Forty Days of Lies

It looks like Fall is here and with it comes the Forty Days of Lies. Yes, the protesters are back, claiming to speak not only for you, but also for God. Pretty heady stuff. How do they handle the responsibility? Not too well. I've got to admit even the Pope might be doing better than them, and he's got a pedophile crisis on his hands. Their claim on the moral high ground is bizarre. Surely they lost that when they started to lie about the impact of abortion, made bogus claims that link abortion to cancer (like that could ever make any sense), invented "post abortion trauma" and, hmmm, what was the other thing? Oh yeah. When they started murdering doctors. But there they are, picketing my local abortion clinic for, yes, you guessed it, forty days. 

Charlotte Taft, Director of the Abortion Care Network in the States, sent me a few things she's been writing lately. One that I want to share about the so called "Right to Lifers" and their extreme hypocrisy is called The Anti-Choice Hoax of the Century. It's required reading.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. In our earnest belief that everyone is entitled to their opinion, (a belief that is the very foundation of being pro-choice) we've let them go unchallenged for too long. Bravo to Charlotte Taft who calls a spade a spade and a liar a liar. Her eight points that right to lifers would support if they REALLY wanted to prevent abortions are a beacon of truth in the murky swamp of public discourse. Thank you to Ms. Taft.

Now, let's think about how much money these people have behind them. Let's think about where it comes from. (Anyone know? If so, let's organize a picket in front of their homes or businesses. Eye for an eye. They believe in the old testament, don't they? But I digress.) Let's think about how much good could have been done if that money were given to the priorities set out by Ms. Taft. These people are the moral low-ground. So during the Forty Days of Lies, think about what you can do to support your local clinic and the women who are using their services.

I think I'd like to go join the Forty Days of Lies protesters, pretend to be one of them and hold a sign that says, "I'm unemployed with nothing better to do than harrass women." Oh, but that's the reactionary anger talking. But hey, no one is perfect. It might be better to take a more positive approach and hold a sign that says, "I SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR CHOICE." Maybe that's the way to go.

I'll work on it. Meanwhile I'll promote http://www.thinkprochoice.com/ one more time.

www.thinkprochoice.com

This is my new favourite thing. The Calgary Pro-Choice Coalition has created a comic book (brilliant!) to counter the offensive tactics of the foetus mobile and their ilk. It directs people to reputable, well informed and unbiased sources of information about reproductive rights and sexual health both in Calgary and nationally. It is a fantastic bit of radical comic book activism, and a measured and humourous response to those ridiculous anti-choice fanatics. Have a look at it at http://www.thinkprochoice.com/ and join their facebook page, Calgary Pro-Choice Coalition.

Freedom of (hate) speech from Briarpatch

Briarpatch, always a favourite magazine of mine, has this fantastic article called "Freedom of (Hate) Speech" about the tactics of the anti-choice and their use of freedom of speech as a defence. It is definitely worth the read. Very thought provoking. Thanks to Jane Kirby for putting her time and talent towards this topic. I've never met a Jane I didn't like!

Help our sisters in Australia - A message from Radical Women in Melbourne

I'm passing the following letter along to help our sisters in Australia.


Dear friend,

Believe it or not, abortion is still illegal in most of Australia! And a young couple in Cairns, Queensland is being prosecuted for "procuring" an abortion through the use of RU-486, a drug that is commonly prescribed
in the U.S. For decades, Australian officials didn't take action against women who chose to terminate a pregnancy. But under pressure of the international "Right to Life" movement, including groups that originate in the U.S., the right of women to control their own bodies is under tremendous attack.

Radical Women in Melbourne, Australia is part of a nationwide organizing effort to get the charges dropped against the Cairns couple and to get anti-abortion laws off the books. You can help by signing the online petition at

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/Stop-the-abortion-prosecution/.

Please forward this message to your friends and promote it on your Facebook and MySpace pages and Twitter account. The deadline for signatures is October 1.

To read more about this issue and the October 9 National Day of Action Rallies in Australia, please visit the Radical Women website at

http://www.radicalwomen.org/Oct_9_Callout.html

There you can download a petition to circulate, endorse the nationwide Day of Action, and read more about the Cairns case. A recent article on the case is also on a recent Ms. Magazine blog at Ms. Magazine blog! See

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/09/02/newsflash-australian-couple-awaits-trial-for-abortion/

To donate to the Melbourne organizing, please click here to contribute via PayPal.

Thank you for spreading the word and helping our sisters Down-Under win the fight for reproductive justice.

In struggle,

Anne Slater
National Organizer
U.S. Radical Women
National Radical Women
625 Larkin St. Ste 202, San Francisco, CA 94109
Phone 415-864-1278 * Fax 415-864-0778
RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com

www.RadicalWomen.org

In the news this week....

First, there is a great study by NARAL California called "Unmasking Fake Clinics." Give it a read.

Next, have a look at Geoffrey York in today's Globe and Mail. His article "Ottawa Funds Help Illegal Abortion in Africa" is actually pretty good, in spite of a confusing headline that makes it sound like it will be an anti-choice diatribe. This is why the mantra on foreign aid and abortion must be, "provide aid money where abortion is legal and push for legalization where it is not." Women are dying.