Link-A-Dink

Check out this bag-o-douche explain why feminists are "children of the devil" and "hate G-d". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kOZoSUB3L8&eurl

Just in time for the pink-ribboned fun of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the decidedly awful Tom Coburn has effectively killed an amendment to fund research into environmental causes of the disease.

Male birth control may soon be a reality. I predict this shit may be hocked in the streets like candy.

Isn't it ridiculous when science is an "election issue"?

A group of scientists has gotten together to support political candidates who believe science should trump ideology.

On Thursday, New York State's highest court upheld the Women's Health and Wellness Act over the Roman Catholic Church and other religious organizations.

The Guardian considers torturous trends in women's fashion.

Somalia bans women from swimming at public beaches.

Newsweek profiles Nancy Pelosi, who is poised to become the first female speaker of the house.

A woman who was in prison for killing her abusive husband in self-defense has been released, and is speaking out about her experience.

Anti-choice parents are slapping duct tape on their kids' mouths and sending them to school as little protesters... if school districts will let them.

A touching obituary for Safia Amajan, an Afghan teacher and women's rights activist who was recently gunned down by the Taliban.

Clearly, "women deserve better" than Feminists For Life.

A South Dakota paper has allowed groups in favor of the abortion ban to buy ads that wrap around the entire newspaper.

...and Words of Choice takes their awesome theater/activism to South Dakota.

Reporters are starting to call out South Dakota anti-choicers on their lying advertisements. The Rapid City Journal confronted them about the patently false statement that the ban has an exception for the health of the mother.

Anti-choice groups are using parental-notification ballot initiatives to chip away at abortion rights in most left-leaning Western states.

An Indiana jail has made it a specific requirement that all female visitors wear bras.

Awesome resource: Abortion laws of the world. (from the Harvard Law Review)

In an excerpt from her new book, Gun Show Nation, Joan Burbick writes about the connections between gun culture, misogyny and domestic violence.

Check out this (notably biased) article on the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, which aims to protect foreign women from violence.

The four soldiers that raped an Iraqi girl and then killed her whole family are going to face court martial.

The Center for American Progress released a report last month, More than a Choice: A Progressive Vision for Reproductive Health and Rights. It's been said to be one of the most comprehensive reports on reproductive issues that's been out within the last decade.

Shockingly, early abortions are hard for many women to obtain! A new article in the journal Contraception examines some of the reasons.

An Ohio judge strikes down a law that restricts how doctors can provide the abortion pill Mifeprex (commonly known by its French name, RU-486).

If the Democrats retake the House in November, it would mean significantly more women in positions of power in Congress.

The Governator signs a bill to ensure the personal contact information of abortion providers isn't made public.

Trojan gives universities a grade based on how accessible they make sexual health information and services.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that women who take time off for maternity leave have no right to the same pay as male colleagues. Ugh.

Struggling to pay the bills? Some politicians suggest you just get married.

Madison, Wisconsin is considering an ordinance to require pharmacies that do not provide EC to dispay a notice saying so, and also stating the nearest location where it is available. Sometimes hillbillies rock.

Consent Law Outrages Women

A three-judge panel of the Maryland Special Court of Appeals reinforced the provision of Maryland's rape law that says a woman who gives consent prior to intercourse cannot withdraw her legal consent during the act. The decision came on Monday when the Court overturned a rape conviction. During deliberation in the original trial, the jury had asked, "If a female consents to sex initially and, during the course of the sex act to which she consented, for whatever reason, she changes her mind and the... man continues until climax, does the result constitute rape?" The trial judge said that Maryland's law was unclear and would not provide a definite answer. The Special Court of Appeals, however, disagreed with the trial judge's interpretation of the law. Current Maryland rape law is "not ambiguous," said the ruling; if a woman consents prior to sex, she may not withdraw her consent during the act and accuse her partner of rape if he continues the act.

Basically saying: If she says no, just finish and shoot your load.

Women's rights groups are outraged by the ruling. "You should have the right to say no at anytime and that should mean no and if sexual acts continue after you've withdrawn your consent, they should be considered a crime," said Jennifer Pollitt Hill, a member of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, to WJZ, a local television station. According to WJZ, several decision-makers have already said they wish to address the issue in the upcoming legislative session, though legislation that would have given women the right to withdraw consent at anytime has failed in both 2004 and 2005. Maryland is one of two states that have ruled that women do not have the right to withdraw consent. Seven other states have ruled that women may withdraw consent at anytime.

Nicaragua Is Now A Fetal Utopia

The Nicaraguan legislature voted to outlaw all abortions, making it the third country in the Western Hemisphere to outlaw abortion without exception. The legislation was approved 52-0, with nine abstentions and 29 legislators not voting. The legislation must still be signed by Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolanos, who is strongly against abortion rights and favors increasing penalties for illegal abortions; without his veto, the ban will take effect in 30 days. Nicaragua currently allows abortion if a woman's life is in danger or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Legislators may have feared opposing the bill so close to the upcoming election on November 5 because of the strong influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which pushed heavily for the passage of the legislation, according to Reuters. While church leaders were able to sit in on the vote, women's rights activists were physically barred from entering. Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the National Assembly the day of the vote, and legislators were asked by the international community to consider the ramifications for women's human rights.

"We are outraged that leaders who claim to stand for the poor and marginalized would vote in favor a law that condemns women to die like this. Women's lives are worth more," said Marta María Blandón, director of Ipas Central America, an organization working to end unsafe abortion practices around the world. It is estimated 32,000 women undergo illegal abortion every year in Nicaragua, most unsafe, according to the New York Times. According to Ipas, the Nicaraguan Women's Autonomous Movement plan to file a suit challenging the constitutionality of the extreme ban.

Stand up for choice, or have no voice.

10-Year Sentence for 1st US FGM Case

An Ethiopian immigrant was convicted on Nov. 1 for female genital mutilation in what is believed to be the first criminal prosecution of its kind in the United States, the Associated Press reported. In 2001, Khalid Adem circumcised his 2-year-old daughter with a pair of scissors and received a sentence of 10 years in prison for the crime. Since 2001, an estimated 130 million girls and women worldwide have been mutilated according to the U.S. State Department.

The girl, now seven years old, was videotaped during an interview at the age of three and identified her father as the person who cut her genitals.

The child's mother also blames the father. "He said he wanted to preserve her virginity. He said it was the will of God. I became angry in my mind. I thought he was crazy," testified the girl's mother, Fortunate Adem, according to the AP.

South Dakota: Vote No on 6!

The Truth On Video

Some videos by the South Dakota Campaign for healthy Families about the abortion ban.
All are truly awesome and a must-see.

The Exception

Focus South Dakota

Stop the Extremists in South Dakota

Interview with OB-GYN in South Dakota

Illegal Abortions Kill Women

More than half a million women die as a result of complications in pregnancy and childbirth every year, and 19 million unsafe abortions are carried out annually, resulting in nearly 68,000 deaths, the World Health Organization announced Nov. 1 as part of a reproductive health survey to be published in the British journal, the Lancet. "This survey sounds an urgent alarm that if we do not address sexual and reproductive health openly and directly the toll of death and disability will remain with us for many years to come," said Dr. Paul Van Look, WHO's director of reproductive health and research.

This is why women must have access to safe, legal abortions! If the Fetus Fanatics actually cared about women as they claim, they would be on a crusade about how to prevent the more than half a million deaths associated with childbirth, and they CERTAINLY would not accept that 68,000 deaths occur because of unsafe, illegal abortions. Wake up hypocrites! The fact is, fetal rights have trumped women's rights. The Supreme Feti is now more worthy of life than a woman. Another thing to note: it has been proven time and time again that criminalizing abortion does not elimiate it--nor does it eliminate the need for it. It drives this procedure underground, making it more dangerous and more life-threatening. It does nothing to address the need, in fact it creates it. When numbers of abortions are high, it is a reflection on society's failure to its women.

Some Dirt From The Ground

Secret Donations

The South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families has alleged that $750,000 in “secret donations” – from a single donor through a private corporation – to the Vote Yes for Life campaign violated state law. Representative Roger Hunt, the primary sponsor of the abortion ban bill, set up a corporation called Promising Future, Inc., and this corporation has made three contributions of $250,000 to Vote Yes For Life. Hunt will not divulge the identity of the donor, stating that he is legally justified. The Secretary of State is now investigating Hunt’s claim, and the Campaign for Healthy Families is asking the Attorney General to determine whether Hunt broke the law when he filed his campaign finance report. (For more information, read yesterday’s editorial in the Argus Leader.) The controversy is a hot topic among voters, and a quick poll by the Argus Leader showed that over 70% of those surveyed think Hunt should disclose the donor’s name. Our contact with voters confirmed that serious political fallout has resulted from the story. It has definitely added another dimension to the conversations we have with South Dakotans about the ban and the people who are promoting it.

Church Signs

Other news revolves around churches’ involvement with the abortion ban. Several have taken action on the issue, featuring it prominently during church services. Pro-choice churchgoers have told me that they feel frustrated about the way it has been presented. Churches’ actions are complicated by the fact that they are also the site of many polling places in the state. A large proportion of churches support the ban, and many churches around the state currently have “Vote Yes” signs prominently posted on their property. Before the election day, however, they will have to remove all signs from their property (or allow all signs to be posted). One church has become entangled in a dispute with the County Auditor in Rapid City because it refuses to remove its signs. As a result, the county election supervisor was forced to change the poll location. The supervisor was reluctant to do so, because changing the poll location at this stage might confuse or even deter some voters. She says it was necessary to provide voters with a neutral walk to the poll. This is just one example of the tension between various political and cultural forces affecting the events of election day and the outcome of the vote.

South Dakota Update

Things have been hectic here lately. Both campaigns are spilling ads onto the TV and radio, and people are beginning to feel drained. Although I feel hopeful about winning the repeal of HB1215, it is extremely close. Too close to call.
Check out some pics of the Vote No on 6 Rapid City Rally:
http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o104/rcnoon6/?