• Ayelet of Bad Mother talks about her own 2nd trimester abortion:
To be relevant to the contemporary world, to be valid, the pro-choice movement must listen to pregnant women. We must listen to the woman and value her words. A woman who is unwillingly pregnant, whose pregnancy at, say, 10 weeks, is nothing more than a source of desperation, of misery, knows one truth and we must respect it and honor it. A pregnant woman whose 4 month-old fetus has Down’s Syndrome knows another truth, and we must respect that, too. A pregnant woman whose batterer kicks her in the stomach, trying to end her baby’s life, knows another truth. Respecting the truths of these pregnant women allows us to deal in shades of grey, to liberate ourselves from the straitjacket of the black and white.
• Rivka at Respectful of Otters writes on the Texas reproductive rights laws that prevent those under the age of eighteen from getting reproductive health care of any sort without notification to the parents.
• Hugo Schwyzer discusses male circumcision and female circumcision (and the reasons primarily behind MC) and an interesting discussion ensues.
• Christine of Ms. Musings discusses the move by Essence magazine to review the role of women in popular rap music. More in the CS Monitor.
• At DED Space, Diane gets abuse for insisting that rape and sexual assault exist at all.
• Rad Geek reveals, for the umpteenth time, that Andrea Dworkin does not believe that all heterosexual sex is rape. Read it already, people.
• Volsunga discusses age ranges in relationships, comparing the teen/adult relationship to the adult May/December ego boost.
• Fred Vincy addresses the recent Florida ruling that adoption of children by homosexual partners is undesirable, and thus, is illegal.