September 7, 2004 was the night I was raped.
September 7, 2004 was the night that my rapist’s sperm met my egg and I was impregnated with the child of my rapist.
I thought about all of this as I watched you passionately advocate on behalf of “the tiny little babies” and the only reaction I could muster was “how dare you.”
How dare you, Representative Franks. Your claim of caring about the “pain of the tiny babies” rings hollow when one remembers your support of the Ryan Budget, which would have slashed over $36 billion from food assistance programs. You called them “slush funds” and “runaway federal spending.” This from a member of the House of Representatives, who makes more in a month than I do in a year.
How dare you, Representative Franks. Your claim of caring about the “increased risk of suicide” among those who seek abortions rings hollow when, again and again, you have voted to strip people like me of health care by voting for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the slashing of Medicare and Medicaid. These programs that I, personally, rely on so that I can afford counseling to help me deal with the trauma of being raped. After all, “health care” involves your mental health as well.
How dare you, Representative Franks. Your faux concern for the physical and mental well-being of parents and their children is sickening when you have over and over again proven your concern for both is nonexistent.
—Bria Murray in her open letter to Trent Franks
Because asswipe Congresspeople from Arizona propose legislation to ban abortions after 20 weeks IN WASHINGTON DC and BAN DC’s delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton from testifying.
THAT, tumblr, is one of the countless fucking reasons DC needs statehood NOW!
DC constituents did not elect you, Trent Franks, Arizona constituents did! Keep your bullshit woman hating laws over there.
(Source: Washington Post)
[NB: more people than just cis women want and need abortion care.]
Mississippi lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that would require any physician performing abortions in the state to be a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and to have admitting privileges at an area hospital.
The bill “should effectively close the only abortion clinic in Mississippi,” said Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves in a statement. “This is a strong bill that will effectively end abortion in Mississippi.” If the state’s only abortion facility, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, closes, Mississippi women seeking abortions would have to leave the state.
NO, Lt. Gov. Reeves. You will never ever “end abortion in Mississippi.” What you meant to say (because it’s the truth) is that this bill would end SAFE abortion in Mississippi.
A lot of abortion material here the last couple days, but absolutely relevant. ANY attempts to take away a person’s right to decide what happens to their body/make their own healthcare choices, is indeed an act of coercion and thus an act of terrorism. Mississippi’s government is committing an act of terrorism against its constituency. Do not believe for a second that it is doing ANYTHING LESS.
YES. Controlling a person’s access to/ability to choose healthcare is indeed a form of terrorism.
(Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)
Have we all seen this already? Am I late on something again?
This video, essentially a staged reading of tweets tagged #tomyunbornchild does a fabulous job of providing a visual for internet ignorance and stupidity and thus highlighting how damaging and scary it is.
Also, feel free to tweet back at any of the “screenwriters”…
The Washington Post’s piece about an abortion clinic landlord standing up to anti-choice thugs.
TEASER:
Soon after that, the harassing calls started coming to his home. By the dozens, at all hours. Friends asked him how they could help. He began to take down the names and phone numbers of people who made unwanted calls. And he gave the information to his friends and asked them to call these folks back.
“In a very calm, very respectful voice, they said that the Stave family thanks you for your prayers,” he said. “They cannot terminate the lease, and they do not want to. They support women’s rights.”
This started with a dozen or so friends, and then it grew. Soon, more than a thousand volunteers were dialing.
(Via FATM.)
But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new “no-investigations” rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization’s new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is “pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I’ve tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her.
Emphasis mine. Find Ms. Handel on twitter.
Quote from the Atlantic.
I didn’t realize how far behind I was…one question kinda freaked me out so I’ve been avoiding…THIS. Guess there’s no reason to avoid it anymore is there…
Reverb11 Day 19 - Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.
SO, yeah. This is what I was avoiding. I hate sharing photos of myself. I believe I’ve done it exactly once on here. That said, the photo I’ve chosen is not terribly revealing (to an untrained eye…) and perhaps that’s why I chose it. I chose the image above for several reasons. I’m the person taking the picture. That’s really key. The prompt suggests that the photo should capture “who you are or who you strive to be”. I strive to be a person who is a great photographer. Will I do it professionally? Who knows. I have a lot to learn still. I could not, nor would I want to be a fauxtographer. So. Time will tell. I also chose this shot b/c my bff/partner is in the shot with me. That’s pretty important. And of course, there’s a little symbolism. I’m “in the shadows” (well, I guess I am the shadow) and that’s a great place for me. I used to really love being the center of attention, and every so often I still do - but the shadows are far more intriguing. You see more and learn more. :)
Reverb11 Day 20 - Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year?
I’d like to think I have these often. Maybe. I don’t know, I’m not sure what ‘joy’ looks like and where my baseline/normal/stagnant place is in relation. A lot of the ordinary joy moments that come to mind for me involve dance. A couple shows I saw (w/my partner) this year; a house party where one of our friends was DJ’ing. We danced our fucking asses off. I sometimes just kind of get lost - in the music and the movement and feeling his body moving with mine. On a related note, there were some moments of ordinary joy that involved the most ridiculous dancing (at times interpretive) in our apartment. Always fun.
Reverb11 Day 21 - Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.
I might have to cop out here. I’m not sure I had one. The closest, I guess, was going to a documentary film festival and seeing so many different kinds of films and levels of production. It made me feel like being a doc filmmaker is an achievable thing. It also made me aware of many of the things I need to work on to get there. Prior to attending the festival it felt like doc filmmaking was something other people did, that I enjoyed viewing and was really only training for in vain. After attending, my opinion had changed dramatically.
Reverb11 Day 22 - In 2011, what wrongs (big or small) did you attempt to right? How did you help make the world a better place? Why did you do it?
Not trying to humble brag here, but after I read about some of the fucked up laws in Florida - how doctors cannot ask children if there are guns in their homes (with the intent of discussing safety) and safe, easy access to abortion is becoming severely limited, I donated to both Florida NARAL and the Brady Center. While these donations were small, they were important to me. It’s quite hypocritical to claim to be pro-life while endangering both women and children. As long as states like Florida continue to play Russian Roulette with people’s lives, I will continue to donate to organizations which attempt to counter these irresponsible actions.
Reverb11 Day 23 - What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.)
I might have said this last year. I can’t remember and I’m not sure I want to go back and look. But my core story is one of both creation and philanthropy. I love making things. Love it. I love creating stories, food, gifts, films, photos, pretty much anything. And while doing this makes for nice, relaxing hobbies, far more frequently I’m thinking about how I can use the things I make to create social change. This is a work in progress. This core story is barely out of the first act, but please stay tuned.
Reverb11 Day 24 - This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year?
Ugh. It sounds so corny - but I guess the most memorable/important gift I received this year is support/encouragement/praise/pride. Primarily this comes from my bff/partner, but of course also comes from my family and some close friends.
I spent a lot of life not trying too hard at things I loved - for a number of reasons - generally thinking other people were so much better at things than me, feeling like no one would ever want to read words I wrote or see photos I took/films that I made, etc. But my partner’s constant encouragement has really helped me to see that’s not necessarily true.
