Thoughts Upon Release From Jail After Sunday's Abortion Rights Protest Inside St. Patrick's Cathedral
It's been just a few hours since I was released from jail in New York City. I was arrested yesterday and charged with “criminal trespass” and another lesser trespass charge as I was leaving St. Patrick's Cathedral after a group of women and men shouted out the following statements during a break in the service:
“Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!” “Forced Motherhood is Female Enslavement! “Stop the War on Women!”
Outside St. Patrick's Cathedral -Sat Aug 11, 2012
St. Patrick's is, of course, home of Cardinal Timothy Dolan – head of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, a lifelong staunch opponent of abortion rights, and the person who spearheaded the U.S. Catholic church's recent political and legal revolt against birth control.
As I and one other woman, Alice Woodward, spent a long night each alone in a filthy cell, looking out between fourteen bars to cold flourescent lights, a dingy wall, and a window that revealed only the dirty bricks and tarp of the next building (no green and no sky), I thought of the women in El Salvador staring out of similar cells after being arrested out of the emergency room and imprisoned if the doctors suspect they are bleeding due to botched abortions. I thought of the women who are imprisoned in Afghanistan if they fall in love with the wrong man or end up pregnant while still unmarried. I thought of Dr. Pendergraft who had spent seven months in jail for illegitimate charges leveled against him by anti-abortion fanatics seeking to put him out of business.
There is a real war going on against women. Around the world, under the cover of religious authority, women's dreams are extinguished, women's bodies are treated like mere vessels for men's sperm and the incubation of fetuses, and women's lives are foreclosed. Around the world, women and men face not only the church, but also the state, if they dare to defy thousands of years of tradition's chains.
If
you hate the way that women are not only raped but then blamed and
shamed for being raped...
If
your blood boils at the knowledge of millions of women bought and
sold and abused and degraded in the global sex industry...
If
you want to puke when you hear Christian fascists moralizing that
women should “keep their legs closed” and you want to scream when
you hear of another abortion clinic being attacked, another doctor
being stalked, another law restricting women’s right to birth
control or abortion being passed...
If
you are infuriated by how pornography has become more violent, more
degrading, more cruel, and more humiliating towards women even as it
has become more and more mainstream...
If
you are sick of the way women have been trained to hold their
tongues, suppress their rage, and remain silent in the face of this
all out war against their lives and their humanity...
You
need to be part of the August 4 - 14thintensive effort to TAKE
PATRIARCHY BY STORM.
For
ten days in New York volunteers from around the country and all over
the city will work closely together to launch an all-out
counteroffensive against patriarchy and to strategize together to
figure out how we are going to go forward to win.
We
will:
hold
flash protests outside of porn stores and anti-abortion institutions
(like fake clinics and the Catholic church)
stage
positively confrontational “social interventions” (like going
into crowds at outdoor concerts with big signs which read, “Stop
Watching Porn! Start Fighting Patriarchy!”) and stand our ground
in the mass debate this provokes
get
out in the oppressed neighborhoods throughout the city with a
beautiful “War on Women” display
do
street theater in crowded areas
hold
public programs on women’s liberation
organize
a cultural talent show against patriarchy
and
discuss and strategize every day as to how to really kick out the
jams and take the movement to End Porn & Patriarchy to a whole
societal level, particularly making plans for the campuses and high
schools in the fall
From
our work thus far with this initiative we have found incredible
receptivity. Yes, some people are hostile (which is only to be
expected in a society where so many have been indoctrinated for so
long in such bone-deep misogyny), but there are also many who have
been choking on their rage and hungry for an outlet. And there are
many who begin by dismissing or even attacking us who, through sharp
arguments and political struggle, open up about how much turmoil they
have been in over these very questions and express the desire to get
involved in the movement to end patriarchy.
But
until now we have not found the ways to fully tap into this, to bring
it to the surface, to sustain this and to fan it even further. This
is what we will do in these ten days.This
will be a forging ground for all who attend, a chance to work
together with other like minded people to try new things out and
figure out what works, to get into deep discussion about all this and
strategize about going forward, to project this movement to thousands
of people in one of the most trend-setting cities in the world, and
to draw in and actively organized hundreds as we do.
50 Shades of Grey: Bad for Women! Bad for Sex! 50 Shades of Grey portrays a virginal
college grad falling for a stunningly wealthy, controlling, powerful and
troubled man who insists on totally owning her and getting off while
hurting her with riding whips, chains, paddles and violently degrading
sex. Despite her tears, deep isolation and confusion she comes to find
this fulfilling and enjoyable.
Millions of copies of this book
have been sold and everyone has been buzzing about what it means that
women are attracted to this fantasy.
In reality, the
attraction to this "fantasy" is not shocking. It's only different by a
matter of degree from the common romance novel or fairy tail that women
have been indoctrinated with their whole lives: a young, virginal and
insecure woman somehow attracts a man who she "doesn't deserve." He is
powerful, jealous, moody and controlling. She is frightened, but the
more she submits the more she sees abuse is just how he shows his love.
Finally, she is made "worthy" because he wants to possess her.
The only thing new this time is that she has to sign a contract that refers to her as "The Submissive" and he buys her platinum and diamond jewelry to cover her bruises.
This is harmful!
It is
bad for women - at a time when, under the guise of "post-feminism"
women are once again being pushed to embrace the role of "breeder" or
"sex object," this book reinforces and makes appealing the idea that
women should be owned and controlled by men.
It's bad for sex -
at a time when more space needs to be opened up for people to imagine
and experience the full richness of what sex can be between mutually
respectful and equal partners, this book pushes people to get over their
discomfort and wallow in sex as degradation and enslavement.
NOTE: You do not have to have read the book to participate!
Fierce, Joyous, Inspiring...A Movement to End Pornography and Patriarchy is Launched!
On Saturday, March 10th a new energy, a new defiance, and a new commitment to fight for the full liberation of women, were felt on the streets of New York City. Beginning at noon in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, proceeding on a tour of many sites which concentrate the oppression of women, and concluding in front of a strip club and porn store near Times Square; people of all ages, many nationalities, and all genders condemned the enslavement and degradation of women.
In Times Square
As people gathered in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, beneath its towering spires and enormous brass doors designed to make humans feel small and humble, their faces were filled with both exuberance, but also hesitation. It is not typical to confront churches. In fact, it’s not typical these days to directly confront woman-haters of any kind. It is all too typical for people to complain in hushed voices or to send money and sign petitions to politicians in the hopes that maybe someone else will do something. So, it is understandable that this felt new to many people.
As people picked up signs and decked themselves out in stickers, I was reminded of something told to me by a self-defense instructor years ago. She made a point of taking the time to insist that all her female students learn to yell forcefully. She did this because women are so deeply socialized to be polite, demure, docile, quiet and agreeable that they have to learn to trust their anger when they are under attack.
"I Demand my Reproductive Rights!!
I'm a Human Being!!"
I shared this story with the crowd and added, “Today, women around the world are under attack and we ought to be angry about that. We ought to be loud about that. We ought not to be the ones telling our stories in whispers and through tears while woman haters scream 'slut' at the tops of their lungs. Today, we are going to get in touch with our anger. We are going to yell at the tops of our lungs. If it feels funny at first, that's okay, keep at it. After a while it will stop feeling funny and will start to feel really fucking good. And then, it will be contagious. That is the point of today. We are taking it upon ourselves to defeat the war on women. We are changing ourselves in the process. And we are launching a new movement that wakes up and draws in others wave after wave until we win.” Read more...
"pornography and the pro-life movement are two sides of the same patriarchal coin..."
Another comment from another young woman...
"As these times worsen the fascists are intensely waging a war against women’s autonomy and humanity to keep us exploited, degraded and treated like commodities. Events like these which highlight how pornography and the pro-life movement are two sides of the same patriarchal coin looking to shove women into roles not fit for full human beings. Enough is enough! End Pornography! End Patriarchy!"
Revolution received the following statement which was written by the 8 March Women's Organization (Iran-Afghanistan:)
March 8 is on its way. Heartbeats intensify, and our sights are set on the struggle of our sisters all around the world, to join together, hand in hand, for a world free of gender oppression.
For yet another year, we followed, day by day and moment by moment, the struggle of women all around the world. We became furious with the attacks on women in Tahrir Square, those brave women who refused to be kept out of the struggle in Egypt. With women protesting in Wall Street, we women challenged the defenders of "Democracy and the World Capitalist Order". In Libya we women cried out that we don’t need Sharia laws. We women in Greece poured into the streets and shook the "United and Free" European order, and we women in the US are fighting for abortion rights and against pornography and patriarchy.
The beautiful voice of "Amol Al-Maslosi" from the occupied streets of Tunisia, conveyed the message of “I am the voice of rebels. I am free, and my world is too...” and this is the cry of women in the Arab countries. In these times women, in huge numbers, powerful and fearless, have poured onto the streets and captured the headlines of world media and overturned the image of Muslim women. We are determined to turn our struggles into a worldwide hurricane for putting an end to the inferior position of women.
We, the women in Iran, experienced areversal with the coming to power of the anti-women regime of the Islamic Republic, thirty-three years ago. We genuinely fear that history may repeat itself in the Arab countries.
Revolution received the following letter from a high school student:
During my lunch break at school, I announced to my fellow high school peers—many of them had bought IWD shirts last year from me—that International Women's Day was approaching once again and I began to describe what was being done in response to that. I had briefly mentioned the critical issue in defending abortion and all reproductive rights. My friends all seemed to agree wholeheartedly on the importance to have such access. However, what sparked the most interest and what really got the discussion going was the idea of having a demonstration at strip clubs in the city where we live. Some of my friends were surprised or curious at what that meant. I made it clear that we were not going against the women in these institutions but the institutions themselves. One of my friends couldn't grapple with such an idea. Such a thing had never been introduced to us before! It was then that I realized how normal, how accepting, how prevalent this issue is but rarely questioned. She argued about the individual's right to choose and if women were willing to do it, then it's okay. In response, I gave a small anecdote of a woman I knew who either had to choose between being on the streets or stripping for the money. In the Revolution newspaper #261, Bob Avakian's quote really states it true: people don't choose what their choices are. After I said that, I noticed that a big majority were listening. Some of them didn't know what to think. Others agreed and were ready to hear more. Some were hesitant.
I began further describing the extreme pornification of the world we live in and A LOT of people had something to say about that. The conversation drifted toward the issue of the sexualization of women to sell commodities. My hesitant friend from earlier definitely agreed on that. She slammed American Apparel and described it as "full porn." My other friend jumped in and started talking about the "sex sells" philosophy that followed that kind of advertising. We had talked so much we hadn't even noticed the bell had rung for class. My friend expressed her thanks for such a discussion and told me, "I had never thought about it that way before. We definitely need to talk about the porn more!" The overall experience was quite a lesson. If anything, this conversation shows how normalized the sexual subordination of women is and how urgent it is to bring this movement to the front of this society. "End Pornography and Patriarchy!!"
"Look at all these beautiful children who are female in the world..."
Revolutionary Communism and the Liberation of Women -- WE NEED TOTAL REVOLUTION!
#5
"Look at all these beautiful children who are female in the world. And in addition to all the other outrages which I have referred to, in terms of children throughout the slums and shantytowns of the Third World, in addition to all the horrors that will be heaped on them—the actual living in garbage and human waste in the hundreds of millions as their fate, laid out before them, yes, even before they are born—there is, on top of this, for those children who are born female, the horror of everything that this will bring simply because they are female in a world of male domination. And this is true not only in the Third World. In "modern" countries like the U.S. as well, the statistics barely capture it: the millions who will be raped; the millions more who will be routinely demeaned, deceived, degraded, and all too often brutalized by those who are supposed to be their most intimate lovers; the way in which so many women will be shamed, hounded and harassed if they seek to exercise reproductive rights through abortion, or even birth control; the many who will be forced into prostitution and pornography; and all those who—if they do not have that particular fate, and even if they achieve some success in this "new world" where supposedly there are no barriers for women—will be surrounded on every side, and insulted at every moment, by a society and a culture which degrades women, on the streets, in the schools and workplaces, in the home, on a daily basis and in countless ways."
Out of Denial and Into the Streets – International Women's Day 2012
Women the world-over are facing a growing assault on their lives, their rights, and even their recognition as full human beings.
In the U.S., Catholic Bishops have turned women's basic right to birth control into a national controversy. At least twenty percent of U.S. female soldiers are sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers. Every moment we are bombarded by images of women's bodies, half naked and half starved. And strip clubs, which serve up the subordination of women to men in the living flesh, have become so mainstream that annually men spend an estimated $16 billion dollars on them (as compared to the $4 billion they spend on baseball).
In the Congo, tens of thousands of women have been so brutally raped they can no longer hold their bladders or bowels. From Moldova to Thailand and beyond, millions of girls and women are sold as sex slaves. Throughout the world, fueled by the massive dislocations caused by imperialist development as well as imperialist wars, Islamic fundamentalism is rising with its “honor” killings, forced veiling, and hatred of women. And from China to Honduras to Silicon Valley, the near-slave labor – and sometimes outright slave-labor – of women and girls has disproportionately fueled the growth in cheap manufacturing.
These are not “just a bunch of different bad things happening to women." These are but a few of the many fronts in an all-out war on women. While the forms this takes may appear different – or even unrelated – a common rope is tightening around nearly every dimension of the public, social, political, and intimate lives of women.
Here is a quick video of the incredibly powerful display we have been using around New York City to confront people with the scope and the magnitude of the war on women -- and to call on them to join in the protest on International Women's Day to demand:
End Pornography & Patriarchy: The Enslavement and Degradation of Women!
Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!
Fight for the Emancipation of Women All Over the World!
People have been stopping and shaking their heads in disbelief. "I knew things were bad... but I had no idea!" Covering topics affecting women such as lack of abortion access, a global epidemic of rape, the increasingly violent nature of pornography, the global sex slave trade, the violence against women in the U.S. military, objectifying and degrading "beauty" standards, and more.
To get involved, contact us at: stoppatriarchy(at)gmail.com
or check out: http://stoppatriarchy.tumblr.com/march10
Revolutionary Communism and the Liberation of Women -- WE NEED TOTAL REVOLUTION!
#4
"The Communist Revolution is the most radical rupture with traditional property relations; no wonder that its development involves the most radical rupture with traditional ideas."
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto
If They Called It the “March for Forced Motherhood and Female Enslavement,” Then Would You Protest?
We are fast approaching the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion. Shamefully, each year, this anniversary is not marked by a massive celebration that women no longer die by the thousands in the back-alleys; not a celebration that women no longer are forced to foreclose their lives and dreams because of unwanted pregnancies; not a celebration of the doctors who risk their lives every day to provide abortions.
Instead, this anniversary is marked by an outpouring that hates all of those extremely liberating things. This outpouring calls itself the “March for Life,” but a look at their stated principles reveals an agenda of female enslavement. The following is taken from the statement on their website, "Applying the Life Principles”:
“Although a pregnant mother and/or her preborn child may die, there is no justification in the law of God or man for the intentional killing of even one innocent born or preborn human in existence at fertilization. NO EXCEPTION! NO COMPROMISE!”
First, a woman who is pregnant is... a woman who is pregnant. She is not a “mother.” Calling her a “mother” is unscientific. As is the equation of “one innocent born” human with a “preborn human.” Fetuses are NOT babies. They have the potential to become babies, to become separate human beings. But, until they are born they are a subordinate part of a woman's body and they do not have any independent social or biological existence.
W e d n e s d a y , N o v. 2
7 : 0 0 p m
R e v o l u t i o n B o o k s
p r e s e n t s
S U N S A R A T A Y L O R
O N
"The Woman-Hating Reality of Pornography and Why You Should Want No Part of It"
This evening is the first in a series of talks by
SUNSARA TAYLOR on
Ending Pornography and Patriarchy; the Enslavement and Degradation of Women
Coming up:
Wednesday, November 16, 7:00pm
"No More Defensiveness, Conciliation,
or Reliance on the Democrats:
Abortion On Demand and Without Apology!"
*Wednesday, November 30, 7:00pm
"Why and How the Future Revolutionary Society Will End Pornography, Prostitution, and Patriarchy"
This series of talks by Sunsara Taylor will be followed by Q&A, discussion, debate, and mobilization. Sunsara is currently working with others to launch a new effort to:End Pornography and Patriarchy; the Enslavement and Degradation of Women, which can be learned about at:
http://stoppatriarchy.tumblr.com/call
Sunsara Taylor writes for Revolution newspaper, is on the Advisory Board of World Can't Wait, and is a co-host on "Equal Time for Freethought" on WBAI radio in NYC.
Over and over and over again people tell me to leave religion out of the debate over abortion. "Many Christians believe in the right to abortion, at least in cases of rape or incest," I am often told, "So, why alienate them by bringing up religion?"
It is true that a huge number of people who identify as Christian also support the right of women to abortion. It is also true that an even greater number of Christians will get an abortion in a desperate situation even if they believe it is "wrong." However, we do ourselves NO FAVORS by leaving religion out of the debate over abortion.
The reason for this is that the movement in this country to restrict, criminalize, and shame women out of their right to abortion is entirely driven by religion. The Christian Bible in particular.
Here is how it works: According to the Bible, Eve (woman!) caused the fall of man when she tempted Adam into eating the forbidden fruit, gettiing them kicked out of the "Garden of Eden." This story is at the core of Christianity; there would be no need for Jesus to allegedly have died on the cross except to make up for this "original sin." But, that is not all. The human beings who wrote the Bible, their thinking shaped by the patriarchal society they lived in, weren't content with merely one myth that blamed everything on women.
In 1 Timothy 2:11-15, Paul insists: “Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.”
It is this biblical mandate that has animated the anti-abortion movement from its inception and which drives it today. This is why there is not a single anti-abortion organization that is fighting for birth control. Their motivation has NEVER been about "protecting fetal life." It has always been about insisting that women stay in their place; that wives "submit to their husband as their husband to the lord" (Ephesians 5:22, a commandment Michelle Bachman has upheld publically!) and make babies.
Of course, there are many people who oppose abortion who don't believe in this scripture. But that doesn't change the nature of the movement they are supporting or the retrograde, theocratic horror show it is fighting to impose on women. Every day is punctuated with new examples – Rick Santorum's opposition to abortion even in instances of rape, the arrest of women who have miscarriages, the assassination of the doctors who provide abortions, etc. -- demonstrating where the logic of restricting abortion is leading.
Confronting people with the theocratic core of the movement to end abortion is necessary to begin to win people away from the movement they are lending their support to. Either you should uphold that Biblical scripture and the world it would impose, or you should fight against it, including through defending women's right to abortion.
Aside from openly genocidal rationals (for example, the Nazis criminalized abortions for "Aryan" women), this Biblical mandate (or similar patriarchal mandates of other religions) is the only reason there is to oppose abortion. (Worth noting: there has been significant overlap between the genocidal and religious opposition to abortion, for example the Christian Ku Klux Klan was among the first to march against abortion in this country and there remain many Christian fundamentalists who invoke the spector of “auto-genocide” among white women.)
Once scriptural commandments and genocide are stripped away, there is no reason left to oppose abortion. Scientifically, fetuses are NOT children. Therefore there is absolutely no reason for anyone to have any moral qualm about a woman choosing to terminate a fetus. A fetus is a subordinate part of a woman's body. It has the potential to become human, but it is doesn't become a human until it is born and becomes an independent social and biologial being. That is why we mark our time as living human beings from the day of our birth.
Any society that does not wish to enslave women to their biological ability to give birth, that doesn't want to reduce women to human incubators, needs to uphold and defend and destigmatize women's right to abortion. If women cannot decide for themselves when and whether to have a child, they cannot be free. If women are not free, then no one is truly free.
Sure, bringing up religion may offend some people who support the right to abortion (or, who at least oppose criminalizing all abortions for all women). But, the truth is there has been a pro-choice majority throughout the whole period where abortion rights have been eroded, doctors have been killed, and women have been shamed. Any attempt to keep religion out of the debate over abortion, in order to hold together an alliance has passively allowed abortion to become increasingly more difficult, dangerous and stigmatized to access over the past two decades, is a losing strategy.
It's time to set different terms and to fight for a different dynamic.
Christians, like everyone else, need to be confronted with the horror of taking the Bible literally. They should be forced to decide where they stand in relation to this and where it leads, not in relation to some romanticized notions of fetuses as just smaller versions of infants (which is both untrue, and has nothing to do with the true motiviations of the movement against abortion). They should also be confronted with the science of reproduction. They should be challenged – and given the opportunity – to reject this scripture. If they do, whether they choose to continue to believe in Christianity (or another religion) in some non-literal way or whether they forsake religion altogether, they have a responsibility – like all the rest of us – to speak out against the horror of the Bible being enforced on society, including as it pertains to denying women the right to abortion and birth control.
For those Christians who still cling to their literal scripture, even as it is revealed for the Dark Ages nightmare it is, they should have to own up to what they are really promoting. Let's make them defend 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and all the other crimes mandated by their Bible (stoning non-virgin brides, killing disobedient children, killing homosexuals, blaming people's “sin” for falling ill, and more!). The more they are forced to own up to what they actually are fighting for, the more clarity others will have about who they want to stand with. Even if it ruffles some feathers at first, wouldn't this only work to the advantage of those who believe women are full human beings, deserving of the right to decide for themselves when – and whether – they will bring a child into the world?
Recently a young woman asked me, “How do you explain to guys how frustrating it is to be hit on all day long? Whenever I tell them to imagine what it would be like, not to be hit on just once in a while, but every day everywhere you go, they always say, 'That would be great! I'd have sex with every woman who propositioned me!' They just can't imagine why women would find this oppressive.”
Here is my response.
Men: imagine if every time you opened your mouth no one heard what you had to say. Imagine, instead, you were being humored – or ignored – based primarily on whether the listener thought they could get you to have sex with them. Imagine if half your professors or teachers never solicited your thinking in earnest. Imagine if you knew that despite your talents in any particular field – acting, writing, science, singing, or anything else – you would be evaluated on your looks and your perceived sexual availability. Imagine thinking you met someone who took you seriously and found your ideas and talents compelling, only to discover that really they were just “playing you” to get you in bed.
Imagine this happened over and over and over again.
Imagine if every morning you had to calculate – whether fully consciously or not – what clothes to wear based on whether you want to be seen (which means “sexy”) but therefore not taken seriously, or whether you will accept being invisible (ie: not “sexy) which means not even noticed by most. Imagine if all day long you were policed for these clothing choices – by everyone: by religious authorities, by employers, by professors, by your boyfriend or lover, by the men on the street, by the strangers who drive past you, by your girlfriends, by other women, by your parents, by the person who takes your money at the drugstore, by the people you sit next to on public transportation. Imagine none of them really see you; they see a “thing” that they feel entitled to judge. Too little sex appeal and you are invisible. Too much and you are a despised “slut.”
Imagine, in other words, if you walked every day through a world that didn't recognize your humanity.
Abortion Doctor LeRoy Carhart Is a Hero -- Operation Rescue Threatens Him
Why YOU should be in Maryland July 31-August 7
by Sunsara Taylor
A determining focal point in the battle for abortion rights and the lives of women begins July 31 in Germantown MD. One of the most courageous and prominent abortion providers in the country is being targeted by one of the most hateful, fascistic, anti-woman groups in the country. Anyone who cares about the future for women needs to be there or find a way to support those who will be.
Dr. LeRoy Carhart is a hero. He provides abortions. As simple as that may sound – and as simple as that ought to be – this means that every day for more than two decades he has risked his life for the lives of women. He’s been threatened. He’s been stalked. His family has been harassed – even receiving calls “informing” them of his murder. Once, his farm was burned to the ground.
But that is not all.
Two years ago Dr. George Tiller, a fellow abortion provider, colleague and good friend of Dr. Carhart’s, was assassinated while attending church. In the face of this devastating loss, LeRoy Carhart stepped up even more. He expanded his practice. He opened new clinics. He spoke boldly to the national media. He not only performs, but has taken responsibility for training others in performing, some of the most complex and life-saving abortion procedures for women late into troubled pregnancies.
For all this, he has been targeted as “Enemy # 1" by the very forces responsible for Dr. Tiller’s death. From July 31st through August 7th, Operation Rescue will be bringing anti-abortion fanatics from across the country to hound and endanger Dr. Carhart, his staff, and the women he serves.
.
Operation Rescue is an organization of woman-hating, evolution-denying, theocratic, Christian fascists. They oppose all abortions. As in: even in cases of rape, incest or the life of the woman. They oppose all birth control. As in: they not only oppose pre-marital sex, they also oppose marital sex that is not aimed at procreation. And for more than two decades they have systematically targeted, prosecuted, waged character assassination against, and whipped up an atmosphere that has led to the actual assassination of some of the most selfless and heroic abortion providers in the country.
That’s right. According to the Washington Post, just months before Dr. David Gunn was assassinated by an anti-abortion fanatic, “an old-fashioned ‘wanted’ poster of Gunn was distributed at a rally for Operation Rescue leader Randall Terry” complete with a home phone number and photo of Dr. Gunn. In 1992 Operation Rescue targeted the clinic of Dr. Barnett Slepian. Later, Dr. Slepian was assassinated in his own home by a fanatic who had traveled with Operation Rescue for years. In 1991, Operation Rescue declared a “Summer of Mercy” and brought thousands of anti-abortion fanatics to blockade Dr. Tiller’s clinic, demonize his person, and create an intimidating anti-woman spectacle in the national media for weeks. Just months after Dr. Tiller was assassinated, Operation Rescue began making efforts to purchase his clinic as the site of their new headquarters!
This is the shameful and murderous history that Operation Rescue is invoking as they gear up for their “Summer of Mercy 2.0" at Dr. Carhart’s new clinic in Germantown, Maryland.
Why do they do all this? Not because they give a rat’s ass about the so-called “life of the fetus.” They do this because they are driven by the biblical mandate that women have babies – lots and lots of babies – and obediently submit to men.
The shirt reads: Jesus is the Judge, therefore: Abortion is Murder; Homosexuality is Sin; Islam is a Lie;
Evolution is a Delusion; Feminism is Rebellion; Liberalism is False Religion; and Conservativism is Pretend Salt.
According to the Bible, everything evil that has ever happened is because Eve tempted Adam into eating the “forbidden fruit.” Not only that, there was a “special curse” brought down on women. Here it is in 1 Timothy 2:11-15: “Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.”
It is this total submission of women to men that Operation Rescue is dead set on. As Dr. Carhart himself pointed out during an interview I conducted with him earlier this year, “Most women today don’t want to be a second class citizen. They want to enjoy all the rights and privileges that the world has to offer. I think the very thrust of the anti-[abortion movement] is to deny women those very rights. Abortion is a vehicle they are using to do much greater damage.”
The only “good” thing that can be said about Operation Rescue is that they clarify the issue. The movement against abortion has never been about anything but forcing women to submit to men and have babies against their will. This is true of the Christian fascists in – or seeking – political office, from Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin to Sam Brownback and Tom Coburn. This is true of those who have introduced the largest onslaught of legislative restrictions on the federal and state level in history over just the past few months – from mandatory ultra-sounds, to requiring women to undergo “counseling” at Christian fundamentalist “clinics,” to imprisoning women whose newborns do not survive! (Yes, you read that right: several states are currently prosecuting women for the natural deaths of their newborn babies. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/24/america-pregnant-women-murder-charges%29
And this is a truth that is being lied about or covered over by all those – most significantly prominent Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, but also much of the pro-choice movement leadership – who are refusing to call out this fascist woman-hating for what it is. As the World Can’t Wait so aptly put it several years ago, “This whole idea of putting our hopes and energies into ‘leaders’ who tell us to seek common ground with fascists and religious fanatics is proving every day to be a disaster, and actually serves to demobilize people.”
If women are to be free they need the right to decide for themselves when and whether to have children. They need abortion on demand and without apology. They need fully scientific sex-education. They need birth control available without shame or stigma. These things are not “tragic” or “unfortunate.” They are tremendously liberating – and they are long overdue!
All of this is essential not only for women, but for humanity as a whole – for how can anyone be free when half of us are enslaved?
The future of abortion rights, the lives of women and of the safety of heroes like Dr. LeRoy Carhart cannot be left to politicians or law enforcement or “someone out there who isn’t me.” It is time – long past time – for all those to care about women to confront the fact that the future will hinge on what each of us will do.
From July 31st to August 6th World Can’t Wait and others are organizing a Summer of Trust to be a strong abortion rights presence countering Operation Rescue and standing up for the lives of women. I add my voice to theirs in calling on you to BE THERE in the streets to show your support. If you cannot be there, reach deep into your bank account and make a donation to this effort commensurate with your concern for the future.
Send checks or money orders, payable to "World Can't Wait" (Summer of Trust in the memo) to:
World Can't Wait
305 West Broadway #185
New York, NY 10013
Listen to my interview with Dr. LeRoy Carhart, Carole Joffe (author of Dispatches From the Abortion Wars: The Cost of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us), Merle Hoffman (President and Founder of Choices Women’s Medical Center), and Debra Sweet (National Director, World Can’t Wait), here
Sunsara Taylor writes for Revolution Newspaper and sits on the Advisory Board of The World Can’t Wait
Sunsara Taylor is a writer for Revolution Newspaper, a host of WBAI's Equal Time for
Freethought, and sits on the Advisory Board of World Can't Wait. She has written on the
rise of theocracy, wars and repression in the U.S., led in building resistance to these
crimes, and contributed to the movement for revolution to put an end to all this. She takes
as her foundation the new synthesis on revolution and communism developed by Bob
Avakian. You can find her impressive verbal battles with Bill O'Reilly and various
political commentary on things from abortion to religion to cultural relativism by searching “Sunsara Taylor”
on youtube.
