Pizza Diavola

I’ve got a new post up at the Hillary 1000, The Gap Between Talking and Doing, prompted by Astraea’s post on the gap between the Democratic leadership’s lip service to reproductive rights and their failure to ensure that women and girls actually have access to reproductive rights services, Paladins for Choice – Part 1.

Two points I brought up in that post were the importance of information and the importance of action at the state level. The former refers to knowing what’s actually going on – too many people think that because of Roe v. Wade, women and girls have access to abortions whenever they need them, and so as long as Roe exists, no need to worry or pay attention or do anything else to secure reproductive justice. That attitude is patently false, given that there are many laws at the state level designed to chip away at access to reproductive services: in California, Prop. 4 is a parental notification constitutional amendment – it’s not just legislation, it would amend the state constitution – up for voter referendum this November, which would of course dramatically impact the lives of teenaged girls with unwanted pregnancies (Cara has more info on Prop. 4).

The importance of action at the state level is tied in directly to being informed – if you’re not informed, you can’t know that action is necessary. I’m volunteering with the Planned Parenthood/ACLU Campaign for Teen Safety (Vote No On 4) and in the course of canvassing for volunteers, my experience was that people were against Prop. 4 as soon as they heard what it was, but the vast majority of the people I spoke with had no idea that it was on the ballot again (this is the third time in four years that parental notification is up for referendum, thanks to some millionaire Republican jackasses). Since they didn’t know, those people might not have turned out to vote against Prop. 4 in November, or after voting in the presidential race, they might not have flipped all the way through the ballots for Representative, state rep, city council, board of education, etc. to the voter referenda.

It’s important to be informed and to spread the news: write your state and local representatives, the local paper, your blog, and talk to your acquaintances. Although Roe is important at a national level, at the state level there are laws strangling access to reproductive rights services – parental notification, conscience clauses, mandatory waiting periods, mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds, mandatory counseling, banning abortion outright, etc. – all of these make it more difficult to obtain safe abortions when women and girls need them. So – go find out what’s happening in your state: read local feminist blogs, subscribe to newsletters from your local Planned Parenthood affiliates, subscribe to updates from your local reps, use a search engine, etc. And if you live in Cali – vote no on Prop. 4 and vote no on Prop. 8 this fall!