I'm Pro Choice Because...

Our friend Juliet just tweeted about this great website called Prochoice Because. People can submit a few sentences on why they're pro choice, and each time you refresh the web page a new story pops up. Responses range from the hilarious ("I'm pro choice because I don't tell you what to do with your semen") to the serious ("I am pro choice because I have seen a 12 year old incest victim deliver a child and then proceed to have a pulmonary embolism and die. She never had a choice not to have sex. She never had a choice to use birth control. She never had a choice to terminate her pregnancy. She never had a choice to live.")



I am pro choice because... since the dawn of time, women have tried to abort unwanted pregnancies. They'll use coat hangers, drink poison, or do any number of dangerous things to their bodies. Women have always tried to abort fetuses, and they always will. Make it legal, keep it safe, and we'll spare the lives of many women who die attempting to have an abortion.



Why are you pro choice?

Tonight's Show: The Abortion Monologues

Tonight we interview Jane Cawthorne, a women's studies professor at Mount Royal University and authour of The Abortion Monologues.



The Abortion Monologues is a play that will be showing in Calgary on Thursday February 4th. This show has already sold out - sorry, no more tickets available!



About the play: In these dramatic monologues, twenty-three women reveal the details of their lives, families and relationships as they tell the stories of their abortions. Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always thought provoking, The Abortion Monologues exist in stark contrast to the real world in which women seldom publicly discuss this choice. The characters in this play face everyday hardship, financial crisis, relationship break down, illness, death, radical shifts in expectations and the truth about themselves and their own deepest desires. The characters in this play will challenge you to think again about what you believe and why you believe it.

Rock 4 Choice Calgary 2009!

Rock 4 Choice is an annual event in Calgary that celebrates sexual freedom, choice and education. It's happening this weekend - September 12 and 13, 2009.

Everything is FREE or by donation!

Saturday
Workshops at the Arusha Centre (223 12 Ave SW). Descriptions of workshops can be found on the Rock 4 Choice Calgary blog.

1. You Are Really Fat - 1:00 - 2:00 pm
2. Baby, I'm A Manarchist - 2:00 - 3:00 pm
3. An Introduction To Polyamoury: Making Informed Decisions About Our Relationship Styles - 3:00 - 4:00 pm
4. What Is Pro Choice? - 4:00 - 5:00 pm
5. Bike Maintenance 101 - 5:00 - 6:00 pm

Rock music / dance party from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm at the Knox United Church (506 4 Street SW). Performing bands include This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, The Martyr Index, Straight Edge Al,
The Throwaways, and more.
Vegan dinner served at 6:00 pm.

Sunday
Hangover brunch and more workshops, hoorah! All located at the Arusha Centre (223 12 Ave SW).

1. Free vegan brunch - 11:30 am
2. Self Defense - 1:00 pm
3. Documentary: The Business of Being Born - 2:30 pm
4. Acoustic Sets - 5:00 pm

Check out the Rock 4 Choice blog or facebook group (search "Rock 4 Choice Calgary") for details.

Kansas Abortion Doctor Murdered at Church

George Tiller, a doctor who performed late-term abortions, was murdered while attending church on Sunday morning.

Tiller has been targeted by anti-abortion activists many times before: he was shot in 1993 and his clinic was bombed in 1986.

President Obama has spoken out about this situation, saying "I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."

Young Men Give Props to Women

This is a beautiful and touching "Slam Poem" that gave me chills. These young men were National Youth Poetry Slam finalists in 2005 with this piece.

My favourite line? "If you don't believe in abortion, don't get one, you asshole. And don't you ever call my women murderers for wanting control over their bodies. Besides, our current welfare system couldn't feed a family for a weekend."

Props to these talented, intelligent young men.

Campus Pro-Life to Support a Student Single Mom

Unless you've been living in a cave (or you live outside of Calgary) you've probably heard about the dispute between the University of Calgary and the student club Campus Pro-Life (CPL). If you haven't heard, check out this article for an overview.

Well, as I was walking through the University today I was stopped by a member of Campus Pro-Life and asked if I would like to donate to a bursary to support single mothers. Because I am always suspicious of CPL I asked the guy to explain this to me further. He said that the club is trying to raise at least $250 to give to a student single mother. He also mentioned that although people differ in their opinions about abortion, one thing we can all agree on is that single mom's could use some help.

So, I decided to donate to the cause, and I hope Campus Pro-Life are successful in their plan for this bursary. Although many things that CPL does really upsets me - their Genocide Awareness display is offensive and the club distributes inaccurate information about abortion - I am pleased to see CPL doing something constructive with their time and effort.

As the guy from CPL said, we're never going to agree on the issue of abortion - I won't change my mind and they won't change theirs - but maybe, just maybe, we can start focusing on the things we do agree on. And support for single mom's is definitely a cause I can get on board with.

Women Deserve Better - Women Deserve Choice

I discovered this talented slam poet a couple of years ago. In this spine-chilling performance she outlines the reasons why women desperately need reproductive choice. This video is truly inspiring - if it doesn't make you feel empowered at the same it almost makes you cry, I don't know what will.

Her name is Sonya Renee and you can check out her MySpace page for more info.

Bristol Palin - Abstinence Doesn't Work

Bristol Palin, the 16-yr old daughter of Sarah Palin, admits that abstinence as a form of birth control DOES NOT WORK. Bristol was pregnant during her mom's campaign for vice-presidency, which sparked a lot of debate about issues of family values, sex education and teen pregnancy.

The Bush administration really pushed for schools to only teach abstinence-only sex education, but many studies prove that it doesn't work. Now we're hearing it from a young teen herself.

Spinster Aunt: Gag rule bagged for 4 years

The blogosphere's favorite Spinster Aunt and writer behind "I Blame The Patriarchy" is exercising a little dissidence and is doing it in an interesting way as she tends to. Check out what she had to say about US President Barack Obama' s recent repeal on the global abortion gag rule a.k.a "The New Mexico Policy" , initially instilled by the Reagan Administration in 1984, repealed by Clinton in 1993 and revived again by G.Dub back in 2001.

I have to say, I appreciate her ability to strip away all the glitz and get straight to the facts... as subversive and far from straight-forward as they may be. See for yourself here. Below are a couple of links to articles on the New Mexico Policy from the past and the present.

Center for Reproductive Rights:
Obama Rescinds Global Gag Rule

Archive, from The New York Times (1987):
Abortions Abroad Are New Focus of Widening Battle Over Reagan's Policy


Thoughts...?

Pro-abortion is a dirty word!

This is a random post, and kind of late considering it was inspired by some comments John McCain said during the final presidential debate. During this debate, McCain kept using the word "pro-abortion" instead of pro-choice.

This really pissed me off because I hate the inference that being pro-choice means being pro-abortion. I think there are very few people out there that would actually fall under the category of "pro-abortion." I don't know anybody who actually WANTS to have an abortion and thinks they're fantastic. Nobody wants to go through that, but for many women, it's a necessary procedure.

Also, a lot of people don't understand that you can actually be against abortion for your own personal self, but be pro-choice when it comes to other women's lives. That's what being pro-choice is all about - it's about respecting the choices that other women make, and not judging them for it.

Fuck the term "pro-abortion." I hope pro-life folks will stop using it because its unfair and misleading.