RH Reality Check

safercampus: Rape predates mini-skirts.

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:43:46 -0400

Rape predates mini-skirts.

My Feminism: What if your mother aborted you?

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:51:50 -0400

My Feminism: What if your mother aborted you?:

my-feminism:

I hate this stupid argument I love my mother, and I would never wish an unwanted pregnancy on her. If my mother was forced to go through with a pregnancy that she didn’t want, just so I was born, that would be awful. That would mean that I was a punishment. That would mean that my mother suffered…

This, up there.

I’ve had many problems, amongst them I have also felt guilty for being born because there were times I thought I ruined what was considered a glorious future for my parents. What they got instead was me.

School biology lessons can be fun and disgusting as well. What I learned in my biology lessons at school in the beginning of my teenage years was that it was possible for women not to have children and that there are many reasons why people make choices the way they do.

My parents were young when I was born, in the age where college and parties are considered more important. For years I felt bad and accused myself of ruining my parents lives, because I thought they had to have me when instead they could have gone ahead to achieve what they had wanted and planned. Who knows what would have been if I were not born? I tormented myself for years, shed endless tears and had suicidal thoughts, because after learning how young they had been, how they had married because of me, I thought they were forced to become parents.

I am lucky and I love my parents for who they are, what they have done for me and my mother is the best in the world. However, I never ever want any other person to feel like this. I thought that my parents were forced to have me, while they accepted me as their future child and had me and loved me and gave me everything in the world. What about those kids and teenagers and adults whose parents really never wanted them and who know that? Living with that knowledge is horrible, it can leave you unimaginable and unseen scars and while there are plenty of people who simply choose not to think about it, there are also plenty of those who blame themselves.

My incredible mother made a decision that effectively changed her life and she is very happy. She never considered adoption or termination, the moment she knew she was pregnant, she wanted to have me.

But not all women are like that. People see adoption as a way out, “if you don’t want your child, someone else will”. How many kids are there in this world, in orphanages and in abusive foster homes, because nobody wants them? The biggest number of adopted children are babies, infants who will have no recollection of their parentage, names, addresses etc, they are, in effect, like white sheets of paper, ready to be written on - new history, new name, new parentage.

I respect people and their choices. I respect someone’s religion and someone else’s atheism. I respect the Jehova Witnesses who refuse of blood transfers, because it is against their faith. I respect Catholics, who are against abortions, because it is against their faith. However, just as I respect your values as a person, my values as a person should be respected too. Adoption is an option, just because it exists does not mean YOU have to use it, but just because it exists, does not also mean YOU have to ban abortion for everyone.

^^ beautiful

righttochoose: Made in response to this way better.

Sat, 18 May 2013 20:09:05 -0400

righttochoose:

Made in response to this

way better.

makes sense.

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:17:35 -0400

makes sense.

"The social conservatives that dominate the anti-choice movements are generally not supporters of the..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:26:00 -0400

“The social conservatives that dominate the anti-choice movements are generally not supporters of the kinds of social programs that would actually increase services to low-income women, make workplaces more family-friendly, and expand access to reliable contraceptive methods in underserved communities. If Rue and his cohort really wanted to help women emotionally, they would address the reasons why women choose abortion in the first place. But since that would mean examining the often-complicated reality of womens lives and taking meaningful steps to improve those lives, the anti-choice activists have instead chosen to cast abortion as the beginning and end of a woman’s problems, and they point to any evidence of mixed feelings or regret as a reason to ban abortion for all women.”

- Sarah Erdreich, “Generation Roe” (via bed-legs)

provoice: I’ve seen so much anti-choice propaganda on my news...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:34:59 -0400

provoice:

I’ve seen so much anti-choice propaganda on my news feed lately - so I decided to change my cover photo to this.

Here’s to women!

love it!

Photo

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:43:53 -0400

Photo

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:51:57 -0400

This is not a famous picture, but it should be. Forty years ago,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:01:20 -0400

This is not a famous picture, but it should be. Forty years ago, the March 22, 1973 issue of Jet magazine featured Dr. T.R.M. Howard and a staffer attending a prostrate female patient on its cover, all under a yellow headline: “Legal Abortion: Is it Genocide or Blessing in Disguise?” This remarkable image reportedly depicts preparations for one of the first legal abortions in Illinois (though it could also have been staged).

Just two months after the Supreme Court legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade decision and a week after Illinois OKed the procedure on its soil, Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason (or T.R.M.) Howard began performing legal abortions at his Friendship Medical Center in Chicago. According to the accompanying feature story, Black and white women alike jammed the clinic’s waiting room and phone lines. Outside, Jesse Jackson—once a protégée of Howard’s—picketed and called abortion Black genocide.

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:09:02 -0400

stfuprolifers: nezua: theuppitynegras: norttron: fuckyeahmarx...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:17:33 -0400

stfuprolifers:

nezua:

theuppitynegras:

norttron:

fuckyeahmarxismleninism:

Philadelphia: High school students walk out of class and march to City Hall to protest severe budget cuts and planned school closings, May 9, 2013.

The budget cuts are absolutely horrific. Here are some of the proposed changes:

Schools with more than 1,000 students would no longer be required to have librarians or librarian assistants.

Schools would no longer be required to have counselors, and counselors’ caseloads would no longer be capped.

Teachers could be assigned to unlimited classes outside their subject area, and high school teachers could be assigned an extra class without pay. There would be no limit on amount of consecutive time taught in a school day.

There would be no limit on class size

The district would no longer be required to provide copy machines, or “a sufficient number of instructional materials and textbooks.”

Counselors would no longer be guaranteed to have rooms with privacy and confidentiality, a telephone, a locked filing cabinet and a door.

There’s more here.

notice most of the posters are children of color

I just want you to notice

USA. USA. USA.

It’s time to stop obsessing with fetuses and start caring about the actual children who need our help.

alloutorg: To celebrate today, the International Day Against...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:13:10 -0400

alloutorg:

To celebrate today, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the United Nations has a new video to boldly declare: “LGBT rights are human rights”.

So glad to see our work with the Purpose Foundation and the U.N. sweeping the globe!

Yes, Abortion Is a Women’s Issue, and Yes, More Male Allies Are Welcome

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:59:00 -0400

Further, sexist assumptions about women’s role in reproduction are at the core of other oppressions women face. Rape culture is intertwined with ideas that men are irresistibly driven to sex, that women are submissive sexual objects to be conquered, that women are either sluts or prudes. Lack of family supports in the workplace, from paid sick days to paid family leave, are tied with exclusionary and outdated middle-class white assumptions that there will be a woman in the home to take care of the family, and discrimination in pay, promotion, and leadership is underpinned by assumptions that men are primary breadwinners. Pretending that social discrimination against women is not linked with sexual discrimination against women, which can therefore be ignored, may feel “less controversial” but it’s not going to get us anywhere.

When men are quoted in the media five times more often than women on the topics of abortion and birth control, we are simply not ready to move abortion into a post-gender framework that declares abortion is “not a women’s issue.” In particular, it seems that society has a great deal of resistance to putting younger women and women of color, not mutually exclusive categories, at the center of reproductive rights conversations.

While we need more men, more LGBTQ people, and more of everyone taking leadership in the reproductive rights movement, those most directly affected by abortion restrictions—younger women and women of color—need more focus, not less. Turn on the television, and it’s not uncommon to see a white man opposing abortion rights and, if a pro-choice woman is included at all, she is often white and past reproductive age.

Within the abortion rights movement, there is some resistance to having the most directly affected lead the message in a way that doesn’t seem to be paralleled in other human rights movements, including LGBTQ movements and civil rights movements. Some take offense when it is suggested that more younger women and women of color should help lead. This is something that I hope men will keep in mind when taking on leadership roles in the movement. It is possible to be a loud ally and also be an ally who works to ensure more young women and women of color are included, and your sisters need the help.

Do we need more men to fight for reproductive and sexual rights on their own terms? Do we welcome more men to fight for abortion as human rights issues, public health issues, and women’s issues? Is it cool if those men want to call themselves “bro-choice”? The answer is an enthusiastic yes.

transclan: Completely inspired by this post. Stats source

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:26:04 -0400

transclan:

Completely inspired by this post.

Stats source

Do Not Be Fooled by Cutesy Rhetoric on Comp Time

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:34:59 -0400

Do Not Be Fooled by Cutesy Rhetoric on Comp Time:

workingamerica:

Trying her best to sound like a Hallmark card, Rep. Virginia Foxx argued on a local North Carolina news station in favor of a bill that would end overtime pay for hourly workers as we know it: “It’s important to have enough money from your paycheck,” she told WFMY News, “but money can’t buy time. Many parents would like to have the time with their children.”

While the bill, the “Working Families Flexibility Act,” sounds like it gives you more time, here’s what it actually delivers: an interest-free loan to your employer, and a few vacation days that your employer has complete control over.

If you’re an hourly worker, scheduling is a huge issue. And while the idea of time off in lieu of time-and-a-half overtime pay sounds tempting, this bill does not resolve any problems you may have with your schedule. The bill clearly states that employers can deny requests for time off if it is not made “within a reasonable period” or if your time off “unduly disrupts the operations of the employer.”

Rep. Virginia Foxx is right about one thing: Many parents would like to have more time to spend with their children. But under the Orwellian-named “Working Families Flexibility Act,” your boss still decides when you can take that time and when you can’t. Meanwhile, he or she can work you 50 or 60 hours a week and pocket the overtime you would have otherwise received.

Yes, the option of overtime instead of comp time still remains. But there is nothing stopping your boss from treating you differently (giving you a bad schedule, straight-up firing you) if you take that option. “The worker shouldn’t have to have that sort of pressure on them,” said Catherine Medlock-Walton, our Member Coordinator in North Carolina.

So don’t be fooled by this talk of “family” and “children” from politicians like Rep. Foxx.

If they truly cared about our families, they wouldn’t block bills allowing workers to earn sick paid days, and take time off to care for a sick child.

If they truly cared about our families, they wouldn’t oppose increases in the minimum wage, so parents wouldn’t have to work two or three low-wage jobs in order to care for their children.

And if they truly cared about our families, they would not have voted 33 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which vastly improves the ability of parents and children alike to afford health insurance and not be denied for preexisting conditions.

There truly are pieces of legislation which would help working families have flexibility. Unfortunately, and confusingly, the so-called “Working Families Flexibility Act” is not one of them.

Pressure is mounting on Capitol Hill for a meaningful answer to...

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:44:29 -0400

Pressure is mounting on Capitol Hill for a meaningful answer to the crisis of sexual assault in the U.S. military. In response, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) hosted a press conference Thursday to promote legislation that would remove from the chain of command in the nation’s armed forces the reporting and adjudication of sexual crimes, along with other felonies that are not specifically military in nature.

Gillibrand also introduced her audience to three military veterans who said they suffered punishment from the military when they reported having been the victims of sex crimes perpetrated against them by their comrades.

Jennifer Norris, a former sergeant in the Air Force Reserve, was accompanied to the press conference by a service dog who, she says, assists her with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) she experiences because of assaults by four different perpetrators during her military career. (You can read her harrowing story here.) Norris’ military career ended, she writes, when her security clearance was revoked for having a PTSD diagnosis. Today she works as a victim advocate at the Military Rape Crisis Center, a non-profit organization that offers support to those who suffer sexual abuse while serving in the military.

As she sat in the front row at the press conference, Norris’ eyes began to overflow with tears, causing Sen. Barbara Boxer, who was then at the podium, to remark, “I hope those are tears of hope.”

Norris affirmed that they were, saying that she was moved because she never thought she’d see the day when such as change as that proposed by Gillibrand could take place.

Worry About Your Own Uterus: forthecatholicgirls: Sometimes, what bothers me the most about the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:43:55 -0400

Worry About Your Own Uterus: forthecatholicgirls: Sometimes, what bothers me the most about the...:

forthecatholicgirls:

Sometimes, what bothers me the most about the abortion debate is the people who talk like they know everything about abortion without having ever walked into a Planned Parenthood or listened to women talk about their experiences or researched unbiased information about the various abortion procedures. I wish everyone could spend a day as a clinic escort or a volunteer on a hotline or just talking to women and abortion providers instead of assuming they know all there is to know.

new-ways-to-complain: conservativegirlonpolitics: That was the...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:51:40 -0400

new-ways-to-complain:

conservativegirlonpolitics:

That was the most informative thing I have ever been told by a duck

And I have been told a lot of things by ducks.

In New Interview, Gabriel Gomez Again Does Not Clarify Views on Reproductive Rights

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:31:00 -0400

On the failed Blunt Amendment of 2012 that would have allowed secular employers to exclude contraception and other services covered by third-party health insurance plans to employees and dependents, Gomez told the Globe, “Honestly, I haven’t read the Blunt Amendment, so it’s hard for me to go yea or nay without reading the full Blunt Amendment. That’s part of the reason why these guys and women down there should read these whole things. … I’m happy to look at it.”

When further questioned, he said, “Oh, is this like the Catholic Church and all? Yeah, I don’t believe the Catholic Church—or any faith, any organization like that—should have to do something that goes against their doctrine.”

The Blunt Amendment went far beyond allowing religious or religiously affiliated institutions to refuse contraceptive coverage, for which the Obama administration has repeatedly crafted exclusions and compromises regarding third-party health insurance plans used by their employees and dependents. The Blunt Amendment would have made into law the opinion of, among others, the general counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Anthony Picarello, who last year suggested that even if he were running a Taco Bell he should be legally empowered to stop employees from accessing contraception without a co-pay.

choiceusa: When violent masculinity goes unchecked, it’s really...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:09:51 -0400

choiceusa:

When violent masculinity goes unchecked, it’s really a failure of leadership. This must watch TED talk will explain why. #BroChoice