In the debate over Roe v. Wade, I've heard a lot of people say, "Just leave it up to the states!" I'm opposed to this and here's a peek at what the states are already up to in an effort to curtail our freedom to choose. Of course, there were some good pro-choice measures introduced or passed last year. If I have time, I'd like to go thru this list in more detail.

Sign up for your free Anybody But Bush sticker!

I saw one the other day on a car and thought, "damn, I need me one of them!" Now I'm getting one. yeah!

Win a trip to Washington, DC for the March with NARAL Pro-Choice America's Poster Contest. Remember you get two tickets...*whistling*

This is what I found online about burma shaves. If anyone wants to add to the "what the hell?" conversation, please do.

Today is the 31st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. To mark this occasion a number of organizations have actions going on today.

NOW President and D.C. Activists to Honor Roe v. Wade Anniversary at Supreme Court by Calling for Reproductive Freedom for All

Planned Parenthood will be holding 'Burma Shave' protests

National Abortion Federation releases report on onsalught of anti-choice state legislation

Get your Roe action kit at the March for Women's Lives website!

If you aren't hooked up with a local organization, don't live in DC to join NOW in the vigil, go do something on your own today. Here is a short list of simple ways to mark the anniversary:

* Send $31 to your local abortion clinic
* Send $31 to NOW, the march, a pro-choice organization
* Call your Senators & U.S. Representative and say thanks or "hey! that's my womb mister! or misses!"
* Write a letter to the editor
* Rub your belly and know that you have (some) control over what's going on it there

Happy Roe! Happy Chinese New Year!

I think I've failed to mention The Alan Guttmacher Institute website. It's a great place to get news (oh, I've revealed my source!) and they'll even email it to you. It's also a great place to do some research and find out stuff like the latest teen pregnancy stats.

Here's a really good piece on male contraceptives. Are American men ready for the pill or the shot? Could we trust them?

On Oct. 21 of this year, the Senate passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and sent it to President Bush for his signature, thus enacting the first ever federal prohibition of a specific abortion procedure....

If doctors can't use this particular procedure, they will substitute another--so the "partial-birth" prohibition will not reduce the number of abortions at all. Anti-abortion groups know this perfectly well, but the bill is still more than a symbolic victory. Having won this fight, they will go on to legislate bans against other abortion procedures, eventually making abortions almost impossible to obtain. "That procedure isn't what we care most about," admits John Jakubczyk, the general counsel for Arizona Right to Life. "Our goal is to stop the killing of unborn children at any stage of development."

In this long and intriguing piece on the battle over the so-called "partial birth abortion" bill, Amy Sullivan asks us to consider a compromise. Compromise is something that often comes up from more moderate pro-choice voices. She details how in 1997, Senator Daschle attempted to kill the PBA and get a compromise bill called the Alternative passed instead.

My question for you all is the same that Ms. Sullivan poses:

Can you support a bill that outlaws post-viability abortions, but upholds pre-viability abortions?

Before jumping to a logical yes, consider this:

- If you have a viable, yet severally deformed fetus inside of you, do you really want it born? Can you live with having a child that is severally malformed?

- If you have a viable fetus yet find out that it's brain is forming outside of its skull and will only live for perhaps 3 days, do you want to carry it to term?

While the Alternative makes total sense, there are some tiny circumstances that it does not appear to address. Sure, it makes allowances for a woman's physical health, but what about the fetus' health?

Are we a society that wants to bring every single fetus no matter the pain it may cause the baby? Is a life really worth living if it is only 3 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit without the chance to know your mother's touch?

While I'm not saying that we should abort every fetus that could end up in those situations, I am saying that I think it is up to the mother-to-be and her family to decide if they want to endure that pain and if they want to inflict that pain on to a tiny baby.

This whole debate really sucks. We have legislation like the PBA that totally ignores reality & the woman. We have the Alternative that ignores the fetus. That's just fucked up because I'd say that 99% of the debate right now is about the fetus and I hate that women are sidelined as simply walking wombs. *scream*

The really fucked up part is that all these bills ultimately come down to the fact that some people just don't trust a woman and her doctor to make the right decision.