Happy 50th Birthday to The Pill!

I'm a little late on this, but this past May 9th marked the 50th anniversary of the FDA approval of the birth control pill. TIME did a nice little write up covering the history of the pill, from early forms of birth control (paste made from crocodile dung as a vaginal insert, anyone?), the conception of the idea of a magic little pill (thanks Margaret Sanger!), to creation of the pill, getting FDA approval, and the role the pill on women's liberation and the sexual revolution. This is a must read for women who take or have taken the pill, and really any woman that wants to know about the history of birth control and feminism, because they are so very intertwined.

For more info on birth control check out the first issue of PoolBoy Magazine (hitting the streets in August!) which includes a guide to "Rethinking your Birth Control." Stay tuned for pre-order opportunities!

Here's my favorite quote from the TIME article:

Some of the women who were on the family-planning front lines 50 years ago get a little impatient when they hear young women talking ungratefully about the freedoms they take for granted. But Steinem, for one, takes the longer view. "I don't walk around saying, 'Thank you for the vote,' " she says of a battle even longer past. "I might add, as Susan B. Anthony said, Our job is not to make young women grateful. It's to make them ungrateful so they keep going. Gratitude never radicalized anybody."

There's no time like the present to get radical.

The CBS Super Anti-Choice Bowl

Have you all been hearing about this?
That powerful television network CBS is hosting the Super Bowl this year.

We all know that it's fun to watch the multi-million dollar ads during the super bowl show. And CBS's long held policy is that they won't air ads that take sides on controversial issues like gun control, gay marriage etc. In fact, in the past, CBS has turned down advocacy ads it deemed controversial, including ads from MoveOn.org and the progressive United Church of Christ.

HOWEVER.
Apparently attacks on women's rights is not a controversial issue and the network has accepted several million dollars (CBS charges 2.5-2.8 million for a 30second spot) from Focus on the Family (aptly named because women have never focused on their families) to air an anti-choice ad during this years Super Bowl.

CBS has cleared the way to subject nearly 100 million people to Focus on the Family’s extreme agenda by agreeing to air its new anti-choice ad during the Super Bowl. This ad reportedly promotes the decision of one woman to go against her doctor's advice to terminate an at-risk pregnancy, as the right decision that all women should make.

Focus on the Family has an unmistakable anti-choice, anti-birth-control, anti-sex-education, and anti-gay rights agenda. If that wasn’t bad enough, its views on women are just plain insulting and dangerous. For example, its web site urges women facing an unintended pregnancy to seek "wise advice” (presumably from them) because “the hormones and extreme emotions of pregnancy make reasonable decisions more difficult.”
Apparently you have the right to choose but only if it agrees with their agenda.


Hey you crazy dumb bitches, you're all nutso cuz you're preggers right? You can't make your own decisions! Don't eat that! You should be locked away in your house during your pregnancy! Let an extremist religious organization make the decisions for you!! We kill doctors!

Orphans not abortions!! amiright?!?

Super Bowl ads are already filled with a bunch of sexist commercials that completely ignore 50% of their customers/sports fans, reducing women to naggy girlfriends or T&A Beer holders, and now we have to watch an ad that tells us we're dumb and shouldn't be able to decide what we want for ourselves?

Do we really need anti-choice propaganda (or any politics) pushed in our faces during a football game? What happened to just watching a bunch of men run around on a big field in tights and jump on each other?

Here's where you can tell CBS to eat it:
Naral Petition to urge CBS to not run the ad or except money from hate groups

The Women's Media Center's Not Under The Bus Petition

NOW has an email form you can send to CBS

FYI:
Women are vastly under-represented in high-level decision making roles at the television networks (and pretty much all media outlets). Despite this disadvantage, NBC managed to make the right decision last year, refusing to run an anti-choice ad during the Super Bowl. Anti-choice forces are on the offensive. They don't want to help women make informed decisions -- they want to, in the words of Focus on the Family, make abortion "both illegal and unthinkable." We must stand up to their campaign to deny women their fundamental rights.

For re-tweeting:
Tweet: RT @womensmediacntr Tell @CBS and @NFL to scrap Focus on the Family's anti-choice #superbowl ad! #underthebus http://bit.ly/7Zs8jq

Please spread the word!

Reproductive Radness

While Arizona is probably going to pass the horrific HB2564 bill and further reduce our options for safe, affordable and accurate reproductive healthcare access in this state, it seems as though the federal government is finally moving in the right direction!

Today the U.S. Senate moved on permanently removing the Global Gag Order (which as we all know is a big ole' fuck you to the rest of the world). News Link Here
This is good news. I hope they permanently ban this rule which is totally lame and uber-unethical.

And the House Appropriations Committee (which oversees and approves all fiscal spending and budgets by the federal government - a very powerful and influential committee) just rejected an amendment to the federal appropriations bill for the Fiscal Year 2010 that would have enabled the continuance of a ban on using local funds to help low-income women in Washington, DC access abortion services. This is a good thing. The ban was a hurtful example of punishing U.S. citizens in the name of partisan politics.

And though Governor "Doucheface" Brewer just requested federal funding for AZ's abstinence only programs (i know, i know, it doesn't make sense, why take away reproductive healthcare AND sex education? It's like a catch-22), this morning, the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor HHS) eliminated traditional sources of funding for abstinence-only programs by passing the appropriations bill for the Fiscal Year 2010. News Link Here

In addition to pulling the plug on funding for failed abstinence-only sex education programs, the bill eliminates a ban on syringe exchange programs, which have been proven to be a highly effective strategy for preventing HIV.
The bill will now face a vote in the House Appropriations Committee and in the full House of Representatives. So we'll see how it goes but at least they are fucking talking about this shit. You can contact your elected representative at the house's website to urge them approve the bill.

here's a link to the full bill (H.R. 1105)

Pro-Choice Rally in Phoenix, June 26th!

Stand up for your rights! Sex is no fun when you don't get to choose.

From Planned Parenthood of Arizona:

Some Arizona legislators have made it their priority to use their office to restrict women’s reproductive choice in our state this legislative session. Thousands of YOUR emails and hundreds of YOUR phone calls have been ignored; now is the time to make sure that they DO hear us! The pro-choice voice in Arizona will be silenced no longer.

Planned Parenthood Arizona will be hosting a Rally for Choice on
Friday, June 26, in Phoenix.

Please join us to show your opposition to SB1206/HB2564, the omnibus anti-choice bill currently being pushed forward at the State Legislature. Join us for invigorating speeches by leaders in the pro-choice community and find out what YOU can do to protect women’s health in Arizona.

Our voices will be silenced no longer! We must show our elected officials that their pro-choice constituents care, are active, that we’re watching their votes on these bills. We believe we should be represented in the Legislature by leaders who stand up for Arizona citizen’s health.

Friday, June 26, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Margaret T. Hance Park (1134 N. Central Ave.)
Phoenix, Arizona

It will be HOT out, so please bring plenty of water. Please wear sunscreen; hats and sunglasses are also recommended. Please come wearing a pink shirt; pink Planned Parenthood t-shirts will be available on a first-come, first serve basis. Snacks and water will also be available.

Thank you for your support. See you at the rally!