by Andrew Jenkins, Choice USA Field Associate

As we commemorate the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and honor the legacy of the reproductive rights advocates that came before us, we must remain vigilant in our struggle for social justice. While Roe v. Wade played an important role in shaping reproductive health and rights in this country, the battle is far from over.

Young people know this very well. We understand that in order for us to truly win reproductive justice for all, we have to look at the entire picture. The legal right to an abortion loses its value when state and local barriers prevent young people, communities of color, LGBT people, and low-income families from accessing basic health care services. Age-restrictions on emergency contraception. Parental notification and consent laws. Mandatory waiting periods. Personhood initiatives.

This is the political climate that our generation has inherited. It isn’t the same back-alley climate we experienced before Roe v. Wade, but it is reproductive oppression and it’s manifesting in new ways.

So while we continue to celebrate Roe and the powerful symbolism it carries with it, we must also recommit ourselves to the challenge ahead. A big part of that means engaging more young people.

If we don’t, our opposition certainly will.

Young people are an essential part of our movement and we must continue to empower emerging generations and new leaders to lead the way in the struggle for reproductive and sexual self-determination. When we invest in us, we get the job done!

Young people are standing up for abortion rights across the country and they aren’t apologizing for it. They’ve sent thank-you cards to local abortion providers; contacted their elected officials and expressed their concern for anti-choice ballot measures; volunteered as clinic escorts; and donated tampons and pads to local shelters.

Choice USA understands the organizing power of young people.

That’s why in 2012, we plan on doubling down on our investment in their work. Choice USA will make the strategic investment, but it is young people who will determine the future of this country. We’ll be the ones who elect pro-choice candidates and defeat anti-choice legislation at the state and local level. We’ll be the ones who will witness a movement that is more inclusive than we ever dreamed. We will hold Administrations accountable by showing up in the halls of congress and on the front steps of the White House. Together, with the spirit of our ancestors, the pride of our elders and the hope of our peers we will WIN and we will win BIG!

by Andrew Jenkins, Choice USA Field Associate

For young people, having adequate information and resources to shape our sexual and reproductive lives is an important part of building healthy relationships and impacting our own futures. Access to affordable contraceptives is something that young people need and deserve. No exceptions.

That’s why Choice USA applauds last week’s decision by the White House to stand up to the opposition and protect no-cost coverage of contraception.

Young people know firsthand the implications of restricted access on contraception. We’re experiencing it on our campuses and in our communities today. That’s why young people were among the first to stand up to the Catholic lobby and urge the President to do the same.

The fact that contraception coverage was ever on the chopping block is a stark indication of what’s to come. We must remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting and expanding access to contraception and continue to leverage the strategies of young people to win reproductive justice.

We’re sick and tired of being denied the agency and decision-making power we desperately need to make healthy and informed choices about our own bodies and relationships. That’s why our voices will continue to be at the forefront of this conversation, and it is young people that will ultimately win universal coverage of contraception for all Americans.

Meet Saida Agostini, a Choice USA Field Intern, who recently gave ChoiceWords an exclusive interview.

School?

University of Pittsburgh, Bachelors of Arts in Poetry & Urban Studies and Masters of Social Work. My focus has been exploring the traumas that queer domestic violence survivors face, as well as best practices for integrating therapeutic practices with political organizing in marginalized communities.

How were you involved with Choice USA as an undergrad?

I became involved with Choice USA as an organizing intern. It was one of the most influential experiences I had in college. I walked into the office, 20 years old and clueless, and my boss entrusted me with running a statewide rally against the Global Gag Rule. It was overwhelming, inspiring and, most importantly, challenging. It completely changed the way I looked at myself. I never thought of myself as an organizer, public speaker or activist. I think that’s what Choice USA is all about, it fosters a community where young folks are able to see themselves as they are—powerful and capable of great change.

What initially attracted you to Choice USA?

What attracted me to Choice USA is its commitment to building a different kind of reality, one where everyone has the resources and agency to create their own future. This was especially powerful for me as a queer woman of color, because I was so used to feeling isolated and dehumanized, that I began to believe it was impossible to demand the creation of systems and communities that would embrace me as I was. A world where lesbians aren’t raped to turn them straight, trans folks don’t have to fight for safety, and where no one is legislating my right to control my reproductive and sexual freedom.

What skills or knowledge did you learn from Choice USA that you use in your current work/life?

I think the most important skill I have taken away from my experience is the ability to dream. I recognize that sounds very Oprah, but my work at Choice USA has pushed me to move beyond accepting the little oppressions that mount up and hurt every day, and ask “why can’t this be different”? and work to build that different world.

What do you do now and how do you bring a reproductive justice frame to the work you do?

Currently I manage a national internship program, write articles on trauma and healing for www.blackmentalhealthnet.com, and develop curriculum for a therapeutic group exploring the trauma of losing community. I also just completed my second chapbook, Hunger, and have performed around the East Coast.

I think the work I do is grounded in social justice. My work as a licensed clinician, youth worker, poet and activist has been to engage individuals and greater communities in an important dialogue about peace building, voice and agency—values that are the cornerstones of the reproductive justice movement.

What other things have you done since graduating?

Since graduating, I have managed a social justice summer program in Boston, launched a teacher training program, worked in case management at several shelters in the Philadelphia area, been a therapist at the Mazzoni Center, an LGBT mental health organization, and hosted a multi gender production of for colored girls.

Most recently, I was awarded an Arts and Change grant to co-run an LGBT youth group on the meaning of home.

What are your top priorities in politics and/or reproductive justice?

The policies I hold closest to my heart is that social work and political practices will be created and implemented by the communities that use these services.

Who inspires you?

The first person who comes to mind is Isaura Mendes, a Dorchester peace activist, who lost both her sons to street violence. She became a community organizer, program director and social worker all at once, fighting to create a world where people feel safe in their community. What inspires me about Isaura is that anyone would have expected someone with this story, to give up, to lose hope. She did the opposite. She began this work in honor of her sons and her neighborhood. She reminds me every day about the capacity of the human spirit and our ability to love through the greatest of traumas and oppression into light.

Meet Kimberly Inez McGuire, a 2005 Choice USA Field Intern, who recently gave ChoiceWords an exclusive interview.

School?
I graduated from Hampshire College in 2006. I designed my major: Multiple Perspectives in Political, Legal and Moral Philosophy. I wrote my senior thesis on the criminalization of pregnant women.

How were you involved with Choice USA as an undergrad?
I was the Field Intern during the summer of 2005, thanks to support from Hampshire’s Reproductive Rights Activist Service Corps (RRASC) program. Through my internship, I also got to attend (and work on!) the Summer 2005 GSLI. It was a privilege to work with the Choice USA staff.

What initially attracted you to Choice USA?
I was learning about reproductive justice and was really excited by Choise USA’s RJ focus and commitment to the needs and perspectives of young people. The sexy orange-and-blue color scheme didn’t hurt either.

What skills or knowledge did you learn from Choice USA that you use in your current work/life?
At Choice USA, I deepened my understanding of reproductive justice as a way of approaching social change. I also learned about the importance of building and maintaining relationships with advocates across the country. DC is not the only place where politics happens!! I learned how to work in a small office that does an amazing amount of work with finite resources—a skill-set I certainly use at my current job. A huge part of that is collaboration, within and across organizations and movements.

What do you do now and how do you bring a reproductive justice frame to the work you do?
I am a Senior Associate for Programs and Policy at the Reproductive Health Technologies Project in Washington, DC. At RHTP, I work to increase access to contraception and abortion care, develop and implement research-based communications strategies for advocates, and protect sexual and reproductive health from toxic chemicals in the environment.

I bring a reproductive justice frame to my work by striving to include and elevate the perspectives, needs and voices of marginalized communities in each of our program areas. For example, my approach to reducing the harms caused by toxic chemicals is focused on the disproportionate chemical burdens that pregnant women, workers, and communities of color face.

What other things have you done since graduating?
I am a hotline counselor and volunteer advocate with the DC Rape Crisis Center and I’ve been working toward my birth doula certification. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out my place in the movement—and I’m still working on that one. Before my current job, I worked in science and health policy as a lobbyist.

What are your top priorities in politics and/or reproductive justice?
My top priority is to make sure women have the social, financial, and structural support to carry out their reproductive decisions. That means protecting access to safe and affordable birth control and abortion care, and it also means supporting women who want to carry a pregnancy to term and parent their child.

Who inspires you?
My mom, my grandmother, my sisters—for their fearlessness. In the movement, Marlene Gerber Fried has been a major inspiration and mentor. On a day to day basis, I’m inspired by men and women who work tirelessly for social justice, for their communities, for their families, for themselves—who refuse to become cynical, refuse to give up, and keep struggling to build a better world.

Two hundred and twenty pro-choice people flocked the grassy area near late-term abortionist, Dr. Carhart’s clinic in Germantown, Maryland yesterday afternoon. It was day one of the Summer of Choice, opposed to the Summer of Mercy 2.0 that the anti-choice people are hosting this week. Don’t think that “opposed” is comparable to “counter-protest” though, because that is definitely not what we were doing.

To reiterate the importance of solely existing as a peaceful presence, there was a peaceful presence training by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, in coalition with the Feminist Majority Foundation and the National Organization for Women, to learn skills for staying safe and staying positive outside the clinic. A woman from SYRF urged people to remember to not engage with the anti-choice protesters. It does not accomplish anything to yell back, it is not effective, she explained. We were only present to stand in solidarity and support Dr. Carhart, his employees, and the patients.

There were people from across the country, reporters, and banners thanking Dr. Carhart as a hero. Shirts spoke loud and clear from the pro-choice folk’s bodies: “this is what a feminist looks like,” “I had an abortion,” “I love pro-choice girls,” and “Pro-faith, pro-family, pro-choice.” The walk was 1.3 miles around the block where Dr. Carhart’s clinic is located, and the most reactionary outcries were along the main roads where passerbys were honking, cheering, and then there were the occasional boos, a few middle fingers and thumbs down, but we persevered with the utmost energy.

Interestingly enough, we did not encounter any anti-choice people along our march, all 220 people in tow. The circling police may have attempted to have us avoid them, but even if they were around some corner they had to have heard our cries and chants of choice. “They say no-choice, we say pro-choice!” “My body, my choice!” “Not the church! Not the state! Women must decide our fate!” And so on until we had covered the Germantown block, making our presence peaceful, but well known.
They say no-choice, we say pro-choice!

The rest of the week is filled with Summer of Choice events that you should come out to (and are all outlined on the website), including a Capitol Hill Press Conference Thursday, 8/4, at 11:45 am and another peaceful presence on Sunday, August 7. It is important to remember that none of this is a counter-protest, as is commonly believed, but we want to ensure safety and non-violence, whether physical or verbal.
Dr. Carhart supports women, and we want to support Dr. Carhart.

On June 27, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue vetoed H854, also known as “The Women’s Right To Know” Act. The bill requires women to undergo a 24-hour waiting period, an ultrasound, and special counseling before an abortion. The bill makes “no exceptions for abortions sought due to rape, incest, or medical necessity.” In fact, H854 would allow a rapist to sue the doctor providing the woman’s abortion if he thinks the law wasn’t followed.

Anti-abortion site LifeNews.com reports that H854 would require the state “to create a website where mothers can learn more about the development of their unborn children, alternatives to abortion, and a list of places where they can obtain a free ultrasound…” Outrageous!

Thank goodness Gov. Perdue vetoed it, right? Dodged that bullet, so we thought…

Yesterday, members of the North Carolina House of Representatives overrode Perdue’s veto! The House voted 72-47 and legislators are expected to vote soon on whether or not to override the veto of S769, the senate version of the anti-abortion measure.

Some of the debate was captured by NC Policy Watch:

NARAL NC released this statement shortly after the vote:

NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina is extremely disappointed that the North Carolina House of Representatives voted today to override Governor Beverly Perdue’s veto of H.B. 854, the so-called “Woman’s Right to Know” act.  This bill will now go to the North Carolina Senate, where an attempt to override the governor’s veto is anticipated to occur. If passed, this law would enforce invasive and unnecessary restrictions on abortions in our state. It would enforce a 24-hour waiting period, a mandatory ultrasound, and a politician-written script that a doctor will have to recite to the patient.  It has no exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or fetal anomaly.

Executive Director Carey Pope says, “This egregious legislation has nothing to do with protecting women’s health, safety, or peace of mind.   Women already think through their options before visiting an abortion provider. Forced waiting periods and ultrasounds only add undue emotional distress: the very opposite of what these politicians are claiming to do. We now look to the Senate to keep this harmful legislation from becoming law.

North Carolinians can write their senators and ask them to sustain Governor Perdue’s veto by clicking this link.

What are you waiting for? Let’s take action and stop this dangerous bill!

They call it the Summer of Mercy 2.0, and they are infringing upon a woman’s right to choose. Anti-choice organizations will be gathering in Germantown, Maryland beginning on Sunday July 31, 2011 to protest against Dr. Carhart’s clinic, where he performs late-term abortions for women who need them. Directly across the street from Dr. Carhart’s office is the official host of the Summer of Mercy: the Maryland Coalition for Life. On their website, they describe themselves as: “a pregnancy referral center to aid pregnant women so that abortion becomes unthinkable.” I understand that abortions aren’t for everyone, but also you may think you would never get an abortion (and can still be pro-choice) and then end up in a situation that you never imagined, and suddenly you realize you may want to consider abortion as an option: because it should always be a choice. Just because one person doesn’t want an abortion, great, I am so glad that you have the choice not to, but do not infringe upon other women’s rights to make that decision.

The Summer of Mercy 1.0 happened in 1991 in Wichita, Kansas in front of the late Dr. Tiller’s office. The same Dr. Tiller that they targeted is the one whose life was ended because of an anti-choice individual. These protests outside of clinics are damaging, not only for the abortion-provider, but also for the patients. Two decades later, Summer of Mercy 2.0 is occurring and they are not holding back, or taking women’s autonomy into consideration whatsoever. They are now targeting a new doctor, and it makes me wonder if they just don’t care about the danger in this? They claim to be “pro-life,” yet why are they terrorizing the lives of others?

The Summer of Mercy 2.0 will be held from July 31 through August 7 and, according to their press release, will include “round-the-clock prayer and worship, inspiring evening rallies with national political and Christian leaders, and cutting edge public events.” One event that they are said to be holding is a ultrasound screening to attempt to dissuade people from entering the clinic as scheduled for an abortion. Sixteen out of the twenty-one listed speakers and guests are MEN (predominately older and white), who will never have to face an unwanted pregnancy, or have to make the choice of whether to have an abortion.

This dreadful protest outside of Dr. Carhart’s clinic is going to be graced with another Summer, a more positive one: The Summer of Choice, a peaceful pro-choice presence and a show of community support for Dr. Carhart, his staff, and his patients. There will not be engaging in any dialogue, argument, or confrontation with any anti-choice protesters, and the Summer of Choice will be working with law enforcement to ensure everyone’s safety over the course of the week.

If you want to join this presence of peace to stand up as pro-choice and pro-woman, we need you to join us in letting the world know that we are pro-choice and we will stand strong behind what we believe. We will stand in solidarity of Dr. Tiller, Dr. Carhart, and every other abortion doctor, and every person for their right to choose. The Summer of Choice will be kicking off on July 31 at 1pm with a walk for choice. We will be meeting at the intersection of Wisteria Drive & Executive Park Circle in Germantown, Maryland. More details and registration are listed on the Summer of Choice website.

Reinforcing what the Summer of Choice says about this celebration: In the spirit of honoring Dr. Tiller’s courageous fight through the horror of the Summer of Mercy in 1991, we are inviting you all to Germantown, Maryland for the first annual Summer Celebration of Choice.

I have been in love with North Carolina ever since moving here in 2002. I love my city, its rich history as a pivotal part of the Civil Rights Movement. I love my community, my friends, and my allies. North Carolina is home.

But last month, the NC General Assembly passed a budget that, in addition to robbing our educational system of money and our state employees of job security, defunded Planned Parenthood affiliates throughout the state. Our governor, Bev Perdue, initially vetoed the budget, but her veto was overridden by the GOP-controlled legislature. This was a major blow to the state that I have come to call home, and the cost of such a measure will be extensive.

Never mind that this effort will not save the state a single dime, as some of the bill’s proponents will try to tell you. This effort was less about money and more about an ideology, and as anyone who’s followed national news as of late can tell you, NC is not alone. Far from saving the state money, the defunding effort will be costly, especially within young and lower-income communities who count on Planned Parenthood for affordable health care and pregnancy prevention.

But Planned Parenthood of Central NC is fighting back. Noting that around 70% of Planned Parenthood’s clients lack sufficient health insurance, the organization is waging an all-out lawsuit against the state for “violating its free-speech protections” due to their position on reproductive rights.

My experience with Planned Parenthood is vast. Never having held a full-time job with a major employer, being a self-employed doula, and having no money for adequate health insurance since graduating college, I receive all my basic health care at Planned Parenthood. I have seen their nurse practitioners for annual pap tests, full physicals, affordable birth control, and breast exams. When a health issue exceeded the clinic’s expertise, I was referred to an affordable specialist nearby. The nurse practitioners, nurses, and clinic staff members have always been proficient, available, professional, kind, and most importantly, affordable. This is not something that should be taken away. Given the country’s difficult economic situation, these kinds of services should be funded now more than ever.

This is a huge groundbreaking moment in the feminist fight for reproductive justice!

Choice USA and many other pro-choice organizations have been working to collect support for Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in her quest for coverage of birth control as no-cost and preventative. This label of preventative has to be bestowed by Health and Human Services (HHS); however, JUST THIS AFTERNOON, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced that they were formally recommending that contraceptives were considered preventative, thus qualifying them for the Affordable Care Act, under the healthcare reform.

This is so exciting!

The Institute of Medicine went even further to acknowledge that annual HIV testing, domestic/sexual violence screenings, and STI counseling should be considered, by HHS, as preventative, as well.
All of these issues affect people, and their access should certainly not be limited because of their class. (I’m pretty sure that’s something we all know as classism…) But this is absolutely a revolutionary moment in history (herstory) proving that we are one step closer to true reproductive justice.

Do you want to get more involved? Do you just want to show your support for no-cost birth control? We are one step closer, but we aren’t quite there yet. We need to step up and show Health and Human Services just how important this is to all of us.

Choice USA created a campaign, Prevent-A-Pact (because we all know that virginity pacts don’t work, but birth control and contraceptives do for preventing unwanted pregnancies), to show support for no-cost birth control. This petition will be delivered to HHS before their deadline to make a decision. We need your names to make an impact, to show them that you DO care.

Sign the Prevent-A-Pact at http://bit.ly/prevent-a-pact.
It only takes one moment to be a part of this revolutionary change.
We can do this.

For more info about Prevent-A-Pact, visit: http://bit.ly/prevent-a-pact-info.

No harm in a few steamy reads, right? Well, that’s what I always thought until I read an LA Times report on a recent article in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care by psychologist Susan Quilliam.

Dr. Quilliam says that on the plus side, regular readers of romantic fiction have reported feeling encouraged to “have more sex, more adventurous sex and more experimental sex.” Unfortunately some of those adventures and experiments come with risks like avoiding condom use.

The problem? When the novels’ escapist fantasies get confused with reality, Quilliam says, leading women to make poor choices. Unlike in novels featuring Fabio on the cover, real-life sex is not always perfect and relationships are not always smooth. Pregnancies are not always trouble-free. Shunning a condom because a novel’s heroine “wanted ‘no barrier’ between her and the hero” (as typically portrayed in the mere 11.5% of romance novels that did mention condom use at all, according to one study Quilliam cites) is likely to result in serious negative consequences.

I took a chance on a “safe sex” search under romance in the amazon.com bookstore and came up with some um…interesting (and cheesy) results. Then I remembered “The BUST Guide to the New Girl Order” by the folks at BUSt Magazine. It’s not solely a romance book, but an anthology of some of BUST’s most popular content (essays, articles, etc.) including tales of healthy, kinky, romantic and safe sex. If you’re a fan of BUST’s Sex Files, the magazine’s sex-positive readings, and One-Handed Reads, stories submitted by readers, then New Girl Order should be up your alley.

Happy reading!