Feminists For Choice

Feminist Conversations is a weekly column where we interview pro-choice advocates from around the country to find out what feminism means to them, and what pro-choice activism looks like in their neck of the woods. This week we’re talking to Karrie Galloway, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Utah.

When most people think of Utah, the first image that they conjure up usually isn’t a Planned Parenthood clinic. And yet, Planned Parenthood has a very strong presence in the state of Utah. They operate nine clinics, from Logan in the northern part of the state, to St. George in the southwest corner. Planned Parenthood of Utah recently opened a clinic in Orem, which is home to Utah Valley University and the next door neighbor of Provo, home to Brigham Young University. The Planned Parenthood clinic in Orem is the fastest growing in the state, experiencing an 18% increase in its patient load since the clinic opened in 2009.

Karrie Galloway attributes that growth to several factors. “The Utah Valley is a very quickly growing community, with a large population of young people who are between the ages of 18-26. Utah has a fairly young demographic in general, and it also has a high fertility rate. People are coming to Planned Parenthood to access our family planning services to help them space their children.” (more…)

To quote Gloria Feldt, “Media portrayals, real or fictional, don’t merely inform us — they form us.” In this series, I will be examining five films – classic, mainstream, independent, foreign, and pre-Roe – and five television shows – soap opera, pre-Roe, drama, critically lauded, and teen-oriented – that address unexpected pregnancy, to examine how past portrayals can influence and reflect society’s view of abortion.

It’s impossible to discuss abortion in pop culture and not bring up “Maude,” the popular sitcom that ran from 1972-1978. Two months into the show’s first season, the two-part “Maude’s Dilemma” dealt with Maude’s unexpected pregnancy at age 47. She decides to have an abortion, which at the time was legal in New York, where the show was set. (The procedure was also legal in a handful of other states and the District of Columbia.) When CBS aired the episodes again the following summer, a number of affiliates refused to air the program. In an interview about the storyline, series creator Norman Lear said that the original airings did not generate any controversy or negative reaction from viewers.

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I am so excited to announce that the Feminists For Choice writing team has exploded over the past two weeks. We have six new writers coming on board in the next few weeks, as well as several old faces returning to the team.

Tori McCall comes to us from Philadelphia. Tori says, “I’m a high school English teacher that graduated from Temple University in ’08 with a degree in Anthropology/Spanish and a minor in Portuguese. I’m obsessed with women’s history and the history of the body. I have an ongoing love affair Latin American film and literature. If anyone directs me to a life altering film or novel I will love them forever.”  When asked to give her definition of the pro-choice movement, Tori says, “The idea that choice is even a topic of concern speaks to the necessity of feminism.  Choice is not the right to options, rather, it is a protestation of ownership.”

Pinky Ghuman, 22, has recently completed her double major in Economics and Women & Gender Studies from University of California, Davis. She is a feminist poststructural theory buff- her favorite authors include Gayatri Spivak, Cherri Moraga, Lisa Duggan, just to name a few. Her passion lies in writing and reading. She is always exploring different fields of feminism from prison reform to pro-choice debates, so let her know if you have any interesting topics to discuss. In her free time, she indulges in pop culture. (more…)

Greetings Sister Suffragists!  A big Happy Birthday to the 19th Amendment.  In honor of its 90th anniversary, here are some suffrage related links for you, as well as a video treat from Disney’s Mary Poppins.  Enjoy!

Not All Women Won the Right to Vote Today – Womanist Musings
A Forgotten Fight for Suffrage – New York Times
Mormon Suffragists? Not an Oxymoron – Feminists For Choice

The birth control method called Yaz has gotten a bad reputation, because the pill has been linked to an increased risk of blot clots and other harmful side effects. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Bayer is introducing a new form of birth control called Natazia, which it hopes will overcome the health risks associated with Yaz. The only trouble is that Natazia contains a form of estrogen that has never been used as an oral contraceptive before, so it is unclear what the long term effects of Natazia will be. According to NPR:

“The safest is still, surprisingly, one of the oldest pills,” says Dr. Frits Rosendaal, an expert in clotting disorders at Leiden University in Holland.

Rosendaal led another study that also found that women taking Yaz have a higher risk of clotting than those on older birth control pills — about twice as high. That paper also appeared in the British Medical Journal. (more…)

To quote Gloria Feldt, “Media portrayals, real or fictional, don’t merely inform us — they form us.” In this series, I will be examining five films – classic, mainstream, independent, foreign, and pre-Roe – and five television shows – soap opera, drama, pre-Roe, critically lauded, and teen-oriented – that address unexpected pregnancy, to examine how past portrayals can influence and reflect society’s view of abortion.

So my original plan for this post was to write about the famous episode of All My Children where Erica Kane had the first legal abortion on daytime TV, in 1973. I’d never seen the show – in my house the preferred daytime viewing was Another World and Days of Our Lives – but I figured hey, everything’s online, it shouldn’t be too hard to track down at least a few clips of that groundbreaking ep.

Surprise! It is that hard. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible. So I thought hey, during its first season in 1964, Another World had a storyline involving an illegal abortion – the first of its kind, and even more trailblazing. Maybe that one has been immortalized on Hulu or YouTube or Netflix? Alas, that search failed too. But unplanned pregnancy has long been a staple of soap operas, so I knew somewhere out there was a storyline I could not only write about, but watch first. And then inspiration struck, in the form of that immortal, synthesizer-heavy theme song: the “Andrea gets knocked up” plotline from the original Beverly Hills, 90210!

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Since it’s Friday, here’s a gossip-related round up for you.

Are the Duggars Ready for Baby #20? – Poponthepop
The Duggar Family on Courthship v. Dating – RH Reality Check
Large Families: Quantity Over (Air) Quality? – Feminists For Choice

This week we celebrated the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. We’re only a few days away from the Arizona primary, here are some links to help you find your polling place, identify which district you live in, and who the pro-choice candidates are. So get out and vote on Tuesday!

To quote Gloria Feldt, “Media portrayals, real or fictional, don’t merely inform us — they form us.” In this series, I will be examining five films – classic, mainstream, independent, foreign, and pre-Roe – and five television shows – daytime soap, drama, pre-Roe, critically lauded, and teen-oriented – that address unexpected pregnancy, to examine how past portrayals can influence and reflect society’s view of abortion.

Released in 1962, The Shame of Patty Smith sounds like a classic exploitation flick: cheaply made, poorly written and acted, and full of lurid images of young girls led astray. Which, honestly, is why I wanted to see it – I do love Reefer Madness-style cult classics. Imagine my surprise, then, to see a staunchly pro-legalization message repeated throughout this tale of Patty’s rape and desperate search for an abortion. (more…)

August 18th marked the 90th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which formally granted women the right to vote in the United States. When we think about the women’s suffrage movement, we usually conjure images of women wearing purple sashes and carrying banners that say “Votes For Women.”

Women of the western states are often overlooked in the discussion about suffrage. This is especially true of women in Utah. Mainstream culture likes to depict Mormon women as subservient to a patriarchal religion, particularly if we think about women in the 1800’s. However, a brief glimpse of Mormon suffragists gives us a very different view of women during the 19th Century.

Utah women initially obtained the vote in 1870, by a bipartisan vote of the state legislature. However, Congress repealed Utah women’s suffrage in 1886 as part of a series of anti-Mormon bills that were passed through Congress. There was quite a debate in Congress about whether Utah women should retain the right to vote. Many Easterners felt that if Mormon women could vote, they would vote to end polygamy. That view was soon shattered when members of Congress realized that Utah women favored polygamy. The vote was restored when Utah became a state in 1896, and there was overwhelming public support for universal suffrage. (more…)

Brazil will elect their new president this October. Whoever wins will have big shoes to fill. Current president, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva has an approval rating of over 70%. This popularity is due in part to successful programs helping families living in poverty. One of those programs is Bolsa Familia (Family Fund), which gives stipends to poor families whose children attend school and get proper vaccinations.

President Lula’s choice to succeed him is his former energy minister and current chief of staff Dilma Rousseff. If she were to win she would be the first woman president of Brazil. Being Lula’s candidate gives her a huge advantage, as many are willing to vote for her simply because of Lula’s support.

She holds a fairly significant lead in the polls and barring any major blunders it looks like she could be shoe-in to take the election. If she receives more than 50% of the votes on October 3rd, there will be no need for a run-off election later in the month. (more…)