The power of blogging

Newsweek covers feminist blogging. Who would have thunk it? They point to the huge success of the 2004 March for Women's Lives that brought out more than one million people. In the three years since the march, this is the ONLY citation I can find on their website about it. I guess late is better than never, eh? Criticism aside, it does mention THIS BLOG! I feel a slight brush with fame since I wasn't here at the beginning. Word to Nathan, Carrie & the crew!

"Older feminists worry that ERA-era feminism's declaration that "the personal is political" has been lost on the latest generation, who don't realize that their personal struggles should be addressed collectively." Despite what some GenX/Millennial feminist bloggers may think, I think that what happened right here in Aurora, Illinois, blue-state that it is labeled, shows that the personal is STILL the political. What can be more personal than control over our reproduction? And clearly, what happens in our wombs is still hotly political. That's coming from a GenX feminist mom who has reproduced and pumped her way through the March. Seriously!

The piece ends with this:

The space for that conversation may be the Internet, on sites like Feministing, Feministe, Pandagon and Echidne of the Snakes. Valenti of Feministing.com says feminist blogs drove the million-plus turnout at the 2004 March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C., and helped secure the opening earlier this month of a controversial Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora, Ill. But even if blogging can translate into real-world activism, will it be enough to hold a movement together? That's a question this generation of feminists will have to answer themselves.

I posed that question to PPCA CEO & President Steve Trombley. Did he feel that the feminist blogosphere was critical to the opening of the clinic?

I think that blogging can “hold the movement together” and that it definitely translates into “real-world activism” We wouldn’t have won the fight to open the Aurora clinic without the hundreds of local activists and thousands of national activists who showed up at rallies and contacted local officials in Aurora. While they may have heard about the fight from the media or from our action alerts — it was the blog that kept them involved in the fight. I heard this over and over from our supports both nationally and locally. As someone who started his career as an organizer I know that there is nothing more important than making sure that your activist are feeling “in the fight” and the blogging is a great way to give everyone a sense of being on the inside, of being involved and also ready to take action.

Thank you to everyone who visits and especially to those of you who take the time to comment. Thanks to everyone who reads and passes along information. Planned Parenthood serves the community and that is the mission for this blog. To serve you with information as long as it is needed and wanted. Now let's get out there and continue to make this world a better place.

technorati tags: Newsweek, feminist, feminist blogging, Planned Parenthood, Aurora, March for Women's Lives

Update on Safeway/Dominick's and harrassment of patients

We just got a report from our health center staff that right now in Aurora a man is photographing our patients' license plates and taking notes as they come to their appointments at our center. This man was seen speaking with Ann Scheidler, who is the wife of Joe Scheidler, head of the Pro-life Action League. It's clear these people are set on intimidating our patients and all from the lot owned by Safeway/Dominick's.

If you can't get through to Dominick's on their local number, I suggest you give a call to Safeway's VP of Public Affairs, Brian Dowling. Brian's number is 925-467-3000.

Thanks for your help!

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Illinois

The opponents of abortion believe that they have God on their side. And somehow we are to jump to the conclusion that those of us who support reproductive freedom don't. That is utterly false.

Today in the Aurora Beacon should be (I haven't seen it yet) an ad taken out by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Illinois. This is to remind everyone that some very God fearng people are on the side of Planned Parenthood and believe that contraception and yes, even abortion, are not in violation to their beliefs. Here is the text of the ad:

To the Good People of Aurora:

Protests against the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora do not represent the views of the larger faith community and clergy. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Illinois represents over 40 different denominations and faith-based organizations.

We believe that women and families should be able to make reproductive health decisions according to their own religious beliefs and conscience. We believe that women are moral decision-makers. We advocate for a woman's right to make moral decisions about all aspects of her reproductive health, including the decision to terminate a pregnancy.

We arrive at this view from a range of different theological positions consistent with the teachings of our diverse faiths. Because of the many differences among our religious teachings, we believe the government and other people should not impose any one belief on all of us. To do so would violate the individual freedom of belief and conscience is embedded in our American way.

We the undersigned are pro faith, pro family, and pro choice. We support the programs and services of Planned Parenthood regarding women's reproductive health and self-determination. We call on all people of good faith to respect each other and not try to impose their beliefs on others. We urge everyone to work together to support comprehensive, quality health care and to let each individual make their own personal choices regarding what health care they will seek. We urge the city to let the clinic open.

Link from The Nation

Peter Rothburg of The Nation wrote this great blog post about the Aurora Health Center and our fight to open. After calling upon his readers to support us, Peter closed with:

What's happening in Aurora today is not an isolated situation. It's part of a continuing war on women's access to abortion services across our country. Planned Parenthood is on the battlefield organizing the counter-attack and it needs all the support it can get.

Peter is right, this fight isn't just about one health center in one community. Through their own actions, the anti-choice protestors have made this into a symbol of the fight for women's right to choice what's best for their bodies throughout the United States. Planned Parenthood will not back down from this fight and we will open our health center.

Videos Uploaded from the Rally

We’ve posted lots of videos from last night’s rally on our YouTube Channel. They give you a bit of an idea what it was like to be standing there on the streets of Aurora.

They're still a few more that are being processed and uploaded so check back!

Back from the Rally

The rally has been totally exhilarating! At the height of it, we had about 250-300 people there and we outnumbered the anti-choice demonstrators by around 2 to 1. People driving by on the street were honking and waving and our chants and screams were the only thing that could be heard for blocks in any direction.

It's not over yet--our supports are still out there strong at Aurora City Hall waving signs and acting as a very visable (and audible) demonstration to Aurora city officials that we will not go away until the Aurora Health Center is open for business!

More commentary, images, video, and a report on the City Council meeting later. Stay tuned!

***Edit: Images from the rally are up on Flickr!***

Setting the Record Straight

This post on Openline implies both that the Aurora health clinic has opened for business in defiance of the law and that the Aurora city council is complicit in that illegality.

Both statements are categorically false. Planned Parenthood has always and will continue to operate within the guidelines set by local, state, and federal statues. Our clinic is not open for business. Furthermore, the city of Aurora has been not been “looking the other way.” In fact, over the past twenty-four hours city officials have made two unannounced inspections of the Aurora facility.

Every day that this situation continues is another day that women across the western suburbs are denied access to vital health services. Planned Parenthood will continue to use every resource at our disposal to fight for the rights of women of Aurora and the surrounding communities.