Novara
Novara's JournalNo More Angry Mothers; Embracing Accessible Abortion and Affordable Contraception
No More Angry Mothers; Embracing Accessible Abortion and Affordable Contraception<snip>
If you were born before women had access to safe, affordable, accessible abortion, chances are your mother was an angry mother.
I was raised by one. Sure -- my mom loved me; but she was over 40 when I was born - and I was the youngest of four children.
My oldest brother was twenty-years-old. My nearest was only thirteen months.
So -- I wasn't (how shall I say this?) -- planned.
Sometimes my mom called me her "baby." Most of the time she called me, "her final mistake."
There were no illusions of "righteous" womanhood in my childhood home. In my family, we knew the truth. Raising kids was no picnic.
"Don't you grow up and have babies for me," my mom said. "You're a smart girl. And you got bigger fish to fry."
My mother might have been angry, but she raised me to be educated, employed and free.
<snip>
My generation was nurtured by women alert to the limits imposed on them. Our mothers trained us to insist on equal pay for equal work and autonomy over our futures.
That's why today is such a mystery to so many of us.
I belong to a gang of women who fought for legal, accessible abortion, affordable contraception and the requisite education necessary to make solid, responsible decisions regarding the future.
And sometimes I wonder if anyone was paying attention.
In spite of the hard-earned lessons we learned from our frustrated, angry mothers, American women are still vulnerable to poverty and the burden of unwanted childrearing.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristine-holmgren/no-more-angry-mothers-emb_b_7215318.html
Teen chlamydia epidemic rages in sex ed-shunning Texas school district
Source: Salon
A west Texas school district has confirmed nearly two dozen cases of chlamydia among high school students, at a small-town campus that — surprise! — endorses an abstinence-only sex education program, but does not officially offer sex ed.
At least 20 cases of chlamydia among students at Crane High School were reported to the Crane Independent School District last week, after the Texas Department of State Health Services alerted district officials to the high rate of cases reported in the surrounding counties. According to CBS affiliate KOSA, the district notified Crane High School parents on Monday of the “growing problem,” which so far affects a significant percentage of the school’s nearly 300 students. Crane ISD also informed parents of middle school students about the outbreak, although it is currently contained to high schoolers.
“Honestly I don’t want my kid growing up in an area where nasty stuff like that happens,” Crane resident Edward Martinez told KWES.
Read more: http://www.salon.com/2015/05/04/teen_chlamydia_epidemic_rages_in_sex_ed_shunning_texas_school_district/
So, you don't see a connection between no sex education and STDs?
Georgia sheriff refuses to talk to police about shooting death
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - A Georgia sheriff being investigated for injuring a woman in a shooting called it a "tragic and heartbreaking accident" on Tuesday, but he has continued to refuse to talk to police about what happened, authorities said.
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill has not been charged in the shooting, which he so far has declined to discuss, said Gwinnett County police spokesman Deon Washington.
Hill critically injured 43-year-old Gwenevere McCord, a real estate agent and friend, inside a model show home in a subdivision in Gwinnett County on Sunday, police said.
Hill and McCord were alone in the home when the shooting occurred, according to Gwinnett police. Hill reported the shooting as an accident.
He called McCord "very dear to me" in a statement posted on the Clayton County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
"I have been entirely focused on Gwenevere and her family," Hill wrote. "I will continue to pray unceasingly for her recovery."
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/05/us-usa-police-georgia-idUSKBN0NQ25520150505
Something's really hinky with this.
A 4.2 earthquake in Michigan, outside Kalamazoo
A 4.2 earthquake in Michigan, outside KalamazooA 4.2 earthquake in Michigan has been confirmed by the National Weather Service in White Lake Michigan.
The earthquake was centered 8 km south of Galesburg, outside of Kalamazoo and was recorded shortly after noon, said meteorologist Joseph Clark.
"It registered as 4.2, which is considered moderate, with little damage -- maybe things falling from shelves or off the wall," said Clark.
People have reported feeling tremors in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and across Lake Michigan in Wisconsin.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries despite being felt far away. U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Paul Caruso says that's common for quakes of this magnitude.
Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/02/earthquake-michigan-outside-kalamazoo/26773619/
Missouri Satanist: 72-hour waiting period for abortions violates my ‘sincerely held religious belief
Missouri Satanist: 72-hour waiting period for abortions violates my ‘sincerely held religious beliefs’Missouri Satanist plans to challenge her state’s 72-hour waiting period for abortions by claiming the delay violates her religious beliefs.
The woman, identified only as Mary by her local Satanic Temple, said she regards the waiting period as “a state sanctioned attempt to discourage abortion” and plans to challenge the law on religious grounds, reported the Friendly Atheist blog.
The waiting period places an “unnecessary burden” on her religious belief that her body is subject to her will alone, she said.
“The waiting period interferes with the inviolability of my body and thereby imposes an unwanted and substantial burden on my sincerely held religious beliefs,” she said.
Her statements echo language in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, under which Hobby Lobby claimed protection in its successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.
Under the law Mary plans to challenge, she would be required to wait three days between her initial appointment, where she must undergo counseling, and the abortion procedure.
<snip>
He said Mary would deliver an exemption form for the waiting period when she arrives at Planned Parenthood, and Greaves said the group would pursue legal action if her religious waiver is not respected.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/missouri-satanist-72-hour-waiting-period-for-abortions-violates-my-sincerely-held-religious-beliefs/
Missouri Satanist: 72-hour waiting period for abortions violates my ‘sincerely held religious belief
Missouri Satanist: 72-hour waiting period for abortions violates my ‘sincerely held religious beliefs’Missouri Satanist plans to challenge her state’s 72-hour waiting period for abortions by claiming the delay violates her religious beliefs.
The woman, identified only as Mary by her local Satanic Temple, said she regards the waiting period as “a state sanctioned attempt to discourage abortion” and plans to challenge the law on religious grounds, reported the Friendly Atheist blog.
The waiting period places an “unnecessary burden” on her religious belief that her body is subject to her will alone, she said.
“The waiting period interferes with the inviolability of my body and thereby imposes an unwanted and substantial burden on my sincerely held religious beliefs,” she said.
Her statements echo language in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, under which Hobby Lobby claimed protection in its successful U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.
Under the law Mary plans to challenge, she would be required to wait three days between her initial appointment, where she must undergo counseling, and the abortion procedure.
<snip>
He said Mary would deliver an exemption form for the waiting period when she arrives at Planned Parenthood, and Greaves said the group would pursue legal action if her religious waiver is not respected.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/missouri-satanist-72-hour-waiting-period-for-abortions-violates-my-sincerely-held-religious-beliefs/
A New Model in the Fight for Abortion Rights
A New Model in the Fight for Abortion Rights<snip>
We need to make so much noise that reproductive rights become an issue for corporate America. When Wal-Mart, Angie’s List and a number of other companies raised objections to Indiana’s religious freedom law, Gov. Mike Pence and state legislators quickly amended the law to clarify that it does not condone discrimination against gay men and lesbians. A similar sequence of events occurred in Arkansas.
Public pressure and the threat of government action to raise the minimum wage no doubt prompted McDonald’s and Target in recent weeks to increase the pay of their lowest-paid workers. Yes, it’s not much, but it’s a start.
The GOP’s about-face on the religious freedom laws underscores what I have long believed: that many establishment Republicans care more about protecting their economic interests and public image than about same-sex marriage, abortion or other social issues. Once major corporations realized that they might be subject to boycotts in states that legalized discrimination against LGBT people, both conservative businesspeople and Republican legislators called for change. Public support for adding a few coins to the pittance that low-wage workers earn, along with fear that lawmakers or voters might force bigger wage hikes, clearly prompted some companies to bump up hourly pay.
Would the same happen if we made a bigger ruckus about access to reliable contraception and safe abortion? I don’t know, but we’ve largely let business off the hook on reproductive health in recent years. Meanwhile, last year the U.S. Supreme Court granted privately held companies like Hobby Lobby and Eden Foods the right as corporate “persons” to impose the religious beliefs of their owners on their employees. As a result, they now ban insurance coverage for IUDs and other safe and effective forms of contraception despite mandates in the Affordable Care Act. I suspect that many more CEOs are largely uninterested in the private health care decisions of their employees; they have largely remained silent while access to reproductive health care has constricted nationwide because there is no political or economic downside for doing so, even as their employees pay a steep economic, personal and financial toll for the GOP’s anti-choice agenda.
Read more: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_new_model_in_the_fight_for_abortion_rights_20150430
A New Model in the Fight for Abortion Rights
A New Model in the Fight for Abortion Rights<snip>
We need to make so much noise that reproductive rights become an issue for corporate America. When Wal-Mart, Angie’s List and a number of other companies raised objections to Indiana’s religious freedom law, Gov. Mike Pence and state legislators quickly amended the law to clarify that it does not condone discrimination against gay men and lesbians. A similar sequence of events occurred in Arkansas.
Public pressure and the threat of government action to raise the minimum wage no doubt prompted McDonald’s and Target in recent weeks to increase the pay of their lowest-paid workers. Yes, it’s not much, but it’s a start.
The GOP’s about-face on the religious freedom laws underscores what I have long believed: that many establishment Republicans care more about protecting their economic interests and public image than about same-sex marriage, abortion or other social issues. Once major corporations realized that they might be subject to boycotts in states that legalized discrimination against LGBT people, both conservative businesspeople and Republican legislators called for change. Public support for adding a few coins to the pittance that low-wage workers earn, along with fear that lawmakers or voters might force bigger wage hikes, clearly prompted some companies to bump up hourly pay.
Would the same happen if we made a bigger ruckus about access to reliable contraception and safe abortion? I don’t know, but we’ve largely let business off the hook on reproductive health in recent years. Meanwhile, last year the U.S. Supreme Court granted privately held companies like Hobby Lobby and Eden Foods the right as corporate “persons” to impose the religious beliefs of their owners on their employees. As a result, they now ban insurance coverage for IUDs and other safe and effective forms of contraception despite mandates in the Affordable Care Act. I suspect that many more CEOs are largely uninterested in the private health care decisions of their employees; they have largely remained silent while access to reproductive health care has constricted nationwide because there is no political or economic downside for doing so, even as their employees pay a steep economic, personal and financial toll for the GOP’s anti-choice agenda.
Read more: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_new_model_in_the_fight_for_abortion_rights_20150430
Atlanta officers shoot black woman in patrol car in gunfight: police
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Atlanta police shot and killed a handcuffed black woman on Thursday after she fired on two officers from inside a patrol car, the city's police department said.
The woman had been arrested and was in the back of the vehicle in downtown Atlanta around 5 p.m. local time, Atlanta Police Sergeant Gregory Lyon said in an email.
She then fired on the officers, who were also black, sitting in the front of the car, Lyon said. The officers returned fire. The woman was taken to a local hospital where she later died, he said.
The shooting comes as protests reignite in cities around the United States over police use of lethal force against minorities, especially of unarmed black men.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/01/us-usa-georgia-police-idUSKBN0NM32V20150501?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews
Oh come on! Handcuffed? Where'd she get the gun?
They're not even trying to lie plausibly anymore.
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