Stop Patriarchy

That’s what a young woman said to her friend with wonder in her voice after encountering the #Stop Patriarchy booth at Warped Tour. She was pro-choice and wanted an #Abortion on Demand & Without Apology sticker but she had obviously never heard anyone talk positively about abortion. We mentioned how important and liberating the right to abortion is for all women, and how we need to fight for it this summer on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride. It wasn’t long before she told us that she had had an abortion and wasn’t sorry she did, but also felt bad about it. We answered very supportively that abortion is a responsible choice, she obviously did the right thing for her, and she absolutely did not do anything wrong, period - so there’s no reason she should have to feel bad about it for the rest of her life. When her friend ran up behind her and got filled in about the conversation, she put her arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “You shouldn’t feel bad about your abortion.” The young woman smiled and you could literally see her shoulders relax. 

This needs to happen many times over and on a much larger scale throughout society. 1 in 3 American women will have an abortion by age 45. Think about how many teens and grown women are held back and held down by a burden of shame and stigma! This is totally unnecessary and should not be tolerated by anyone who cares about women or what kind of world we live in. 

This summer, Stop Patriarchy and all the people who will be joining us on the Abortion Rights Freedom Ride are setting out to change this! Imagine what it would look like, this new force on the scene, if everywhere the Freedom Ride travels, to all five states with only one clinic left, hundreds of girls and women, wave after wave, throw off the burden of shame and stigma and begin to proudly and defiantly fight to determine their own destinies and turn the tide for abortion rights. All this is tangible and possible.

This Freedom Ride is happening. Join it, Support it, Tell people about it. Donate at stoppatriarchy.org

http://revcom.us/a/298/arkansas-law-biggest-assault-on-right-to-abortion-en.html

A woman holds a poster during a vigil in Dublin November 17, 2012, in memory of Savita Halappanavar and in support of changes to abortion law. 

WTF. WTF? REALLY??!! WTF!!!! This was my reaction…..increasing in anger and volume… to the news that Planned Parenthood is dropping the “label” of being pro-choice, under the idea that this term is too “divisive.” As I sifted through some articles online, I also read from one of them that Planned Parenthood is saying that they hope to move beyond any labels, and that the issue of abortion is “complicated.”

It must be said, this is not at all complicated!!!! This is a “divisive issue” not because of the pro-woman, pro-abortion side of this fight, but because there exists a fanatical anti-abortion

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Here’s a message sent to StopPatriarchy from Nikki who is coming to Washington DC for the Week of Action.  Read. Take a moment to think about what this means for women’s lives.  ACT. 

“Last year around this time a friend of mine bought the iPhone 4S, he was so excited about it and so was I. I wanted to play with Siri, the voice interpretation and recognition program that comes on that model and all subsequent models of the iPhone. The first thing I did, as a proud feminist, was to start talking to Siri about women’s issues. I asked Siri where the nearest abortion clinic was. Her response: 

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