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Rep. Bart Stupak
Rep. Joe Pitts
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I sifted through blogs and media to find out what women bloggers and writers both obscure and well-known are saying about the Stupak-Pitts amendment.
I noticed one thing while researching. Overwhelming, white, straight women are writing about this issue. Queer women and women of color and QWOC are not as focused on this issue as white straight women are. Is abortion a white, straight issue?
Katha Pollitt at the Nation: Whose Team Is It, Anyway?
Laura Flanders at GritTV: Compromise on Women’s Backs Again
Kate Harding at Salon: Face it: The Democratic Party is not for women
Jessica Arons at Think Progress: The Stupak Amendment Is A Monumental Setback For Abortion Access
Jill Filipovic at Feministe: Stupak Amendment: A Coup for Republicans
Kjerstin Johnson at Bitch Magazine: Health Care Reform and the Stupak Amendment
Sarah Jaffe at Global Comment: Hey Stupak, women’s bodies are not bargaining chips
Natalia Anatova at her eponymous blog: Way to go, Democrats
Melissa McEwan at Shakesville: Our Mendacious President
and: Stupak Starts Making Threats
RobinNWLC at Feministing: Abortion and Health Care Reform: How The House Bill Forces Women to Accept Less Coverage Than They Already Have
Pilgrim Soul at the Pursuit of Harpyness: You Can Put Down Your Champagne Now
M. Leblanc at Bitch Ph.D: Life-saving, life-changing, affordable health care
Echidne at Echidne of the Snakes: Now In The Pulpit: E.J. Dionne
Sara E. Anderson at F-Words: Why not abortion insurance?
Amy Siskind at The Daily Beast: How Obama Sold Women Out
Latoya Peterson at Jezebel: Message to Obama: Abort the Stupak-Pitts Amendment
and: Wimpy Wimpy Wimpy: Democrats Are Dithering on Issue of Abortion
Kate Michelman and Frances Kissling at the New York Times: Trading Women’s Rights for Political Power
Dr. Susie Baldwin at RH Reality Check: Another Doctor Mad as Hell
Amie Newman at RH Reality Check: Dear Progressive Allies in Health Care Reform: Where Were You on the Stupak Amendment?
and: RNC Health Plan Covers Abortion and Other Facts & Lies Behind the Stupak Amendment
Actually, you can just go to RH Reality Check and do a search for “Stupak”.
Did you know that there is a “backlash that glorifies obesity” and that “people celebrate clinical obesity”?
I didn’t, but apparently it’s all the rage with the kids these days according to The Root. The Root, a normally good blog, took the opportunity to bash actress Gabourey Sidibe (star of Precious) for her obesity, because they kindly hope she can “get a handle on [her] health”.
Us Weekly, I would expect. But from The Root?
In an article titled ‘Precious’ and the Pushback and subtitled “Congrats on the role of a lifetime, Gabourey Sidibe. Self-esteem is a beautiful thing. But we should celebrate your performance, not your size. Obesity is a national epidemic.” writer Alicia Villarosa is very concerned that if we don’t repeatedly and publicly censure Sidibe for her weight, everyone in the country will want to be fat like her. Because, you see, it’s a total secret that obesity is bad for one’s health, and society doesn’t already make life miserable for the obese, and if Villarosa and all other Precious viewers don’t speak out now, everyone’s going to mistakenly think you can be fat and happy and successful.
Villarosa goes so far as to berate anyone who would look at her as a role model or who would make a positive comment about her body.
Yes, Sidibe is a promising performer, one who’s already generating Oscar buzz. So if we just stick to her acting, kudos. But if we’re talking about her size—which has become part of the conversation—are people delusional? A five-foot-something woman tipping the scales at over 300 pounds is not something to celebrate. That’s SUPER fat, and no matter how passionately you argue the opposite, medical science will pull the plug on that position: Your health will suffer from carrying such an extreme amount of weight.
Then she plies us with helpful health advice that no one could have possibly thought of themselves.
So the message is to be the healthiest you. That means not hauling around a mountain of excess of weight that limits activities and invites health problems. Nor does it mean starving yourself or over-exercising to the brink of cardiovascular failure. It’s about being comfortable in your own skin and loving yourself, but always striving to be better. If you’re overweight, say yes to dropping some pounds, but do so with an emphasis on obtaining better health.
DEAR FAT PEOPLE: ALWAYS BE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT. ALWAYS. DO NOT HAVE A CAREER. DO NOT BE SUCCESSFUL. AND DO NOT, DO NOT PASS GO. Also, please stay out of public view, because as soon as someone sees you there’s going to be an OBESITY CRAZE!
cease to resist, giving my goodbye
drive my car into the ocean
you’ll think i’m dead, but i sail away
on a wave of obesity
a wave
wave
i’ve kissed mermaids, rode the el nino
walked the sand with the crustaceans
could find my way to mariana
on a wave of obesity,
wave of obesity
wave of obesity
wave
WAVE OF OBESITY
wave
whew… uh… so we had a little interlude there. Um, as I was saying…
Do we really need an article in the Root reminding us all to fat-shame Sidibe?
Feministe brought this article to my attention. No fat-shaming in the comments please! If you want to learn more about size acceptance, take a look at the Size Acceptance section of my 101 page.
Rob Long, at the Wall Street Journal, is concerned that the world may no longer be able to protect itself from terrorist transvestites.
His hilarious fear stems from a UN report notable for its nuance and sensitivity towards people who find themselves marginalized due to their gender expression.
Martin Scheinin, UN Special Rapporteur, wrote a report for the UN General Assembly titled “Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism”.
In it, he makes ‘controversial’ statements like:
Gender is not synonymous with women but rather encompasses the social constructions that underlie how women’s and men’s roles, functions and responsibilities, including in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, are defined and understood. This report will therefore identify the gendered impact of counter-terrorism measures both on women and men, as well as the rights of persons of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. As a social construct, gender is also informed by, and intersects with, various other means by which roles, functions and responsibilities are perceived and practiced, such as race, ethnicity, culture, religion and class. Consequently, gender is not static; it is changeable over time and across contexts. Understanding gender as a social and shifting construct rather than as a biological and fixed category is important because it helps to identify the complex and inter-related gender-based human rights violations caused by counterterrorism measures; to understand the underlying causes of these violations; and to design strategies for countering terrorism that are truly non-discriminatory and inclusive of all actors.
This is great DIY fun for the whole family both born and unborn.
This is for serious peoples. If you don’t believe me, go to the American Life League website yourself and feast your eyes. You can download your own stencil!
Or not.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It could be as intricate as the design here or as simple as the word “Pro-Life.” Whatever your skill level, be creative and tell the world about the personhood of preborn babies!
Any occasion is the right occasion to be a scary pro-life activist. I’m glad they discovered the synergies they have with the overall spooky nature of Halloween, or “the eve of All Saints Day”, as ALL puts it.
h/t Evil Slutopia
Exciting UPDATE: Here’s my own, with a couple friends.
Just another anti-gay hate crime.
From the Queens Chronicle:
[Jack Price] went to a 24-hour deli on College Point Boulevard and 18th Avenue around 3 a.m. to buy cigarettes. He told police two Hispanic men made reference to his homosexuality, calling him “faggot” and other names.
Police said Daniel Aleman, 26, and an accomplice, Daniel Rodriguez, both of College Point, beat Price after he left the store. Price was able to crawl home 10 blocks away and call police.
…[T]he NYPD says he suffered collapsed lungs, all his ribs broken and he underwent surgery on his spleen and had a metal plate placed in his jaw.
Fun drinking game: take a shot of something fruity every time this article uses the phrase “openly gay”.
A beauty pageant that requires plastic surgery.
From Deutsche Welle:
[G]oing under the knife was a requirement for the 50 contestants of Miss Plastic Hungary 2009.
…The competition was the first beauty show requiring substantial plastic surgery in order to qualify.
…The cosmetic surgeons of the top three contestants also received prizes for their work.“I think this competition was long overdue,” photographer and jury member Marton Sizpal told the Associated Press.
“It is time for Hungarian women to care more about their appearance,” he said.
In-f’in-credible. I really don’t know how to respond to news like this. Your response?
Republicans defend Sen. Jim DeMint by saying he’s like Jews who “take care of the pennies.”
From Gawker:
Bamberg County GOP Chairman Edwin Merwin and Orangeburg County GOP Chairman James Ulmer wrote the Orangeburg Times and Democrat to defend DeMint in a newspaper editorial Sunday that said he was not funneling enough funds to local projects.
“There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves. By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation’s pennies and trying to preserve our country’s wealth and our economy.”
Wow, Jim, you’ve got some great friends. And the votes of antisemites everywhere. Well, at least the ones in South Carolina. Edwin Merwin, huh? For a guy with “win” twice in his name, he’s awful full of fail.
Roger Ebert is so goddamn awesome.
I am naive enough to think that universal care is obviously good.
…The fallacy of the free enterprise argument is that it assumes corporations are motivated to bring about the public good. Corporations are motivated to maximize profits for shareholders.
I highly recommend you read the whole post. Via Kate Harding.
This grand new website contains “the list of thirty legislators who were brave enough to stand up in defense of rape and vote against Senator Al Franken’s anti-rape amendment to the 2009 Defense Appropriations bill. We applaud these courageous men! Roll over the portraits with your mouse to see the Senator’s phone number, or click on a portrait to visit the Senator’s contact page. We encourage you to send your kind words to these gentlemen!”
Good to see my old pal Sam Brownback of Kansas up there, as well as both reps from Oklahoma (see previous post).
H/t to Bint Alshamsa.
Oklahoma has a wretched track record when it comes to women’s bodily autonomy. I have written about the law requiring doctors to show them “the baby” on their ultrasound, the law forcing extra medical penetration on women seeking abortion, and the fact that OK allows health insurance agencies to deny medical coverage to women who have been victims of domestic violence.
Anyways, get ready for more of the same.
As of November 1, doctors in Oklahoma will be compelled — under penalty of criminal prosecution — to post the details of each abortion they perform online. Among the details to be posted for every abortion is the patient’s age, marital status and race; her financial condition; her education; and the total number of her previous pregnancies.
This amazing piece of law-making is called the Statistical Reporting of Abortions Act. Women must answer 37 personal questions about themselves that would, though names won’t be posted, make it easy to identify many of the women who get abortions in Oklahoma.
No reason. Oklahoma just wants to know. Or wait, no, that’s not right, Oklahoma is Just Doing It For Women’s Own Good. Because women benefit by… uh… alright, I can’t find even a facetious reason for Oklahoma to do this.
We have two men to thank for this “common-sense legislation” (their term): Republican Senator Todd Lamb and Republican Representative Dan Sullivan.
You can contact Mr. Lamb here.
You can contact Mr. Sullivan here.
Mike the Mad Biologist has an excellent suggestion: “Why don’t we just tattoo a Scarlett “A” on their foreheads?”
Thank the Lord two women are suing the state, Lora Joyce Davis and former state Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton, with the help of the Center for Reproductive Rights. I’m sure CRR could use your support right now.
Rachel Maddow recently did a show on this very issue.
Last night, I rode my bike home from an event a couple miles from my house.
It was nearly 2 am and I had some concerns about drunk drivers. I turned down a driveway passage that leads between some public housing complexes near my house to avoid the cars racing up and down the major roads.
As I was riding through the central courtyard, I noticed a group of rather large men, dressed all in black, standing together at one end.
As I passed them, they took note of my presence and started shouting at me. They yelled out “HEY!” several times and demanded that I stop and talk with them.
It took me zero seconds to decide that would be a piss poor idea and to peddle all the faster. Usually ignoring such attention from men and leaving the area quickly is enough.
Not this time. I realized one of the men was literally chasing me. I was overwhelmed with fear. I didn’t even want to imagine what a cluster of five men hanging out in a dark corner at 2 am and shouting at women would want with me. My whole body went cold and I peddled as fast as I could, aiming for the bright lights of the nearest busy street.
I heard one of the men shout “Police!” and thought maybe a police officer was coming to the rescue.
Oh how wrong I was.
Because these men were the police.
That realization did not make me feel any better. I quickly assessed my options and decided to stop before any guns were drawn. Though I experience white skin privilege, the police in my neighborhood are so accustomed to abusing the marginalized communities here that I believed white privilege wouldn’t overcome their “shoot first, ask questions later” mentality.
The five police officers approached and surrounded me. Up close I could see that their dark clothing was black or navy uniforms with policey-decorations on them. They were all white, which I thought was odd for this majority-POC neighborhood. They demanded to know what I was doing in “the projects”. I responded that I was riding my bike home, and that the complexes were between my starting point and destination. They told me that this is a “high crime area” and that I “shouldn’t be around here”. I informed them that that was unreasonable because I live “around here”. That sounding deeply implausible, the leader demanded my ID and accused me of fleeing the police. He and three officers went a few paces away and huddled, speaking in low tones, for the next 15 minutes. One officer was left to monitor me.
I was thoroughly frightened and confused. I had only planned on a quick 10-minute bikeride from hanging out with friends to my home. Being shouted at, chased, and surrounded by a group of five big-bodied men… it hadn’t really occurred to me as a possibility. I expressed my confusion at this turn of the events and questioned my detention. They told me to wait.
Eventually, the leader of the group stalked up to me and in a raised, aggressive voice informed me that I was charged with disorderly conduct and riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. He informed me that I had known all along they were police, that I had shouted insults at them, and that I had deliberately tried to flee them.
This was, of course, news to me. I explained that when I pass noisy groups of men who shout at me in dark passages in the wee hours, it is simply a matter of survival that I get out of the situation, and that any woman in my place would do the same. He repeated that I had known they were police and had intentionally committed this crime.
He handed me the tickets and I got out of there fast. I have never felt so unsafe in my own neighborhood. I have never been harassed in this manner in my neighborhood before. I feel thankful that I came out of the situation with my life. That may be my white privilege. Around here, as around the country, police have a reputation for murdering black people. They murdered one man earlier this summer for the crime of being on his porch and telling a disguised under-cover cop to stop loitering on his property. He was killed in his own front doorway.
Some other reflections:
1. All this shouting and chasing and harassing was in the courtyard of a large housing complex full of families. I am talking hundreds of people. How safe can they feel when police officers are loitering outside of their homes screaming at the top of their lungs at every passer-by? Especially when this community, being low income and of color and partly immigrant, is already subject to excessive amounts of police harassment?
2. My own white privilege was revealed to me as I came to realize that this is what my neighbors experience every day, and that I usually escape it. It’s possible that the same darkness that prevented me from seeing the police uniforms prevented them from seeing my skin tone. They may have planned on harassing a public housing resident of color, and I just blundered into the situation by assuming that I can go wherever I want without police harassment. The fact that I never realized how police interactions interlace the daily lives of my neighbors is a wake up call for me.
3. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THOSE OFFICERS? How dare they harass a woman who is traveling alone at night in an isolated location away from any busy roads (where there would be witnesses and the potential to call for help)? Are they out of their minds? How can they be so blind to their male privilege and the legitimacy privilege of possessing state power? Could they really not see why the situation they chose to create was a terrifying nightmare-scenario for their victim? How in the world is public safety achieved by men shouting at and chasing women in the night? I have never felt so unsafe in my neighborhood as I do now. My neighbors haven’t ever done anything to make me feel unsafe, and so until now I had no fears. The behavior of these men was so egregious that I believe it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find similar instances perpetrated by the supposedly dangerous inhabitants of the public housing buildings.
4. Essentially, my crime here is that I was biking while female. I acted as any rational women would react in this situation. For my natural behaviors of simply trying to survive on the street, I actually have to be a defendant in court.
5. I want to state clearly that this is an intersection of institutional and state classism and racism, and that I will not be accepting comments to the effect of “Oh you’re so naive to live near public housing and/or to think good on your neighbors.” Those comments would be classist and racist and that’s not what this post is here to talk about. Why would I be the “naive white girl” to live near these apartments, but the residents are “hardened black criminals” simply for residing inside the same apartments I live next to? The location of your home does not define you as a criminal or not, nor does your skin color nor your poverty. I guess I should say “should not” instead of “does not”. We all know that people of color, public housing residents, immigrants, and poor people are criminalized simply for existing as such.
Puke.
Share your stories of police harassment if you like. NO RACISM & NO POOR-BASHING.
Late on the draw, but I feel that this is an important issue, so [fill in obvious cliché here].
A bunch of awesome disabled feminists have recently addressed the ableism present on popular feminist site Feministing. Read about the sequence of events and those involved at this ain’t livin’.
If ableism is an unfamiliar word for you, you can learn more at my 101 collection page.
Hey, haven’t had enough woman-hating in your day? How about a little tried-and-true misogyny, NEPA (Northeastern Pennsylvania) style, thoughtfully published in a major (relatively-speaking) Wilkes-Barre, PA newspaper called the Times Leader:
Think of the cash your parents are laying down for your “education” as an unlimited account to the Bunny Ranch. If you have trouble charming chicks, that means it’s time for a little sorostitution. You won’t have to worry about c–k blocking yourself with meaningless chit-chat in the presence of sorority girls. They’re usually too wasted to require any sort of legitimate connection.
…All sororities invite a few less attractive girls to pledge in order to make the hotties feel better about themselves. The Ugly Sister will be available and vulnerable.
Written by someone named James Holeva. AH! His name is uncomfortably similar to mine. If you, ahem, enjoyed his article, he invites you to contact him at his facebook page. If Facebook is accurate, you can see him depicted on the right.
I’m kind of in shock that a legitimate newspaper published that bullshit. Not okay. If you want to contact the Times Leader, you can do so here.
I’ve divided today’s issue into sections. Oh boy!
Overseas
The Czech people are celebrating the collapse of American plans to put (more) American military equipment in their country! Go Czechs!
Idiot far-right German political party NPD sent offensive letters to “parliamentary candidates of immigrant heritage, telling them to go home.” It’s part of their cynical plan to stir up the not-properly-riled dormant xenophobic neo-nazi element in German society to vote for NPD in future elections.
Good news for the gheyz!
Not only does Nevada’s same-sex Domestic Partnership Registry Act take effect today, but the ban on same-sex marriage in Texas was declared unconstitutional!
So Topical!
Ed Kilgore wrote about David Brooks and anti-anti-racism. Did you read what he calls Brooks’ “unintentionally hilarious column”?
American Girl debuts “Gwen”, their new homeless doll! How topical! Here’s a snippet of her story:
Gwen and her mother Janine fell on hard times when her father lost his job; they later lost the house as they were unable to keep up payments. Soon after, Gwen’s father left them and they became homeless the fall before the start of the book’s events.
LOL your post-racial America!
(got that title from Shakesville btw)
US attorney Jim Greenlee in Mississipi targeted convenience store owners based only on the evidence that their names sound Muslim. Not like kinda on the DL, but as a stated initiative. The Convenience Store Initiative, to be precise.
Of the more than 100 people listed as being investigated by federal authorities, nearly every name appears to be Islamic. FBI officials would not comment.
FAIL. Good thing my pals at Mississippi Immigrants Rights Association are ON IT.
ANNnnnd to cap it all off with the worst thing ever: a white woman claiming to be an immigration officer stabbed an immigrant woman and stole her 4-day-old baby. This 
happened yesterday in Tennessee to mother Maria Gurrolla. Her missing baby’s name is Yair Anthony Carrillo. Investigators said:
“The child was taken by a white female who was posing as an immigration worker. She had come to the residence and demanded the mother give her the baby. When the mother refused to comply she stabbed the mother approximately 8 times.”
Check out the 5th Carnival of Feminists over at Zero at the Bone.
Lots of good reading to do. They’ve got some big names, they’ve got some little names. (I’m a little name, FYI.)
There have been reports of women and queer people being harassed on the street in Flatbush, Brooklyn, particularly along Cortelyou Avenue.
If you are from that area and would like to join a discussion on neighborhood safety, you are welcome to attend.
September 29, 7pm at Vox Pop Cafe, at Cortelyou and Stratford.
Do we all remember the depressing story of Jamie Lee Jones, who, while an employee of Halliburton/KBR in Iraq, was drugged, gang-raped by fellow employees, then locked up without food or water in an empty shipping container for 24 hours? And then told that if she sought medical attention outside of Iraq she would lose her job? And then Halliburton, a company whose previous CEO was Dick Cheney, refused to take any action against her assailants? And then the Department of Justice refused to take her case because she had signed a (clearly illegal) document saying “these matters” would be handled in secret extra-judicial arbitration?
Well…. she is still fighting and has won a small battle. She went to trial against the Halliburton arbitration agreement to fight for her right to go to trial against Halliburton for realz. And 2-1 the the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in her favor.
Apparently, Halliburton tried to argue that the gang-rape was a “work-related” activity and was therefore rightfully dealt with by forced arbitration with a tots impartial Halliburton-paid arbitrator.
There is so much justice going on in this story I almost can’t handle it. Does it add any justice-y awesomeness that this arbitration policy was put into place during Cheney’s watch? I should hope so.
More power to Jamie for drawing a line in the sand. The courage it takes to stand up to a mega-company like Halliburton, and to the Department of “Justice” is awe-inspiring. She deserves real justice, and the perpetrators deserve to be ferreted out. Where are those cowards now?
From the National Women’s Law Center:
Take Action Now: Oppose Anti-Choice Efforts to Take Away Abortion Coverage from Millions of Women in Health Care Reform
As we speak, insurance coverage for abortion care is being negotiated out of health care reform. This is unacceptable and your action is urgently needed.
And as you are reading this, there’s language on the brink of being included in health care reform that will take away coverage of abortion that millions of women currently have. We must not let this happen because comprehensive reproductive health care is basic health care for women.
Call and email your Senators and the White House TODAY. Tell them to protect women’s coverage of abortion care in health care reform!
To call your Senators, dial 202-224-3121. When you call, you’ll reach the Capitol switchboard. Ask to be connected to your Senators. Note that you’ll need to call two times to reach both of your Senators.
Click here to email.
Insurance companies have used the excuse of “pre-existing conditions” to deny coverage to countless Americans. From cancer patients to the elderly suffering from arthritis, these organizations have padded their profit margins by limiting coverage to patients deemed “high risk” because of their medical condition.
But, in DC and eight other states, including Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, insurance companies have gone too far, claiming that “domestic violence victim” is also a pre-existing condition.
…In 1994, an informal survey conducted by the Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that 8 of the 16 largest insurers in the country used domestic violence as a factor when deciding whether to extend coverage and how much to charge if coverage was extended.
It is clear that insurance companies refuse to police themselves. It’s up to us to call on Congress to take action now to pass health care reform and end discrimination against patients with pre-existing conditions.
UPDATE: The National Women’s Law Center has just confirmed that in April, Arkansas actually passed a law prohibiting insurance discrimination against domestic violence survivors…
By Maria Tchijov
Please email, tweet, facebook, repost, and reblog this. This is cRaZy shit and people need to KNOW. BTW, I love the invisible hand of the market.
HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR INVISIBLE HAND TODAY?
Crap loads of interesting stuff going on in this here world:
Trans Methodist Minister Finds Acceptance from his Congregation. Via Box Turtle Bulletin.
Acting Like Native Americans Is a Cult German Hobby.
Canadian Christianists Oppressed by the Teaching of Religion in Public Schools. Don’t worry, that doesn’t make sense to me either. Essentially, it appears they are angry their children are learning that religious besides Christianity exist.
Baptist Preacher Says of Gays: “I Hope You Get Brain Cancer”.
Actress Openly Discusses Her Schizophrenia. I think it is awesome she wants to be public about her mental condition. Yay!
Islamophobia Claims a Life in London. The elderly Ekram Haque was killed by a gang of whites in front of his 3-year-old granddaughter.
Sudanese Journalist Convicted of Wearing Pants. Lubna Hussein’s subsequent actions show true courage and solidarity. Holla!
The Wall Street Journal kindly reminds us that Christians are terribly, terribly oppressed in America. And are totally not the dominate majority who enjoy state privileges that non-Christians could never dream of.
If you can’t read the small print, this shindig will be at McCarren Park (in Brooklyn) Saturday September 19 from 2-5pm.
The Doula Project “is a pro-choice New York City-based organization that was started in 2008 to provide services to lower-income individuals across the spectrum of pregnancy.”
Isn’t it weird to perform permanent elective surgery on the genitals of male infants? Shouldn’t that be something up to an adult to decide on, since it is his body and maybe as an adult he would want to have his genitals intact?
It’s extra weird that birthers are so concerned with whether Obama is circumcised or not. Because not being circumcised is ‘foreign’.
And it is concerning that there are advocates of mandatory circumcision for all male infants born in the US because of a misapplied study on HIV-transmission done in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. Advocates may soon include the Center for Disease Control… which is scary. This could actually happen. Men, time to rise up!
Read what Smile Pretty & Watch Your Back sez.
See the New York Times article.
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