As Kristin told you yesterday, when Focus on the Family's Super Bowl ad airs, we want to give you the chance to focus on something else.
I've been following #FocusOn on Twitter (yes, I'm one of those Twitter people), and I've already seen some great responses.
To participate, just tweet this and fill in the blank: FocusOnTheFamily is anti-choice & anti-gay. When its SuperBowl ad runs, I'll join @naral & #FocusOn _______________ http://bit.ly/b9RoSE
I originally wrote this article for my Changemaker page over at Change.org. Please take a moment to head over there and check it out!
I'm a big football fan, and I'm really looking forward to the Super Bowl. Spending time with family and friends, eating good nachos, maybe having a beer - you really can't beat it.
We've heard from a lot of supporters - asking where we stand on all of this - so we put together this short clip about our support for a woman's ability to make the choice that's right for her and her family:
Anti-choice politics have no place in the Super Bowl, so when the ad runs, focus on something else - anything else - besides Focus on the Family.
to tell the truth about Focus on the Family's agenda, and what you plan to focus on instead when the ad runs.
Me? I'm going to focus on... our great, pro-choice activists!
As a proud progressive, I know I don't have to convince you that Focus on the Family wants to take choices away from women, including the choice to use birth control or access abortion if necessary.
So I wanted to leave you with a few facts and outrageous claims the group has made, so that you will be ready to tell your friends the true agenda behind the Focus on the Family ad when your friends ask:
Its web site urges women facing unintended pregnancy to seek "wise advice" because "the hormones and extreme emotions of pregnancy make reasonable decisions more difficult."
In 2008, Focus on the Family endorsed a divisive anti-choice "personhood" ballot measure in Colorado that would have banned abortion and threatened birth control. Fortunately, pro-choice Coloradans, led by NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, resoundingly rejected this measure.
Focus on the Family spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to support California's discriminatory Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. The organization's founder, James Dobson claimed that gay marriage will "destroy the Earth."
It's important that, as pro-choice Americans, we support every woman's ability to make the decisions that are best for her and her family - but Focus on the Family wants to take options away from women.
So please Go to ProChoiceAmerica.org/SuperBowl to find out how to use Facebook, MySpace or Twitter to give your friends and tens of thousands of football fans a way to tell the world that they disagree with Focus on the Family's agenda, and that they plan to focus on something else when the ad airs.
Kristin Koch is the Deputy Director of Communications for Online Advocacy Strategies for NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Wow. In just a week, more than 48,000 people joined us in calling on CBS to drop the Focus on the Family ad from the Super Bowl line up!
Clearly CBS heard the loud public outcry. But with more than $2 million on the line, CBS dodged the outrage by abruptly changing its policy about airing advocacy ads. Now, the network says it will show ads that are "responsibly produced" during the Super Bowl.
So now that Focus on the Family's ad will probably run, what are millions of pro-choice viewers to do?
The night of the Super Bowl, when the ad comes on, we want you to Focus On... Something Else. Anything else!
Focus on your best friend's artichoke dip... flossing your teeth... the Puppy Bowl... the finer points of astrophysics... You get the picture. When the ad runs, just make sure you are focusing on something other than Focus on the Family.
Tell the world (okay, your friends) that you plan to Focus On... Something Else through Facebook or Twitter.
First, say how you really feel about Focus on the Family's anti-choice, anti-birth-control, anti-sex-education, and anti-gay agenda, and then be sure to share what you plan to Focus On when the ad plays. (And fan us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter so that you can hear from us the night of the Super Bowl. We'll share the great feedback we're seeing.)
What do I plan to Focus On during the Super Bowl? Probably trying to make my friends' little baby laugh and thinking about how lucky I am to be surrounded by amazing family and friends.
This policy shift from the Defense Department is a major victory for women's health and women's rights, and will help the 350,000 women who serve in the military or depend on military facilities for health care.
Until now, if a woman serving in the military stationed overseas is raped, there's a good chance she won't be able to get emergency birth control that can prevent a pregnancy, simply because the base's health facilities don't stock it.
What could only make this situation even worse is the fact that anti-choice politicians have fought for years to keep it that way.
It's probably not surprising that the Bush administration is to blame. In 2002, the Department of Defense issued the same recommendation that it did today, but then-President Bush's political appointees overruled it without explanation.
To add insult to injury, anti-choice groups like Concerned Women for America and Family Research Council, along with members of Congress who oppose birth control like anti-choice Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak from Michigan, have since opposed efforts by members of Congress to fix this problem.
Fortunately, unlike his predecessor, President Obama supports the decisions of medical experts and policy recommendations based on science-not politics.
NARAL Pro-Choice America has been fighting to change this outrageous unacceptable policy for years. In just the past few months, we worked with Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) to introduce the Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act. This bill was a legislative response to the political interference during the Bush era.
Here's a statement from NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan regarding the verdict in Scott Roeder's trial for the murder of Dr. Tiller:
Washington. D.C. - Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, issued the following statement in response to a jury's conviction of Scott Roeder as guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Dr. George Tiller.
"The jury examined the facts of this case and rightfully convicted Scott Roeder for the brutal murder of Dr. George Tiller inside his church in Kansas. Our thoughts are with Dr. Tiller's family and friends. Even though this conviction brings a murderer to justice, it won't replace the husband, father, and grandfather they lost last May. Dr. Tiller was a tireless advocate for reproductive health who called on us to 'trust women' to make the personal, private decisions that are best for them and their families. We will continue to honor his legacy of compassion and resolve.
"We also call on opponents of a woman's right to choose to end the practice of inflammatory rhetoric and tactics that inspire this kind of violent action from the most extreme factions of the anti-choice movement. No other abortion provider's family should have to endure the tragedy of seeing their loved one killed for providing an essential and legal health service to women."
Kristin Koch is the Deputy Director of Communications for Online Advocacy Strategies for NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Thinking about Focus on the Family in my house any day of the week kind of turns my stomach, but on Super Bowl Sunday? Well, that just crosses the line.
Not that I'm a huge football fan. Baseball is my game (Go, Nationals!), but I have always loved the Super Bowl. Whether I host or go to a friend's house, it's one of the few nights where so many people gather to watch sports. It's festive and loud, involves over-eating... and for those of us who don't discuss the finer of points of offensive strategy, there's the half-time show and, of course, the ads.
We've all scrutinized Super Bowl ads. With my group of friends, ads spark the most conversation, laughs, or boos (my favorite: the E-Trade babies). And I'm sure that at least some percentage of the anticipated Super Bowl viewership of 100 million pays close attention to the ads, too.
That's one big reason why CBS's approval to run an ad by Focus on the Family during the Super Bowl is so troubling. We're talking about approximately 100 million people who will be exposed to an organization with an unmistakably anti-choice, anti-birth-control, anti-sex-education, anti-gay agenda. We did a cursory review of the Focus on the Family web site and found this doozy: in one section about abortion (yes, there are more than one) women facing an unintended pregnancy are counseled to seek "wise advice" because "the hormones and extreme emotions of pregnancy make reasonable decisions more difficult." Yeah, there is no way you can make this up. Focus on the Family is not some middle-of-the-road, ho-hum organization.
For CBS to suddenly change its "no advocacy in advertising" policy to consider "responsibly produced" ads is a cop out. CBS is trying to justify its decision by changing the rules in the middle of the game and no one is fooled.
I think it's safe to say the Blog for Choice has been a resounding success. We'll update the blog next week with some stats on how many posts we tracked, how many sign-ups we received, and how much love Blog for Choice Day received.
Did any of you happen to catch USAToday's article that referenced Blog for Choice Day? Please take a moment to read it and pat yourself on the back... because we wouldn't be in our fifth year of Blog for Choice Day without our amazingly talented, thoughtful, active, and inspired bloggers!
Thank you for all you do to protect a woman's right to choose. Your support means everything to us.
I'd also like to give a shout-out to Jessica Valenti - former NARAL Pro-Choice America blogger and current feminist author, founding editor of Feministing, and Jess-of-all-Trades. Blog for Choice Day was her brain child back during the founding of this blog, and we're so pleased that it continues to grow and grow. Thanks, Jess!
Holy cow, pro-choice Americans! Thanks for all your support. This is incredible!
Here are the final blog posts I'll be able to highlight today... but that doesn't mean there aren't more out there. Please take a moment to do a quick blog search for "Blog for Choice" and you'll be overwhelmed with the plethora of solid Blog for Choice day posts to read.
And here's why I trust women: Because women know the situations they are in. They know whether or not the condom broke, or whether or not the baby's father was a rapist or whether he wouldn't step in. They know the risks of having a child, either medically or situationally. And I trust women to be in the care of a physician rather than in the care of an unlicensed quack who uses unsanitary equipment. And I trust women to be in the care of a physician rather than taking extreme measures to terminate their pregnancies.
"Trust Women" means understanding a woman's right to make decisions about her body. It means trusting that we can, and must, make our own decisions regarding our reproductive choices.
Trust a woman to know when she's ready to have a child. Trust a woman to decide if she's not ready for a child.
All women, regardless of class, income, religion, or color, should be able to make decisions about their own bodies.
For the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, NARAL Pro-Choice America holds Blog for Choice day. To participate, we're reposting some of our best segments related to abortion, choice, and reproductive health. Last August, Dr. Susan Wicklund joined us in studio. We wrote at the time: A recent report from the Center for Reproductive Rights reveals that abortion doctors and clinics face continued threats, assaults, and harassment. Are doctors under siege? Dr. Susan Wicklund, author of This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor, on the political climate after the death of Dr. George Tiller and why she's speaking out.
Like I said, there's a lot discussed, but there are two points in particular I want to focus on. The first is the notion that reproductive rights are human rights. To me, that's the crux of what Trust Women means. Abortion is simply a medical procedure that allows a woman to do with her body what she wants and needs. Having a fertilized egg inside of her doesn't suddenly make her incapable of making decisions, yet she is suddenly deemed unworthy of retaining her rights. The second point is closely linked to the first, in my opinion, and that's education and information. If women are given access to accurate information about contraception, abortion, adoption, childbirth, etc., then why should anybody else be allowed to interfere with her decision and her rights?
I get really angry when I see headlines like the one in this article in GQ about Scott Roeder murdering Dr. George Tiller: "Savior vs. Savior", with the blurb equating Dr. Tiller and Roeder as men who "believed they were doing right" and as having "convictions". No one would dare say such a thing about a non-Christian terrorist, that they somehow have a conviction worth respecting. But when the argument is between the conviction that women are people vs. the conviction that women are subhuman incubators, then all of a sudden this false equivalence enters into the situation.
The bottom line about abortion is this. Do you trust women to make their own moral judgments? If you are anti-abortion, then no. You do not. You have an absolute moral position that you don't trust anyone to question, and therefore you think that abortion should be illegal. But the second you start making exceptions for rape or incest, you are indicating that your moral position is not absolute. That moral judgment is involved. And that right there is where I start to get angry and frustrated, because unless you have an absolute position that all human life (arguably, all life period, but that isn't the argument I'm engaging with right now) are equally valuable (in which case, no exceptions for the death penalty, and I expect you to agonize over women who die trying to abort, and I also expect you to work your ass off making this a more just world in which women don't have to choose abortions, but this is also not the argument I'm engaging right now), then there is no ground whatsoever for saying that there should be laws or limitations on abortion other than that you do not trust women. I am completely serious about this.
Heidi, from SisterSong, wrote a great piece for Blog for Choice Day. It originally appeared on her blog, A Black Girl Named Heidi, but I'm going to cross-post it here because I think it tells a story that might be familiar to a lot of us.
At the age of 15, I had my first lesson on the contradictions of the word "trust", particularly the African American community. For most of my life, it seemed like the concept of trust was a friendly understanding - an unspoken child-parental agreement, if you will. Both of my parents provided for my sister and I, and while I didn't have everything I wanted, all of my needs were met. My parents simply required that I go to church, be respectful of my elders, love my family, and make good grades. As a post-civil rights baby I had an obligation to excel, not just for my individual success but as the only African American often in privileged circles. No brainers, right? I excelled at those requests and I was trusted. Life seemed golden - for the moment.
But when I turned 16, the tide turned for s0me reason. Although I was trusted to make good grades, have perfect attendance at school, be a perfect daughter and grandchild, as I matured romantically and sexually that trust began to wane. For the slow reader: I met a hot guy at my 16th birthday party who was a senior in high school, and they weren't having it. So began our journey down this path of "Conditional trust factors."
"I trust you completely, I just don't trust him/them/the world," was the adage I heard for the next two years. And so began my true understanding of their meaning of trust. I was to be held responsible for what others MIGHT do - ill-intended or not. Translation: I trust you to do exactly what I want you to do.
So to say I was rebellious after my 16th birthday would be a gross understatement. But my mother endured, and I gave her hell the entire way. She wanted to teach me the value of trust by demanding that I trusted her to keep me safe - physically, sexually, psychologically, and spiritually. Her increased demands drove my further rebellion. And as my chest grew, my hips widened and the boys' heads began to turn, she waged her own morality campaign. Her approach? Stricter rules, shorter curfews, and hard core church. The result? I equated the concept of trust with "control". Someone else's control of my body, mind, and spirituality, despite the reality that I was still complying with the original requests to succeed in all the other areas she had asked me to - go to church, be respectful of my elders, love my family, and make good grades. It was clear to me then that being trusted to make good choices was not necessarily predicated on trustworthiness. There needed to be a spirit of submission - a willingness to allow, and in some instance enjoy the efforts, of the one attempting to do the controlling.
By the time I got to college, like everyone around me I tried to define my own reality, proving to myself (and possibly my parents) that my trustworthiness was bigger than the realm of academics, community service, and church. Life was finding and developing new relationships, having the experiences too taboo in a small southern town, but essential to urban living. Through a series of breakups, breakdowns, breakups, loving, hating, persevering - trust became the new "self forgiveness" that I needed to define myself. I had learned to trust myself not as an African American, but as a woman- my choices, my desires, my fears and metabolize how all those feelings intermingled with one another made for my fabulous, yet complicated life. With forgiveness came "compassion", compassion for myself and compassion for others.
Now I am proudly in my 30's harnessing the gifts of forgiveness and compassion, I have learned that to trust others is directly linked to the compassion I have for my own experiences - happiness, joy, love, acceptance, and commitment. I know that trusting others begins with me trusting the best in myself and ultimately humanity. Trusting others means allowing he/she to make the best choices for his/her life with the resources they have available, even if it is a bad decision. It's how I learned to trust myself. Trusting other women means I trust me - trusting that I can make good decisions, powerful changes, and learn from my mistakes. Can I trust you?
A Black Girl Named Heidi In honor of the 37th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
The thing that we always forget about the abortion debate is that this is an issue that is fundamentally about class. Women with a certain amount of money and privilege will always have access to abortion -- even if it were to be made outright illegal in this country. But disadvantaged women have it much, much harder. Women's abortion rights have been drastically rolled back over the years. As a writer at RH Reality Check, I wrote regularly about the various ways states were trying to rollback the right to abortion: introducing waiting periods, TRAP laws, ultrasound requirements, personhood amendments, and more. Even on television and in TV shows, it has become taboo to discuss abortion.
Robin from RH Reality Check writes a deeply personal piece on RH Reality Check titled, "Pregnancy Is Too Complicated for "Life Begins At XXX." Just Ask Me: I Know":
Considering what a struggle it had always been for me to get pregnant, I supposed it was only fair that I found it so hard to become unpregnant, too. We spent a full year trying for our first child before we were lucky enough to conceive. So it wasn't so shocking when it took the same about of time to conceive our second. The shock came later, at our first appointment, when we they couldn't find a heartbeat.
I am pro-choice because I believe in women. I believe there are situations in a woman's life that I/the government cannot possibly manage for her, and I believe individual women are the ones responsible for making the best choices for themselves and their families. Not me, not a politician solely interested in rallying the faithful, not a pharmacist who refuses to fill a legal prescription, not an insurance plan that won't cover birth control, not a doctor pushing too many inductions and too many c-sections, not schools and parents who believe that ignorance=bliss and safety, not states who refuse to protect women from the tyranny of the majority, not the football game schedule, and not those who would refuse to present medically accurate information to women on a whole host of issues. Women. The individual woman in the individual situation. I trust her, and leave her to her choice.
As our country seems to be swinging toward the ultra-conservative fringe, we need to protect the rights of women to safe and legal choice. The 2010 election will not only be a referendum on health care policy, but it will also be an opportunity for right-wing religious zealots to grab control of Congress and pass draconian laws suppressing the rights of women.
Well, first of all, I am a woman and I do trust myself. I cannot fathom the idea of not trusting my intuition or my own ability to think and make decisions for myself. Even when I have made what I thought were wrong choices in my life, many times they turned out to be blessings in disguise. You can say I am a self-made person. I could have never become who I am now had I not trusted my inner voice and as you may say, my gut feelings. Trusting my intuition and my intelligence has allowed me to move through life gaining knowledge of both the world and myself, while also being able to understand the complexities of the human mind. It has allowed me to be a loving mother and wife, and a creative, multi talented person and artist. I has empowered me as a woman. No, I am not simply enlarging my ego here. I truly think that trusting myself has motivated me to know who I am and what my strengths and weaknesses are to become a better person.
* Make their own choices; * Keep their PRIVATE medical choices between them and their doctor (Here's looking at you, Kansas.); * Be moms; * Not be moms; * Vote (Thank you Iron-Jawed Angels!); * Earn the same wage as men for the same work; and * Be your Senator (*cough* MA residents! *cough*), or other elected official.
Trust women. Two simple words and yet there is a world of meaning in them. What exactly does it mean? I suspect that everyone will have a different idea. When I see that phrase one of the first things I think about is how we women are often raised to mistrust each other. Some of us taught that every woman is competition for scarce resources, usually men, and therefore we should never place our trust in each other. I was lucky in that I didn't learn this lesson growing up. Instead I learned that women were the ones I could trust to be there for me, nurture me, love me. Trust women.
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