I need one of these NOW.

Declare yourself a “Rebellious Jezebel.” Proceeds go to NARAL Pro-Choice.

Posted: February 1st, 2008 under Action, Feminism, Fighting, Politics, Sex.
Comments: 1

“Senator Obama was the only one to step up to the plate” about the abortion ban in South Dakota, says Lorna Brett Howard, Pro-Choice activist. Every pro-choice senator was asked to help–one would assume that this includes Senator Hillary Clinton.

Vote for choice, indeed.

Posted: January 24th, 2008 under Feminism, Politics.
Comments: none

Once upon a time I didn’t see a heck of a lot of difference between two presidential candidates.

That can happen a lot.

But every time I look up at the Supreme Court I remember what those differences can mean. Those little tiny ones mean the difference between Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel Alito.

Those tiny differences shouldn’t be enough for us anymore, though. I am a progressive above all, as many of us are, but I come at it from the perspective of a young single woman, in no way mentally or emotionally prepared to have children. I could never.

Currently, my otherwise-excellent health insurance plan, provided by my employer, Temple University, does not cover birth control. As I am currently single and shouldn’t be sleeping with ANYONE without condoms, I stopped taking the pill. Because as a graduate assistant, that $45 or so that my pills would cost me each month is $45 that I could be putting toward my electric bill. This is fucked up.

Why can I get, among other things, antibiotics to clear up the adult acne that set in when I turned 23, but not birth control, which also helps keep my cycle regular (due to a course of Depo-Provera, which I heartily recommend that no one ever use, I have no idea when my period is going to come or how long it’ll last) and helps keep my skin clear?

For me, choice isn’t just about keeping Roe v. Wade, though that’ll keep me voting Democrat no matter who’s the candidate when this dustup settles down. Because at the very least Senators Clinton, Edwards and Obama all named Ruth Bader Ginsburg as their ideal Supreme Court Justice.

Sometimes it’s not that easy, though.

Currently, I live in Philadelphia. I’m still registered to vote in South Carolina, but I should change that so I can actually take part in local politics. Some of you probably know that Rick Santorum is no longer my senator. He was voted out in 2006, a vote that I would love to have been part of.

But the man who was elected by the largest margin ever for a Democrat in Pennsylvania is a pro-lifer, Bob Casey.

Those little differences, again.

We have to seek out candidates who are not only Democrat in name. We have to look for people who embody ALL of our values and will fight for them. Not for the lesser of two evils.

My loyal readers know I support Barack Obama. I am not bothered by his “present” votes in Chicago, and I do not doubt his commitment to choice any more than I doubt Hillary Clinton’s. But when there’s a female candidate in the race, one would hope that we’d feel better about her commitment to choice, to reproductive health, to all of those issues.

We need candidates who are not just pro-choice. We need candidates who make reproductive health issues a central part of their platform. We need people who are willing to stand up and talk about this shit and aren’t afraid to lose votes over it.

Abortion is a young woman’s issue. Reproductive health is a young woman’s issue. It’s MY issue. By the time they get to Congress and possibly the White House, most of these women are past the age they’d be worrying about being single and broke and not emotionally ready to have a child. (Some are not, it’s true.)

But young people, young women, don’t vote. Right? That’s the conventional wisdom. So young women’s issues are ignored.

We need to change that.

Any women out there who don’t vote, who doubt the authenticity of the whole process, should go rent Iron Jawed Angels. Hillary Swank will remind you that women fought and died for your rights. Get your ass to the polls.

Make Roe v. Wade your issue. Make ending abstinence education and replacing it with real sex ed your issue. Make health care for pregnant women and their children your issue. Make paid maternity leave your issue. Make birth control being funded and available your issue.

Every day, not just today.

Posted: January 22nd, 2008 under Feminism, Politics.
Comments: 1