by Hemant Mehta
I watched this infuriating-yet-hilariously-entertaining segment about women’s reproductive rights and Mitt Romney on Rachel Maddow last night and it had me all sorts of smiling beginning at the 3:55 mark…
Send it to your favorite Republican relatives. And, you know, men.
In Kelowna, British Columbia, Mayor Sharon Shepherd has bowed down to a Christian group and issued a proclamation that says September 24th to October 2nd will be “Protect Human Life Week.”
“It is the intention of this proclamation to promote respect and protection to all human life, especially the infirm, the aged, the handicapped and the unborn,” the Protect Human Life Week proclamation states.
…
“Aside from year one when she received a considerable amount of backlash from those who believe killing unborn babies is a good thing, she has largely escaped criticism of her show of tolerance toward the pro life community in the Central Okanagan. Supporters are encouraged to drop Mayor a Shepherd a quick note thanking her for respecting our mission,” the pro-life group said.
Yeah, she’ll respect human life… unless you’re a woman who needs an abortion, in which case she doesn’t give a shit about you.
Somehow, Mayor Shepherd has been able to do this for years with relatively little attention coming her way.
Ian Bushfield can’t believe it:
This is four years of a mayor putting a creepy religious attachment to their warped morality ahead of the interests of women, seniors, and the terminally ill.
They even plan to show Ben Stein’s horrendous movie Expelled. I’m not sure what that affront to human dignity has to do with respecting life, if anything I want the bit of my life back that I wasted watching it.
Interestingly enough, when Ottawa mayor Jim Watson did something similar back in May, he got a lot of flak for it. There’s no reason Shepherd should get off the hook this easily. At the very least, if she tries to get away with saying this is a “meaningless proclamation,” then let’s see if the British Columbia Humanist Association can get her to issue an official proclamation for an Abortion Rights Week. If it’s just a formality, she shouldn’t have a problem with it, right?
Her email address is mayorandcouncil@kelowna.ca. So let her know what you think, why this is a mistake, and how this proclamation crosses the lines of what she ought to do with her power. Please don’t be a dick when you write your letter — it won’t help — and feel free to repost your email in the comments below.
When a state government is run mostly by theists who know how to set aside their silly religious beliefs for the good of society, you get progress… as we saw in New York last night.
When a state government is run by theists who are guided by nothing but their religious beliefs… well, you’re now in Kansas.
That’s where abortion clinics must now undergo a special licensing process in order to stay in business. As of now, there are only three clinics left. One of them is about to close and the others could follow:
A lawyer for the Aid for Women clinic in Kansas City, Kan., said Friday that it received a notice that its application for a license had been denied by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment without an inspection. Attorney Cheryl Pilate said the clinic was looking at its legal options but would have to close, at least temporarily.
The clinic received its notice on the same day the leader of a regional Planned Parenthood chapter said inspectors who spent two days at its Overland Park clinic found it will comply with all new regulations. An inspection of the third provider is scheduled for Wednesday. All three are in the Kansas City area.
“We’re doomed,” said Dr. Herbert Hodes, who performs abortions for the third provider, the Women’s Health Center, also in Overland Park.
Remember: This is the same state in which Dr. George Tiller was assassinated in 2009 for providing late-term abortions.
The new list of requirements to run an abortion clinic is incredibly long and full of items unnecessary to ensure a patient’s safety. The latest version was given to providers just this past week — and they have until July 1st to comply. Take a look at just a handful of the requirements every clinic must have (PDF) in order to remain open. Some make sense; others are absurd:
- [Each applicant must provide] documentation that the facility is located within 30 miles of an accredited hospital.
- [Each applicant must] identify and ensure a physician with admitting privileges at an accredited hospital located within 30 miles of the facility is available during facility hours of operation.
- Any physician performing or inducing abortion procedures in the facility [must have] clinical privileges at a hospital located within 30 miles of the facility.
- [Each facility must include] separate facilities for pre-procedure handwashing by staff members.
- [Each facility must include] private procedure rooms consisting of at least 150 square feet, excluding fixed cabinet areas.
- [Each facility must include] a recovery area consisting of at least 80 square feet per patient in the area.
- [Each facility must include] a storage area designated for janitorial supplies and equipment consisting of at least 50 square feet per procedure room
It’s almost as if someone from the government visited each clinic, noted what they had, and then wrote the regulations to make it all-but-impossible to adhere to them in such a short time.
“These requirements range from the impossible to the absurd,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “They’re not designed to protect patient safety; they’re designed to shut down abortion providers.”
…
M. Jeffrey Pederson, of Aid for Women in Kansas City, said there was no way he could meet the new standards. He said that his building was too small to meet the space standards and that he did not have visiting privileges with a nearby hospital — requirements he deemed unnecessary to run a safe clinic.
This is a state where Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Governorship.
And it’s about to be a state where women are thisclose to not having access to safe, legal abortions. It’s scary to know how quickly their options are being depleted.
(Thanks to Tom for the link)
The Public Religion Research Institute just released a survey (PDF) that asked people about their views on abortion and same-sex marriage (among other things).
The results indicate some good news!
When it comes to same-sex marriage, more than half of all people (57%) ages 18-29 support it. The numbers go down as the demographics get older.
What does that mean? Despite all the obstacles Christians and Mormons want to put in the path to civil rights, the trend is not in their favor. We’ll have gay marriage, eventually.
Valerie Larabee, executive director of the Utah Pride Center, said she too has noticed — in her work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual Utahns — that younger generations tend to be more accepting of same-sex marriages.
“Over time, the myths and stereotypes that have been pervasive in our country and around the world about LGBT people are being de-mystified,” Larabee said. “There’s many more of us who have come out, and we’re seen as neighbors and friends and doctors and lawyers and nurses… and people are accepting us.”
As for abortion, the numbers are pretty similar across the board until the age of 64, after which it drops. But at least more than half of the 18-64 crowd says it ought to be legal in all/most cases.
They also asked everyone about their religious beliefs, which allows us to compare the stances on abortion within each religious subcategory.
Once again, those of us without religion should be proud of ourselves.
67% of the “unaffiliated” believe abortion should be legal in all/most circumstances. Compare than with only 23% of white evangelicals who feel the same.
But you have to wonder about the 29% of Catholics and 13% of evangelicals who support abortions in all circumstances. I’m glad they feel that way, but how can they still be part of those churches?
68 percent of Catholics surveyed also said they believe it’s possible to disagree with their church’s teachings on abortion and still be a good Catholic.
“The reality,” [family and pro-life director for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City Veola] Burchett said, “is if you are a practicing Catholic and call yourself a committed Catholic, you cannot disagree with the church’s viewpoint on abortion.”
She’s right. You can’t. I don’t understand why the people who think otherwise continue to attend (and support) a church that goes against their own principles. The church would either change its ways or start to slide into obscurity if the people who knew they were wrong left the institution for good.
(Thanks to Rike for the link)
These two headlines fit together nicely…
And…
Evangelicals want to stop Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign because she’s obviously trying to convince children to stray from the Christian faith!
It all makes sense now…
Here’s something else that doesn’t make sense: Evangelicals don’t want the government telling people what they should or shouldn’t eat, but they have no problem with the government telling women what to do with their bodies.
How do Evangelicals get through the day without constantly feeling ashamed of themselves…?
Some students at publicly-funded-despite-being-Catholic St. Patrick High School in Ontario, Canada recently participated in the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity. They wore red tape with the word “LIFE” written on it and “didn’t talk for the day to display their belief in the injustice of abortion.”
It’s a student-run event, similar in nature to the Day of Silence for allies of the GLBT community. Completely legal.
Sophomore Alexandria Szeglet wasn’t a fan of that message, though, so she decided to do something about it.
She got some green tape and wrote the word “CHOICE” on it.
And then she passed along the green tape to several other students so they could join her in silent protest. (How fucking awesome is that?) But it quickly came to an end…
“I respect the Catholic beliefs and I respect everything the school is going for,” said the 15-year-old Alexandria. “I wanted to show my opinion whether it was a Catholic belief or not.”
…
After handing out at least 25 pieces of the green tape to fellow students, Alexandria was told to take off the tape or speak to someone in the school’s office.
Because the idea of giving women that much decision-making power over her own body is anathema to the Church.
But Alexandria stood her ground.
“… I had to take [the tape] off or go home and then I went home,” she said. “I did it because it was what I thought was right.
“I think everyone should have a right to show their opinion and do what they need and what they want instead of being told that no you have to keep the baby instead of doing what you feel is right for yourself.”
It gets better. Other students followed in her footsteps and took the hit:
Phone calls into the newsroom claimed that as many as 35 students were issued two-day suspensions, while another 100 were sent home for the day for wearing the green “choice” tape on their uniforms.
John de Faveri, Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board director of education, disputes those numbers. He said about 12 to 15 students were sent home from the school for the day while another two or three were issued two-day suspensions.
Even if the numbers are slightly exaggerated, the point is that she wasn’t alone. Students were willing to get suspended because they believed this issue was worth fighting for.
At least we have de Faveri to set the record straight:
The students who were sent home for the day were not removed from school for wearing the sticker, but for not taking it off, he said.
Men in the Catholic Church… always wanting the kids to take it off.
Cheap joke aside, this was a respectful way to show dissent and the school put a stop to it because they didn’t ask for permission beforehand. What exactly are they teaching the kids? To keep quiet when they have a differing opinion?
Alexandria wasn’t displaying any sort of hatred against the pro-life students. She wasn’t bullying them. She wasn’t saying they were evil or sinners or wicked. She wasn’t putting others down (unlike the Day of Silence opponents whose shirts say “Be Happy, Not Gay“).
She deserves to be commended. She’s the type of student any other school would be lucky to have.
Ian Bushfield puts this situation in its unfortunate context:
Apparently this is a bad year for Catholic education in Canada, after numerous bans on gay-straight alliances in Ontario surfaced and secular parents in Morinville, Alberta began to revolt for lack of a non-Catholic option in their town.
(via Canadian Atheist)
…
***Update***: A graduate of the high school made this comment on Reddit explaining why the students were suspended:
With regards to this specific event there is no argument that the school violated any rules, as they did not. The official reason for sending the students home was that they had not requested permission to wear the tape prior to the event, and as such the tape constituted a uniform violation. Those wearing red tape were not reprimanded because it had been requested prior to the actual day. However that shouldn’t stop people from expressing their opinions on this if they think it is unjust.
It’s the same thing, really…
The analogy is perfect.
And getting a papercut is the same thing as getting your head chopped off.
(via Christian Nightmares)
Cienna Madrid has an eye-opening writeup of how Christian-run pregnancy clinics operate. It turns out they’re not just unhelpful but also incredibly harmful for women:
Only half of the six pregnancy centers Megan and I visit during our weeklong pregnancy test spree disclose over the phone that they don’t perform or refer for abortions. None mention that they’re Christian-run clinics. “We do not discriminate, judge, or lecture,” says a woman with Whatcom County Pregnancy Clinic, a crisis pregnancy center in Bellingham, when I pointedly ask if the organization is Christian and if they refer for abortions. She dodges the referral question, saying only, “Come in and take a free test. It’ll only take a minute and then we can discuss your options.”
…
At every center, Megan and I are faithfully given false information about abortions that is presented as fact. Their statistics come from debunked medical studies, the conservative Medical Institute, and Focus on the Family.
…
The centers often won’t give women their results in writing, which they need to qualify for medical coupons or Women, Infants, and Children programs in Washington. They refuse to issue referrals for services they can’t provide and morally object to. And when women visit these centers, they have no guarantee that their medical information will be kept private — again, the centers aren’t obliged to follow standard HIPAA privacy regulations because they’re not medically licensed businesses.
Isn’t it amazing how Christians believe their faith is synonymous with kindness and “Truth” when, in practice, there are all too many examples of how Jesus’ followers constantly practice selfishness and deception?
Madrid summarizes the experience in this passage:
For that woman at the Christian adoption center, it was more important to deny medical access that might conflict with her religious views than to help a scared teenager with no support system find the services she needed. That was the Christian thing to do.
It’s sickening that any woman in need would be treated like this. Churches often collect money and supplies from their congregation to keep clinics like this running — they’re proud of this sorry excuse for health care.
(I’m guessing the church ladies go somewhere else, though, when they need to get abortions for themselves…)
(Thanks to JulietEcho for the link)
Today’s the day my Speech kids compete at the Regional tournament against 10 other schools… the top 4 in each event make it through to the next round. My kids are talented. I’m a nervous wreck.
Anyway, while I’m busy with that all day, I leave you this video from anti-choice activist Lila Rose, in which she expresses her desire for all abortions to be done in public… until we all get so sick of them that we would “do away with them” altogether:
Comment away!
(Thanks to Joe for the link)
***Update***: Vanderbilt will be changing their application. It now reads:
“While Vanderbilt expects all health care providers, including nurses who participate in the Nurse Residency Program’s Women’s Health Track, to provide compassionate care to all patients… no health care provider is required to participate in a procedure terminating a pregnancy if such participation would be contrary to an individual’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.”
I think they’re caving unnecessarily. They’re also giving the Christians a victory they don’t deserve, but my theory is Vanderbilt just inserted the disclaimer to end the problem, thinking “Who cares? We don’t make them perform an abortion, anyway.”
…
Why would anyone go into a profession they’re clearly not suited for?
Why would a Christian become a pharmacist if he refuses to dispense certain (perfectly healthy) drugs for religious reasons?
Why would a vegetarian who refuses to touch meat apply for a job at McDonalds?
If you can’t do even the most basic things asked of you, maybe you’re in the wrong line of work.
Vanderbilt University understands this. So in their application for a nurse residency program (PDF), they acknowledge that nurses are expected to care for all patients, not just select ones:
Nurses in the Center for Women’s Health support women through these decisions and provide professional evidence based care specific to each situation. One difficult decision women face is termination of pregnancy. If you are chosen for the Nurse Residency Program in the Women’s Health track, you will be expected to care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy.
…
It is important that you are aware of this aspect of care and give careful consideration to your ability to provide compassionate care to women in these situations. If you feel you cannot provide care to women during this type of event, we encourage you to apply to a different track of the Nurse Residency Program to explore opportunities that may best fit your skills and career goals.
Makes sense to me. Some women will get abortions, and the nurses in this program are expected to care for them just like they would care for every other patient. The form containing those statements requires a mandatory signature if you want to apply for the program.
And that’s a problem for the Christian Alliance Defense Fund because they see this whole “compassion for all people” thing as discrimination against Christian students (PDF).
Miss [redacted] is a fourth year student in the nursing program at [redacted]. She wishes to pursue a career providing excellent care to pregnant women and their
preborn children. She is not only eligible to apply to Vanderbilt’s nurse residency program, she is a stellar applicant with excellent grades. As required by Vanderbilt, Miss [redacted] submitted a pre-qualifying application through Vanderbilt’s jobs website, and as a result she received the attached full Application via email. Miss [redacted] can and is prepared to submit all that the application requires and to fulfill all of the program’s requirements, except only that she has a religious objection to participating in abortions and to promising to do so by signing the Application’s letter. She wishes to apply to the program by the January 28 deadline, but faces denial of admission and discrimination against her application if she does not agree to assist abortions as stated in the letter.
That’s news to me. Who knew caring for women who have had abortions was equivalent to “assisting” in an abortion procedure?
The ADF says that a federal statute (PDF) informally known as the “Church Amendment” says that if you receive money from the government, you:
… [cannot require an] individual to perform or assist in the performance of any sterilization procedure or abortion if his performance or assistance in the performance of such procedure or abortion would be contrary to his religious beliefs or moral convictions…
You also cannot:
… deny admission or otherwise discriminate against any
applicant (including applicants for internships and residencies) for training or study because of the applicant’s reluctance, or willingness, to counsel, suggest, recommend, assist, or in any way participate in the performance of abortions or sterilizations contrary to or consistent with the applicant’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.
Well, that’s not a problem.
No one is asking the nurses to perform the abortions, only to help counsel the women who chose to have one done.
Notice how the ADF spins this whole story:
“The specific issue here is the language of acknowledgment that says applicants will be expected to care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy,” said David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. “That is in clear violation of federal law.”
…
Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesman John Howser said the acknowledgment was created to inform applicants that they will be asked to provide care to women who have had, or are seeking, abortions.
It does not mean to suggest that residents with religious or moral objections will be required to participate in the actual procedures, said Howser, who noted that nursing students are not required to sign a similar letter of acknowledgment.
“If you choose to participate (in the nurse residency program), you will be around patients who have had or are seeking terminations, and you may be asked to care for them,” Howser said. “It does not say that you are required to participate in performing or in the performance of terminations.”
French is confused. He seems to think it’s a “violation of the law” to show compassion for women who might be having abortions — even he doesn’t say that the students will be performing the procedures.
This is what Christian right groups do so often.
They know they’re rarely, if ever, discriminated against. So they just make up sob stories out of thin air and pretend like the world is against them. It’s not. And the ADF deserves to lose this case.
Vanderbilt isn’t doing anything wrong — if anything, they went out of their way to let applicants know they will be dealing with abortion patients as well as all the other ones.
As I said earlier, if you’re unable to help all the patients in your care, then nursing isn’t the profession for you.
I’m sure you can apply to work in a Christian ministry instead. They’re experts at selective compassion; just ask a gay person who wants to get married.
(via Religion Clause)
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