A few good resources

For some great pro-choice feminist blogging, check out Feministing and Bush v. Choice.

America: Proud to be an obstacle to global women's rights

That's right, it's freedom-loving Hijab-liberating America that is stalling international women's rights. Why? An anti-choice agenda, of course. Women's rights to their own reproductive systems have long been recognized as human rights, up there with all the other rights based on personal autonomy -- like the right not to be tortured. Countries like China and Romania have violated these rights with devastating results -- China by forcing and coercing abortion and regulating how many children women are allowed to have, and Romania by not allowing women access to family planning services. When we set a precedent where the state can control women's reproductive choices, we get into dangerous territory, as these two examples have shown. Human rights are based on the right to individual autonomy, just as reproductive rights are. If a woman cannot control her own reproductive system, she is hard-pressed to control anything else in her life. As Westerners, it can be easy to ignore the various social inequalities, cultural differences and barriers to access faced by women around the world. Not everyone has Western privilege -- including a lot of people in the Western world and the global north. When tens of thousands of women die every year because of illegal abortion, when many are prosecuted, when women and girls don't have access to basic healthcare, it is simply not acceptable to export our "morality" abroad and stall what could be a very successful event. It is not moral to push a policy that kills women.

It's also valuable to see who our co-conspirators are on this issue. We're in the company of countries like Iran and Somolia in our status as a non-signatory on CEDAW, the primary international women's rights document. Every other developed Western nation -- you know, the places that many people consider "englightened" -- is behind it. The United States' anti-choice emphasis hurts women worldwide. It's immoral. And it's unbelievable that a supposed beacon of "freedom" is willing to infringe on the freedoms and basic rights to life of more than half the world's population.

(also cross-posted at Third Wave Agenda)

The Abstinence-only Cure-all

(cross-posted at Third Wave Agenda)

From Mother Jones magazine, direct quotes from the $170 million-a-year abstinence-only "health" curricula (they'd be funny if they weren't so unbelievably frightening):

"Hold up a beautiful rose. Talk about the petals and how they add color and fragrance to the rose. Hand the rose to a student, telling that student to pull off a petal and pass it on to another student who also pulls off a petal. Continue passing the rose around until there are no more petals. At the end, hold up te rose. Ask: Of what value is the rose now? ... The rose represents someone who participates in casual sex." -- Choosing the Best PATH

"No matter how strong a condom is, it won't protect you from a broken heart." -- A.C. Green's Game Plan

"The first player spins the culinder, points the gun to his/her head, and pulls the trigger. He/she has only a one in six chance of being killed. But if one continues to perform this act, the chamber with the bullet will ultimately fall into position, and the game ends as one of the players dies. Relying on condoms is like playing Russian roulette." --Me, My World, My Future

"Watch what you wear, if you don't aim to please, don't aim to tease." --Sex Respect

"Infertility, isolation, jealousy, poverty, heartbreak, substance abuse, AIDS, pregnancy, cervical cancer, genital herpes, unstable long-term commitments, depression, embarassment, meaningless wedding, sexual violence, personal disappointment, suicide, feelings of being used, loss of honesty, loneliness, loss of personal goals, distrust of others, plevic inflammatory disease, loss of reputation, fear of pregnancy, disappointed parents, loss of self-esteem, leaving high school before graduation... ALL of them can be eliminated by being abstinent until marriage." --Choosing the Best PATH