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A Do or a Don't: Planned Parenthood Gift Certificates

DearSugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:00:00 -0800

If you're at a loss as to what to give one of your female friends or family members this holiday, a Planned Parenthood gift certificate could be the perfect present! They are available in $25 increments at 35 clinics statewide and are valid for health services, contraception, and yes, even abortions. According to The Chicago Tribune, about a dozen gift certificates have sold in Indiana since they became available on November 25th, and Illinois plans to follow today. This new form of gifting comes with its fair share of controversy though, especially from anti-abortion groups, but ladies, tell me, do you think selling Planned Parenthood gift certificates is a do or a don't? Source

A Do or a Don't: Planned Parenthood Gift Certificates

A Do

A Don't

Do You Know Your Facts and Stats About Abortion?

DearSugar — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:00:00 -0800

Everyone has their opinion on abortion, so I don't want to get into the reasons for choosing "pro-life" or "pro-choice," but I do want to chat about some facts and statistics. These numbers may surprise you, so take this little quiz and test your knowledge about abortion.

Source

Pregnant Woman Faces Forced Abortion of Her Third Child

lilsugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:00:10 -0800

In America, we have the freedom to reproduce at will, but in other countries that isn't the case. An Uyghur woman who is more than six months pregnant with her third child is facing a forced abortion. Chinese authorities are holding her in a hospital because she is only permitted two offspring. One report said:

China's one-child-per-family policy applies mainly to majority Han Chinese but allows ethnic minorities, including Uyghurs, to have additional children, with peasants permitted to have three children and city-dwellers two.

But while Tursun is a peasant, her husband, Nurmemet Tohtasin, is from the city of Gulja [in Chinese, Yining] so their status is unclear. The couple live with their two children in Bulaq village, Dadamtu township, in Gulja.

The couple is also subject to steep governmental fines. Do you think it's fair for the government to regulate a person's reproductive rights?

Source

Prolife Groups Plan Three-Day Protest After Dems Take Power

CitizenSugar — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:30:00 -0800

Without many of their own in national office, the prolife movement plans to relocate to grassroots activism and street- and abortion clinic-side protests. Beginning Jan. 21, the day after Barack Obama is sworn in, groups will hold a three-day protest in Washington, DC.

Speaking about prochoice gains in Congress and the defeat of various state-ballot measures that would limit abortion, Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, said "The hardline, divisive tactics they've used have been resoundingly rejected. . . . I'd hope some of the folks on the right, if their goal is to reduce the need for abortions, would link arms with us."

But not all those dedicated to the prolife movement are ready to join hands with their previous adversaries. Sean O'Malley, the cardinal-archbishop of Boston, and longtime civil rights activist, is concerned about Obama's record on abortion. To see what strong words he had for Planned Parenthood at the opening of the US Conference of Bishops,

All Abort? Dutch Nonprofit Bypasses Abortion Laws With Boat

LibertySugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:15:02 -0700

I've heard of underage drinking and avoiding taxes over international waters, but circumventing abortion laws is a new one. Women on Waves sails to countries where abortion is illegal and provides early-term abortions — legally, thanks to Dutch law, which the ship sails under.

Always a gracious guest, Women on Waves never shows up sans an invite from local women's organizations. And it's latest venture in Spain is no exception. At the request of 33 local organizations, it dropped anchor at a port in Valencia, Spain.

With government initiatives to increase protection for women and doctors performing abortions, it's not surprising Women on Waves chose Spain. Its goal is not simply to provide abortions when they would be otherwise prohibited but also to garner support for legalizing abortion. While Spain decriminalized it in 1985, it's only available in limited cases — up to 12 weeks after rape; up to 22 weeks if the fetus is malformed; and at any time if the women's physical or mental health is jeopardized.

If you ask me this boat doesn't look much safer than a back-room abortion, but I haven't seen the inside. How would you feel if it docked off the US coast?

Source

Law to Require Woman to Look at Baby Right Before Abortion

LibertySugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:00:51 -0700

Starting November 1, doctors in Oklahoma will have to perform ultrasounds and describe what they see to women about to get abortions, within an hour before the procedures. Oklahoma's ultrasound law, which also exists in some form in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, does not make an exception for victims of rape or incest. One abortion clinic has now filed a lawsuit asking Oklahoma state court to throw the law out.

Multiple concerns add to the complexity of this law. First, many argue that making a woman meet her would-be baby before she terminates the pregnancy is cruel and a violation of her privacy. Also, the high expense of ultrasound machines means clinics unable to afford them will not be able to provide low-income women access to abortions. Finally, some see the law as the legislature replacing doctors because it prohibits a doctor from deciding what is best for the patient.

Do you think it's necessary to legislate extra considerations for a woman about to have an abortion, or should the performance of an ultrasound be left up to the doctor and the woman? Should the state try to get women to change their minds?

Source

Pregnancy-Pact City to Vote on Contraception Pact

LibertySugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:17 -0700

The school board in Gloucester, Massachusetts, the city of pregnancy-pact fame, is set to vote on a plan to distribute contraceptives to students. If passed, the schools and the students could enter a secret-contraception pact without parents knowing — in other words the schools would distribute condoms and such to students without parental consent.

Despite well-publicized rumors that 17 high school girls in the city decided to have children and raise them together, the mayor favors distributing contraceptives only with parental consent.

Most of you think that states should not require a teen to notify her parents before she obtains an abortion. Well, what about preventing pregnancy altogether — should public high schools distribute contraceptives without parents knowing?

Where Do You Stand: Parental Notification For Teen Abortions

LibertySugar — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:00:09 -0700

I was flipping through my Official Voter Information Guide the other night and started reading about California's Proposition 4, which involves parental notification for minors' abortions. I took a quick poll of my friends in the room, and they were divided, so I want to know what you all think. The amendment would prohibit abortion for a minor until 48 hours after the doctor notifies a parent or legal guardian. The requirement can be waived if the minor provides, in court, clear and convincing evidence that a waiver is in her best interest. The voter pamphlet included arguments and rebuttals from both sides. Here are some excerpts (emphasis all theirs):

Argument in Favor of Proposition 4: It's time to close the loophole in California law that allows minor girls to be taken for secret chemical or surgical abortions by anyone — even an adult male who impregnated her — WITHOUT THE DOCTOR NOTIFYING ANY FAMILY MEMBER. These predators can even take girls out of school to hide their crimes. . . . Proposition 4 would require doctors to notify a parent or, in case of parental abuse, another adult family member.

Argument Against Proposition 4: A SCARED, PREGNANT TEEN who can't go to her parents can feel trapped and desperate. Instead of seeking the counseling and safe medical care she needs, she MAY CHOOSE AN UNSAFE, BACK ALLEY, ILLEGAL ABORTION, GO ACROSS THE BORDER, OR EVEN CONTEMPLATE SUICIDE. . . . If our daughters couldn't come to us, for whatever reason, the most important thing is keeping them safe. Think about it: she's pregnant, she can't go to her parents, and she's already desperate. She isn't going to go to court to reveal the most intimate details of her life to an unfamiliar judge in a impersonal courthouse.

You can read the full arguments and rebuttals here.Source

Where Do You Stand: Parental Notification For Teen Abortions

For parental notification

Against parental notification

It's complicated. I'll explain in the comments.

Where Do You Stand? Abortions When You're Married

DearSugar — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0700

I just read an article that talked about teen abortion rates decreasing, though the rates haven't changed much for older women. I'm sure you all have opinions about abortion in general, but does your view point change in cases where the woman is older and married? Do you think a responsible, married couple should go through with having a baby even if it was unplanned, maybe even unwanted, just because they're in a committed relationship? Or are you pro-life or pro-choice in all circumstances? Tell me where you stand when it comes to abortions when you're married, and remember, even though this is a pretty heated subject, you still need to respect your fellow Sugar users' opinions.

Source

Obama Ad: McCain Camp Sleazy, Extreme On Abortion

CitizenSugar — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:45:21 -0700

Obama Ad: McCain Camp Sleazy, Extreme On Abortion Obama is airing a new ad in New Mexico and Ohio that defends his abortion rights record and says Republican rival John McCain backs a party platform that would deny abortions to victims of rape and incest. Obama's ad answers an independent ad campaign, financed by an anti-abortion philanthropist, that singles out Obama's efforts in the Illinois Senate to defeat the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. "Now votes taken out of context, accusing Obama of letting infants die? It's a despicable lie," Obama's ad states.