How Do You Define “Abortion?”

[jaxx]

June 10, 2012 11:17 AM
How Do You Define “Abortion?”
By Ed Kilgore

Speaking of big issues that haven’t gotten sufficient attention, the dirty little secret of contemporary wars over “abortion” policy is that for all the talk of anti-choicers about late-term abortions and sex-selection abortions and so forth, most of them want to ban not only every single clinical abortion, but also devices and medications that most Americans consider contraceptives.

Quote:There once was a time when one could distinguish between a group like ALL — which unabashedly opposes contraception — and a group like AUL [Americans United for Life], which claims to just oppose federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Under the guise of religious freedom, they’re all in it together now, with the support of Republicans like Reps. Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Trent Franks and Alan Nunnelee, all of whom addressed today’s [Friday’s] rally. “Religious freedom” isn’t just the new rallying cry against the contraception mandate. It’s the mantra of a sprawling coalition of crusaders who believe they are on a mission from God to not just end abortion but to make accessing contraception difficult if not impossible for millions of American women.

So next time you hear an anti-choicer railing against late-term abortion or demanding ultrasounds to prevent abortions based on gender or fetal defects, ask him or her exactly what they want to ban. The stuff they like to talk about is the tiniest tip of an immense iceberg.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/politic...037853.php

This is what the religious zealots are after.....no contraceptives. Keep women barefoot and pregnant and at home where they will shut up and submit.

[jaxx]

This is the article Kilgore refers to in his piece:

Saturday, Jun 9, 2012 1:00 PM UTC
Embracing the fringe
David Bereit was an extreme figure in abortion politics but he's found a bigger audience in the contraception fight
By Sarah Posner

<..> As the “religious freedom” wars have heated up over the United States Department of Health and Human Services’s contraception mandate, and as non-Catholic groups have taken up the mantle of the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion, there has been a blurring of lines between activists whose primary objection is to end abortion and those who are also opposed to contraception. Under the “religious freedom” banner, and in particular the Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies, are a wide array of organizations that include those once considered fringe, such as Bereit’s former employer, the anti-contraception American Life League, and Operation Rescue.

Before Lila Rose started making her deceptive guerrilla videos at Planned Parenthood clinics, before the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops started investigating the Girl Scouts, before it became essential for any God- (and base-) fearing Republican to call for defunding Planned Parenthood, David Bereit was at the forefront of the spiritual — and political — warfare against what he has called Planned Parenthood’s “abortion empire.” His 40 Days for Life organization organizes local activists to protest outside of Planned Parenthood and other medical clinics. In talking with me, he accused Planned Parenthood of “systematically destroying innocent lives through abortion” and through “many of its other projects and programs,” of “devaluing human life, and of leading people into lifestyles where they will later feel the need for abortion.”

<..> Bereit rejects the possibility that Christians could hold views contrary to his own. After Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, addressed a 2005 prayer breakfast sponsored by Planned Parenthood, Bereit vowed STOPP was “not going to allow Planned Parenthood to hijack Christianity” and that it would lobby lawmakers to defund it. In response to a different Planned Parenthood prayer effort this year, led by Clergy for Choice, Bereit said, “Planned Parenthood has stooped to a new low by exploiting pastors and churches to ‘celebrate’ the slaughter of babies made in God’s image and likeness.”

http://www.salon.com/2012/06/09/embracin...singleton/

[azmouse]

A few years back on another website, I remember reading about the coming battle over contraception and how the RW nutbags were going to go after the right to control our fertility. I didn't believe it. I didn't believe in this day and age the battle for the ability to control the number and spacing of children, or the ability to not have children at all, would be fought all over again. I didn't think anyone would buy into this medieval mindset. I didn't think anyone was that ignorant.

I was wrong.

[jaxx]

(06-10-2012 10:35 AM)azmouse Wrote:  A few years back on another website, I remember reading about the coming battle over contraception and how the RW nutbags were going to go after the right to control our fertility. I didn't believe it. I didn't believe in this day and age the battle for the ability to control the number and spacing of children, or the ability to not have children at all, would be fought all over again. I didn't think anyone would buy into this medieval mindset. I didn't think anyone was that ignorant.

I was wrong.

It's a real eye opener, isn't it? Yesterday I saw pics of the depression era, ones that hadn't been shown before. One thing stood out in pic after pic......the stairstep kids. Dad and Mom and 6-8 kids was normal. They had no money, no homes, but lots of kids because contraception wasn't available. Why the rightwing would want to go back to those days is mind boggling.

[Fire1]

(06-10-2012 10:44 AM)jaxx Wrote:  

(06-10-2012 10:35 AM)azmouse Wrote:  A few years back on another website, I remember reading about the coming battle over contraception and how the RW nutbags were going to go after the right to control our fertility. I didn't believe it. I didn't believe in this day and age the battle for the ability to control the number and spacing of children, or the ability to not have children at all, would be fought all over again. I didn't think anyone would buy into this medieval mindset. I didn't think anyone was that ignorant.

I was wrong.

It's a real eye opener, isn't it? Yesterday I saw pics of the depression era, ones that hadn't been shown before. One thing stood out in pic after pic......the stairstep kids. Dad and Mom and 6-8 kids was normal. They had no money, no homes, but lots of kids because contraception wasn't available. Why the rightwing would want to go back to those days is mind boggling.

The scary thing is, if they get back the WH, the house and the senate, we're screwed. I have a feeling we'll be starting from scratch for a lot of things (voting rights, civil rights, etc.).

[sandnsea]

(06-10-2012 10:35 AM)azmouse Wrote:  A few years back on another website, I remember reading about the coming battle over contraception and how the RW nutbags were going to go after the right to control our fertility. I didn't believe it. I didn't believe in this day and age the battle for the ability to control the number and spacing of children, or the ability to not have children at all, would be fought all over again. I didn't think anyone would buy into this medieval mindset. I didn't think anyone was that ignorant.

I was wrong.

I made quite a fuss at Feminist.org, iirc, because they had a campaign warning young women that birth control rights would be next. This was back in 2005 or thereabouts.

Like you, I was wrong. Oh So Wrong. I cannot even believe we're having this argument and more so, that women still won't stand up for their right to have birth control covered under their prescriptions. Everything else under the sun is covered -- why not your pills?

[Blue_Roses]

(06-10-2012 10:35 AM)azmouse Wrote:  A few years back on another website, I remember reading about the coming battle over contraception and how the RW nutbags were going to go after the right to control our fertility. I didn't believe it. I didn't believe in this day and age the battle for the ability to control the number and spacing of children, or the ability to not have children at all, would be fought all over again. I didn't think anyone would buy into this medieval mindset. I didn't think anyone was that ignorant.

I was wrong.

And what really ties me up in knots is that these things are always led by MEN! Men do not have to worry about dealing with an unplanned pregnancy or fear of their health due to complications that a planned pregnancy can bring about. It would be laughable if it weren't so serious.

[SeattleGirl]

(06-10-2012 01:08 PM)Blue_Roses Wrote:  

(06-10-2012 10:35 AM)azmouse Wrote:  A few years back on another website, I remember reading about the coming battle over contraception and how the RW nutbags were going to go after the right to control our fertility. I didn't believe it. I didn't believe in this day and age the battle for the ability to control the number and spacing of children, or the ability to not have children at all, would be fought all over again. I didn't think anyone would buy into this medieval mindset. I didn't think anyone was that ignorant.

I was wrong.

And what really ties me up in knots is that these things are always led by MEN! Men do not have to worry about dealing with an unplanned pregnancy or fear of their health due to complications that a planned pregnancy can bring about. It would be laughable if it weren't so serious.

I get practically apoplectic when I see some man talking about restricting a woman's right to have control over her own body.

[OptimistesMaddie]

why have the Pharmaceutical companies who make billions off of all various types of birth control been quiet? Why haven't they been funnelling money into the Democratic party? Maybe they have but they appear to be standing on the sidelines while their business is getting attacked.

[Blue_Roses]

(06-10-2012 12:31 PM)OptimistesMaddie Wrote:  why have the Pharmaceutical companies who make billions off of all various types of birth control been quiet? Why haven't they been funnelling money into the Democratic party? Maybe they have but they appear to be standing on the sidelines while their business is getting attacked.

That's an interesting question.