Religions > Atheism > Ms. magazine names women who had abortions More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
04 Oct 2006 12:38:42 AM |
| Object: |
Ms. magazine names women who had abortions More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision |
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15119353/wid/11915773?GT1=8618
Ms. magazine names women who had abortions
More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision
Updated: 6:52 p.m. ET Oct. 3, 2006
New York - At a pivotal time in the abortion debate, Ms. magazine is
releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled “We Had
Abortions,” accompanied by the names of thousands of women nationwide
who signed a petition making that declaration.
The publication coincides with what the abortion-rights movement
considers a watershed moment for its cause. Abortion access in many
states is being curtailed, activists are uncertain about the stance of
the U.S. Supreme Court, and South Dakotans vote Nov. 7 on a measure that
would ban virtually all abortions in their state, even in cases of rape
and incest.
“All this seems very dire,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the
Feminist Majority Foundation, which publishes Ms.
“We have to get away from what the politicians are saying,” she said,
“and get women’s lives back in the picture.”
Even before the issue reaches newsstands Oct. 10, anti-abortion
activists have been decrying it. Judie Brown, president of the American
Life League, wrote in a commentary that when she saw a Ms. announcement
of the project, “the evil practically jumped right off the page.”
Ms. executive editor Katherine Spillar said more than 5,000 women have
signed the petition so far — heeding its appeal to declare they are
unashamed of the choice they made. The magazine itself had room for only
1,016 names, she said Tuesday, but all of them will be viewable online
as Ms. encourages other women to continue adding their signatures.
Ms. says it will send the petition to Congress, the White House and
state legislators.
Some famous, but most not
The signatories include Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, comedian Carol
Leifer, and actresses Kathy Najimy and Amy Brenneman, but most are not
famous names.
Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about
signing — although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion
are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.
Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago — enduring harassment from
protesters when she entered the clinic — in order to finish high school.
She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from
college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.
“I wanted to do something bigger with myself — I didn’t want to be
stopped by anything,” she said in a telephone interview.
'Hardest decision I've ever made'
Another signatory, Debbie Findling of San Francisco, described her
difficult decision last year to have an abortion after tests showed that
she would bear a son with Down syndrome.
“I felt it was my right to make the decision, but having that right
doesn’t make the decision any easier,” she said. “It was the hardest
decision I’ve ever made.”
Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been
trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a
philanthropic foundation executive.
She says too many of her allies in the abortion-rights movement tend to
minimize, at least publicly, the psychological impact of abortion.
“It’s emotionally devastating,” she said in a phone interview. “I don’t
regret my decision — but I regret having been put in the position to
have to make that choice. It’s something I’ll live with for the rest of
my life.”
Findling strongly supports the Ms. petition, and believes women who have
had abortions need to be more open about their decisions. She has
written an essay about her own experience, and plans to include it in an
anthology she hopes to publish next year.
Ms. mounted this kind of petition drive when it was first published. Its
debut issue in 1972 included a manifesto signed by 53 women — many of
them well-known — declaring that they had undergone abortions despite
state laws outlawing the procedure.
The next year, the Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade decision
establishing abortion rights nationwide. Some abortion-rights activists
are concerned that Roe could be overturned, either by the current court
or if President Bush has the opportunity to appoint one more justice.
Smeal said Ms. staffers called the women who signed the petition to
verify their information and be sure they were willing to have their
names in print.
“The women thanked us for doing this,” Smeal said. “They wanted to tell
their stories.”
© 2006 The Associated Press
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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| User: "L. Raymond" |
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| Title: Re: Ms. magazine names women who had abortions More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision |
04 Oct 2006 02:28:04 AM |
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stoney wrote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15119353/wid/11915773?GT1=8618
Ms. magazine names women who had abortions
More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision
The bad thing about this is that you know they'll all receive death
threats and be harassed. After all, they're opposing a stance held by
the loving champions of family values.
--
L. Raymond
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: Ms. magazine names women who had abortions More than 5,000signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision |
04 Oct 2006 04:01:51 AM |
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On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:28:04 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
stoney wrote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15119353/wid/11915773?GT1=8618
Ms. magazine names women who had abortions
More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision
The bad thing about this is that you know they'll all receive death
threats and be harassed. After all, they're opposing a stance held by
the loving champions of family values.
Yes but death threats in Christ's love!
--
Mark K. Bilbo
--------------------------------------------------
"As hip as it is for outsiders to blame New Orleans
for everything bad that happened during and after
Hurricane Katrina, the truth is that the people
who lived here were much more prepared for a big
storm than the federal government that promised
us flood protection." [Jarvis DeBerry]
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V180525DC
"Everything New Orleans"
http://www.nola.com
.
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: Ms. magazine names women who had abortions More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision |
08 Oct 2006 09:39:15 PM |
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On Wed, 04 Oct 2006 04:01:51 GMT, "Mark K. Bilbo" <gmail@com.mkbilbo>
wrote in alt.atheism
On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:28:04 -0500, L. Raymond wrote:
stoney wrote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15119353/wid/11915773?GT1=8618
Ms. magazine names women who had abortions
More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision
The bad thing about this is that you know they'll all receive death
threats and be harassed. After all, they're opposing a stance held by
the loving champions of family values.
Yes but death threats in Christ's love!
Christians love death (others') and threats so when they can do both at
the same time they're ograsmic.
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: Ms. magazine names women who had abortions More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision |
08 Oct 2006 09:38:31 PM |
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On Tue, 3 Oct 2006 21:28:04 -0500, "L. Raymond"
<badaddress@mylinuxisp.com> wrote in alt.atheism
stoney wrote:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15119353/wid/11915773?GT1=8618
Ms. magazine names women who had abortions
More than 5,000 signed petition saying they are unashamed of decision
The bad thing about this is that you know they'll all receive death
threats and be harassed. After all, they're opposing a stance held by
the loving champions of family values.
Don't forget; empathy, compassion, and the rest of the things they're
not.
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a plethora of splinters.
.
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