[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] AWARE Minutes-10-10-04

[Jen Tayabji]

I know I don't usually respond to things on the peace-discuss list, but I
feel I need to reply.

>From my understanding they are specifically working on increasing access to
emergency contraception (ie. the morning after pill-- called Plan B). This
pill prevents pregnancy when taken within a certain time limit. It DOES NOT
however terminate a pregnancy if that has already occurred, ie. the
morning-after-pill is different from RU-486. For more info, see below.

Another way to look at this issue is that regardless of your personal
opinion on contraceptives (or even specifically abortion) is that this is an
issue over a women's right to choose (and not your right to choose for her).

When you look at it through that lense, it cannot be compared to the US
government's "casual" look at the value of human life. You cannot even
compare the women's right to choose to the government's reckless policies of
war. To do so is an insult to every women!!

I think this is an issue, like any progressive issues, for our community to
stand behind and support. It would be a shame for a group like AWARE to not
endorse this event because it sends a message to others that AWARE does not
value a women's right to choose. Even though AWARE is an anti-war group,
this does not mean that emergency contraception is not relevant to AWARE's
work. 

Jen Tayabji
IDF Executive Director
**

For more info on the differences between Plan B and RU-486 (medical
abortion).

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/birthcontrol/ecandma.html

The Difference Between Emergency Contraception and Medical Abortion

There is considerable public confusion about the difference between
emergency contraception and medical abortion because of misinformation
disseminated by anti-choice groups. Emergency contraception helps prevent
pregnancy; medical abortion terminates pregnancy. According to general
medical definitions of pregnancy that have been endorsed by many
organizations including the American College of Obstetricians and
Gynecologists and the United States Department of Health and Human Services,
pregnancy begins when a pre-embryo completes implantation into the lining of
the uterus (ACOG, 1998; DHHS, 1978; Hughes, 1972; ³Make the DistinctionŠ²
2001). Methods of contraception, including emergency contraception, prevent
pregnancy by inhibiting ovulation, fertilization and/or implantation (ACOG,
1998). Medical abortion terminates a pregnancy without surgery. By helping
women to prevent unplanned pregnancies after unprotected intercourse,
emergency contraception has the great potential to decrease the rate of
abortion. By helping women terminate unwanted pregnancies up to 63 days
after their last menstruation, medical abortion is a safe and effective
option.



On 10/12/04 1:56 PM, "Morton K. Brussel" <brussel at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> I hesitate to tread here.
> 
> There will always be "some" who believe ("understand"?) anything; that
> seems to be in the nature of "faith". "Human life" is turning out to be
> a very slippery concept.  However, since this issue is for "some"
> controversial (For how many on the left I don't know.), perhaps Carl is
> right that, tactically, AWARE should not endorse this effort. All those
> who would wish to support the effort, and most of us may be in that
> camp, can do so on an individual basis.
> 
> mkb
> 
> 
> On Oct 11, 2004, at 9:38 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> 
>>  "Emergency contraception" may be necessary
>> for victims of rape, but it's understood by some as an abortifacient.
> 
> I left the meeting early Sunday (I'm doing a walk-on in the current
> Station Theatre play, Aristocrats -- which I can recommend in good
> conscience, as my contribution is slight), so I wasn't there when this
> matter was discussed. I should have spoken against it for two reasons,
> one
> substantive and one tactical. "Emergency contraception" may be necessary
> for victims of rape, but it's understood by some as an abortifacient;
> its
> general promotion does seem to suggest a casualness towards human life
> that we decry in other US government policies. Tactically, it's the sort
> of issue that Tom Frank describes in What's the Matter with Kansas? as
> derailing progressive politics.  An anti-war group that wants to talk to
> people other than self-described liberals should stay away from it.
> --CGE
> 
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----------------------------------------------
Jen Tayabji
Director, Illinois Disciples Foundation
610 E. Springfield Ave., Champaign, IL  61820
(217) 352-8721 * cell (217) 840-8248
http://www.prairienet.org/idf

Social Justice YES! President Bush NO!
VOTE BUSH OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE!

"And they can call me crazy if I fail / All the chance that I need / Is
one-in-a-million / And they can call me brilliant / If I succeed / Gravity
is nothing to me / Moving at the speed of sound / I'm just gonna get my feet
wet / Until I drown...

Cuz I don't care if they eat me alive / I've got better things to do than
survive / I've got a memory of your warm skin in my hand / And I've got a
vision of blue sky and dry land"

--Ani Difranco