Also Effective Immediately: Abortion

Re: Karen Handel Exits Susan G. Komen: The Resignation Letter

I would guess Karen Handel’s about to go tell breast cancer’s secrets downstream where they don’t cry because they’re sociopathic; and live lies; and worship poppas, but their toilets do flush.

In week’s review, it’s endearing to watch people stand for accessible health care. Hundreds of thousands of patients remembered their roots and paid forward. Facebook blew up with hot pink everything. Top news lines questioned the scape-goating of Planned Parenthood health centers*. Mayor Bloomberg wrote a fatty check.

Meanwhile, most Abortioneers just kept working. Their donations made daily, care of their modest paychecks and additional hoops they navigate to stay safe (see also: last week's Staying Afloat ). It’s nice to know we have Planned Parenthood Federation of America to rally the country and collect the support, but victories and non-victories aside, we’re still hoping for the love for abortion.

Bright Light of Hope: On Prop 8 Decision, we love when people are seen as people

*Just in-case you forgot:

Susan G. Komen Idiots

Seriously, this Susan G. Komen stuff is offensive and crazy. So many of us have dealt with breast cancer first hand. My grandmother died from breast cancer. Even had a double mastectomy, but that ugly cancer spread to her lungs. A friend from high school, in her 20's, died from breast cancer. I'm sure most of you can relate.

Why the fuck Susan G. Komen would ever try to defund any organization that helps detect breast cancer, is beyond me. Beyond all of us. And we all know there is no correlation between breast cancer risk and abortion. Even the CDC and WHO...oh, and the National Cancer Institute have said so. RH Reality Check's Editor-in-Chief, Jodi Jacobson, wrote a great piece here. What's uber scary about this, is that she points out that they've hired individuals who are blatantly anti-abortion and politicize abortion themselves. Like their new VP who was quoted writing on her campaign blog (oh, and she was endorsed by fucking Sarah fucking Palin), "I will be a pro-life governor who will work tirelessly to promote a culture of life in Georgia.... I believe that each and every unborn child has inherent dignity, that every abortion is a tragedy, and that government has a role, along with the faith community, in encouraging women to choose life in even the most difficult of circumstances.... since I am pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood." Her name is Karen Handel and is the former pro-life gubernatorial candidate for Georgia. Seriously? Read more here.

I'm so frustrated by all this fucked-up bullshit, that I can hardly write straight about it. There will be better articles than mine. And Vegan Vagina wrote a very good one yesterday. I used to feel good when I'd buy products that went to support the Susan G. Komen foundation. Fuck that shit now. I will refuse to support them in any way.

Screw 'em.

Extra Extra Read All About It: Pinkwasher screws over Planned Parenthood

You all read the news yesterday, right? It was all over facebook and the blogs and I even received a "personal" email from Cecile Richards about it. Well, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, you can get caught up here at Slate or here at Planned Parenthood

I have felt for years that Komen is one of the worst offenders when it comes to Pink Washing. They seem to be willing to slap a pink ribbon on just about any marketable product, regardless of its health benefits. I have seen cookies, makeup, Mikes Hard Lemonade, propane trucks, etc etc the list goes on and on. I remember a few years ago when the Komen KFC chicken bucket came out. I am still so disgusted every time I see that image (hence, I did not post it here...but feel free to google "komen KFC"). I'm over Komen's bullshit pinkwashing and their bullshit politics. If you want to help women then help women. It is that simple. Now leave us alone and let us figure out how to deal with this gaping hole in preventative services that you have created.

Please please please consider donating to support Planned Parenthood and the great work they do. This is from Planned Parenthood:

Over the past five years, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation funds have enabled Planned Parenthood health centers to provide nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and referrals for more than 6,400 mammograms. These cancer detection and prevention programs saved the lives of women who often had nowhere else to turn for care.

Now, after facing criticism from anti-choice, anti-women's health groups, the Komen Foundation has decided to stop supporting women seeking care at Planned Parenthood health centers. We are determined to make sure that these women can continue to get the care they need — and, as always, that means we are counting on you.

Please make your emergency contribution today to help us defend access to care and continue to protect and promote women's health.

Click here to donate

P.S. What are some of the most ridiculous forms of pinkwashing people have seen? Please share in the comments!

Please shut up so we can actually talk

Sometimes anti-abortion spokespeople act like it's huge news or a total outrage that abortion providers and abortion-rights advocates are hesitant to discuss flaws in their colleagues, partners, or movement. "See," the antis say -- and you can almost hear their crossed arms and satisfied smirk -- "They're only worried about protecting themselves, even if it means protecting their predatory, dangerous, greedy peers." And anti-abortion "activists" are constantly manufacturing problems to "investigate" and "expose" as well -- like when Lila Rose tries to prove that Planned Parenthood staff protect child traffickers, when actually they're telling the fake traffickers that young women can receive free checkups there (true), and then alerting the police (appropriate). 

In such an atmosphere, where tapes are heavily edited and even simple statements get twisted to mean something else entirely, is it any wonder that we fear perverse or disproportionate consequences, from antis and employers alike, if we speak up about the non-manufactured problems that do exist? 

Don't misunderstand: all of us, pro- and anti-choice, want dangerous abortion practices or abusive providers to be brought to light. But those are few and far between, way rarer than anti press would have us believe. So we have to spend our time dissecting what's real and what's BS, and meanwhile, there are more subtle issues that can't take stage, like "I prefer X style of abortion care provision while the only clinic in town provides it like Y," or "My organization has a fantastic mission but terrible leadership," and so forth. Stuff that I really want us to work on. Stuff that would move abortion care from "widely safe, usually decent, sometimes wonderful" to "uniformly excellent." 

I won't give a million more examples right now, but I'm working on it. But if, for example, you want to know why it's taken me weeks to draft (and months to conceptualize) a critique of Planned Parenthood's current position in our field, all you have to do is take a gander at shit like this: 

"AT LAST!! Former Planned Parenthood Director and "Employee of the Year" to Reveal Abortion Chain's WEAK LINK!"

Sweet Tooth Sez Who?

Check out this REALITY-BASED pie chart of services offered by Planned Parenthood. Nom Nom (we're still hungry)

Donate to Planned Parenthood in John Boenher's Name

If you haven't heard about the Republicans' attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, you can read about it here. In a nutshell, they are using the argument that since some Planned Parenthoods offer abortion services (even though no federal dollars are used for abortions or abortion related care), the federal dollars that Planned Parenthood does receive and use (for STD, cervical cancer, breast cancer screenings, etc) are thus tainted by affiliation.

It is perfectly ridiculous and complete bullshit. All they are doing is disenfranchising millions of women and men from important health services.

In an effort to combat this, a wonderful movement has been started.

Donate to Planned Parenthood in John Boehner's name. You can donate as little as $5. The fun part: when you do you, John Boehner will receive a card in the mail letting him know a contribution was made to Planned Parenthood on his behalf. Hee hee hee!! They have a page set up on Facebook as well to help track how many people have participated.

I think this is a great idea not only to support Planned Parenthood, but also to let the Speaker of the House know that you do not agree with his policies. Every little bit makes a difference! Think -- if every person who has used Planned Parenthood services donated $5 in Boehner's name, he would get MILLIONS of cards. The movement would surely gain traction in the media, and help demonstrate that American citizens want and need Planned Parenthood services.

Other things you can do to help out Planned Parenthood at this time:

1. Sign their petition to let House Reps and Senators know that you do not support HR1
2. Share your story about how Planned Parenthood provided a service for you in a time of need.

The fact of the matter is, this legislation has already passed in the House and the best way to ensure it does not pass in the Senate is to make your voice heard. As the saying goes: Well-behaved women rarely make history and women who don't speak up for their right to health care will invariably get it taken away.

Also, I made this:

In case you missed it...

Congresswoman Speier stood up in protest of the Pence Amendment and shared her own abortion story.



It was clear from this video that Speier was going to stand up for Planned Parenthood but was not going to share her own abortion story. But, I am so glad she did. If we want Planned Parenthood to survive, women and men need to speak up and tell their own stories about how important Planned Parenthood has been to them in their lives.

And remember, this amendment takes away funding for everything but abortion (thanks Hyde Amendment). So those ever so important cancer screenings, STD screenings, women's health exams and birth control counseling.

Thank you Congresswoman Speier for being so brave and telling your story! I hope more women and men will stand with you and tell theirs.

Now that this has passed in the House, call your Senators and tell them to vote NO on the Pence Amendment!

I stand with Planned Parenthood.

Here We Go Again

After attemping to redefine rape such that women who were not beaten during a rape did not "count" as being raped, Republicans have continued to attack women's rights. They are currently attempting to defund Planned Parenthood of their federal funding and/or remove all federal funding from the Title X program.

There are two current plans -- one, introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), would make any organization that provides abortion services ineligible for Title X funding. The other plan suggests stripping Title X of all federal funding, which would put Planned Parenthood out of business in the process (Planned Parenthood received $16.9 million of Title X funding in 2009).

Their main arguments are that 1) taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for abortions and 2) this will help cut the budget deficit.

Do you know much money of the $327 million Title X Family Planning funds is currently used to finance abortions or abortion-related services? ZERO DOLLARS. Planned Parenthood does not use any of their federal dollars toward abortions or abortion care (In fact, abortions make up less than 3% of their total revenue). That's because IT IS ALREADY ILLEGAL for them to spend Title X funds on abortion services or abortion-related services.

So, Rep. Pence should sleep better tonight knowing that this whole time Planned Parenthood is NOT using federal funds for abortions.

Which raises the question -- what do Planned Parenthood and other Title X Organizations use their federal funding for?

Birth control services
Birth control counseling
STI testing
STI treatment
PAP smears
HPV tests
Breast cancer screenings
Female infertility screening and referral
Safer sex counseling
Treatments to prevent cervical cancer (colposcopy, cryotherapy, and LEEP)
Colon cancer screening
Erectile dysfunction services, including education, exams, treatment, and referral
Male infertility screening and referral
Menopause management
Routine physical exams
Testicular cancer screenings
Prostate cancer screenings
Parental education classes
Urinary tract infections testing and treatment
Vasectomy

The people who use Title X Organizations are generally low-income, though it is estimated 5 million men and women used Title X services in 2008 alone. So, the Republicans first argument is completely null and void, because no Title X funding is used for abortions!

By wiping out Title X funding, Republicans are ironically going to increase the abortion rate, since they will be disenfranchising millions of women and their partners from health care and birth control access. More unintended pregnancies = more abortions.

Secondly, this cut will DO NOTHING to help our $1.5 TRILLION budget deficit. $327 million / $1.5 trillion = 0.02%. This coming after a huge wave of tax CUTS Republicans held the House hostage for.

Even more ironic, cutting Title X funding will actually cost taxpayers MORE in the end. In November of 2006, the Guttmacher Institute released a study which indicated that for each dollar invested in Title X, approximately $3.80 was saved. This is because Title X programs emphasize preventative care. Guttmacher suggested that doubling funding would save the country $800 million dollars because it would prevent 244,000 unplanned pregnancies. So, if the Republicans really wanted to save the country money in the long run, they should actually support Title X programs.

Of course, none of the reasons they are providing are an approximation of the truth. The real truth -- as fucked up and illogical as it seems, is that Conservatives do not want women to have access to family planning and reproductive health care.

We encourage you to spread the word about this messed up movement and let your representatives know that you do not support this bill. The negative press surrounding their attempt to redefine rape got them to drop it, maybe we can do the same with this. Here's one for Planned Parenthood.

Abortion Clinic "Investigations"

I am so tired of the "investigations" that anti-abortion activists do to make clinics look bad. They set up a crazy situation to try to trap people. Let's take the most recent stunt at a Planned Parenthood in New Jersey. If you were the clinic worker, and a man came into the clinic and was asking questions about how to help minor prostitutes get abortions, what would you do? What would you say? The particular worker in this situation was fired. Maybe she shouldn't have advised this man how to avoid having reports made with CPS because of legal issues. Ultimately her job is to help these girls, right? Help them get abortions. Is it wrong that she was trying to do that? I don't think so.

These anti-abortion activists aren't doing anything for the women and girls they purport to be helping. If they truly cared, they would help women who want to keep their pregnancies. They would help those women get prenatal care and get diapers, clothes, and formula once they're born. Are you doing that Lila Rose? How about you Jill Stanek? If you care, channel your efforts into helping those that are already here and are struggling.

It's like a friend of mine once said, "If you're pre-born, they want to "help" you. If you're post-born, you're screwed."

What coffee and abortion have in common

I don't quite understand the obsession with Planned Parenthod. I LOVE Planned Parenthood. I have friends who have been staff and patients of Planned Parenthood, I have a Planned Parenthood T-shirt, I refer clients to Planned Parenthood, and I would gladly submit my resume to Planned Parenthood. The thing about Planned Parenthood is that it has, at least among people I know, become the generic name for "abortion clinic." Dear friends of mine love and support the work that I do, and they even put out calls for support of abortion. But those calls for support always seem to say, "Make a donation to Planned Parenthood!" "If I won the lottery, the first place I'd give to is Planned Parenthood." They know where I work, and it happens to be an independent abortion clinic. An independent clinic that doesn't receive government funding and that always welcomes donation and support, especially in this economy. And I know of plenty of other similar clinics that have had to close because of a lack of funds.

What I'm saying is that if your BFF worked at Independent Coffee Beanery, would you really suggest that Starbucks needed the money more? That's actually not the best analogy because Planned Parenthood isn't a corporate behemoth, and I respect Planned Parenthood and I do want them to benefit from donations...but sometimes, I want my little clinic that could to benefit from some cash money here and there. (I might be jealous of Planned Parenthood, but I'm also human and I heart my clinic.)

So if you're a little flush or if your rich pro-choice aunt wants to contribute to the cause, maybe think about checking FAN or Abortion Clinics Online for contact info of lesser-known but super-important clinics in your area that might need a little help, especially in this political and economic climate (Also, think about patronizing your independent coffee shop.)

Another One Bites the Dust: Feminist Clinic in Washington State Closes

We need to expand access to abortion services. We all know this. So, the question may now be, within our own Abortionland, what exactly does expanded access mean? How can abortion access expand without crushing little, struggling clinics? Is it even possible for different service delivery models (hospitals, Planned Parenthood, etc.) to expand without hurting independent clinics? And if possible (which I believe it, of course, is), is it realistic? Will providers set aside competition for altruism (increased access)? And at the risk of sounding cynical, should they set aside competition? And....are independent, feminist clinics now obsolete?

These questions are – hopefully – being asked by people besides me. You’ve probably heard all the buzz about another feminist abortion clinic closing down: Cedar River Clinics’ Yakima site (one of three in Washington State) just closed down last week after 30 years. Let me say that again: after 30 years.

I read about this closure on RH Reality Check’s site here. It’s a lovely tribute to the Yakima clinic which appears to have served women from all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana). The closure also has created a big hoopla – a controversy even – because Cedar River Clinics points the finger directly at Planned Parenthood as the reason for their closure! (Ballsy, I know!) The comments on the article obviously get very feisty. (Pretty fun to read if you’re in the mood for feistiness!)

It seems like there is this clear divide, an us versus them between some independent clinics and Planned Parenthood. If you’re not up on the debate, the issue seems to be the apparent recent Planned Parenthood decision to expand all their abortion services… even in areas where there are already providers. It’s pretty obvious there are many who are uncomfortable with this pointing of fingers, saying that by pointing fingers at Planned Parenthood, abortioneers are unnecessarily feeding into all the negative media that the antis put out against them. (After all, Planned Parenthood does do a lot of good work.) Well, on this blog, we pride ourselves in talking about the things that are hard to talk about. We speak the unspeakable – the unpopular, even – at the risk of antis twisting it however they will (they’ll always twist things around).

Let’s say the independent clinics out there are right: Planned Parenthood plays a role in closing down little clinics (not intentionally, I’m sure). Should people NOT talk about it just for fear of what the antis are going to say? Of course not!! Sure, we’re all in the same boat: we want to provide abortion services to women; but like I talked about here in September, there is, of course, competition. We're only in the same boat up to a point. Abortion rates are down. Clinics still have a business to run. If another provider comes in and offers the exact same services (same gestational limits, for example) as another clinic in town, then that’s direct competition. If a small clinic is already struggling, a direct competitor will surely hurt said struggling clinic. It sounds like that’s precisely what happened in the case of the Yakima Cedar River Clinic and the Yakima Planned Parenthood.

We don't like to talk about competition: it's the big elephant in the room. The reality is, competition exists. The analogy of the big corporate store coming in, causing the little independent store to close is very similar to the small abortion clinic versus a corporate-like Planned Parenthood. I am an idealist at heart, so it's difficult for me to even acknowledge the elephant. I want to tuck myself into a little world of abortion safety where everyone is in it just for the women and the focus is so entirely on that, not politics and competition and business models and strategies and blahblahblah. The harsh - ever so harsh - reality is that when big corporate business comes in and succeeds, it offers a service that customers/clients/patients respond to. They're doing something right. That doesn't mean the small, independent clinic is doing anything wrong...

Or are they? Little businesses often fall prey to "treading water syndrome." They can be hyper-focused internally and don't always invest/have the resources to look externally. For all business - non profit or profit - it's vital to not only scan your external environment, but do an in-depth analysis. The for-profit sector and non-profit sector are not really that different. (Despite how much I'd like to bury my head in the sand and pretend they are.) They compete. And abortion providers compete, too. In the case of Yakima, it appears that Planned Parenthood came up with a strategy that worked for them. You can bet your bottom dollar that Planned Parenthood has the resources to do an in-depth SWOT analysis and probably really researched the opportunities in Yakima (and other places). Did Cedar River Clinics? Like so many small businesses, did they focus too much on putting out fires that they didn't stop to recognize Planned Parenthood as an external threat and then decide what to do about it?

Look, I am a huge fan of supporting local businesses. I support my local book store. Unless....Amazon meets my needs when browsing the internet at 1am. I would go to my independent abortion clinic if I knew it was locally owned. Unless... Planned Parenthood was more convenient (price, location, abortion days/times that fit my schedule) and made themselves more known to me (advertisement). I'm talking about the marketing mix. The Four P's:
- Product
- Promotion
- Place
- Price

Do I wish that Planned Parenthood could've expanded their gestational limits in, say, Spokane where they could've better met the needs of rural women? Or maybe opened a clinic in a region of Washington State (or Idaho, or Montana, or Oregon) where there wasn't an abortion provider at all, instead of going to Yakima and directly competing? Hell, yes. That would've been the altruistic thing to do: the thing that would've truly been in rural women's best interests (women travel upwards of 10 hours because Yakima is the only provider going further than around 15-16 weeks west of Missoula and east of Seattle). There are large areas of Washington state without abortion providers, so it seems there was/is growth potential there. Why didn't Planned Parenthood take the high road instead of directly compete? On the other hand, we could all ask Cedar River Clinics why they didn't expand to an unserved area to improve access, too.

My point is: Cedar River in Yakima must've missed some opportunities for growth that Planned Parenthood captured. So if small, independent clinics are doing anything wrong at all, it may be that they don't/can't meet the demands of the clients and what their needs are when (gulp) Planned Parenthood did/does (like Amazon sometimes meets my needs better than my local bookstore). And this does make me cringe. But we're talking about consumer behavior here.

Planned Parenthood has nothing on a legacy of a feminist clinic. It can't stand up and say it's been there for its community like a small clinic can say; but if the competition wins, it's not just because they're terribly corporate. Look, little independent clinics need to LEARN from Planned Parenthood. What do they do that's right? Branding. Clients trust them. They're everywhere. Like McDonalds. Independent clinics need to be firmly rooted in their communities. They need to promote themselves. They need to advertise. They need to be involved. They need to prove to their communities they know them better than Planned Parenthood does. They can't ostracize themselves just because they do abortions. They have to have their finger on the pulse of their clientele. Offer different days. Different hours. Have nice buildings. Decorate them well. Have them in good locations (see my dream clinic blog). Ask clients what they want. Make appointments shorter. Small, independent - even feminist - clinics will become obsolete unless they figure this out, significantly invest in strategy, and learn from Planned Parenthood. My sincere hope is that they will....

...who will pick up this gauntlet?

These roots were made for abortioneering

I was born into abortion. And yes, that statement is logical.

My earliest memory of being exposed to abortion was when my sister told me “We don’t get pizza from Domino’s, they are pro-life”. I didn’t know back then what pro-life meant, but I knew I didn’t want to be it (because I eagerly mimicked everything my sister did including ice skating, gymnastics, and playing with Barbies).

Years later I ended up working at an abortion clinic and I was fortunate to have the support and approval and encouragement of my entire family. I have met many abortioneers over the years that hid their profession from their loved ones and I luckily never had to be quiet about my work and passion.

Am I a direct product of my pro-choice upbringing? I often wonder if I would have been born into a pro-life family would I have ended up pro-life? Well thankfully that is a scenario I was never faced with. So here’s the rundown on my family tree:

Dad is a pro-choice neonatologist, and yes that is also extremely logical. He has spent his life taking care of babies who were born premature or ill. Oftentimes these babies were not wanted and he sees the direct result of women who were denied access to abortion and how an unwanted child impacts their health. He understands how women and girls don’t have access to family planning and he understands rape and incest. He is an advocate for women and for what they choose and that is ultimately the best kind of medicine. My dad was the first person I would call after a heartbreaking case at work. I needed someone to vent to and I knew he would understand the hard things I was constantly dealing with at the clinic.

Mom was a nurse midwife for years. One of her first jobs out of school was at an abortion clinic right after abortion was legalized. She is the first person I go to any time I am fundraising for pro-choice causes because she is such an incredible supporter. She is the epitome of pro-choice and would never question the choice of a woman or pass judgment.

My aunt is currently a prison nurse but worked in an abortion clinic years ago. She is also a no-questions-asked advocate for women.

My half-cousin who is a generation older than me is a nurse practitioner who has worked at Planned Parenthoods all across this great nation of ours. Once when I was babysitting her daughters I ordered pizza from the above-mentioned Domino’s (they were the only number I knew to call for delivery)…when she got home she promptly threw out the leftover pizza. I have never ordered from Domino’s since!

So those are my roots…I look forward to passing on my own abortioneering to the next generation.

Plight of Feminist Abortion Providers

OK. I think I'm bracing myself to piss off a lot of people with this post. So here it goes...

Am I the only one out there that thinks some of our feminist clinics have changed? Maybe lost of some their feminist qualities? Lost some of those things that make them different from the regular, kinda corporate-like abortion clinics? Despite good intentions, I think they have. Sometimes I feel a bit angry about this, but then I knock myself upside the head and think, “Of course they have. Times have changed.”

Over the years, they’ve had to adapt. Clinics have had flex to external pressures of physicians, state and national law, and medical standards; not to mention meeting the ever-changing expectations of clients and the local community. As independent abortion clinics have adhered and adjusted to these changes, they've lost some of their roots: what makes them who they are. What makes them different.

Why are feminist-based abortion clinics special? They typically were established, owned, and operated by women whose ideals spat in the face of the status quo. They had dreams of women working passionately, cooperatively towards a common goal: demystifying abortion. Breaking the “standard expectations” of women to their very bones; allowing a space for women to feel free, to make their own choices, apart from judgment. A sacred place for women have a voice. A place to rediscover, remember who they are.

Why has this changed? Because administrators are so focused on administrative type things (budgets, appeasing all they need to appease, putting out fires, lobbying, etc.), it becomes difficult to focus on feminist things like: making sure staff earn a sustainable living (see Deliverance's post last week); ensuring that power of hierarchy doesn’t become a poison to morale; and remembering…instilling institutional (gasp!) memory and culture within staff and management, lest they (the organization) forgets who THEY are. Their roots.

There are other reasons they’ve changed, too. Let’s face it: there’s a decrease in abortion. Little clinics are struggling to stay open – just like Sparky touched on the other day. I mean, if not as many people need abortions, you’ve either got to diversify the services you offer (expand them?) or you’re going to simply struggle to provide abortions.

We talk a lot about stupid, restricting new laws that are being conceived and born every day. They’re annoying. So are restrictions by the department of health (like Sparky mentioned last week). But there’s another reason things have changed for feminist clinics. Another reason they’re busy and finding it hard to do feminist things: competition. Okay. Come on. Admit it. Clinics have competitors. Yes. Yes. I know. I spoke the unspoken. (Gasp!) I mean, HELLO. Running a business doesn’t make you less altruistic. And, honestly, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that small women-owned and operated, independent businesses, find it hard to stand tall against corporate-like competitors.

It’s super important that access to abortion is increased. We already know nearly all counties in the USA don’t have abortion providers. That is wrong and it sucks. But there’s another side to all of this. Clinics are closing down. Not because of obnoxious, annoying protesters and harassing laws. Not because the department of health is making things difficult (well, except in this instance!). You’re all clever. So I’ll just ask you this: were any of the clinics that closed down recently Planned Parenthoods? Not that I know of. (I could be wrong.) They were all little clinics. And I'm sorry to admit this, but even the pro-lifers wrote an article about this back in February. (And no, I'm not going to provide the link here, because I don't want to give traffic to their site. Yes. I'm being a bit totalitarian about it.)

Who is out there talking about this? Even the clinics shutting down and the feminists don't seem to be making enough noise. Some organizations are out there waving the flag that hospitals should provide more abortion services. Okay. Great. But again, the more hospitals are out there doing abortions, the more corporate institutions are out there expanding their abortion services, the fewer independent providers there will be. It’s just kind of a fact. The way I see it: too many big fish in a small bowl fighting for a service on the decline.

So. Things have changed. Feminist clinics are too busy fighting to keep their doors open because financially, in straight-up business terms, it’s tough. The tides are turning.

I ask this: what happens to the women?

The Case of the Minor

I would like to piggy back off of Revolutionary Vagina's last post about the young girl who self-induced an abortion using a lead pencil. An article about this was posted on lifenews.com, and contains several false and just plain ridiculous claims.

I am sure this story probably has most people wanting to vomit and cry at the same time as their hearts break for this little girl. I would also guess however that many of those same people would not even bat an eye if her method of killing her child had been a RU 486 prescription from the local Planned Parenthood. -Bryan Kemper, head of Stand True, a pro-life group

First of all, you cannot get the pill from Planned Parenthood to induce abortion after about 9 weeks. From the article, it sounds as if she was much much further along, but who really knows. If she was "delivering a baby," I would guess she had to been late second trimester. If she was that far along, wouldn't her parents have noticed? If she was in her first trimester, she wouldn't have delievered a "baby." She would have bled a lot. Kemper makes it sound like you can just take the pill at 25 weeks and boom you're done. Totally not the case.

Secondly, if this young woman would have been able to go to Planned Parenthood to get her abortion pill prescription, she would have had an interview with a counselor. Obviously, we cannot know if she would have told the truth to the counselor or not, but it would definitely have been in her best interest to talk to an adult about having an abortion before trying to perform one on herself. Thus it probably would have been GOOD for her to go to Planned Parenthood.

It is also a very different thing to perform an abortion on yourself and then have your creepy older boyfriend bury the fetus in a ditch. That is just not normal. That is very sad, scary, and bizarre. Having an abortion in an abortion clinic is normal. It is safe. It is not dangerous. The risk of even minor complications is very, very low when an abortion is performed in a safe, sterile environment with trained medical professionals, like at a Planned Parenthood. So, yes, I would not bat an eye at that. If that makes me a monster, then you have a fucked up definition of what it means to be a monster.

Kemper also said, "I can also hear the spin now, 'this is why we need safe and legal abortion,' -- even though abortions are already legal and are supposed to prevent such self-induced abortions." This goes back to precisely what Revolutionary Vagina was talking about. Pennsylvania has parental consent laws. She obviously did not want to tell her parents. How come none of the anti-choicers want to talk about that? If she was able to go to a clinic she wouldn't have been in this situation. THAT is the problem. Further, she is thirteen years old. She is child. I can say at thirteen I was in no shape to be having sex, and definitely not sex with someone SEVENTEEN years older than me. Can we take a step back and ask, why was this thirteen year old doing this? Her boyfriend/partner/creeper said he had sex with her "hundreds" of times. How did this happen? It troubles me this happened so many times yet nobody seemed to be aware. Of course, teens can be very sneaky and do a good job hiding things from their parents, but she is thirteen! I find it hard to believe a thirteen year old could sucessfully pull that off unless she is some sort of smooth talking magical pixie with a unicorn.

My favorite quote of the article is "'If the girl had gone to Planned Parenthood he would probably still be raping her as I doubt they would have turned him in," Kemper explained."

It is true there are cases where Planned Parenthood staffers did not appropriately follow state rules and turn in a man who was engaging in an inappropriate relationship a minor. I think that is terrible. It is beyond messed up. I would prefer if everyone followed the rules about that. I do think that each staffer was trying to act in the best interest of the minor, even if the staffer might not have been in reality. Either way, it is ridiculous to assume that all Planned Parenthoods everywhere just let minors get raped all the time like it's no big deal, because that is definitely NOT the case. I have worked with plenty of clinics that have bent over backwards to get guys arrested who were doing that kind of stuff. Planned Parenthoods and clinics, for the vast majority of cases, DO follow the rules. And rapists get caught. Which is a good thing because they might otherwise have not.

How come anti-choicers don't want to talk about how clinics often get bad guys in trouble. Or that this girl, who could have died, and just went through something terribly traumatic, didn't have to go through that. She could have just had a regular, safe abortion. It wouldn't have been the horrifying experience of shoving a pencil into your own uterus and then becoming violently ill and having to have your boyfriend who is not a doctor deliver your dead baby for you and then take it and bury it in a ditch. The fact she had to go through that is so fucked up. If she had access to a clinic, she would have been able to have an abortion with a doctor who knows what he/she is doing and with counselors who are trained to talk to her about her decision. A fucking sad state of affairs. Perfect example of what parental consent laws are dangerous.

Also -- if anyone stumbled upon this page by googling the story of the girl who used the pencil, and is thinking of using a pencil or anything to self abort. PLEASE DO NOT DO IT. Self aborting is very dangerous and often leads to at minimum serious complications and even death. If you have questions about where to go please see the National Abortion Federation's list of clinics or contact your local Planned Parenthood for a place in your area.

"Every child is valuable, and children aren't a punishment"

Sorry you haven't gotten your regular Monday-morning post. Work and/or school are swallowing a couple of us whole, but come back and chill with us tomorrow!

In the meantime, we don't want to leave you totally bereft. Check out the words of a man who's pious enough to give us his honest take on the worth of disabled kids and what Christians "suggest" for sinners:

Legislator Says Disabled Kids May Be God's Punishment
By Kelsey Radcliffe
Sunday, February 21, 2010

RICHMOND, VA – State Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy.

"The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children," said Marshall, a Republican. "In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There's a special punishment Christians would suggest."

and check this out:

"Looking at it from a cultural, historical perspective, this organization should be called 'Planned Barrenhood'" [Marshall said].

[Dean Nelson, executive director of the Network of Politically Active Christians] suggested that the organization be called "Klan Parenthood".

Oooh, zinga-zing-zing! They got you good, Planned Parenthood! Maybe next time you won't choose such a DUMB RYHMABLE NAME. (I actually think it's a fantastic name and a fantastic goal. Poor PP.)

Oh, on that note, can I tell you how many of my clients through the years have mistakenly called it Plant Parenthood, Planet Parenthood [a place where you don't want to go!], Parent Planethood, Paired Planning? A lot! It sort of rolls off the tongue and people don't always remember the specific words, I think.

There's so many other funny name mix-ups I've heard for clinics and funds -- one by the acronym of EMA which a client kept referring to as "she" and I eventually realized she meant "Emma." Abortioneers and friends! Any similar misnomers you're able to share?

In You We Trust

In a world where no one has enough money and survival feels like a burden, financial counseling is monotonous, hardening, and repetitive. As we know, often getting an abortion means coming up with money that most people don’t have. It means selling belongings that you might need, not paying bills, getting evicted, selling food stamps, lying, and borrowing money with no means of paying back. Most women have to piece together money that simply does not exist.

I spend a vast amount of my time running through a long list of ideas about how to exhaust resources that aren’t exactly available. Most times women have to compromise their pride, independence, and sometimes honesty in order to raise money. Every so often, a women needs more than money. Another part of my job is to offer options counseling: I help women think through all of their options regarding the pregnancy.

When someone faces an unintended pregnancy she has three basic options; carry the pregnancy to term and parent a child, carry to term and give that child to someone else to raise, or have an abortion. Most of the women who reach me already know they want an abortion and they just need help figuring out the how. But sometimes I am in the position of helping a patient think through this major decision.

For me, helping women figure out what they want to do is one of the most important aspects of my job. When a woman is unsure about what to do with her pregnancy, first I remind her that no one else can make this choice for her -- not her mom, not her boyfriend, not the staff at an anti-choice pregnancy crisis center, and not me. I let her know that I can help her try and sort out her own thoughts and give her accurate information, but ultimately she needs to figure out what she thinks is right for her life and body. I always tell patients who are teetering on their decision not to have an abortion if they are not sure it’s what they want. I tell them to find out how far into the pregnancy they are and hope time is on their side.

Most women I have spoken to never consider adoption as a real option. When I counsel women they typically weigh two options, parenting or ending the pregnancy. Adoption is not an option for everyone. Most often putting a brown or black child up for adoption means foster care, which may or may not ensure a stable home. On the other hand white women who bear healthy white children are able to set up private adoptions, have medical expenses paid and sometimes other expenses, and choose an open adoption if they want. We live in a society where race defines one’s life options. White people more often have resources and the ability to adopt children, and the demand for white adoptees is much higher than the supply. As transracial adoption becomes more popular this trend could change; however, the mental and emotional health of transracial adoptees is also a very complex issue. In addition to race as a factor, adoption or foster care means that after spending nine months carrying a fetus in her body a woman will not know if that child is safe, cared for, and happy. Most women I talk to immediately shoot down any suggestion of adoption.

When a woman wants help making her decision and for her the options are parenthood or abortion, I ask her if she has a support network, what her goals are, where she sees herself in five years, and how a child might add to her life or hinder her from accomplishing her goals. Most recently, an 18 year old asked me, “I mean is a child really like a burden?” I wanted to say, “um, YES!” However, in the interest of being objective I said, well a child does not have to be a burden, but raising a child means putting someone else’s needs before your own, and that’s a challenge, so if someone is not ready to take on that challenge raising a child may feel burdensome.

The most common emotion after an abortion is relief, particularly when a woman goes into the procedure feeling sure this is what is right for her life and body. When I provide options counseling for women, I want them to know that I trust their ability to make the right choice. I want them to know that whichever choice they make is OK. Options counseling is refreshing when most of my conversations are about nickels and dimes. These conversations with patients remind me why I believe in this work and why pro-choice is synonymous with pro- woman, pro-empowerment, and pro-family.

Othering Abortion

After reading Monday’s post by About a Girl, I reflected on my own dreams for the future of abortion access.

As a future abortion provider and Ob/Gyn, I feel like it is my duty to provide all services for my patients. I refuse to be that doctor who has to send a patient away for a procedure I am perfectly capable of doing-ie. an abortion. I want to provide comprehensive services to all my female patients-whether that be preventing pregnancy, helping a patient to become pregnant, or terminating a pregnancy. I want to help my patient through whatever stage of life and or whatever situation she finds herself in.

My dream is that all women have this kind of access, this kind of experience. Although abortion clinics are fantastic and much needed, we have managed to segregate abortion. As compared to women’s health services and prenatal care, we have othered abortion. Thus, a woman establishes her care with her Ob/Gyn and seeks all her female needs with that provider. If she has an unintended pregnancy, and determines an abortion is the best option for her, she must go to a strange clinic with new providers and new staff to receive her care. Although, this isn’t always the case, it definitely is the majority. As a culture, we separate abortion from primary women’s health.

If we continue to other abortion, we will continue to stigmatize it. And there is no reason to stigmatize a procedure that 1 in 3 women will receive in her life time.

There is so much work to be done to make this happen: medical, nursing, and PA students need to be taught abortion procedures. Ob/Gyns, internists, family medicine clinicians, and even pediatric residents need to be trained in abortion procedure. Insurance companies and governmental insurance programs need to pay for abortion procedures. Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics should always be available, but when possible, abortions should take place in clinicians’ offices as an available service.

So much to be done, but we can do it together. Let’s make this dream a reality.

Lila Rose

Lila Rose, the seventeen year old who goes around to Planned Parenthoods trying to get them to do and/or say something illegal, has been dubbed "the new face of the anti-choice movement." Her strategy is to show up at a clinic posing as a minor, and then telling the staff her boyfriend is several years older than her and basically try to get the staff to agree to not report her to the police. Her "evidence" is often muddled video footage that is heavily edited, which to me, makes her pretty sketch, but lots of people seem pretty jazzed about her, so here we are. Of course, the thought that a clinic could be not properly reporting abuse is very concerning and I would definitely want clinics to follow the rules. That said, does anyone find it really disturbing that someone shows up at a clinic and purposely tries to get someone to to break the law? What is edited out of those tapes? What did she say to them to make them finally agree to not report it?

Obviously, if I have to side with anyone I am going to side with clinic, but also there is a lot of footage of people at clinics definitely advising minors on how to avoid being caught by the clinic. I think this is inappropriate and not okay, but at the same time, they are trying to help the patient at the end of the day, and these young girls do need somewhere to go. Further, if Planned Parenthood or wherever is like YES WE WILL REPORT YOU that makes me nervous the creepy older dudes who are sleeping with minors will just take them to a sketchy doctor to get the procedure done which is also bad. Because the problem here is creepy older dudes who like sleeping with minors (CODWLSWM). Not the minor. If we could make CODWLSWMs go away, then we wouldn't have this problem, right? How do we make CODWLSWMs go away?

I am also bothered by much of the footage because the staffer on the phone is obviously having a hard time and isn't quite sure what to say. They are trying to do the best they can and work within the law, giving her the best advice they can. This issue is really tough, obviously, and there are a ton of gray areas where I am not sure what is the "right" thing to do. Blerg.

You Fight Me, I Fight For You

I was fortunate enough to go to an excellent college. I transplanted myself from my co-ed high school in the southwest to an all women’s college in the northeast.

Now this grand education I had opened my eyes to the idea of women’s equality, women’s power, and women’s control over their bodies. Admittedly, I did not become interested in reproductive rights until this school or until that women’s studies course. And thank heavens for these introductions, for who would I be without them?

After college, I moved into the city before graduate school and volunteered at the local Planned Parenthood as a clinic escort. I essentially helped women and their partners get into the clinic safely and successfully amidst the sometimes hostile crowd. To me, reproductive choice was a right protected by the law and protected by me. The protestors would say horrific things to women to get them to change their minds, to get them to turn around and leave the clinic. They took a women’s personal, difficult choice and turned it into a street mockery and shouting match. Those women’s faces I escorted into the building are burned in my mind. I could see the fear and I could feel it. But they had a choice-a choice for their bodies and their future. A choice. What did these protestors want of these women? An unwanted child? An unsafe, back alley abortion? Not the right to make decisions over their own body.

One morning of escorting, a new protestor emerged. She was known to the staff at Planned Parenthood, but not to me. She was slightly older than me, brown hair that touched the back of her thighs, and a loud, intimidating voice. She would bring anti-choice literature with her every Saturday and stand less than a foot away from escorts, reading her rhetoric. Mind you, we were trained not to engage with the protestors, but damn it was difficult. Our objective was getting the patients into the clinic. However, this particular protestor was hard to ignore. She would follow you around, reading into your ear with her booming voice.

It was one day that she announced she went to a well known all women’s college, the same college I had attended just under a year ago. I, of course, never told her I was also a graduate of said institution-that would only bring unwanted attention to our battle ground. It was such a disappointing moment, though. I credit this institution for my reproductive health awakening, my fierce advocacy and activism, and my desire to always protect a women’s reproductive freedom. And this woman, my “sister,” credited the same institution for her anti-choice motives. How could we have come from the same place and have such different views?

I think about that woman from time to time. Not all women view choice as an absolute right-even her with such a liberal, mind-awakening education. The realization I came too is that regardless of what she thinks or what she protests against, I fight for her reproductive rights as well. I cannot pick and choose which women I stand with and which I stand against. All women have a beautiful, divine choice over their bodies and their reproduction, all women. And I will fight for that choice as long as it takes, even if some women will fight against me.