A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I totally forget yesterday was Blog Against Sexism Day, mostly because I was thinking about the stupidity of the South Dakota abortion ban which I'm sure you've all heard about by now. So my co-editor and I came up with some great proposals for the South Dakota legislature:

1) Now that you've made abortion illegal in South Dokota, state law should mandate that all children born to women in South Dakota receive paternity testing at birth and the father's wages are garnished until the child turns 18. Hey, he made his choice when he had sex . . . (This is for all those who oppose a woman's right to choose and throw out that clever little cliche. What's good for the goose - well, you know)

2) Effective July 1, same day as the abortion ban is set to take place, South Dakota's WIC roles should increase to serve 800 more infants and their mothers (since 800 abortions a year take place at the one clinic in South Dakota)

See, no matter how much we hear anti-abortion activists screaming about how they care about mother and baby, until they respond to women's real needs instead of fighting for every tax cut they can and bankrupting the poor, I'm just not buying it. There seems to be this major disconnect that if you ban abortion, one of the outcomes will be a whole lot of unprepared single mothers in desperate need of assistance. And not just a few packs of diapers from the local Crisis Pregnancy Center. Nutrition, housing, and education are all crucial to the well-being of the children that anti-abortion activists hope to "save" through this measure and their dream of overturning Roe v. Wade. Maybe that's why Gov. Mike Rounds' comments at the bill signing seem so hollow to me. He refused to raise the minimum wage when he had the chance.

With more on South Dakota, we turn to Charon Aestoyer's piece in Indian Country Today, "South Dakota Task Force on abortion hurts pregnant women". Aestoyer points out how the proposed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution (still in the works) with the imposition of fetal rights infringes on women's autonomy and religious freedom without saving any lives in the process.


On a different but related note, the Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom annual summit is coming up in June. I attended the summit in 2003 and had an amazing time and learned a LOT about religion and the right to choose. Here's the info:

SPIRITUAL YOUTH FOR REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM, the Religious Coalition's
Youth and Young Adult Program, to host second Student Summit, June 5-7,
2006

What: Student Summit 2006

Theme: Putting Faith into Action for Reproductive Justice

Why: To Reflect, Connect, Inspire, and Act!

Where: Washington, DC

When: June 5-7, 2006 (plus an in-gathering social event on the evening
of June 4th)

Who: Spiritual pro-choice college students

Sponsor: Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom (www.syrf.org), a
program of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
(www.rcrc.org)

Cost: Housing and meals are free for the first 100 participants.
Limited scholarship money for travel costs will be available on an
as-needed basis

How: Registration is available online at www.syrf.org

This event will bring together spiritual pro-choice college students and
religious leaders for three days of worship, dialogue, workshops, and
social action. We will offer workshops on bringing moral language and
messaging into the pro-choice movement, challenging the anti-choice
messages of the "Religious Right" on campus, organizing pro-choice
Peaceful Presence at anti-choice demonstrations, building strong SYRF
chapters, organizing advocacy events, being an effective advocate on
Capitol Hill, and more.
Please register or spread the word!