The Pro-Life Movement, In a Nutshell August 1, 2006 Jill Posting at the Rude Pundit today. Go check it out! And a big thanks to Ms. Amanda for logging in and hitting the “publish” button for me, as I lacked internet access all day long.
That’s it–even though the deadline has passed for submissions to the Carnival of Feminists (tomorrow at my place) I have to include this. One of the best round-ups of abortion info I’ve seen.
Oh my god. You rule. I’m a late-comer to Feministe, but you might be competing with Amanda for the title of Bestest Feminist Blogger Ever. However, there is one thing you wrote (or quoted, not sure) that I don’t quite follow: One in 12 women who have abortions in Africa die. For every woman who dies, 20 to 30 women have their reproductive systems permanently damaged. I don’t think I get the numbers – you’re saying that if twelve women in Africa have abortions, one will likely die, and twenty to thirty will likely suffer permanant harm? Nitpicking aside, fantastic piece. “Anti-choice” really is the only proper word for their movement, and I love seeing it spelled out so plainly and thoroughly.
Great writing, great links, just needs a bit of enrudification. I suggest watching Deadwood on DVD for examples.
Great post, Jill. I don’t usually comment, but I wanted to just reiterate how harmful the global gag rule is. When I was in college the feminist organization I was president of did a big awareness and education campaign about the global gag rule and I don’t think a single person I spoke with on the campus knew what it was, but the vast majority were shocked and angry when I explained the implications of the policy and wanted to know what they could do about it. It’s important to note that (as I understand the policy) even if a health organization in another country wants to use U.S. funding for reproductive issues other than abortion if they educate on abortion using other funding sources they lose their U.S. funding.
Jill, I agree completely with many of your conclusions. I oppose the gag rule, I am reluctantly and prayerfully pro-choice. But when you say that pro-lifers (all of them, apparently, without nuance) The “pro-life” movement could give two shits about “life” it really makes me wince. I’ve seen tremendous diversity in the pro-life movement. (For example, not all pro-lifers are homophobes — see PLAGAL). It’s one thing to say that pro-life strategies end up contradicting the stated intent of protecting human life. That’s fair and accurate. It’s another thing to question motives and leave no room for the possibility that one’s opponents are decent, honorable, and well-intentioned — even as they are wrong.