From My Friends at Planned Parenthood

Abortion is on the rise in Mexico - but wait - not because of any "liberal" abortion policy there. In fact, Mexico damns abortion with all of its might! There are extremely intense legal restrictions in the country that, even though abortion is technically legal, make it extremely difficult for the average Mexican woman to obtain an abortion. These legal restrictions have pushed Mexico to an unsafe place - an above average rate for abortions worldwide at 33 abortions per 1,000 women of reproduction age. Legal obstacles and fear and lack of access = these kind of numbers: 

In 2006, 149,676 women were treated in Mexico's public hospitals for complications resulting from unsafe abortions.

Yeah, yeah, this has nothing to do with America per se, but it has a little something to do with WOMEN. This could easy be "149,676" American women, like your daughter, your sister, your aunt, your best friend. Would you want to see them in the hospital because they had to go to some back-alley doctor?

My mother grew up under Communism in Romania - no access to birth control, no abortions - because Ceausescu (glorious leader) wanted to grow the population to work on the farms. He didn't care that babies were being born into families that didn't want them, not because they didn't love them, but because there was no food for them. Babies should be born into families that can give them a chance to survive and thrive, not just because they "should be" born. 

This nugget of truth means you MUST (I'm talkin' to you South Dakota, Colorado etc. etc.) vote NO on the anti-abortion measures being proposed on the ballot in November. See a list here.

The Worst Places on Earth for Women

Flipping through my Marie Claire yesterday, I see a small piece (better than no piece at all!) about the "Worst Places on Earth for Women". 

Some of the nations they included are: Sierre Leone, Haiti, Moldova, and Nepal. 

Even though the U.S. economy is in a tailspin and we're going to have to bring back the W.P.A. and people are going to be begging from a slice of bread, our human rights have passed the crude, physical assault stage. Instead, we modern society types focus on emotional, subversive, "intellectual" woman-focused assault. We (they?) install a "glass ceiling", refuse to adjust the gap in female vs. male pay, don't offer maternity leave. These are hallmarks of our "modern" society out here in the Western world. 

In less developed spheres, ideas like "literacy", "hygiene" and "sexual assault" are only now beginning to enter their societies and become national issues. 

A sampling, from Human Rights Watch: 

Human Rights Watch has found that Russian government officials reject complaints from victims, refuse to investigate rape, neglect to refer victims to forensic doctors for evidence collection, and drop cases when they believe the victim is “at fault.” 

Similarly, in Pakistan, women who attempt to file rape charges face police harassment and disbelief, and may themselves face arrest and prosecution for engaging in extramarital sex. 

Women in India face daunting obstacles in prosecuting rape cases, beginning with lodging reports with the local police to confronting judges’ insensitivity to their plight. If an Indian woman is poor, belongs to a lower caste, or lives in a rural area, it is even more difficult for her to access the justice system.

For the cost of a mani/pedi - donate or talk to your Congressional rep!