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On The Issues Magazine is proud to sponsor Trust Women Week: January 20-27
Yesterday marked the 39th anniversary of the historic Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision. Despite the decades since this accomplishment, today it's no secret that the United States is still in the midst of a War on Women: in 2011, 36 states enacted a record 135 provisions limiting access to reproductive health care, including 92 measures restricting abortion, according to  the Guttmacher Institute. But as our reproductive rights are slipping away from us, activists are mobilizing. 

From January 20-27, women and allies from around the country are coming together to fight back -- online.  The Trust Women WEEK/Silver Ribbon Campaign and  MoveOn has kicked off 2012 with the  "National Online March For Trust Women Week, Building Solidarity And Momentum For Reproductive Health, Rights And Justice."
 
An online march is essentially a super-petition that concentrates attention from a wide variety of groups on a common theme in a short time period. It's a powerful organizing tool because it allows activists to "reach and harness the voice of large numbers of people powerfully and quickly and link them with each other across geographic boundaries,"says Ellen Shaffer, a lead organizer for the Trust Women campaign. Through a site set up by MoveOn, individuals will click in agreement on one of six messages. Individuals will see their locations show up as dots on a map of the U.S. that will be updated in real time. The messages and signatures will go to members of Congress, governors and selected state legislators. 
 
People who join the online march will be able to select from six campaign messages: 
I trust women and I vote. 
Reproductive rights are human rights.
Keep abortion safe and legal, and make it accessible and affordable.
Stand up and be counted for reproductive justice.
We are the 99%. Fix the economy, and stop the attacks on women's health.
Contraception Is Prevention.
Our Winter 2012 edition of On The Issues Magazine -- ABORTION -- is our largest issue ever. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates, and please share your thoughts in the comments sections! 
 
Thanks for reading!

 
Choices Women's Medical Center 29-28 41st Avenue | Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 391-0023 | www.ChoicesMedical.com

 
Introducing Our Very First Blog Series
 
To celebrate the release of Merle Hoffman's new book, Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Boardroom, we've invited an impressive list of bloggers to speak out about their own first-person stories and experiences with abortion and reproductive justice activism. Starting today,  The Cafe and  Fem2pt0 will be hosting this special two-day online series of numerous stories to be housed on both spaces, and updated frequently. 

With Roe v. Wade's anniversary approaching, there's perhaps nothing more important than sharing our stories about how deeply reproductive freedom impacts our lives. We hope that you are as excited as we are to continue this very compelling conversation! Take a look at  Merle's contribution to this series and don't forget to check back throughout today and tomorrow to read new pieces as they go up. 
We want to hear from you, too. Do you have an intimate war story to share? Tweet @OnTheIssues with the hashtag #IntimateWars, comment on our Facebook page or post a piece on your own blog and send it to us! 
 
On The Issues Magazine Writers Talk Abortion With Joy of Resistance Radio Tomorrow 
 
Tomorrow, January 18, 9-10pm: Don't miss On The Issues Magazine writers talking about abortion during a special edition of the Joy of Resistance radio show to mark the 39th Anniversary of Roe v Wade, "It's 39 Years After Roe v Wade: Do You Know Where Your Rights Are?" featuring feminist thinkers/writers, historic recordings, dramatic readings and more. WBAI can be heard at 99.5 FM and streams live at  www.wbai.org.
P.S. While you're at it, check out our Winter 2012 edition:  ABORTION. It's our largest publication ever, covering the abortion debate with a critical eye and paying special attention to the truths of the issues at stake. 


She fought for reproductive justice on the streets, within clinics, in the news --
with brave words, in an uncompromising voice,
with a giant wire hanger raised high in the air --  
and this January,
she reveals the truths from the front lines of the battle for abortion rights:
Barnes & Noble Upper East Side Presents
a reading and book signing in honor of the release of
Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman
Who Brought Abortion from  the Back Alley to the Boardroom
a memoir by Merle Hoffman, award-winning journalist, activist,
and women's health care pioneer

Thursday, January 12, 2012
7pm-9pm
Barnes and Noble
86th and Lexington

introduced by Bill Baird, Father of the Abortion Movement and holder of three US Supreme Court cases, including Baird V Eisenstadt, which legalized birth control nationally for unmarried people

and with Jennifer Baumgardner,
award-winning filmmaker, writer, and creator of the I Had an Abortion project

For more information, visit:
"There is a reason that women have been having abortions, legal or not, for all of history.  
The act of choosing whether or not to have a child is often an act of love, 
and always an act of survival." -- Merle Hoffman, Intimate Wars


Happy New Year From On The Issues!
 
Regardless of the holidays that you are celebrating, protesting, or ignoring altogether, the new year is coming and we're so grateful for your readership and support.  Thanks for making another year of critical, independent feminist thinking possible.
 
P.S. We're going to dive into 2012 with an in-depth issue on abortion -- and we can't wait to hear your thoughts on it! 
Need some last minute gift ideas for the activists in your life? 
 
The Feminist Press surveyed its staff and searched through its resources and libraries to collect their top-five activist books for your holiday reading pleasure. From poster art to tips for girls, gays and activist communities, their short-list is filled with ideas and fervor for progressive and feminist activism.
 

What's Your War Story? Win a Signed Copy of Merle Hoffman's Book! 

And there's only 3 days left to enter to win! 
 
"I made my way up the steps [of St. Patrick's Cathedral] with the six-foot hanger I had commissioned for the occasion. It was a symbol of potential terror and aggression against all women, but it was also the symbol of our future..."

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman told one of her many war stories on  RH Reality Check with an excerpt from her upcoming memoir -- now it's time for you to tell yours, and win a signed copy of the book! Merle wants to know about a time when you acted on your politics -- what personal actions have you taken in the battle for social justice? Did you have an abortion, or did you go with a friend to have one? Have you been involved in rallies or movements for social change? Or did you just stand up to someone for their hateful language or actions? Share what "intimate war" has meant to you and you could win a free, signed copy of the book!  The deadline is Monday at noon. *Hot tip: We have five books to go around, so your chances of winning are great!  

Share your experience by  posting on Merle's Facebook wall or  tweet to @merlehoffman with the hashtag #myintimatewar and you'll be automatically entered to win.
Don't forget to keep up with us on  Twitter and  Facebook for daily feminist news and analysis, and stop by  The Café for engaging conversation On The Issues that matter!
 
Thanks for reading!


From www.worldaidscampaign.org
Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day.

People around the world will spend today spreading awareness, honoring those whose lives have been lost, and celebrating victories in the battle against the spread of AIDS.
 
But for people living with HIV and AIDS, activists, and their loved ones, this isn't just a conversation that happens once a year. In honor of the activists who have devoted their lives to this cause,  On The Issues Magazine is taking a look at the activist work of HIV-positive women with a new Cafe piece by Alison Yager of the HIV Law Project:
"Since the 1990s, HIV Law Project has invested agency time and resources in training HIV-positive women in basic advocacy skills. We made this commitment early on because we understood that while outspoken AIDS activists at that time were a potent and effective force, too few women’s voices were among them. Women living with HIV, who often come from marginalized, low-income communities, turned up in large numbers when we offered the opportunity to give voice to their frustrations, and to learn collectively how to channel those frustrations into action.

In 2006 HIV Law Project went one step further. We decided to build on our work of cultivating women activists by inviting a group of alumnae of our training program to develop a new advocacy campaign. We believed that giving women the opportunity to grow an advocacy campaign would be the most authentic way to build skills and develop life-long leaders. "
This image is part of an exclusive slideshow on the OTI homepage, depicting Feminists at Occupy Oakland on November 2, 2011
Photos by Judith Mirkinson
Deepening the conversation with more insights fresh from The Café
 
On The Frontline of Intimate Wars
 
The internet is buzzing about the upcoming release of Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Board Room by Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merl Hoffman.
 
Check out Ten Questions for Merle Hoffman on Abortion Gang, and this podcast on RH Reality Check with Merle and Amanda Marcotte. 
The upcoming winter edition of On The Issues Magazine will be a major, comprehensive issue on abortion. Stay tuned for updates! 
 
Also don't forget to keep up with us on  Twitter and  Facebook for daily feminist news and analysis, and stop by  The Café for engaging conversation On The Issues that matter!
 
Thanks for reading!


Lydia Cacho and Triveni Acharya
This month, the conversation about activism isn't just happening online. Take a look at these exciting events featuring  On The Issues staff and friends!
 
Tuesday, October 18, 6pm
Socials for Change and On The Issues Magazine Present 
 Engaged Activism: A Conversation on Global Sex Trafficking
 
We will be joined by Civil Courage Prize Winners Triveni Acharya, President of Rescue Foundation in Mumbai, India and Lydia Cacho, Founder and Director of the nonprofit Women's Assistance Center in Cancun, Mexico and author of Slaves of Power: A Journey to the Heart of World Sex Trafficking of Women. 
 
Along with Crystal DeBoise, Co-Director of Sex Workers Project and Merle Hoffman, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of On The ISsues Magazine and author of the upcoming book Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Board Room published by Feminist Press.
 
Refreshments begin at 6:00pm The program begins at 6:30pm at the Laura Parsons Pratt Conference Center in the landmark FPWA Building, 281 Park Avenue South at 22nd Street, New York, New York.  RSVP here.
Saturday, October 22, 2pm-4pm
Have Art: Will Travel! Inc. For Gender Justice with On The Issues Magazine and more present
Salander/Blomkvist: Challenging Stereotypes
Linda Stein, Art Editor of On The Issues, Moderates a panel with Jimmie Briggs, Michael Kimmel, and Shelby Knox
 
This intergenerational panel will highlight the two main characters from Stieg Larsson's The Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest) and the subsequent Swedish movies based on these books. 
 
The panel will take place at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center For Feminist Art in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York. It's free with museum admission on a 1st come 1st serve basis, with limited seating. RSVP to HAWT@HaveArtWillTravel.org.
 
Don't miss Words of Choice on Sunday, October 16, 3pm, a dynamic pro-theatre performance created by On The Issues Magazine Managing Editor Cindy Cooper, at Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Road, Morris Township, NJ (Morristown, NJ 07960). Click here for more information. 
 
 
Thanks for reading! We hope to see you at these fantastic events. 
 


The current edition of On The Issues Magazine features voices from a diverse group of progressive thinkers as we explore the infinitely complex topic of Women, War, and Peace. Yesterday was World Peace Day - a fitting conclusion to September days spent pondering the consequences of war, the role of women and feminists, and the elusive nature of peace. And  as Jean Stevens writes, a peaceful future depends upon feminist work:
 
“As a feminist thinker, advocate and activist, I’ve long felt organizing against war and militarism was a no-brainer. But as a journalist and the national media coordinator for the women’s peace group Code Pink for several years before returning to school, I found myself having separate conversations with my feminist and peace activist friends, marveling at how they seemed mutually exclusive. The peace activists read The Nation. The feminists read Bust. Peace activists gush over Noam Chomsky; feminists over bell hooks. They hold different rallies and belong to different listservs. I wondered if young feminists recognize, or reject, this dichotomy. Do feminists fight for peace? Is peace a feminist issue? I found exploring these questions in this story surprising, and more importantly, promising for the future of social change.”
 
Check out our entire issue and let's remind ourselves of the importance of talking about peace every day. 
 
From The Cafe: Questioning the Battle of Don't Ask, Don't Tell
 
This week was also the official repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell - a hotly contested issue. Here’s a unique perspective from the Cafe:

“Considering how unpopular the current wars are, I question why the right to serve openly in the military is at the forefront of LGBT activism. Why are gays and lesbians eager to join an institution that has traditionally upheld the rigid gender roles against which the LGBT movement has been rebelling? Why seek membership in an institution that takes advantage of the poor to fight battles that serve the goals of the elite? And what of the civilians whose rights are infringed and cast aside by a U.S. invasion? – are we trading their civil rights for our own?”
 
More from the Cafe:
 
 

Join the discussion  - leave comments! We’d also love the chance to showcase your original thoughts in the Cafe.  
 
Next issue teaser! We're in the process of putting together our Fall 2011 issue, which takes a look at  ACTIVISM -- its history, its health, its direction, and its future. Be on the lookout! 
 
Join our  Facebook page and  Twitter for daily feminist news and analysis. Thanks for reading!



"A Feminist Looks at Masculine Rage and the Haditha Massacre" 
by Kathleen Barry

What happened to the Haditha Massacre trial? Though Sergeant Frank Wuterich was scheduled to be in military court this summer for a massacre that killed 24 in Haditha, Iraq, in November of 2005, his trial has been postponed indefinitely. The media has barely covered this postponement of the largest criminal prosecution in the Iraq war. 
 
In this edition of On The Issues, Kathleen Barry addresses the larger message of the massacre, the lack of justice for its victims, and what it teaches us about war and masculinity:
 
The question of whether anyone will be convicted for the massacre drives deeper than the question of justice for Iraqis under U.S. occupation. It strikes at the very core of the masculinity of war.
 
How do we feminists speak of what soldiers do every day, regularly, as a matter of fact in combat, where the masculinity of war is most alive? Or, like almost everyone else, do we speak of it at all? Americans have yet to come to terms with the unspeakable that happens in combat. When a massacre is exposed, such as Haditha, it is treated as the exception.
 
Haditha is one of the subjects I looked at in my latest book,  Unmaking War, Remaking Women, published in 2011. While I was writing the book and bringing my feminism to look at what men actually do in combat and what they do to women who are in combat zones with them, something very familiar came into my field of vision, something I've called "blinding macho." (While machismo is grammatically correct, it also has a Latin American ring to it, which is why I choose to use the word "macho.") It is the same uncontrollable rage of male violence against women that women around the world experience in their private lives, homes, bedrooms and walking down the street...
 
 

Frances Jetter Linocuts the Horrors of War

Frances Jetter creates linocuts with political subject matter, focusing on disarmament, labor rights, human rights, and weapons - which she finds especially intriguing and horrific. The artist believes that no armor can make people safe, and the fragility and mortality of human beings is at the center or her work.
 
Jetter’s recent artist’s book, " Cry Uncle," is a graphic response to the inhumanity displayed at Abu Ghraib and other torture sites. It was exhibited in solo shows at New York University Medical Center’s Gallery, Parsons School of Design, and will be shown at the City College of New York.
 
 
 
The Latest in the Cafe 
 
In these times of war, it's important to remember the mythological figure of Cassandra, who represents the female anti-war voice that is trans-culturally ignored and ridiculed.
 
From "Understanding the Myth: Why Cassandra Must Not Be Silenced" by Laura A. Shamas:
 
Cassandra's journey as an anti-war visionary who is ignored and belittled relates to the psychology of anti-war feminists today. When one sees, with certitude, a dark vision for the future, and then is ignored, or worse -- dismissed or "cursed" as irrelevant, "anti-patriotic," and powerless -- what is the effect on the psyche? Patterns revealed in the Cassandra model suggest that after the shock of disbelief wears away, a numbing ambivalence sets in -- a prelude to madness. Jungian analyst Laurie Layton Schapira writes of this tripartite psychological sequence -- disbelief, ambivalence, madness -- in her 1988 book  The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief. Schapira concludes with observations about society's damnation of the Cassandra woman who "threaten[s] the conservative order. Thus she speaks treason…we shall continue to attack her for bearing bad tidings. We must be aware, however, that in many cases she bears true witness and neither she, nor we, can any longer afford to disbelieve. The Cassandra woman who escaped the curse of the patriarchal Apollo speaks for a new age. " 
 
 
More from the Cafe: 


 
 
Join the discussion - leave comments! And join our  Facebook page and  Twitter for daily feminist news and analysis. 

Thanks for reading!
 
Next "Wave" Peace Activists Pour Feminism into the Mix
by Jean Stevens
 
Rachel Gehringer-Wiar liked the sound of Nebraskans for Peace.

Before arriving on campus of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln nearly two years ago, she’d seen its bumper stickers, she’d heard about its rallies. Peace work made sense to her, she said, as she believed in fighting for equality and human rights. The United States’ wars abroad had upset her as a high school student, although, she admits, she didn’t know much context of the wars then.

So as a freshman, Gehringer-Wiar joined the campus chapter, compelled not only by the anti-war demonstrations and campus educational efforts around peace, but the group’s concurrent focus on national and state-centered social justice projects.

Gehringer-Wiar and other of today’s younger peace activists seem more likely to perceive feminism as a lens, a political analysis in which to view and critique the world and their own activist work.

"I began to see how all of these issues were intertwined, from health care access to our two wars right now, civilians deaths and our foreign policy," said Gehringer-Wiar, who served as president of the chapter and considers herself feminist.

But her feminist understanding forms a foundation to her peace work, rather than a focal point, Gehringer-Wiar said. Some of today’s young self-identified feminists, she said, might beeline to more explicitly feminist groups, such as those working on reproductive justice. "It’s easier to say, ‘I identify as feminist,’ and ‘oh, Planned Parenthood, sure, that’s feminist,’" Gehringer-Wiar said. "That’s awesome, they need people to work for them. But people need to step back and say, these issues are interrelated."

 
Afghanistan Kabul women's jail
Featured OTI Photo Essay: Women and Girls in Conflict Zones
 
For our summer issue on Women, War and Peace, On The Issues has launched a special photo essay of the work of writer and photographer Ann Jones, which features incredibly moving pictures of women and girls in conflict zones, capturing their war and post-war experiences in areas of Africa and Asia.

This is one OTI feature you don't want to miss. Check it out here.
 
 
The Latest From The Café
 
It's time to really Support Our Troops. This month, a bill was introduced to the House that would end the military's ban on coverage of abortion for rape survivors. Marjorie Signer reminds us just how important the MARCH for Military Women Act is:

Women in the military are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted as women in civilian life, according to a pending ACLU lawsuit. Yet, though rape is a problem of deep concern to the U.S. military, its health plan doesn't cover abortions for rape victims who become pregnant. It's a callous, unjust policy – especially at a time when rape in the military is at crisis levels. Abortion restrictions are a moral issue; they deny women the ability to act according to the dictates of their conscience.

 
 
Don't forget to contribute in comments! And join our Facebook page and Twitter for daily feminist news and analysis.

Thanks for reading!
 
 
Women. War. Peace. Each of these words has such a powerful meaning. But what do they mean to each other?

For our summer issue, "Women, War & Peace," On The Issues starts a new conversation on an age-old issue: the intersection of feminism and war. The complexities of war in the world we live in today – and our endless struggle for peace – is an issue that tests our values, and challenges our humanity. But tackling issues of war and peace from a feminist lens may be the very thing that could answer many of the questions that we’ve been asking ourselves around this contentious topic. And we’ve got some incredible pieces that bring them to the table.
As the 10-year anniversary of U.S. invasion of Afghanistan approaches this October, we look back at Laura Bush’s words a decade ago when her husband George W. announced the war on terror – she contended that U.S. occupation was also "a fight for the rights and dignity of women." But according to Debra Sweet, that couldn’t be further from the truth. This pioneering peace activist talks about the devastating impacts that the war has had on Afghan women, and all through the insistence of “liberation,” in her compelling piece, “The Cruel Lie: Bombing to Liberate Women.”

In “Peace is a Human Right: Give Us Women Who Get It,” UN representative of the International Peace Bureau Cora Weiss asks a really good question: Why are we trying to make war “safe” for women? Why aren’t we dismantling the actual culture of war that causes mass rape and violence against women? Weiss calls on women to organize around the issue of peace as a human right, and with real and practical solutions to do it.
As waves of people, most of them men, celebrated wildly in the streets of D.C. over the killing of Osama bin Laden, an important question arises: Do public attitudes towards the war on terror differ by gender? Lori Adelman of Feministing joined OTI to do digging on polling research around this question in her piece, “Fighting to Gratify a Sex Instinct? War Attitudes Vary By Gender” – and the findings are fascinating.  

“All Wars Are Intimate Wars.” This is what Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Merle Hoffman reminds us in a sneak peek of her upcoming memoir about the ongoing war that is intimate to all women: the war on reproductive rights. Legislative attacks against abortion, clinic harassment and violence, and the killing of abortion providers is one war that we are justified to fight – Hoffman’s intimate war in her lifelong struggle to protect reproductive freedom serves as a model for all of us to follow.
 
Lastly, OTI is excited  to announce we've created a new feature with our friends from Feminist Press called "Books of Note," that offers compelling book publications that would be of interest to our readers. Don't miss it!
 
Also don't forget to keep up with us on Twitter and Facebook for daily feminist news and analysis, and stop by The Café for engaging conversation On The Issues that matter!
 
Thanks for reading!
 


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e·col·o·gy
–noun

1.the branch of biology dealing with the relations and interactions between organisms and their environment.

Over the course of history, women have had their share of living in a variety of hostile environments. But when do we talk about how the environment – specifically, ecology – affects women’s lives? With disasters like the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the increasing amounts of toxins and chemicals being exposed in our communities, our bodies are not just being threatened by legislators and political leaders – but by the very air we breathe. 
 
The Spring 2011 edition of On The Issues Magazine – “The Ecology of Women” – examines how environmental health affects women’s lives, particularly the toxins and chemicals that enter our bodies from the air, water, food and consumer products. Every day, we ingest these pollutants that cause conditions like cancer, early puberty, infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects.
 
“The Ecology of Women” seeks to insert the effects of environmental toxins into conversations around women’s health, and spark collective awareness and action within the feminist and environmental justice movements. In short, women and the environment are not mutually exclusive – so let’s talk about them as such.
Three Mile Island.
After the nuclear plant explosions in Japan this past week, we can learn a lot from, “Nuclear Revival? Lessons for Women from the Three Mile Island Accident,” in which Karen Charman highlights her original research from the Three Mile Island nuclear power accident in Pennsylvania to explain potential harms from radioactivity and its effect on women. Over three decades later, the aftermath of the disastrous incident continues to have a significant impact on this Pennsylvania community.

We can wear all the pink ribbons we want, but what is that going to change about the actual causes of breast cancer? Eleanor J. Bader asks this question in, “Snipping Pink Sentimentality: Persisting on the Whys of Breast Cancer,” in which she profiles Breast Cancer Action, a San Francisco-based group aiming to bring awareness around the effect of environmental toxins on breast cancer. It's time we change the way we look at activism against the disease – without a pink lens. 
 
A powerful new community of change-makers in the environmental justice movement: Moms. Margie Kelly highlights the significance that a phone call between two sisters about toxic chemicals in baby bottles ending up having on an entire consumer market, changing how we think about the products that our children have contact with. Kelly’s account of the movement against BPA baby bottles and the aftereffect of a movement of mothers inspires in, “Message in BPA Baby Bottles: Don’t Mess with Moms.”

Last but not least, On The Issues is offering a special tribute in our spring issue to groundbreaking feminist health activist Barbara Seaman, a leader of the feminist movement in bringing women's health issues to the forefront. Various authors and advocates offer their thoughts and reflections in our feature on the late writer, including Executive Director of Our Bodies, Ourselves Judy Norsigian, Barbara Ehrenreich, Jennifer Baumgardner, Leora Tanenbaum and many more.
 
Friends of OTI: Upcoming Events

 
The Fluidity of Gender: Exhibition by Linda Stein
Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery
Georgetown College, Georgetown, Kentucky
Now through April 7, 2011


Ain’t I A Woman: Race in the Feminist Movement
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main St. Brooklyn, NY
April 11th, 6:00 PM

Register for Feminist Summer Camp 2011
with Soapbox Inc.
First session starts June 5th!
 
Challenging the Masculinity of War: Women Soldiers and Remaking Men
with Kathleen Barry and Helen Benedict
John Jay College
Multipurpose Room 2200, North Hall
445 West 59th Street, NYC
April 7th, 2:00 pm


Keep up with us on Twitter and Facebook, and make sure to check into The Café. Thanks for reading!
On The Issues: A Magazine of Critical, Independent Thinking 29-28 41st Avenue | Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 391-0023 | www.OnTheIssuesMagazine.com

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As many of you may know, massive anti-choice efforts are currently aiming to strip away our reproductive rights. The latest of these, a bill just introduced in South Dakota, goes beyond heights of immorality in this war against women:

It would literally legalize the murder of abortion providers.

House bill 1171 would expand the definition of "justifiable homicide" when the murder is intended to prevent harm to a fetus. This would be mean that it would be open season in South Dakota for doctors who perform abortions -- and their killers would get away with it. The bill's language could potentially even go as far to include the murder of pregnant women.

The bill is co-sponsored by 22 other state representatives, and has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote. Next up, it comes to a floor vote in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

There are no words for the heinousness of this proposed legislation. And this is just one of a slew of other dangerous bills we’re up against:
  • HR3, or “The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” would codify the Hyde Amendment into law, restricting abortion access to millions of low-income women
  • HR358, or “The Protect Life Act,” would allow doctors to refuse abortion care to a pregnant woman whose life was in jeopardy – allowing women to die in the name of “protecting life”
  • The FY11 Continuing Resolution is seeking to eliminate Title X funding, which would effectively defund Planned Parenthood, the largest reproductive health and family planning provider in the nation
A Call to Action: Rally for Women’s Health on February 26th

It’s about time we hit the streets and fight back. Pro-choice organizations, leaders and activists are joining forces to rally for women’s health while congressmembers are in New York this month, and we need you to be there to stand with us. 
 
Saturday, February 26th
Foley Square, Across from the Court House in Lower Manhattan
New York City
1-3pm

RSVP to the Facebook event here and let's fight back against some of the most monstrous attacks on our reproductive freedom we've seen.

Can't make the rally? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates and other ways to take action.
 
 From the Café: Disappearing the Word “Rape”
By Stephanie Gilmore

The Super Bowl is over, and although the Pittsburgh Steelers lost a record-setting seventh victory, star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is still grabbing a lot of media space with little chance of disappearing.

While sportswriters debated his performance in the big game, that he got there at all was deemed to be "the road to redemption," according to several sportswriters. Just before the season began, Roethlisberger was accused of raping a 20-year-old woman, an accusation that landed him on the sidelines for the first four (originally six) games of the season. Once branded a sexual predator, suspended, and dissed in public, Roethlisberger is now revered as a football hero who may soon become a Hall of Famer.

Sportswriter Charean Williams noted that although off-the-field escapades nearly derailed Roethlisberger's season "winning cures a lot of things. A lot of sins are forgiven."

Even when that sin is rape.

Mostly when you read about Roethlisberger, you read that he "had sex with" a woman who accused him. What is in real danger of disappearing is not the quarterback, but any discussion of the reality of rape.

Continue reading, “Disappearing the Word “Rape” and contribute to the discussion.
Choices Women's Medical Center 29-28 41st Avenue | Long Island City, NY 11101 (718) 391-0023 | www.ChoicesMedical.com
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Intimate Wars

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Intimate Wars book cover
The Life and Times
of the Woman
Who Brought Abortion
from the
Back Alley
to the
Board Room

• Merle Hoffman, publisher of On The Issues Magazine

IntimateWars.com

CURRENT ISSUE
Winter 2012

Realities of The Waiting Room: Constantly Shifting by Lori Adelman

Anti-Abortion Harassment and Violence Still Stifle Access by Eleanor J. Bader

We're Not Sorry. Still. by Jennifer Baumgardner

The Poet's Eye From Poetry Co-Editor Sarah Browning

Calling Black LGBTQ Institutions: Where Are You? Where is Reproductive Justice? by Jasmine Burnett

Privacy at Stake: Patients, Clinics and Electronic Medical Records by Corinne A. Carey

Can We Choose Move Forward on Reproductive Justice? -- And How? by Ayesha Chatterjee and Judy Norsigian

"Love Means Second Chances": Reproductive Freedom in a Novel by Susan Elizabeth Davis

Satirist's View: Same Old Dilemma, or The Virgin Rebirth by Susie Day

As Access Slides, Feminists Need to "Extract" From Our Self-Help Past by Carol Downer

Abortion: On The Issues Magazine - by The Editors

How Anti-Abortion Protesters Got Me: Letter From a Young Activist by Sarah Flint Erdreich

The Grand Folly of Focusing on "Common Ground" by Gloria Feldt

Before "Roe": Legal Battles, Involuntary Servitude, My Mom by Justine Goodman

Next Generation Access: Medical Students Fill A Void by Mary Lou Greenberg

The Power of Theater: "Words of Choice" Touches Hearts by Alexis Greene

Where the Reality of Abortion Resides: Intimate Wars by Merle Hoffman

Gone Too Far? Reproductive Politics in the Time of Obama by Carole Joffe

Lila Rose: A Sweet Face to Accompany Extreme Anti-abortion Claims by Kathryn Joyce

Glorifying the Fetus While Ignoring the Fetal Environment by Margie Kelly

Reframing Compassionate Care: Of Madame Restell and Other Outlaws by Jeannie Ludlow

Helping Bloggers To Help: Tips for Reproductive Health Organizations by Amanda Marcotte

What To Do When They Say Holocaust by Carol Mason

"Silent Choices": African American Women Open Up on Film by Faith Pennick

Fine Thoughts On Fertilized Personhood by Marge Piercy

Heading Toward Menopause, Still Caring about Abortion by Andrea Plaid

Letter to a Young Activist: Don’t Drop the Banner by Barbara Santee

Redefining Chutzpah: More Bad Ideas to Burden Women by Aram A. Schvey

Sharing the Wealth of Knowledge on Abortion by Ria Sen and The Feminist Press

An Abortion Miracle? Let's Try the First Amendment by Priscilla Smith

Related Stories: Bold Discussions of ABORTION in On The Issues Magazine by The Editors

The Art Perspective: Ursula O'Farrell curated by Linda Stein

Student Think Tank

Winter 2012 Index

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