Vanessa at Plucky Punk, inspired by Biting Beaver’s story, has come up with an action plan:
If you’re not already well versed in the travesty that happened to Biting Beaver, click here to read her story and here to read the consequences.
Long story short: an adult woman with several children in a committed relationship was not able to obtain emergency contraception in time (due to some serious backwards actions on the part of several doctors and nurses) and became pregnant against her will. Now she must pay for an abortion she really can’t afford.
Reading about this seriously infuriated me, but I was also heartened that pretty much every thread I read about this story on contained information about how to lend Biting Beaver a financial hand.
What they say about tragedy brining out the worst in people *and* the best in people as usual proved true.
(To give to Biting Beaver, click here . Let’s help out one of our own.)
But it got me thinking, as all of the feminist blogtopia (y!sctp!), including me once again devolved into an endless debate about “fun.” What about the countless women who must have shared Biting Beaver’s experiences who *don’t* have all of blogtopia behind them?
At the Pandagon thread about this, Amanda linked to this charity, The National Network of Abortion Funds. And of course there’s Planned Parenthood. What I’d like to do is to rally the feminist blogtopia around not only Biting Beaver, but around all women needing reproductive care (well, let’s not euphemize, needing *abortions*) who can’t afford it.
The average cost of an abortion in the United States is 468 dollars. Somewhere, there is a woman in need of this money who doesn’t have it.
Let’s see if we can get together and raise this amount, either by giving to Biting Beaver, the National Network of Abortion Funds or to Planned Parenthood. Please leave to amount you donated or pledge to donate in the comments (or if you’ve already donated, leave that amount).
And if you prefer to remain anonymous, that’s cool. You can even email me your pledge.
Even if you can only donate a dollar, please do. (I know I’ve taken to paying bills with credit cards since going back to school and having a baby. I’m so broke I’m broken! So poor I’m po!) And if you can’t donate anything, please at least spread the word either on your own blog, or if you don’t have one, amongst your friends.
Let’s demonstrate that feminist blogtopia is about more than infighting about clothes and shoes and waxing and whatnot. Let’s demonstrate what we can do when we unite.
Again, here are the links:
Biting Beaver (and her blog, here.)
The National Network of Abortion Funds
Planned ParenthoodI’ll be tallying the amounts as they come in. The first especially generous donation wins a free t-shirt of choice from either the Plucky Shop or the Aelthing Shop.
So that’s my call to arms. Let’s see what happens.
Who here can determine what’s wrong with this statement?
If you’re focusing on the “against her will” part, Marksman, you’ll note that it does not refer to her being raped, but her becoming pregnant. As in, she had sex without being willing to become pregnant, because they used a condom. But the condom broke, and she attempted to prevent a pregnancy via use of Plan B, but was thwarted at every turn. And wound up pregnant.
Seemed clear to me…
Yeah, well, Marksman thinks a bit differently.
I sent BB ten bucks last week and made a donation to NARAL. I am also registered on Roe Depot. It’s time for the underground railroad, I’m afraid.
Thanks for doing this.
Artemis
Who here can determine what’s wrong with this statement?
Silly question. This part: “due to some serious backwards actions on the part of several doctors and nurses”
Pretty obvious to any thinking person who doesn’t hate women, really.
The part where we care at all if she has children or is in a relationship or anything about her circumstances other than that she is a person who does not want to be pregnant?
Precisely.
I feel like something else that ought to come out of this is some sort of wall of shame for listing doctors that won’t prescribe EC. I realize that BB doesn’t want to reveal her location by listing her own doctor by name, but there ought to be some way to set up an anonymous registry.
While I wouldn’t suggest that we then use such a thing to carry out campaigns of harassment against the bastards, I think women should be able to know in advance that their doctor hates women, particularly if the sort of dishonest runaround that BB and others have described is at all typical.
That’s a hell of an entitlement complex, Marksman. Do you spend a lot of time trying to get people who fundamentally disagree with on important issues to guess what your objection to their worldview is?
I get paid Friday. I’ll donate then.
And if the feminist blogs and their readers (and lurkers) can’t pony up a measly $468, I’ll be really disappointed. The readers of Tomato Nation raised $30,000 for schools in need, and Sars shaved her head. We can surely do just as well.
I’m not sure of the current interest rate, but have donated the equivalent of £10, and thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t have to jump through such demeaning hoops when I had need of EC about nine years ago.
Catherine
Governments and Monopoly Sex Abuse
I am about as rabid a free trader as you get, although I suspect Tim W (recently profiled by Norm) is even rabider and has the economics background I don’t to make the arguments better (and likewise Mr FM himself). One of the larger problems that we …
Catherine, since you are in the UK, you might want to read the post I just tracked back on (comment 13) it seems like the UK is become just as scummy WRT not letting you get contraception
I gave $50 to PP last night. I also volunteer with PP. I highly recommend that anyone who can spare even a little time volunteer with their local PP or abortion clinic. I work with their legislative action team, doing things like tabling at events to give people more info about PP and working on a local campaign to prevent passing of a mandatory parental notification law. Also, I act as a patient advocate, which basically means holding the hand of the woman and giving her support during the actual abortion. A lot of abortion clinics have escort services where you walk women to and from the clinic to their cars since they have to walk by the protestors. Even things like helping with the paperwork in the clinics is major, as it helps keep the cost of the services down.
Francis, thanks for the link, that is certainly an alarming state of affairs and not one I’ve ever heard of in the UK before – hopefully the fact it was news worthy means it’s a rarity, not that that will be of any comfort to this particular woman denied treatment.
My own experience of obtaining EC was nothing more than a slight inconvenience to my day; I made an emergency appointment to see my own doctor (EC was not available without a prescription at that time in the UK), although I could equally have gone to A&E (=US ER) or a “Well Woman” clinic with late opening hours. The doctor may have taken my blood pressure, but there were certainly no humiliating questions to answer, he wrote the prescription, I took it next door to the chemists and obtained the pills. All without having to spend a single penny – all contraception is exempt from prescription charges in the UK.
That was the best part of a decade ago – are we really rolling backwards now?
It’s utterly enraging to think that it can’t be that simple for every woman to have domain over her own body, when we have the drugs to allow it and only the moralistic judgements of others stand in the way.
Donated $200 to EMILY’s List a few days ago that supports pro-choice Democrat women candidates.