby is three times more likely to die before his or her first birthday than a white child. Moreover, Wisconsin's infant mortality rate is among the highest in the nation.

"These billboards- and the groups behind them- say and do nothing to address these dire disparities," said Noble. "Instead, they aim to distract us from addressing the structural, institutional, economic and political barriers that lead to poor health outcomes for black women and black babies."


The real solution

To decrease the need for abortion services, all women need access to reproductive health care including comprehensive sex education and contraceptives that prevent unwanted pregnancies.

"If you really care about shrinking the number of abortions, and if you care about women, then you'll be happy to give them the medicine that will prevent an abortion down the road," said Pema Levy on Change.org's Women's Rights Blog. "But it's not about abortion, it's about control. And the more they try to police women's bodies, the more they endanger women's lives."

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin's new blog!

We are excited to be launching our blog on NARAL Pro-Choice America's annual "Blog for Choice Day". On Blog for Choice Day, pro-choice bloggers across the country are asked to answer a question on their blogs. This year, the question is, "Given the anti-choice gains in the states and Congress, are you concerned about choice in 2011?"

The short answer to that question is that as the Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, I am always concerned about choice. Of course, it's not that simple. Our new Governor and his colleagues in the State Legislature pose the single biggest threat to choice in Wisconsin in a generation.

Already, anti-choice legislators are threatening to ban insurance coverage for abortion - even in private plans paid for with our own money - under Wisconsin's implementation of federal health care reform. Despite the success of the recently passed Healthy Youth Act, they wish to go back to the days of ineffective abstinence-only sex education for our youth. Other prevention bills implemented last year - such as Contraceptive Equity and Prescription Protection - are at risk of repeal, and Governor Walker has promised reductions and roll-backs in our state's Badger Care and Family Planning Waiver programs. While serving in the Legislature, he even tried to defund family planning service providers like Planned Parenthood.

Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Anti-choice groups are lobbying for legislation that would force a woman seeking an abortion to view an ultra-sound against her own will, and they are petitioning their supporters to push the Legislature to move forward a so-called personhood amendment that would give rights to a fetus. With anti-choice extremists in control of the Governor's office and both houses of the State Legislature, the possibilities are endless.

So in response to the Blog for Choice Day question, yes, I am concerned - even alarmed - but not defeated. The election that put these anti-choice extremists in office was not a mandate on abortion. Wisconsin has faced significant economic challenges, and these newly elected officials promised economic development and jobs. The majority of Wisconsinites are pro-choice, and we will be there to remind Governor Walker and our legislators that they were elected on these promises, not to take away our fundamental reproductive freedom. Despite our vigilance, we may lose some battles along the way, but we will not be defeated.

Our newly elected leaders are poised to move forward with their extreme anti-choice and anti-woman agenda. Each time anti-choice legislation is introduced, we will be there to remind them that not a single job is created by meddling with our uteruses. We will be there fighting for our rights every step of the way. And we will be tracking every bill, recording every vote, documenting every anti-choice action, and preparing for pro-choice victory in the 2012 election.