PAPER: because sex rights are civil rights. » dr. tiller

Humongous newsfeed and more

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 02:37:03 +0000

We’re sorry to have been away so long, and we’re working on some ways to keep updates more frequent around here. [Stay tuned!] With that said, here’s the news on abortion, sex and politics, gay rights, sexual health, sex ed, porn, and more!

Randall Terry endorsed Rand Paul, Kentucky’s Republican candidate for the Senate. Randall Terry heads Operation Rescue, a terroristic anti-choice organization. If it isn’t obvious by now, PAPER wholeheartedly endorses Jack Conway. Please have a look at his site–he’s been a good civil servant for Kentucky, and consider donating time or resources to his campaign.

Honoring Dr. Tiller, a year after his murder. And his murderer, Scott Roeder, was no lone wolf.

Abortion has become more concentrated among poor women.

On anti-choice maneuvering at the state level, with more here and here.

Webcams increase abortion access.

Britain has aired an abortion ad on the telly, while American teachers distribute plastic fetuses in public schools and an American nun is excommunicated for authorizing a medically necessary abortion at a Catholic hospital.

Speaking of Catholic misdeeds, Kentuckians have a lawsuit underway and Louisville’s Archbishop Kurtz is doing more homophobic meddling.

In California, evangelicals end a school’s anti-bullying program, since it promoted acceptance of gays. Also, a longtime target of anti-pornsters, Movie Gallery, has shut down, to their delight–though as a former MG employee, I gotta say it has more to do with bad bankruptcy issues than stocking a little softcore porn.

Meanwhile, the American Family Association has opined that Hitler’s SS comprised only gays, since they were the only recruits “savage and brutal enough” for the job, and that Hitler was gay. Never mind that Hitler actively imprisoned and killed gays and that no evidence exists that Hitler or the SS was gay. The AFA has outdone itself with this.

The SCOTUS rules that sex offenders can be imprisoned “indefinitely.”

After appointing a “proud homophobe” and subsequent outcry, Obama revoked the appointment. Yay!

A tally of Obama’s GLBTQ accomplishments. [Not a glowing review.]

Indiana’s own Mark Souder has resigned after an affair with a staffer. The following is an abstinence-only plug featuring Souder and his mistress–just rich, huh?

… and here’s Souder crying and apologizing. He hopes to be remembered as “an evangelical”–well, no problem there! Another evangelical hypocrite for the long, long list.

Sarah Palin’s been dropping the f-bomb a lot lately–that is, claiming to be a feminist. This is absurd, and you can read other takedowns here and here.

Domestic partners are about to receive new federal benefits.

In Malawi, a married gay couple was set to get 14 years in jail before a presidential pardon, after international pressure. Also interesting: one of the men is Another day, another hate crime. This one highlights the stupidity of the assailants.

Constance McMillen, the lesbian trying to go to prom with her girlfriend, got ran out of town, after all.

Gay men may soon be able to donate blood.

The Family Research Council, closely affiliated with the AFA, was caught supporting Uganda’s kill the gays bill. The drama continues here.

Civil disobedience and the LGBTQ community.

By presidential proclamation, it’s LGBT Pride Month!

After years of real sex ed, Canada’s teen pregnancy rate has dropped. Same deal in California. And Obama has paid attention and given more federal dollars to real sex ed.

When feminists argue about porn. And there’s a Facebook page. And this illuminating video:

Declaring porn at customs.

Why does porn matter?–a pro-porn perspective.

The world’s oldest sex toy has been found! And it did double-duty as a striking stone.

More porn use stats. Mormons are still paying for the most porn, and Sunday is the most popular day for porn-browsing.

Turns out bat fellatio can cause quite a ruckus.

Sex research and fears of lube.

Is free birth control on the way? Maybe, thanks to Planned Parenthood.

A new Diva Cup-like menstrual product can collect stem cells!

UTIs are getting harder to treat. Drink your cranberry juice, ladies.

A cure for herpes may be on the way.

New CDC report says American women’s favorite contraceptive methods are the Pill, condoms, and sterilization, in that order.

Rest in peace: Rue McClanahan, best known for her Blanche Deveraux on The Golden Girls.

A big couple of weeks.

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:11:04 +0000

Whew! We’ve seen the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the trial of anti-choice terrorist Scott Roeder, the Prop 8 trial, the vindication of Theatair X, and plenty more.

Locally, an anti-choice rally was held downtown, Kentucky’s numbskulled state Senate passed a terrible bill requiring women to have ultrasounds before getting an abortion, and Louisvillians continued to duke it out in the letters to the editor. The ultrasound bill is pretty atrocious—it also requires a face-to-face meeting with an abortion doctor 24 hours before the procedure and imposes stiff fines on doctors, among other things. Word has it the bill won’t pass the Kentucky House, but if you are concerned please consider attending the Reproductive Justice Project Rally in Frankfort Thursday, 2/4. The rally was scheduled to demonstrate for real sex ed for teens, but this bill demands some attention.

The Roe v. Wade anniversary prompted much writing, with NARAL declaring it Blog For Choice Day. Amanda Marcotte explains that she’s pro-choice because she loves life, the good Kentuckians over at Barefoot & Progressive weigh in, and this post collects a number of other feminists’ thoughts. Jessica Arons, director of the Women’s Health and Rights Program at American Progress, calls Democrats to action.

The Roe anniversary also marked the beginning of the trial of Scott Roeder, admitted murderer of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. [Listen to Dr. Tiller here on why he chose this career.] RH Reality Check did a day-by-day account: Days One and Two, Day Three, Day Four, and Day Five. You can watch Roeder’s testimony Roeder was today found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life.

Let us remember, though, that Roeder is also a terrorist, not just a murderer. More on anti-abortion violence here [and it is well-documented]. Also, will there be another generation of abortion providers? One must wonder, with the personal safety risks and lack of education.

Meanwhile, also on Roe day, the March for Life descended upon DC. Sarah Palin cooed about this on Facebook, Jezebel responded. There is a bad trend in the anti-choice sphere of appropriating pro-choice language—we’ve got to call this bullshit for what it is. Also, much was made over the youth in attendance of the rally, but that’s not really the feat anti-choicers might like to believe.

Speaking of youth and sex rights, here’s how to train youth to value reproductive justice.

An unfortunate firestorm has flared up as CBS is allowing an anti-choice ad featuring Tim Tebow and funded by Focus on the Family to air during the Super Bowl, which violated its former anti-advocacy advertising policy. In light of the controversy they’ve amended the policy. Pro-choice groups have considered how to respond, and seem to be focused on shutting the ad down. We can also mock it.

PAPER, by the way, proposes a counter-ad with a well-known successful woman or mother of a successful person detailing why her abortion was a fantastic choice. Sadly abortion is so stigmatized in this country no one would want to admit to one on TV, which is yet another problem.

The ad is also controversial since Tebow’s mother’s story sounds a little off, and because CBS is cynically using a serious social issue to get free buzz AND paints the anti-choicers as the better side.

State trends in abortion in 2009.

Reflections on the last decade in reproductive justice.

Two interesting books to look for: Dispatches from the Abortion Wars, and The Means of Reproduction.

Last in the abortion section, a good mockery of Bart Stupak.

In excellent local news… the regulations were unconstitutional. ROCK was predictably petulant, saying what goes on in Theatair X is “unimaginable,” and we enjoyed this. To tell Clarksville not to pass stupid restrictions on adult businesses, call either 812-283-1504 or email Clarksville’s town council at trishATdigicoveDOTcom.

And if you’re still unconvinced that groups like ROCK are harmless, here are some recent stories from around the world of braindead bans caused by sex-negative panic: a dictionary banned from school for containing “oral sex”. Or The Diary of Anne Frank banned in Virginia schools for being “pornographic.” Outside of school, how about banning small breasts and female ejaculation in porn? Or artists stripped of their funding for “indecency”? Such stories proliferate where sex-negativity abounds.

In Indiana, though, not all fronts are so liberated. 2009 saw more pro-GLBTQ bills passed than the last two years combined.

At the Prop 8 trial, religion was mostly absent, ex-gay therapy was discussed, and homosexuality claimed to be linked to pedophilia [by someone Prop 8's backers are distancing themselves from]. The case does seem to be leaning toward repealing Prop 8, thankfully… even Cindy McCain is for gay marriage.

This sounds like an interesting political race.

Oh yeah, despite an anti-choice ad, CBS won’t allow a gay dating site’s ad. Ugh. In other gay dating site news, eHarmony must merge its straight and gay sites. ‘Bout time.

Teen pregnancy has risen in America—thanks, abstinence-only education.

Contraception will be made more available to women in the military.

Study on education and cervial cancer risk.

Americans might soon have another emergency contraception pill, already available in Europe and maybe more effective than Plan B.

A wonderful condom ad:

Lastly, pioneering reproductive justice activist Ruth P. Smith has died. Thank you, Ruth, you will be missed.

More Kentuckian fun with restricting abortion access

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:58:42 +0000

This week the Kentucky Senate passed to the floor a bill that forces women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion [the webpage has been glitchy, so you may have to refresh to get it to load correctly]. Kentucky law already requires counseling, in case you didn’t know. Find your representative’s contact info here so you can tell him or her to vote against this anti-choice nonsense. The Courier also ran an op-ed on this.

Oh, and here’s The Onion’s take on such terrible laws:

New Law Requires Women To Name Baby, Paint Nursery Before Getting Abortion

Meanwhile, remember how Louisville’s anti-choice protesters have been showing up to the abortion clinic dressed like escorts? The feminist blogosphere picked up on it, and the protesters weren’t happy. Excerpt:

While these escorts may seem to you as brave, enduring, heroes, and more..to me they are individuals who use Saturday mornings as a way to justify being as angry and mean as possible. Who yell insults, profane language, and dance in the streets while women go into the abortion clinic. These insults come after attempts to simply say good morning or hello. We do not hate the escorts, nor believe they are deemed our “enemies” as they do. We are divided on this issue of great importance, yet I do not believe that it means we must hate one another.
These same people who “shelter” the woman going into the clinic barely speak a word to her, and instead focus on telling myself and my friends how stupid we are. In fact, the woman is often ignored. Is that emotional support?

Lies, lies, lies. This anti-choicer has conveniently ignored all the insults, judgments, and sanctimoniousness that come from the protesters. Escorts also don’t scream at the women going into the clinic, so I suppose it could be an honest mistake not to hear their kind words. The best thing is, the anti-choicer who wrote this silly email is in the video shot by escorts. So we know exactly the hatefulness he or she espouses, regardless of what they say later. [More here, including the video.]

Meanwhile, the murderer of Dr. George Tiller may be found guilty of manslaughter instead. This sets a terrifying precedent—essentially allowing lesser sentences for murdering abortion doctors. We can only hope it’s a means to curtail appeals. More here.

Repeal the Hyde Amendment!

On having anti-choice allies.

More debunking of the abortion causes breast cancer lie.

Stupak might run for governor. Well, it’d get him out of Congress at least.

Why the big disparity between states offering anti-choice and pro-choice license plates?

The following is tax-funded abstinence-only education in action:

Because clapping for the clap is so much better at curtailing teen pregnancy than telling teens condoms are effective. Riiiiight.

The Courier also ran an op-ed this week about all the Kurtz homophobia ruckus. More reader response here.

This week the Prop 8 trial began. Evidence will include testimony from gay couples, and a historian’s take on marriage. Meanwhile, the homophobes have demanded not to be shown on camera. Do they secretly know their weak arguments are based on hate, or what?

Always hilarious: prominent Irish homophobe Iris Robinson was caught in an extramarital affair with 19 year old chef for whom she embezzled $50000. Juicy! By the way, did you know divorce rates are higher in states banning gay marriage?

Reluctance may be growing about the Kill the Gays Bill in Uganda.

The Democrats might finally start moving on repealing DADT.

Fun stuff: how gay are Catholic priests… or how many people are into blasphemy play? And, also from The Onion, Gay teen worried he might be a Christian. And yes, it IS set in our own Louisville.

Neither victims nor voiceless: sex workers speaking for themselves. And, America’s first legal male prostitute compares himself to Rosa Parks. Uh, well, we guess it’s good for male prostitutes to be ballsy.

Lastly, one that goes to the heart of what PAPER stands for: breaking the generational shame about sex.

Super Tuesday & lots of news

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:37:50 +0000

More on the sex offender ruling. This is an ongoing story—let’s continue to hope for policy that differentiates between violent offenders, pedophiles, and people who made stupid mistakes.

Utterly awful: supporters of Scott Roeder, the murderer of abortion provider Dr. Tiller, tried to raise money with eBay auctions. Link includes pictures of Roeder’s drawings, which are just ghastly. Thankfully eBay has removed all the auctions!

Sigh… Planned Parenthood director becomes anti-abortion activist. Unsurprisingly, more and more details just aren’t making sense. We too smell a right-wing ploy.