Whenever someone asks me for recommendations on books to read about feminism that is not RIOT GRRRL IS EVERYTHING 5EVER I recommend this book first. I wish tumblr search was easier to do, because when I first read through it I talked about each chapter in depth on tumblr and it’s totally lost in the abyss. It’s a great primer to movements NOT focused on riot grrrl culture and a very easy and interesting read, which isn’t easy considering sometimes Gender Studies books can be dry as fuck.
Rosie Jiménez, the first victim of the Hyde Amendment, died 35 years ago today.
On October 3, 1977, Rosaura Jiménez died in Texas of an illegal abortion, becoming the first known woman to die because of the Hyde Amendment, which eliminated federal Medicaid funding for abortion.
Congress first adopted the Hyde Amendment on September 30, 1976, but it did not go into effect until August 4, 1977. Within just two months, it had driven a woman to take desperate steps that resulted in her death.
What do we know about Rosaura Jiménez? Rosie, as she was known, was a 27 year-old Latina college student and single mother. Rosie was six months away from graduating with a teaching credential – a ticket to a better life for her and her daughter, who was just five years old at the time.
Rosie had a $700 scholarship check in her purse when she died. She went to a doctor in her hometown of McAllen, Texas to ask for an abortion, but the doctor wouldn’t provide one because Medicaid would no longer reimburse the service. So determined was she to complete her education that instead of using her scholarship money to pay for an abortion out of pocket, she crossed the border into Mexico and obtained a cheaper, illegal, and unsafe abortion there.
This is why we need to fight for abortion access for ALL people - there are many barriers that exist that are often forgotten about when we talk about abortion rights. We need to repeal Hyde. I would be happy to have my tax dollars to assist low-income people in need of abortions.
Californians, email your State Senator in support of the Access to Birth Control Bill!
With the Access to Birth Control Bill (AB 2348), registered nurses would be able to dispense hormonal birth control through a standardised procedure. It is supported by Planned Parenthood, the California Family Health Council, American Nurses Association - California, and California Primary Care Association.
The Senate vote is coming up soon, so show your support today!
PETITION >> Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Do not enact new abortion reporting requirements
I know I’ve posted this before but I CARE about this. Please help me spread the word.
Sign and signal boost!
[It does not matter whether you live in TX. This part of a performance of protest. The more signatures delivered at once, the better.]
These new requirements are intended to make abortion more difficult to provide and harder to access for the Texas doctors who have a legal right to provide the procedure and Texans who have a legal right to undergo it.
The new proposed rules are Department of State Health Services and HHSC’s attempts at putting into statute that which Rep. Bill Zedler’s proposed legislation could not put into law with his proposed, but failed, HB 1602 (82nd Legislature) and HB 1131 (80th Legislature), as well as the unattached Zedler amendment to SB7 in 2011.
Throughout the public comment period that opened on this matter in April, DSHS has as yet been unable or unwilling to identify any existing problems that these new requirements solve, or give any reasoning for their inception beyond admitting that they are a direct response to Bill Zedler’s personal desire to see his own anti-woman, anti-choice beliefs put into legal statute by any means necessary.
HHSC, if it adopts these new abortion reporting requirements, is subverting Texas’ critical democratic process by bending to the wishes of one individual legislator.
(sometime in September, HHSC will open up a 30-day comment period regarding the new reporting requirements, during which we will present this petition)
[As always, more people than just cis women need and want access to abortion care]
made rebloggable by request.
(Source: monalisamusings)
[Trigger Warning: Talk of Rape] House GOP Blocking Abortion Access for Soldiers Who Are Raped
Republican Senators John McCain, Scott Brown, and Susan Collins all support an effort by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, to expand abortion access for military women who are raped. But despite bipartisan support in the Senate, Shaheen’s proposal may not make it into the final version of the 2013 defense authorization bill—because House Republicans oppose it.
If Shaheen’s measure passes, military families will finally have the same access to abortion that other federal employees already receive. Unlike the rest of the federal government, the Department of Defense currently only provides abortion coverage if the life of the mother is at stake. Under current law, if a State Department employee is raped, her government health insurance plan will pay for an abortion if she wants one. But if an Army medic serving in Afghanistan is raped and becomes pregnant, she can’t use her military health plan to pay for an abortion. If she does decide to get an abortion, she will have to pay for it with her own money. And if she can’t prove she was raped—which is difficult before an investigation is completed—she may have to look for services off base, which can be dangerous or impossible in many parts of the world.
“We have more than 200,000 women serving on active duty in our military,” Shaheen tells Mother Jones. “They should have the same rights to affordable reproductive health services as all of the civilians who they protect.”
More than just cis women can get pregnant and need access to abortions.
republicans love rape and murder. that’s all there is to it.
Alison Roh Park: The Danger of One Story
This past weekend in New York was a beautiful one. Mostly because I spent Saturday in a room full of women who I’ve known of for years (mostly on social media, but had never met in person) at the first ever conference of the New York City Reproductive Justice Coalition.
The daylong media workshop was like my own personal Disneyland—minus the behemoth media conglomerate/bajillion dollar lobbying force part. Experts came together as part of a daylong media workshop on polling research, framing and messaging, integrating messaging, and public relations, all within the reproductive justice framework.
Three of the major points I took from the event that I want to share here are
1) Community polling and research support the practice of using health as an entry point to talk about RJ with communities and frame for the media.
2) The “war on women” meme doesn’t resonate with communities of color as the term “women” typically connotes white women.
3) The danger of one story is alive and well when it comes to building movement power.
Some of you may be familiar with the concept of the “danger of the single story” from talks by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie, where exposure to people from communities and cultures—typically nonwhite—via one source is a dangerous way of painting a picture of and generalizing an entire people. This is also the case when it comes to the media.
My Pro-Choice Politician: Nina Turner (D-Cleveland, OH)
This is the fifth in an on-going series where you all nominate state- or local-level elected officials who are standing up for reproductive rights in their communities and states, and we all, as a community, thank them for what they do.
We need to keep reminding these hard-working, often unacknowledged state-level politicians that we see the work they are doing and we are incredibly grateful for it.
(list of previous installments at end of post)
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Today’s Pro-choice Politician is Nina Turner, an Ohio state senator (D-Cleveland).
Ms. Turner was nominated by both Gig Hartline and Heidi Swindell.
Ms. Turner became nationally famous in March when she introduced her “viagra bill.” Mimicking the paternalistic rhetoric of much anti-choice/anti-contraception legislation and the politicians who support it, Senator Turner said the bill was necessary to “protect men’s health.” From Robin Marty:
As I’m sure anyone who has experienced priapism can no doubt tell you, erectile drugs side affects are no laughing matter. Well, unless you’re in an “American Pie” sequel.
That’s why Ohio state Senator Nina Turner is introducing a very important bill to help regulate Viagra usage.
Via the Middletown Journal:
Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, if state Sen. Nina Turner has her way.
At least she didn’t mandate a rectal exam.
Today, if you head over to Senator Turner’s website, this is the first image you will see:
Help us say, “THANK YOU!” to Senator Turner for being a staunch pro-choice ally and for fighting tirelessly for reproductive rights.
- Twitter: @ninaturner
- Phone: (614) 466-4583
Thank you, Senator Turner!
If you’d like to nominate someone for our new “My Pro-Choice Politician” series, you can do so on our Facebook page or via Twitter (we’re @rhrealitycheck and use hashtag #prochoicepol).
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This idea was inspired by our post a while back for Kentucky State Rep Darryl Owens.
First installment: Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago)
Second installment: Kathy Stein (D- Fayette, Kentucky)
Third installment: Edith Ajello (D - Providence, Rhode Island)
Fourth installment: Mark Dayton (Governor of Minnesota)
Buried in a Republican bill to give states more say over health care funds is a provision that could block them from spending their own money on abortions.
Here’s your morning must-read.
Transgender People and the War on Women
These posts by Golden Notebook, Unkowablewoman, and Unhurriedheart address inclusion of transgender people in the War on Women. My thoughts follow.
anonymous asks:
Wait, are you against the terminology “war on uterus bearers”? :2unknowablewoman said:
it’s like you’ve never even read my Tumblr
yes, anon, yes
I believe that erasing the violent misogyny inherent in the anti-choice movement is dangerous because it only serves to further decenter women from the issue when we are alreadyseen as incubators and non-people. Referring to anyone as “people with uteri” is gross as fuck. Abortion/reproductive rights have been contextualizedas a women’s issue and I think it’s disrespectful and misogynist to remove that context, both rhetorically and practically. If woman-centered language is cissexist here it’s because we have been reduced to our reproductive organs. Furthermore, as a cis woman, it doesn’t even make any sense for me to talk about these things as a “uterus bearer” issue when I have no idea what it’s like to be seeking reproductive healthcare as a trans person. Why would I do that? When I talk about abortion rights, I’m going to talk about my experiences as a woman and the experiences of the other women I know who are being TARGETED by this legislation. This legislation IS about us. Tough fucking shit if you narcissistic babies cannot handle women talking about their experiences as women.
And finally, let’s get fucking real, people. How many non-women are having abortions? Really? Do we have any statistics on this? I’m truly sorry for anyone who experiences an unplanned pregnancy, but when 90%+ (and I’m being generous here) of the people actually seeking these services are women then I think it’s completely fucking asinine to expect us all to change the conversation. Not everything is going to be about you 24/7 and you can call it erasure until you’re blue in the face but I’m going to call it the real world.Andwhile you’re tearing down well-meaning, experienced activists, volunteers and reproductive health workers over something as petty as this, the GOP/Religious Right are fucking succeeding at rolling back access to reproductive healthcare of all kinds. They are SUCCEEDING and you honestly fucking think that now is the time to argue about this? You think this is a game? Protip: if women can’t access abortion, then nobody can.
Some insufferable SJW who I can’t remember made a post about this lamenting the fact that we don’t “count their dead at all” when we don’t acknowledge that non-women need these services too and I find that hilarious because they’re acting as if our dead are counted. As if society gives two shits about the woman seeking an abortion to get out of an abusive relationship and as if correcting all the language to ~uterus-bearers~ in our literature will somehow fix everything. There are enormous barriers that trans people face in accessing reproductive healthcare and those definitely need to be addressed but I hardly think telling women they can’t contextualize the attacks they are experiencing as a War on Women is going to solve that. In fact, I know it won’t, which is why I’ve stepped away from internet SJ for the most part and do not even care anymore how much hate/unfollowing I get for this. I consider anyone who disagrees with me on this to be nothing more than a child and I don’t need to argue with children anymore.
you can unfollow me now and send me hate mail and call me cis scum or whatever is hip these days
vanboobsenstein replied to your post: Seriously, I’m not going to pretend unknowablewoman is a ~saint~ or anything, but you can go ahead and unfollow if you’re going to throw shade.
wait. someone is saying that cis-women should simply call themselves “uterus bearers”? FUCK that noise.
It is truly unbearable. While LORD KNOWS trans women are incredibly, incredibly marginalized by the medical community and problematized and God knows what else, the simple fact is that anti-choice discourse is centered around cis women. John Boehner is not trans-bashing when he attempts for the umpteenth time to defund Planned Parenthood. Rick Perry is not gleefully rubbing his hands, thinking about all the “people who don’t ID as women who are pregnant”, when he diverts money to crisis pregnancy centers.This particular brand of misogyny is about cis women, and to insist we call ourselves uterus-bearers, which btw is incredibly robotic and dehumanizing, is imo just as misogynistic.
This is not to say that trans-bashing does not fall on a spectrum of misogyny - of course it does! - but that one-upping women who want to talk about their experiences with your special Social Justice Super Secret Password Handshake is not only annoying as hell, but actively alienating to those who actually work with women getting abortions, like unknowablewoman.
Discussing misogyny is not a zero-sum game, where excluding trans issues on this one issue means that there isn’t enough oxgyen to talk about it when it’s relevant to many other things. Those who act like it is are being willfully disingenuous and I’m over it.
I hope you don’t mind that I reblog this, but I just want to say that this really hits on the head what I’ve been mulling about for weeks. The reason being called a ‘person with a uterus’ is unappealing to me is that it strips me of my womanhood somehow. I am not just my reproductive organs and fuck you if that’s what you want me to identify as. I support the fight for trans* rights, but I am also a cis woman who is mainly interested in the fight against cis women. Although trans* and cis women overlap sometimes, to say that our entire fight is all about trans* rights is very off-putting. Cis women in particular are major political targets right now and although it’s all fun and rainbows to be inclusive, sometimes you just don’t fit into parts of a movement.
To quote Flavia Dzodan, My feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit. The arguments here about why it’s ok to keep excluding trans people from the war on women are bullshit. Yes, I agree “uterus bearers” is not the way to correct that. I don’t want to be reduced to a body part. But using that as an excuse to continue the exclusion of trans people is ridiculous. Cis-women are not the only political targets right now. Um, hello, reauthorization of VAWA was opposed by Republicans because it extended protections beyond heterosexual cis-women! The fact that most politicians aren’t thinking about trans people when they wage war on reproductive rights, equal pay, etc. is no excuse for the feminist movement not to think about the ways this war affects trans people. Do we want to be on the same level as right wing politicians?
And that language of “inclusion” is still used is illustrative of the fact that cis-women still believe that we own this movement. That we will let you in when we think it will benefit us but if it doesn’t then you are on your own. And telling trans people that not everything is about them 24/7 is absolutely laughable and insulting. As if the feminist movement in general is always considering trans issues and we just right now need to focus on cis-women so back off you greedy trans people! These arguments are basically saying that if we consider the ways these attacks affect trans people then that will lead to the erasure of cis-women! Ridiculous!! Figuring out how to take a white, middle class cis-woman led movement and turn it something that actually makes a difference in all people’s lives is hard as hell. But we must find a way to have an intersectional feminist movement that actually ends the multiple forms of oppression we face. And we must find a way to do that without erasing anyone’s experiences or contributions.
And I’m just going to point everyone to the amazing tumblr: Trans Repro Justice.
Educate yourselves.
Remember the scandal over Janet Jackson’s boob during the Super Bowl?
Super Bowl Viewers Will See Graphic Anti-Abortion Ads With Pictures Of Bloody Fetuses
christianist propaganda is OK but cock and pussy is obscene. welcome to Amerikkka.
A woman in NY has been charged with self-abortion
The police said Thursday that they had charged Yaribely Almonte, 20, who had lived in the building, with self-abortion in the first degree, a misdemeanor charge that has been used only a few times in New York State. Although it was unclear how old the fetus was, the charge applies when the abortion occurs after 24 weeks of pregnancy, when it is legal only if a woman’s doctor says her life is in danger.
The state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services said that since 1980, four other women had been charged with self-abortion in the first degree or in the second degree, a lesser charge that can apply when the attempt is not successful. Three of those cases, from Nassau County in 2006 and 2010 and from Monroe County in 2000, ended in dismissal.
Please please please signal boost this. I saw it on Twitter in the early hours of the morning today and it hasn’t gotten much press yet.
If you live in NY, maybe give someone a call? This is an abhorrent violation of this woman’s right to privacy and bodily autonomy. I am sickened that they are targeting a poor WOC for this, but not at all shocked. There may be a petition in the works; stay tuned for updates.
-R
[edit: It’s been brought to my attention that the article at the link has some pretty terrible reporting in it. I can totally see it now but I was half asleep when I first read it so I’m sorry for the oversight.]
This needs to be “super-reblogged”
(Source: stfuconservatives)
Rutherford County Probation Gives Moms Option: Jail or Birth Control
A really messed up story from the county I live in. This is practically legalized sterilization and an attack on a woman’s reproductive rights.
