Posted Without Commentary

From today's Journal-Gazette letters:

Zealots’ smokescreen disguises terrorism

Early in my pastoral career, I discovered that the easiest place for the antichrist to operate is in Christian disguise. So it is with the zealots of the anti-abortion movement, most recently epitomized by Scott Roeder in the heinous murder of Dr. George Tiller.

While groups like Operation Rescue are trying to convince us that Roeder acted alone, there is ample evidence that he moved with the open encouragement of militant anti-abortion groups and incendiary voices like Bill O’Reilly, Alan Keyes, James Dobson, Randall Terry, Mark Crutcher, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

Most of the above have one thing in common: They employ Christian language to justify the holiness of their cause and the righteousness of their deeds. To hear them talk, they are driven by a godly desire to protect the unborn – even to the extent of sanctifying blatant acts of violence.

With zealots like Roeder and their vociferous cheerleaders, I suspect that “the sanctity of life” is mostly a smokescreen. It provides a convenient springboard for encouraging and committing hate-filled acts of oppression, not only toward abortion-rights advocates but also to all manner of convenient scapegoats (women, Jews, Muslims, intellectuals, homosexuals and so-called “illegals”).

Roeder and his compatriots have shamed our nation by compromising the very moral code they claim to uphold. Until ordinary citizens are willing to stand up to these terrorists, the antichrist will continue to enjoy a field day in America.

THOMAS E. SAGENDORF Hamilton

And In the End...

...all the anti-choice, anti-woman right has done, is set us back a single step. They have gained no ground, and have brought themselves TWO steps closer to being identified as the amoral domestic terrorists that they are.

Nebraska physician vows to keep Tiller clinic OPEN.

THEY HAVE GAINED NOTHING.

It's heartbreaking that Dr. Tiller had to lose his life in such a manner, and that his family, friends, and patients had to have such a dedicated and caring man wrenched so brutally from their lives. But his loss was NOT THEIR gain.

Nor has it set back those of us who value a woman's sovereignty, who value her RIGHT to choose when, and how often, she reproduces - or to choose NOT to reproduce at all. It has not set back those of us who view women as MORE than simply walking wombs, ready to churn out the next generation of Bible-thumping cannon fodder. It has not stopped us, and can only slow us down but for a moment. In the grand scheme of things, this... is but a temporary stumble, NOT a total knockout, and no reason to lose hope or give up.

As long as there are people like Dr. Tiller, who value the lives and rights of women, his death will not be in vain. But, for the anti-choice movement, as long as they are represented by, and supportive OF, domestic terrorists like Dr. Tiller's assassin... it will simply lead to a harder backlash against them in the end.

And, oh, what a sweet end that will be.

Liveblogging the News Conference

And here comes the OMGZ TEH BAYBEEZ lie.

There's a reason that adult stem cells have shown research progress: BECAUSE PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND YOUR MASTERS WOULDN'T ALLOW EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH. Idiot.

Follow up to "Michael Steele: Gone, Baby, Gone" - Blackwell confirms Republicans are the Christian party.

From TPMDC: Former RNC Candidate Blackwell: Steele Needs To Re-Read The Bible

"Chairman Steele, as the leader of America's Pro-Life conservative party, needs to re-read the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the 2008 GOP Platform. He then needs to get to work -- or get out of the way.

Yes, because all conservatives must be Christians, its in the by-laws. Really, can the conservative movement shoot itself in the foot anymore? I honestly believe they've gone into a full on sprint towards being a regional party. Of course I'm sure Mr. Blackwell feels, like Former President George Herbert Walker Bush, that atheists can't really be considered to be citizens or patriots, either.

Obama: Unscrewing the Last-Minute Screws

From Reuters: WHouse stops pending Bush regulations for review

President Barack Obama's new administration ordered all federal agencies and departments on Tuesday to stop any pending regulations until they can be reviewed by incoming staff, halting last-minute Bush orders in their tracks.
(...)
Controversial late rules by the outgoing Bush administration include allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in some national parks and prohibiting medical facilities from receiving federal money for discriminating against doctors and nurses who refuse to assist with abortions or dispense contraceptives based on religious grounds.

This isn't anything new, but kudos to President Obama for following in the footsteps of those before him on this.

First, about the weapons in national parks thing, I know someone going to come along and start up the usual whine about "self-defense" and "ouitlaws with guns", but it's pointless - there's no reason to carry a gun in a national park. Aside from the usual hazards of nature, they're relatively safe, and the main reason people would even carry a gun into a place like that would be to illegally hunt.

The meat of the program here, though, is the second part - cutting off federal funds to medical facilities if they punish doctors and/or nurses who refuse to perform their duties due to religious bigotry (and yes, that's what it is). Nothing like giving people free reign to not do their jobs 'cause God tells them not to, eh, Dubby? Man, it's just another reason I'm glad that smirking asshole is gone.

It's a long road to fixing everything, and Obama won't be able to do it all even if he gets elected to a second term. But this is a good start.

Stem Cell Research OK'd

From Reuters: US FDA allows first test of human stem cell therapy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for the first trial to see if human embryonic stem cells can treat people safely, a company involved in the controversial research on Friday.(sic)

Geron Corp (GERN.O), a California biotechnology company, said it plans a clinical trial to try to use the stem cells to regrow nerve tissue in patients with crushed, but not severed, spinal cords.

At last.

I, for one, have been a huge advocate of this, for the simple fact that, if it works, it could mean a revolution in healthcare. If it doesn't, at least we know it doesn't. We've had to spend years not knowing because the Bush administration, ever the stalwart defenders of non-brown, non-foreign, non-military, non-grown, non-living life, had stonewalled it.

There is nothing in this world more devastating than a lack of knowledge. And there is almost nothing in this world more powerful than clearing the way for knowledge to be gained.

Adios, Mexico City (Rule)

From MSNBC.com: Obama to reverse foreign abortion rule

President Barack Obama plans to sign an executive order ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortions, officials told The Associated Press on Friday.
(...)
The policy bans U.S. taxpayer money, usually in the form of U.S. Agency for International Development funds, from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion. It is also known as the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that even talk about abortion if there is an unplanned pregnancy.

He hasn't hit his first weekend as Prez and already he's doing great things.

And now, a moment of non-logic:
Anti-choicers, mostly right-wing ones, complain that "foreigners" are "outbreeding us".
Anti-choicers, mostly right-wing ones, oppose U.S. funds going to any foreign group that even mentions abortion.

Do not attempt to reconcile the above statements.

"Pro-Life" Crazy Nearly Kills Multiple People

From StarTribune.com: SUV smashes into Planned Parenthood in St. Paul

On the 36th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, a man smashed his SUV into the entrance of the Planned Parenthood office in St. Paul this morning.
(...)
"We think it's intentional because of Roe vs. Wade," Panos said. "He's not saying much. He was praying or chanting when the officers arrived."
(...)
When Di Nicola arrived at the clinic, she said the man had gotten out of the SUV and was pacing around it, holding a crucifix and chanting. "He was agitated and he was saying, 'shut down this Auschwitz,' " she said.

Yep, more "good Christian love" and "sanctity of life" here - Going religio-crazy and crashing your gas-guzzler into a clinic, putting the people inside in danger. And what are the news sources saying now about this domestic terrorist? He has a history of mental illness. Apparently, the guy's been hospitalized 12 times.

First off, this is all an excuse - mentally ill or not, this is terrorism, plain and simple. It was an attempt to use force and the possibility of injury or death to make a political statement, the very definition of terrorism. Why isn't this kind of thing considered terrorism? Oh, sorry, I forgot that terrorism is exclusively the acts of foreign brown-skinned people with different-sounding names.

Secondly, why is this guy even allowed on the streets? If he's been hospitalized twelve times, he needs serious attention, and this proves he's not getting it. Ah, but I forgot - mental illness isn't a real illness; it's just people who want attention and want to leech off the system. At least, that's what this country's total lack of mental healthcare tells me. Finally, how "pro-life" is someone if he's trying ot run them over with an SUV? It's just more proof that "pro-life" should be called "anti-choice".

You want mental illness? This guy's a hyper-religious anti-choicer with no compunctions about killing those he deems subhuman; there's your mental illness.

Please, PLEASE, Tell Me This Is All a Joke

D'oh Nuts: The Religious Right Comes Down On Krispy Kreme

The American Life League has finally discovered the secret, immoral ingredient that makes Krispy Kreme doughnuts so very addictive: fetuses. And they are not happy.

Having been tipped off to Krispy Kreme's dastardly scheme to make their doughnuts even more addictive than abortion on demand by their insidious use of the word "choice" in a recent free promotion, American Life League president "Not Downtown" Judie Brown had this to say:

The next time you stare down a conveyor belt of slow-moving, hot, sugary glazed donuts at your local Krispy Kreme, you just might be supporting President-elect Barack Obama's radical support for abortion on demand - including his sweeping promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act as soon as he steps in the Oval Office, Jan. 20.

It's all part of their plan! More abortions means more Krispy Kremes, and more of this nation's souls will be eaten away along with their arteries!

In fact, Krispy Kreme is offering Americans "a free doughnut of choice" on Tuesday, signifying, obviously, that their doughnuts are made possible only through choice, which obviously only means abortion, which Barack Obama is going to make every man, woman and child in this country have when he takes the mantle of the Presidency in order to promote Krispy Kreme hegemony over Dunkin Donuts.

OH DEAR GOD

Someone, please, tell me this is all a big joke. Tell me they're trolling us. If this is the level to which America has sunk, we are in deep shit. Seriously, we can't even use the word "choice" without these dim bulbs getting up in arms? That's just plain sad.

Our language has been eroded by this kind of over-association of words with causes. It's getting so you can't even use perfectly good words because people assume the worst. For example, the word "abortion" is used in wrestling to describe a gimmick or angle that suddenly disappears because the fans aren't going for it - or, rather, it used to be, before people like these turned it into a dirty word. I'm just wondering when they'll go after Fatboy Slim (and, by extension, Christopher Walken) for "Weapon of Choice".

I know three things in regards to this. First, these people are as dumb as a box of rocks. Second, I like donuts, pretty much regardless of their origin - I don't think I've ever had what one could honestly describe as a bad donut. Third, I'll be going to the nearest Krispy Kreme come Tuesday.

And if this all turns out to be some massive trolling effort on their part? I won't care - I'll still have my donuts.

ATTN: THOSE OF YOU WITHOUT PENISES

US DHHS Proposes Selling Out to Religious Extremists
And even those WITH them.

You might want to read this.

In a STUNNING move pandering to the Armageddon-worshiping anti-woman Religious Right, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES IS ENTERTAINING A PROPOSAL TO DEFINE CONTRACEPTION AS ABORTION.

I truly, honestly think that I'm going to be sick.

Just... read it. Oh my god, READ IT NOW. And SPEAK UP!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Telephone: 202-619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt
Office Phone: 202-690-7000 or 202-205-4708
Email: mike.leavitt@hhs.gov
Fax: 202-690-7203
Correspondence Secretary: 202-690-6392

I have no words. Just no words for this. But even if it takes hitting up the military surplus stores in the area, I am not going to sit idly by and watch these INSANE OLD RICH MEN try to reduce ME to a walking incubator!

Terrorism: Not Just the Product of Foreign Brown People

From Shakesville: No Terrorism in America Since 9/11

That's what the Bush administration keeps telling us. Except, ya know, there has been terrorism in America since 9/11, but when it's terrorism against uppity women (and their allies) who have the gall to think they ought to be able to control their own bodies or be free from abuse, it doesn't count.

Via Vanessa, here's more terrorism that doesn't count, as two separate Albuquerque Planned Parenthood facilities were vandalized on Christmas Day:

Firefighters were called out early this morning to Planned Parenthood's medical offices in the northeast part of the city. The roof was on fire, but crews were able to quickly extinguish the flames. Fire officials have confirmed that some type of incendiary device was found on the roof.

Hours earlier, authorities responded to another Planned Parenthood clinic to find that its windows had been broken. Authorities say damage at both clinics was minimal.

The incidents follow a fire just weeks ago at Abortion Acceptance of Albuquerque.

One city. Three separate incidents against three separate clinics in the span of one month, two of them involving arson.

But no terrorism, of course. That's only done by brown people, who do such things on behalf of a god who goes by a different name. Oh, and it has to affect men, too.

Straight men. Don't get your hopes up that a molotov cocktail through the window of Manhole and a dozen incidents of gay-bashing are going to be called terrorism anytime soon either, my little fagulas. I mean, you're practically women, anyway. Yuck!

This actually ties in prety well to my letter to the editor in response to a crazy-ass wingnut from a few weeks back. These are people who are convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that terrorism is only something done by Them Evil Brown Furriners. To them, even acts like the Oklahoma City bombing aren't terrorism, much less vandalism, arson, and murder committed by anti-choice and/or anti-gay hate-spreaders - only brown people killing Good White Straight Americans is terrorism. It's this belief that gives rise to the ignorance that could convince someone that only Muslims can be terrorists.

Apparently, these people and people like myself have differing ideas of what defines terrorism. To them, terrorism is Brown People killing Good Straight White Americans. To me, terrorism is as it is defined in the dictionary:

ter·ror·ism (těr'ə-rĭz'əm)
n. The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Huh. Nothing about "brown people" or "Muslims" in that definition. Fancy that.

'Scuse Me, but WHAT?

I just about punched a wall after seeing Bob Latta's campaign commercial. Apparently, his opponent is funded by "pro-abortion extremists".

WHAT? What in the hell is a "pro-abortion extremist"? Is that someone who waves pictures of bloody coat hangers outside anti-choice organizations, harasses women who go to "crisis pregnancy centers", and blows up "right-to-life" organization buildings?

The lies these people will tell are positively astounding.

Ron Paul: Racist, Insane Crapbag

A lot of self-styled "libertarians" are talking about how much ron Paul is just an incredible candidate. Usually, they see a couple of his stances (like his anti-Iraq-Occupation stance or his pro-legalization-of-marijuana stance) and are hooked, spamming forums with endless gushing about how terrific he is and how we all need to vote for him.

Like always, these people are easily-misled idiots. Ron Paul is a horrible candidate from pretty much any standpoint.

Worse yet, he's a known tinfoil-hatted "Twoofer" and supporter of so-called "patriot" movements, as well as being a racist jackass:

Regardless of what the media tell us, most white Americans are not going to believe that they are at fault for what blacks have done to cities across America. The professional blacks may have cowed the elites, but good sense survives at the grass roots. Many more are going to have difficultly avoiding the belief that our country is being destroyed by a group of actual and potential terrorists -- and they can be identified by the color of their skin. This conclusion may not be entirely fair, but it is, for many, entirely unavoidable.

Indeed, it is shocking to consider the uniformity of opinion among blacks in this country. Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty, and the end of welfare and affirmative action.... Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the "criminal justice system," I think we can safely assume that 95% of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.

Of course, the Ronbots are in high gear trying to deny this, saying it's all in the past, and Paul himself has had much of the proof of his hatemongering scrubbed from the Internet by any means possible.

It's too late. The Paulbots are fighting a losing battle. We liberals (those of us who don't have our heads firmly implanted between our buttocks) don't want a racist, misogynistic, paranoid, hateful douche like him in office, and conservatives don't want him anywhere NEAR the GOP nomination. Even the Freepers don't like him!

In a perfect world, people like Ron Paul wouldn't have a chance to be elected dog catcher. In this world, however, men like him can brainwash stupid, gullible losers to believe most anything.

Justice Ginsburg: "Today's decision is alarming."

From Feministing: "Today's decision is alarming."

The Supreme Court upheld the ban on the Dilation and Extraction abortion procedure, often called "partial-birth abortion" by anti-choice advocates, by a 5-4 vote today.

Justice Ginsburg penned a moving dissent from today's Supreme Court opinion upholding the Federal Abortion Ban. Some highlights:

Today's decision is alarming. It refuses to take Casey and Stenberg seriously. It tolerates, indeed applauds federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). It blurs the line, firmly drawn in Casey, between previability and postviability abortions. And, for the first time since Roe, the Court blesses a prohibition with no exception safeguarding a woman's health.

This scares me. That the court can make a ruling on such wrongheaded information casts a disturbing light on the future to me.

For anyone wondering why I'm pro-choice and pro-emergency contraception...

...this is why. From The Den of the Biting Beaver: Morality clauses, EC, and broken condoms

I'm stunned. I'm utterly, completely stunned. I'm shaky and anxious and shocked beyond belief. I live in rural Ohio and I have been denied EC.

Two months ago I stopped taking birth control. My body finally decided that it was fed up and the cycle of side-effects began again as they have every time I've taken hormonal contraception since I was a teenager.

(...)

Folks, the condom broke Friday night and I searched all weekend for someone who could prescribe me EC. It is now Monday and I have to report that I have been unable to find anyone who will write me a fucking prescription for EC. None of the hospitals in the surrounding counties would write it for me. I stopped my search at about 100 miles from my home because my telephone book wouldn't take me out any further than that.

I have been asked about my sexual practices. Whether I'm 'monogamous' or 'in a relationship' if I'm married, if I have kids, how many kids I have, if I was raped or 'traumatized' but there wasn’t' ONE question about my health. Not one. The few places that said that they had a doctor who would occasionally write prescriptions for EC told me that I had to ask for that doctor specifically and then they proceeded to tell me that I would be 'interviewed' to see if I meet that doctors 'criteria' and then they proceeded to ask me all the above questions before telling me that I should 'try anyway' and I 'might be able to talk him into it'.

I cannot fucking believe this. Where is the fucking morality in denying someone something that is their ONLY OPTION just because you're an uptight fuckwater?! You ask her humiliating questions about if she has kids, if she is in a relationship, if she's married, if she's been raped, but you don't once ask about her FUCKING HEALTH? This woman's in serious trouble and you've got the gall, the nerve, the utter fucking temerity to say that morality enters into your decision to deny her emergency contraception because OH NOES SHE IS NOT TEH MARRIED OR RAPED? You call it morality to basically decide that, since she's not shackled at the wrists and ankles to a man by law and church, and hasn't been raped, she must obviously be OH NOES TEH SLUT and you're not going to help her?

BULL-FUCKING-JESUS-TITTYFUCKING-CHRIST-
ASSHOLE-COCKMONGLER-STREISAND-SHIT!

You living fucking violation of the Hippocratic Oath! Turn in your license to practice, you are NOT DESERVING!

Bush Vetoes Lifesaving Research Funding Bill in Secret

From CNN.com: Bush vetoes embryonic stem-cell bill

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush used his veto power Wednesday for the first time since taking office 5 1/2 years ago, saying that an embryonic stem-cell research bill "crossed a moral boundary."

I'd like to know what crosses more of a moral boundary: not funding research that could save thousands of lives and possibly cure horrible diseases, or saving clumps of cells that will be disposed of anyway?

Naturally, the pro-death, pro-hate, anti-choice culture fostered by the Bush-Leaguers and their Christofascist friends says it's more important to save the clumps. People aren't important unless they're not alive. They're especially unimportant if they're poor and/or brown-skinned. If Bunnypants gave two squirts of piss about life, he wouldn't be sending our citizens to die in Iraq, nor would he be supporting the killing of civilians for the actions of other people. "Life", to Bush and his ilk, means "white upper-class people, clumps of cells, and brain-dead people", and nothing more.

"This bill would support the taking of innocent human life in the hope of finding medical benefits for others," Bush said Wednesday afternoon. "It crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect. So I vetoed it."

And this right here is proof that Bunnypants knows shit-all about any of this, and he's just pandering to the anti-choice, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-life segments of his hatemonger base - they aren't alive, they aren't ever going to be, and you're just a filthy fucking LIAR.

Even worse, Bunnypants didn't make much out of vetoing the bill - he did so practically in secret. Why? Because he knows that this is going to alienate him even more from his party, which has many people who are actually in favor of funding the research, and from the country at large, of which 66% support stem cell research.

Quite frankly, it's garbage like this that's going to result in a massive backlash in the next two elections. People are sick of it. We're all sick of the lies, the spying, the death, the war, the hate, the heartlessness.

UPDATE, 9:30 PM: Hell, even the kids these days realize how wrong this guy is!

Bush to Kill Thousands With Veto

From the Associated Press: Senate Stem Cell Bill to Prompt Bush Veto

Debating science, ethics, morality and humanity, the Senate prepared Tuesday to send a bill expanding federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to an unreceptive President Bush.

Despite a White House statement reaffirming Bush's veto threat, supporters said the pressure of public opinion eventually will push the government toward funding. They argue that research into stem cell treatments holds the promise of cures for a host of debilitating diseases afflicting millions of people.

One veto.

Bush has not yet vetoed even one bill in his whole time as the unelected President. This will be his first. And he's using that first veto to essentially kill thousands who could benefit from this research. All to pander to the so-called "pro-life" lobby.

So what's so goddamn pro-life about destroying the possibly of cures for horrible diseases? Nothing, that's what - pro-life is the most incorrect label possible for these people. They're pro-suffering, pro-death, pro-hate, pro-disease.

And even worse, since they know the public supports the research, the Greedy Old Prats and resorting to their favorite way of spinning things - making shit up:

"I've got — one, two, three more articles. These are just a summation, peer-reviewed articles. They form tumors. That's the problem with embryonic stem cells. So while the senator from California, the senator from Michigan, from Iowa, from Pennsylvania, other places saying we want cures, I want cures.

"The research is saying, embryonic stem cells form tu tumors. You put them into individuals, they form tumors. And while we may, we hope, at some point in time something positive happens, the problem is they form tumors."

Sen. Sam Brownback, everyone. He's saying that stem cells cause tumors. Where's the proof, Sammy? Well, I'll tell you where - it's where he pulled that so-called fact from: UP HIS ASS.

"The greater the lie, the greater the chance it will be believed." I'm not gonna come out and say who said that, but let's just say it's someone that the extreme elements of the Right idolize, and that Bush's ancestors had some relations with.

God damn, this makes me wanna throw up.

Add Louisiana to the list.

From Reuters via Yahoo! News: Louisiana gov. signs law that would ban abortions

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Louisiana Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law a ban on most abortions, which would be triggered if the
U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 ruling legalizing the procedure, a spokesman said on Saturday.

The ban would apply to all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, except when the mother's life is threatened. It is similar to a South Dakota law that has become the latest focus of the abortion battle.

Even when you've got a decent Democrat in office, it's no indication they'll be worth a crap. All this law is is yet another ham-fisted attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade. The anti-choice lobby knows that the court has been stacked in their favor by Bush, and now they're trying to screw the whole country over.

I'm half-convinced it's because they hate women, but I'm sure they have other reasons.

Indiana's BMVs are choosing for us.

BMV approves ‘Choose Life’ license plate

INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosier drivers might be able to purchase a “Choose Life” license plate next year with the majority of the proceeds going to benefit crisis pregnancy centers around the state.

The Bureau of Motor Vehicles said Thursday it has approved 10 new specialty license plates for 2007 – one of which was requested by the Indiana Association of Pregnancy Centers Inc.

Now this is just disgusting. I'm sure you're not going to see any "Choose Choice" license plates anywhere around here, but this? Oh, of COURSE we're going to offer that! And even worse, the idiots who actually get these things are giving money to so-called "crisis pregnancy centers", which are just outlets of the anti-choice misogynist movement. Our money is, once again, going to scaring and lying women into things they don't want to do.

I really hate this state sometimes.

Fake abortion clinics, or "It's okay to lie to the impressionable and scared!"

From Bush v. Choice: Fake clinics—and you’re paying for them!

Oh dear. Apparently an anti-choice group in Indiana is not only posing as a fake abortion clinic, but is also waging a war of intimidation against a teenage girl.

From SaveRoe:

One such center in Indiana shares a parking lot with a real Planned Parenthood clinic, and was designed expressly to lure our patients and deceive them. Recently, people from the fake "clinic" waged a campaign of intimidation and harassment against a 17-year-old girl who, with her mother and boyfriend, came to what she thought was our clinic for an abortion. Over the following days, the anti-choice extremists called the police to say the girl was being forced to have an abortion, showed up at her home, called her father's workplace, and even went to her school and urged classmates to pressure her not to have an abortion.

Wow.

Alternet’s PEEK points out that there are more fake clinics than actual abortion provides in the US (what?!) and that we’re footing the bill: “They receive tens of millions in government grants.”

Great. To find out more about anti-choice "Crisis Pregnancy Centers," click here.

(Emphasis in original document.)

I really do not know what to say about this. The fact that these bastards will deceive scared women is bad enough, but that they will violate someone's privacy and essentially put them in danger like that is too goddamn much. These people, and I hesitate to call them that, are inhuman. They're exploiting the fear of women in need to further their misogynistic, oppressive views.

And they get federal money for this? Oh no, not in my fucking state, they don't. Tell your legislator that you oppose federal money going to deception and harassment. Even better, join the campaign at SaveRoe.