Goodbye, Sandra Day
Back in April, Governor Bill Owens vetoed a bill that would have required hospitals to give information about Emergency Contraception to rape victims when they’re treated in emergency rooms.
Today in Colorado, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains have joined forces to offer free EC to anyone who wants it. One day only, at any Colorado Planned Parenthood location.
It’s a great idea – not something I myself am especially concerned about personally, but something that I think should be accessible to all, without a prescription, because why the hell not?
Opponents of EC (and the FDA, when they refused to approve OTC sale of Plan B) claim that teenagers, especially younger ones, wouldn’t be able to take the drug safely. Riiiiiiiight…..that’s what it’s about. Boy, lucky teenagers can’t buy any other OTC drugs that could cause a problem if someone were to take too much. Like Nyquil. Or aspirin. Or Benedryl. Sure is lucky we card for those.
So today, you can go to Planned Parenthood, get a prescription for EC and get a free dose. It’s a good day for reproductive rights in Colorado.
Except that Sandra Day O’Connor announced her resignation from the Supreme Court today. Making it a really, really fucking shitty day for reproductive rights nationally.
O’Connor was a moderate, and often a deciding vote in an increasingly split Supreme Court. She made decisions I didn’t always agree with, but she also made decisions I did. Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, not so much. Those are the two justices that Bush admires most.
He’s not going to nominate a moderate. He’s not going to nominate someone who might even occasionally break ranks with the super conservatives.
I fear for our country. I fear for the future of reproductive rights.
Over 1,500 soldiers have died in Iraq. That’s a terrible, terrible thing and nothing will ever make that matter any less, nothing will ever make that even the slightest bit okay. But if abortion is criminalized again, if Roe v. Wade is reversed, if we go back to back-alley abortions, coat-hangers, desperate trips to Mexico…it won’t take too long before that many women die in an attempt to keep control over their bodies and their futures. That sounds alarmist. I know. But I think it’s true.
It’s been 32 years since Roe v. Wade was passed. Most women I know – most PEOPLE I know – weren’t even born when abortion was illegal. It’s always been an option, not a good one, but a god-forbid kind of option. I hope people understand the threat we’re under. I hope people are ready to fight.
Because a battle is coming.
And it’s not going to be pretty.
Today in Colorado, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado and Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains have joined forces to offer free EC to anyone who wants it. One day only, at any Colorado Planned Parenthood location.
It’s a great idea – not something I myself am especially concerned about personally, but something that I think should be accessible to all, without a prescription, because why the hell not?
Opponents of EC (and the FDA, when they refused to approve OTC sale of Plan B) claim that teenagers, especially younger ones, wouldn’t be able to take the drug safely. Riiiiiiiight…..that’s what it’s about. Boy, lucky teenagers can’t buy any other OTC drugs that could cause a problem if someone were to take too much. Like Nyquil. Or aspirin. Or Benedryl. Sure is lucky we card for those.
So today, you can go to Planned Parenthood, get a prescription for EC and get a free dose. It’s a good day for reproductive rights in Colorado.
Except that Sandra Day O’Connor announced her resignation from the Supreme Court today. Making it a really, really fucking shitty day for reproductive rights nationally.
O’Connor was a moderate, and often a deciding vote in an increasingly split Supreme Court. She made decisions I didn’t always agree with, but she also made decisions I did. Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, not so much. Those are the two justices that Bush admires most.
He’s not going to nominate a moderate. He’s not going to nominate someone who might even occasionally break ranks with the super conservatives.
I fear for our country. I fear for the future of reproductive rights.
Over 1,500 soldiers have died in Iraq. That’s a terrible, terrible thing and nothing will ever make that matter any less, nothing will ever make that even the slightest bit okay. But if abortion is criminalized again, if Roe v. Wade is reversed, if we go back to back-alley abortions, coat-hangers, desperate trips to Mexico…it won’t take too long before that many women die in an attempt to keep control over their bodies and their futures. That sounds alarmist. I know. But I think it’s true.
It’s been 32 years since Roe v. Wade was passed. Most women I know – most PEOPLE I know – weren’t even born when abortion was illegal. It’s always been an option, not a good one, but a god-forbid kind of option. I hope people understand the threat we’re under. I hope people are ready to fight.
Because a battle is coming.
And it’s not going to be pretty.
posted by Allison @ 10:51 AM
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