Are we really still fighting about birth control? Is this just a women’s problem? Do men have sex? With wit and compassion, timely commentaries inspire and provoke from Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign co-founder Ellen Shaffer, with comments by Dr. Sophia Yen. Click below to Buy Now! Only $3.99!

Contents

1. Do Men Have Sex? IOM To Study

2. The Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign for Reproductive Rights- Why Now

3. On Abortion: Overturn Hyde

4. The House’s Budget Bill Is a Bully’s Snigger

5. Who’s Sticking Up for the Middle Class?

6. Birth Control? Really? (Yes, Really!)

7. Stand Up for Our Rights? (Repubs Flame Birth Control)

8. We Are All an 11-year-old Girl — And She Is Pissed

9. Trust Women Week and the San Francisco Banner Project

10. San Francisco Banners Highlight Trust Women Week

11. Why I’m “Marching” for Trust Women Week

12. Um, the Other Thing About Komen and Planned Parenthood…

13. Do Republicans Have Sex?

14. Who Won? We Will

15. Have Republicans Gone Bananas?

16. I Know It’s Only Birth Control, But I Like It — And So Do You

17. Paul Ryan: Marching Backwards on Medicare

18. Women, Choice and Power

The San Francisco  Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the following resolution on Dec, 11, 2012.  Thanks to the Board, and to Supervisors David Campos and Malia Cohen for introducing the resolution:

Resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and commending the work of pro-choice advocates and service providers in San Francisco.

WHEREAS, January of 2013 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that legalized abortion; and

WHEREAS, Access to legal and affordable family planning health care services has been integral to expanding opportunities for success and satisfaction by women and girls in the emotional, economic, educational and professional spheres, as well as for the men and children in their lives and for communities as a whole; and

WHEREAS, Americans believe that women should be able to consult with their health care provider, family and faith about personal, private medical decisions; and

WHEREAS, One in three American women will have an abortion by age 45, and 99% of heterosexually active couples have used birth control; and

WHEREAS, Denied abortion care perpetuates poverty, while women of lower-income are already five times more likely to have unintended pregnancies.

WHEREAS, The number of people infected with sexually transmitted infections in California has steadily increased, reaffirming the importance of continued support for sexual health and family planning education and resources. And

WHEREAS, States enacted twice as many anti-choice laws in 2011 as they did in any recent previous year, including laws that force women who choose abortion care to undergo a forced ultrasound procedure against their will even if their doctors do not recommend one; and

WHEREAS, Many states are still shutting down crucial reproductive health and family planning services for women creating greater barriers in distance, insulting waiting periods, and psychological duress via biased counseling; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. House of Representatives voted in its most recent session to defund Title X, the only federal program exclusively dedicated to family-planning and reproductive-health care, and Planned Parenthood, jeopardizing access to birth control, cancer screenings, and other basic health care for millions of Americans; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. House of Representatives also passed a bill that would allow hospitals to refuse emergency abortion care to women who could die without it; and

WHEREAS, Most voters recently rejected threats to women’s reproductive autonomy and rights, including offensive remarks about rape; and

WHEREAS, The United Nations has declared family planning an essential human right; and

WHEREAS, San Francisco was one of the first cities to pass an ordinance forbidding crisis pregnancy centers, that do not provide or refer for abortion care, from continuing to use deceptive advertising to take advantage of vulnerable pregnant women, and California passed bills to unshackle pregnant women and allow more health-care providers to administer first trimester abortions, and

WHEREAS, California and San Francisco have done an outstanding job of improving the accessibility and affordability of reproductive health care, including through two federal court blocks from decreasing Medi-Cal reimbursements to health care providers and improving coverage through programs such as Family Pact; and

WHEREAS, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee co-sponsored a resolution approved by the U.S. Conference of  Mayors in 2012 affirming the importance of women’s reproductive rights; and

WHEREAS, It is essential that the Bay Area lead the way in mobilizing visible and vocal public support for reproductive health, rights and justice, which includes ready access to legal and affordable family planning services and the full range of conditions required to assure women’s physical and emotional health and the enjoyment of human rights;  and

WHEREAS, The Celebration of Women, Life and Liberty, scheduled for January 26, 2013, at 10 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, in San Francisco, organized by a broad coalition of groups assembled by the Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign, will begin the year with a mobilization in recognition of these facts and in support of the principles stated above and will include a display of related banners on Market Street,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Board of Supervisors affirms the importance of reproductive health, rights  and justice, and women’s access to safe, comprehensive and affordable reproductive health care including the right to safe and accessible abortion services; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the San Francisco Board of Supervisors supports the work of pro-choice and reproductive justice advocates in commemorating and honoring the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, this January of 2013.

The Virginia woman’s hand-made sign summed it up: “I Can’t
Believe I’m Still Having to Protest This Shit!” The pro-choice majority is
astounded by the tidal wave of vitriolic attacks on reproductive health,
rights, justice, and on women’s dignity, that constitute the War on Women.
These include legislative proposals mandating intrusive and humiliating vaginal
ultrasounds with no therapeutic justification before permitting abortion; Rick
Santorum’s advice that rape victims should celebrate a resulting pregnancy as a
blessing; and debates on covering contraception, which is used almost
universally. Transforming outrage into decisive policy and political victories
requires understanding what is coming at us (and why), and new approaches to
seizing the initiative.

Right-wing corporate interests provide generous financial
support to organizations and candidates that advance their minority views
through powerful institutions, from judicial appointments to gerrymandered
state and federal legislative districts. The policy goal is to undermine the ability
of government and popular movements to constrain corporate power and profits.
Campaigns on so-called “social issues” divide people into competing and
hostile constituencies by gender or religion, although they may, in fact, share
economic interests. The campaigns also recast as “tyranny” government
actions that protect human rights and challenge corporate power. Fundamentalist
religious groups, allied with the Catholic Church, provide an institutional
base for crafting and disseminating policies that advance these divisive views,
which find fertile territory during economic and social transition.

Demonizing abortion has been a winning card for the
right, which has stated its intention to use abortion as a wedge issue in the
2012 election. Until now, mainstream women’s groups and progressive politicians
have struggled to find a winning constituency and effective messages, since
most voters say they care more about the economy than reproductive rights.
Changing the discourse will require intentional solidarity across age, class,
and race. Generations have come of age assuming the legal right to birth
control and abortion, and the related rights to self-determination, while
attacks on access have targeted vulnerable and disenfranchised women, who are
less likely voters. Absent an affirmative strategy, attacks on abortion from
strident opponents like the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have achieved
incremental erosions in access to abortion. The 2010 Affordable Care Act was
both an example and a wake-up call. While offering women many benefits,
coverage for reproductive health care was compromised.

The Trust Women/Silver Ribbon Campaign (TW/SR) is one of
several groups that have emerged to increase the visibility and voice of
advocates for reproductive health, rights, and justice. TW/SR organized a
display of banners with pro-choice messages that flew proudly along San
Francisco’s main street in January, 2012, designed to project solidarity and
power through visibility, and to commemorate Roe v. Wade’s anniversary. TW/SR
also brought together 81 groups (including NWHN) to send pro-choice messages to
Congress via a massive online virtual “march” from January 20-27. The
banner messages ranged in tone and generational appeal and included: San Francisco
is Pro-Choice, Her Health Her Decision, Fix the
Economy, Support My Autonomy, and US Out of My Uterus.
Online messages with links to background information included: I trust women
and I vote, Contraception Is Prevention, Keep abortion safe and legal,
and make it accessible and affordable, and We are the
99%. Fix the economy, and stop the war on women.

The base-building has burst into action. In January,
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) revealed that the Susan G.
Komen Foundation would no longer fund PPFA’s breast cancer services, due to
Komen officials’ opposition to PPFA’s abortion services. The dam broke, as
women erupted in outrage. Finally, women elected officials are now campaigning
openly for and with women. While the bewildered right wing continues to march
backwards on auto-pilot, we stand a good chance of hastening its path to
oblivion.

Online and virtual advocacy are proving to be powerful
tools for spreading news, articulating opinions, and generating unity. We’re
still exploring how to use these tools to create and sustain connectedness and
engagement among organizations and their members, and to motivate effective
action. Recognizing that organizations will continue to compete for media,
resources, and policy influence, we must aim to develop better collaborative
models.

Going forward, we can claim our democratic heritage of
freedom from religious persecution. The Bishops are campaigning for the power
of Catholic-owned corporations to deny contraceptive coverage to millions of
employees in its hospitals, schools, and charities. Giving the Church and state
legislatures the right to invade couples’ privacy and women’s bodies is
offensive to many. The link to oppressive and anti-democratic maneuvers like
voter suppression rules is notable, including by its intended victims.
Mississippi’s fetal personhood ballot initiative lost decisively by 42% to 58%,
and the highest percent of “no” votes came from Black men and
pro-choice voters at 80%, followed by Black women at 70%. This suggests the
possibilities for cross-cutting alliances in the interest of freedom.

While the opposition has a game plan, it’s the wrong one.
It doesn’t represent the majority, and it’s on the wrong side of history. As
younger generations shed social prejudices and constraints, the influence of
attack dogs like Limbaugh is destined to shrivel. In response, pro-choice
advocates can build power by increasing our ability to mobilize our majority
base and collaborate with allies for social and economic justice.

Ellen Shaffer is the Co-Director of the Trust
Women/Silver Ribbon campaign, which is building
towards the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January 2013. The banners and
related information can be viewed at www.oursilverribbon.org

See this article
also in The Women’s Health Activist, May 2012: http://nwhn.org/newsletter/node/1397