Leslee: So Redundant It's Not Even Interesting Anymore

It's slightly exhaustive to report on all the insanity Leslee Unruh continues to spew nationally, despite being nearly obsolete, but I happened to catch the interview she did yesterday with American Family Radio, so I thought I'd give anyone who cares the highlights. Be warned, though. It's just more of the same, really. *YAWN*

According to Les'...

* Abstinence gives kids "something to dream about." Is the implication then that people who have pre-martial sex have nothing to dream about?! That's just silly. I think we can all attest to the fact that even when Leslee, herself, was gleefully participating in pre-marital sex, she was just on the brink of her hopes and dreams to become a zealot guilt profiteer.

* Cervical cancer is the result of sexual promiscuity. This one's not even worth debunking, though I would point out that even the radio show hosts seemed befuddled by this one.

* Condoms don't protect you from STIs. Oh, Leslee. It's been a while since I've heard her "condoms kill" ridiculousness, so I'm glad I got to hear again how latex is the devil. Question: is Leslee against seat belts, too?!

* Planned Parenthood is the world-wide pusher of Gardasil, the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. Ugh, WRONG! Sure Planned Parenthood supports the vaccine -- as do most people who don't love cancer -- but they're certainly not the ones actively campaigning for it. Apparently they don't have TV in First Class, because if they did, Leslee would take note that the national "One Less" campaign is the baby of Merck, the vac's manufacturer. Not everything can be attributed to Planned Parenthood. Steve and Leslee need to accept that and quit making complete idiots out of themselves.

So, there are the main bullets. Aside from that it was more of the same...and more of the same. I guess the radio hosts did continually mispronounce Leslee's last name as [UN-RAH] which I found slightly funny. A sign that people are starting to forget her?! :) Just think of the possibilities when she officially loses her million dollar federal paycheck when abstinence-only gets flushed!

Good Discussion on Ageism and Feminism

Issues of ageism and the generation gap (whatever that really means and to the extent that it actually exists) are some of the most pervasive and discussed in feminism today. Jezebel has a some great commentary on a piece by Courtney from Feministing (that's right -- I'm writing a blog about a blog about a blog -- it's meta-feminism!) looking at some of the common conflicts between Second and Third wavers. Definitely worth a read no matter which wave (if any) you identify with. If you want to get totally infuriated, check out the links under "Earlier" at the bottom of the screen.

Challenge to my other Dakota Women: Can you figure out my favorite line? :)

New Afghan law: "Women cannot refuse their husband sex."

The Guardian is reporting today that a law passed by the Afghan parliament and signed by the president that would allow married women to seek work only with their husband's permission, and would prevent them from refusing sex with their husband.

Granted, it wasn't all that long ago that states in the U.S. viewed getting married as permanent consent. But it ended here for good reason, because last time I checked, getting married doesn't mean a woman gives up her bodily autonomy.

Afghanistan does have women in their parliament, and one said this:

"They wanted to pass it almost like a secret negotiation," she said. "There were lots of things that we wanted to change, but they didn't want to discuss it because Karzai wants to please the Shia before the election."

The leader of one of Afghanistan's political parties, Ustad Mohammad Akbari, actually defended the new law by saying it protects women's rights:

"Men and women have equal rights under Islam but there are differences in the way men and women are created. Men are stronger and women are a little bit weaker; even in the west you do not see women working as firefighters."

Psst: A quick Google of "women's firefighters organization" turns up the International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services, Firehouse.com's directory of local women's firefighter clubs, and a host of news stories about women as firefighters. Women do physically demanding jobs all the time.

But I digress. The international community has so far been pretty quiet on the front, for fear of looking disrespectful of Afghanistan. So I'll say this: that's pathetic. This isn't about "respecting cultural differences," it's about the fact that this law is a giant step backward, and treats women like the property of their husbands. That's not a cultural difference, that's immoral.

To Cut or Not To Cut

Just this past weekend, I had a conversation with a couple of the contributors here at DW about the differing views that people hold on circumcision. Then, just this morning, a piece called "More compelling evidence on why circumcision should be routine" from Machines Like Us made its way into my inbox, leading with this:

New data from Ugandan scientists and investigators at Johns Hopkins University find that adult male circumcision decreased rates of the two most common sexually transmitted infections – herpes and the human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer and genital warts – according to a report issued in the New England Journal of Medicine March 26, 2009.

What I find interesting within all of this? Though you'd think that because the pro-choice community is a driving proponent in prevention and treatment of sexually-transmitted disease that we'd all be united by circumcision for it's disease-preventing benefits, that is most certainly not the case. While I, myself, am a proponent of circumcision, I've now had a good handful of conversations that have illustrated for me the feminist divide on the topic. I even got a verbal beat down once from a very prominent SD feminist on the subject as a result of our differing views and found her rationale to be fascinating.

So...feminists of the blogosphere, tell us what you think. Circumcisions: for it or against it and what or why not?

Fascinating Commentary from Voices Crazy (It's not what you think.)

DooHickey attracted a pretty interesting commenter with his latest blog attacking Dr. Tiller and our own That Girl. As DW policy prohibits linking to the insanity, I'll reproduce some of SoMG's commentary for you:

...Dr. Tiller's gonna retire soon anyway. He's 67. He could make more money faster by writing his memoirs and/or a definitive textbook, and/or by lecturing and going to fund-raising events. That's if he needs money, which seems unlikely! Or, do the semi-retired visiting-professor thing, where the universities house you and feed you and you teach a course or two. Hang out on campus in Hawaii or California or spend a year in NYC. Much less famous and influential people than Dr. Tiller do that sort of thing.

Wanna guess how many abortions his retirement will prevent? How many late-term abortions? How many partial-birth abortions? Here's a hint: you're not allowed to divide by the number. There are not many people doing what Dr. Tiller does–just enough to satisfy the small demand for their services.

By the way, I was not laughing at the abortions (although I have no force-worthy objection to them). I was laughing at the right-to-lifers who have been fooled by the scam. Very different. None of this has had any effect on abortion but it sure has put Phill Klown in a position to rake in the RTL dough. He'll make Randall Terry look small!

Finally let me tell you one thing I learned INSIDE the abortion "industry": the shortage of abortion providers is a myth, promoted by both sides. RTLs like it because they like to think abortion is an unpopular thing in medicine, and feminists like it because it motivates donors. Eighty-seven percent of counties have no abortion provider, they say, but if they all had one most of them would be standing idle most of the time. Not enough patients. There's enough abortion providers to meet the demand for their services, neither more nor less. There are some local shortages but almost all in places where there's a shortage of docs generally, where they offer to pay your student loans for you if you'll go there. As for a national shortage: when was the last time you heard of a woman in North America giving birth against her will because all the abortion docs' schedules were too full to accomodate her? If there were a national shortage, you'd be hearing these stories regularly, by definition–"shortage" means not enough to meet the demand. The demand has lessened as the baby-boom generation which is a wide age-range has aged beyond reckless sex and then beyond fertility, in greater numbers than their children have aged into reproductivity. Less demand means less supply. Besides the aging, easier contraceptives and after-sex contragestives have also lessened demand for abortions.

I'll tell you one thing more, and this is a prediction I would be prepared to bet on: ten years from now the majority of abortions in the USA will be done by certified members of physician-underling professions, trained and supervised by physicians. This will catch on and spread rapidly and widely. Probably soon but certainly sooner or later. It's like medical abortion (which was coming anyway even WITHOUT RU-486), too economical to resist; all the opponents can do is tie up and stall.

I don't agree with everything SoMG puts out there (I think there are plenty of women who give birth to children that wouldn't if an abortion clinic were more accessible to them, but it's also not like abortion is the only thing that's hard to access in rural areas), but overall, some really thought provoking points. Why is such a smart person hanging out at a dump like Voices Crazy?

Breaking News: Jury Rules Unanimously in Tiller's Favor

From an email from the Feminist Majority Foundation:

Great news! Once again Dr. George Tiller has been vindicated. A jury has just ruled unanimously he is not guilty on all 19 counts of violating the Kansas state abortion laws and did not perform illegal abortions. Tiller had faced a possible 19 year jail sentence.

Thank you for your support throughout this six-month investigation. As you know, Dr. Tiller is one of the few late-term abortion providers available for women with troubled pregnancies and complicated health problems. This trial was the result initially of a fishing expedition conducted by a zealous anti-abortion state Attorney General.

Dr. Tiller's clinic is a last resort for women across the country. We must not allow anti-abortion extremists to force this critical clinic to close. Thank you for your help. Without clinics, there is no choice.

I'm entirely not surprised that Tiller was completely cleared of these charges. This man is a superhero for reproductive rights and alas he deserves to be left alone! This poor man has been shot, has had his clinic flooded, and been the victim of anti-choice zealot harrassment since the beginning of time. Congrats on another victory, Dr. Tiller! Women the world over thank you for your unyielding support of our health, rights, and safety!

Will she or won't she?

Not gonna lie, I agree pretty heartily with Todd Epp's assessment at SD Watch that Herseth Sandlin might be hurting other Democrats by taking her own sweet time figuring out what she's doing in 2010.

Democrats in SD have had a hard time with statewide offices for a loooong time, and making a sizeable chunk of Democratic candidates wait to see what she does before they finalize their own plans will only hurt our chances.

For what it's worth, my money's on a Herseth Sandlin for Governor race. I think she wants a challenge (which means leaving the House), but she doesn't want to chance a loss (which rules out a Senate run). So, that leaves a gov run.

In any case, it'd be super helpful if she would just freaking decide. Is that really so much to ask?

Science: 1, Wingnuts: 0

This was from earlier this week, but I think it still merits a mention now. A federal district judge ruled that the FDA "let politics cloud its judgment" in how it has handled Plan B. He ordered the drug to be made available to 17-year-olds within 30 days, and that the FDA needs to re-evaluate whether to make EC available to people of all ages without a prescription.


I don't need to tell you this is huge. If the FDA really does re-evaluate and decide (as research suggests) that there's no medical reason to require a prescription for girls for Plan B, we could be seeing it on the shelves like almost every other over-the-counter drug. It's a heckuva lot better than the system we've got now.


Obviously, the right-wing is all up in a tizzy, which I suppose isn't anything new. But, as with stem cells, they're just going to have to get used to policy being based on science, not whatever fantasy Leslee's cooked up this week. Science rules.


Change is awesome.

This Manages to Be a Little More Death Than Liberty

Angie reminded me of "Dr." Unruh's first foray into historical reenactment. If you haven't seen it, hold on to your three cornered hat. If you have seen it, I promise, it never gets old.

Nuggets, Tea, and a Little Self-Promotion

I just got a Google alert on this gem and had to share it with all of you immediately: Nuggets of Leadership from Leslee Unruh. Note that Leslee is the author of this little note and, I'm assuming, it's title.

Like Leslee, I'm not above tooting my own horn and although I don't have any nuggets of leadership, gold, or chicken to give you, I do have a new column in the USD Volante about these exciting neo-Tea Parties I keep hearing about (DW exclusive behind-the-scenes info: the original title was "Unruhs Lead South Dakota's Conservatives in Mass Teabagging"). Big HT to Madville Times for the inspiration. I only wish I had seen this Dakota Voice post about the Tea Party anthem before the column went to print. The whole thing is great, but irony of the last line is almost too much.

What smells, indeed...

An important consideration in light of the "middle ground" strategy that Planned Parenthood of Minnesota seems to be touring around:

The Abortion Reduction Agenda: What Smells? | RHRealityCheck.org

On "the middle."

This article in the Star-Tribune about Sarah Stoesz and her work on South Dakota's two unsuccessful attempts to ban abortion has been posted around a bit recently. The people who wish to continue pushing abortion bans seem to miss this part:

Today it's more clear that Stoesz and her allies in South Dakota may be at the leading edge of a bigger shift in the American mood -- a fatigue with extreme politics....

William Anderson, a political scientist at the University of South Dakota, said voters became engaged in morally complex questions. The anti-abortion side "assumed people would see this in black-and-white terms," he said. "But the grays were a lot grayer than anyone had ever imagined."

We should welcome the hysterical reaction to this article that can be observed on other blogs. The extreme anti-choicers continue to render themselves irrelevant with that kind of behavior, and that's something that anyone who supports freedom of choice can find heartening.

...and the Lamest Argument of the Year Award goes to: Ted Klaudt's Lawyer

I've heard of some half-baked legal defenses before (partly because I watch a lot of Law & Order), but Ted Klaudt's is a whole new level:

As the case goes before the SD Supreme Court, Kelo outlines the defense:

Klaudt's lawyer argued that though the ruse was terrible, it did not amount to rape because the girls gave their consent.

...um...

...wow.


Ted, you duped these girls into this by telling them you were going to sell their eggs. You made up fake emails from a fake woman at a fake clinic...in which you told them to "stop with the crying." You abused them. You're going to prison. Deal with it.


Here's hoping the SD Supreme Court is wiser than Klaudt's attorney.

Vermillion woman fights off attacker...with her shoe!

As a leftover from my USD days, I'm subscribed to their campus alert system. At 4am this morning, my phone started going off, and I received 2 calls and 5 text messages that there was an alleged physical assault on campus.

So to me, when I saw Kelo's story about it today, it was old news. However, the campus alert left out that the woman apparently fought him off with her shoe:

An attempted sexual assault is under investigation in Vermillion. A woman reported being grabbed and thrown to the ground around 12:30 Friday morning in the 500 block of North Pine Street. She was able to hit the attacker in the face with a high heel shoe and he took off.

This is by no means to make light of what I'm sure was a traumatic event for this woman...but in a situation like that, I don't think I'd have the presence of mind to take off my shoe and hit him in the face. Well done.

White House Council on Women and Girls: Oh-bama!

Just when I think I can't be any more smitten with Obama's attention to women's issues in his first days (sans axing family planning from the stimulus package), he does something like this: establishes the White House Council on Women and Girls, an agency tasked with making sure that women and girls are taken into account in all matters of public policy. Here's my favorite excerpt from Obama's remarks, but you can read the whole article here.

And when any of our citizens cannot fulfill their potential because of factors that have nothing to do with their talent, their character, their work ethic, that says something about the state of our democracy. It says something about whether we're honoring those words put on paper more than two centuries ago -- whether we're doing our part, like generations before us, to breathe new life into them in our time.