Lina Thorne's Open Salon Blog

A personal appeal to Occupiers on Wall St. and everywhere

Tue, 4 Oct 2011 14:10:26 -0400

More than ten years ago now, at the beginning of the month of September 2001, I was preparing to go to DC to participate in what was expected to be powerful and significant demonstrations against the IMF meeting there. It was about two years after the "Battle of Seattle" and the anti-globalization movement was firmly on the scene, challenging complacency and consumerist greed - questioning the very system the world economy is based on. Young activists angry at the impossibility to completely extricate ourselves as individuals from a world-wide network of sweatshops, super-exploitation, and environmental destruction planned large marches and dramatic disruptions in the capital city. A world in which more than half the planet lives on less than $2 a day was looked at as unacceptable, and changeable, as we chanted, "a better world is possible - a better world is needed."

After 9/11, though, plans were changed. People were told to "watch what they say" and that protest wasn't acceptable under the new conditions. Many who had ridiculed Bush as stupid now looked to the government in fear for direction: and were clearly told "you're with us or the terrorists." Some groups bailed from the protests. Others persevered. I still went, with friends - and got to catch a few whiffs of tear gas and surprise myself by my naivete in not realizing that a club to the ribs was meant to hurt, not just move us. The protests were a fraction of the anticipated size, but they did go on in any case.

For some time, though, people living in the US by and large came together under Bush's umbrella. A moment of questioning, "why do they hate us?" quickly closed as the Bush team invaded Afghanistan. Some of us still protested... the world was still fraught with injustice, inequality, unnecessary suffering - all presided over by this country. We called out the invasion of Afghanistan as aggressive and illegitimate - no matter how many people or countries lined up behind George Bush and his swaggering threats. We protested, and pointed out that bin Laden, if he was indeed the mastermind of 9/11, was a long-time CIA asset. It all happened so quickly - now we know that many villagers in Afghanistan, living without much connection to the world's mass media, first found out about 9/11 through the US invasion, when their families were killed. When Iraq was invaded in 2003 (in defiance, this time, of global and domestic condemnation), I distinctly remember a woman walking with us that night towards Lake Shore Drive who silenced our joyous chants as we anticipated taking over one of the most important arteries of the city with thousands of marchers. She shouted, with tears streaming down her cheeks, "They're killing people right now! Right now they are bombing innocent people!" She was right, of course; and that was just the beginning. One million Iraqis are now dead, tens of thousands of Afghanis, and millions made refugees. Statistics just don't capture the horror the way that woman's voice did, though.

Frederick Douglass wrote, "When I ran away from slavery, it was for myself; when I advocated emancipation, it was for my people; but when I stood up for the rights of women, self was out of the question, and I found a little nobility in the act." Ten years after September 11th, as millions of people watch the thousands occupying Wall St. and other places, cheering for this amazing, refreshing, and utterly needed expression of outrage, I am pleading with all those involved, and everyone inspired by the bravery and hope captured in this resistance movement to stand up for the 99% of the world: those who cannot even imagine the possibility of healthcare or college degrees... those penned into open-air prisons in the middle east, toiling in factories and farms that feed and clothe us here, for those who live under the omnipresent threat of predator drones operated via remote control from US military bases. Yes, we are the 99% and yes we are screwed by the 1% - but we are also living in the empire, and must take responsibility for the crimes carried out in our names. In doing this we regain our own humanity.

October 6th is the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan. Join World Can't Wait in DC that day and going forward to send a message to the people of the world that we will stop these wars and create a more just world for all - not just for Americans.

Summer of Trust – Summer Celebration of Choice

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:07:12 -0400

Momentum is building for a beautiful gathering of abortion rights supporters in Germantown, MD (near Washington, DC) July 31-August 7!

Watch and spread this video of Dr. LeRoy Carhart calling on supporters to come out for a Summer Celebration of Choice: We are all especially excited about the Kick-Off Walk, and encourage all activists to join. The walk is also a fundraiser to support the Abortion Access Fund, which enables women who often travel very long distances to obtain crucially needed and lifesaving abortions.

The National Organization for Women had its annual conference June 23-25 in Tampa, Florida. There, the members passed a resolution of support for both the Summer Celebration of Choice and the Summer of Trust. Thank you to the inspiring leaders and the dedicated members of NOW, and we hope to see you all in Germantown this summer!

Get involved, spread the word, and make your plans to attend now!

Download PDF of this call to action as a flier. Facebook: Summer of Choice and Summer of Trust
Twitter: @summeroftrust and@summerofchoice
Dr. Carhart’s site: summerofchoice.com
Grassroots activists mobilizing site: summeroftrust.com

Watch Dr. Carhart’s invitation to come to Germantown:

Sign up to participate and donate in the fundraising Kick-Off Walk on July 31st at summerofchoice.com!

Make this Summer a Turning Point for the Right to Abortion in the United States!

Against the backdrop of a wave of anti-abortion legislative assaults, Operation Rescue has announced plans for a “Summer of Mercy 2.0″ targeting the brave and outspoken Dr. LeRoy Carhart in Germantown, MD July 30-August 7. This organization is the same group that hounded Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, KS, for years (until he was assassinated by one of their associates in May ‘09). Their original “Summer of Mercy” in 1991 shut down access to the Dr. Tiller’s clinic for six weeks and resulted in 3,400 arrests, a very alarming history to invoke.

World Can’t Wait will join with others to mount a serious and determined showing of public support for Dr. Carhart and the Germantown, MD, clinic whose practice he has joined.

Only 40 minutes from Washington, Operation Rescue’s targeting of this clinic in Germantown is an important opportunity to dramatically shift the dialogue over abortion rights. Rather than accept compromises that leave us with less and less ground to stand on, let’s show the national media and politicians a strong pro-choice presence on the streets.

Given the national context, as the right to abortion and birth control is both chipped away and attacked with state laws that are direct challenges to Roe, the need to mobilize boldly is clear. Dr. Carhart is one of the most exemplary and heroic advocates of women’s rights today: he was a close friend and colleague of Dr. Tiller’s, and has stepped into Dr. Tiller’s shoes to provide women with life-saving abortions under the most difficult of circumstances, so-called “late-term” abortions, which are needed in crisis situations. Without his services many women would be left without any choice at all, and would die.

But he hasn’t just provided medical care to women in need: he’s also challenged repressive laws at the level of the Supreme Court (most notoriously with Carhart v. Gonzalez): shared his medical expertise with other doctors and increased the number of providers who can handle the difficult procedures he specializes in: and publicly spoken out against the hatred of the anti-abortion movement, never being intimidated by their threats. This is the kind of person who should be cherished and revered, not forced to face the violence and bullying of the anti-abortion movement alone.

Dr. Carhart is a hero and access to the services he provides are crucially needed. Without this basic right, women can never be free. This summer, we will talk about morality and what is truly immoral: forcing women to bear children against their will.

Join us in Maryland and donate generously to fund transportation, housing, and associated costs for this week of mobilization. Help make this summer a turning point for the right to abortion and fund the kind of actions that can re-orient all of society in a more just way.

Download PDF of this call to action as a flier.

Backing Down the Most All-Out Assault on Abortion Rights

Thu, 12 May 2011 11:05:20 -0400

This is a moment for sober reflection. How did we get to this point and what do we do now?

HR3, the most extreme anti-abortion federal bill yet, just passed the House of Representatives and moves on to the Senate now. If it becomes law, health insurance that includes abortion coverage would no longer be tax deductible, and the IRS could be required to audit rape victims. 512 state-level bills restricting access have been introduced in the first three months of 2011. Many of these bills directly challenge Roe. For instance, there is the so-called "heartbeat bill" in Ohio, which would ban all abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected - supported by many of the fascists hoping to run for the presidency in 2012, from Michele Bachmann to Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee. A fetus supposedly testified for this bill in the Ohio legislature, taking the surreality to another level. Then there is the Louisiana "feticide" bill which decrees 15 years hard labor to punish women and doctors for abortions.

Pro-life, your name's a lie.

The federal bill which would have defunded Planned Parenthood (which, for the record, is not allowed to use any taxpayer funds for abortion services under current law) was defeated; but now other states are going to copycat Indiana, which just went ahead and defunded Planned Parenthood anyway. This may mean the loss of all federal Medicaid funds for Indiana, as states aren't really supposed to single out one healthcare provider and refuse to allow Medicaid recipients to receive their services.

While the Tea-Partying Republicans are the main force behind all these efforts, 10 Democrats co-sponsored HR3, and 16 voted for it. The Iowa Senate Majority leader, a Democrat, is the politician orchestrating the effort to prevent Dr. LeRoy Carhart from providing abortion services in his state. There are countless other examples at the state level of Democrats joining these efforts to actively curtail our most fundamental and basic rights to control our own bodies.

How does this compare to the situation in other countries? In Canada, pro-choice activists are afraid that the new conservative government may institute something like the Hyde amendment there (preventing the government from ever funding abortion services, even for Medicaid/Medicare patients, which has been status quo in the US since 1976). This means that, as it stands now, the Canadian healthcare system freely provides women with abortions! In Tunisia, the small majority-Muslim country that set off the "Arab Spring" protests this year, abortion is free. Yet, in the US, the most powerful country on the planet, Christian fundamentalists from the backwoods to the highest levers of power, call upon all those who "love babies" to root out all new and fragile manifestations of a more just society for women, LGBT people and others, even as their beloved military continues to kill real living children, women and men by the thousands in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

We need to understand how and why all this is being tolerated so that we can change this dynamic.

This latest and most widespread attack on access to abortion builds on a wave that has been growing for more than 30 years. Anti-abortion fundamentalists have taken the offensive to shame women who insist on controlling their reproduction and their lives, to spread ignorance, and to violently attack doctors and those who defend them. They have attacked the science and the morality of our rights. Only a movement that is unapologetic and uncompromising in its insistence on the right and morality of abortion can stand up to and defeat these attacks.

While interviewing Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, Rachel Maddow pressed the question, "Why isn't anyone standing up for the right to abortion, rather than just talking about contraceptives and pap smears?" That’s an excellent question to ask Richards. While only 3% of all of Planned Parenthood's numerous and important services are abortions, the reason they are being targeted has everything to do with the right to abortion (contraception as well, which is inseparably connected for the anti-abortion movement). So where are the advocates in the public sphere, proudly pointing to the ways in which the right to abortion and birth control empowers women and breaks down the barriers to participation in society, advocates who angrily denounce the immorality of forced child-bearing? Where are OUR voices? There are blogs aplenty, making coherent and articulate arguments for reproductive rights, telling moving stories, and persuading people one-by-one to break through the propaganda offensive and see the true nature of the anti-abortion movement.

But the pro-choice movement by and large is still accepting the terrible terms set by the antis and negotiating for smaller and smaller pockets of access to this basic right. This is literally true now. 90% of all US counties don’t have a provider. Whole states are getting ready to outlaw abortion altogether. This retreat stems not just from "big girl organization" fear of the open dialogue inherent in new media online. It's deeply rooted and long-practiced approaches hinged on political compromise, electoral politics, seeking common ground with outright misogynists, and most of all, the needs of the Democratic Party, not of women.

Amanda Marcotte addressed this on RH Reality Check: “We’re understandably busy trying to fight incursions against the right to abortion, but because of this, we haven’t been doing enough to expand the right and put anti-choicers on defense.” Yes - and we also need to stop accepting the terms that there's anything wrong with abortion! What could be more moral, more just, than ensuring people have the right to decide what happens inside their uteruses? It's high time we seize the lofty language of morality from these oppressive creeps and re-orient all of society in a more just way.

There is good reason to fear the anti-abortion movement, which some call the “American Taliban” and others, “Christian Fascists” (what else can you can people who want the IRS to conduct “rape audits”?). But we can’t let that fear paralyze us, suffocate our voices, or allow acceptance of a truly intolerable state of affairs now.

Politics-as-usual is a dam holding back an ocean of people who care about the humanity of women.

Here we are, approaching the second anniversary of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller. If ever there was a need for mass, visible resistance in the streets to this whole hateful agenda, it is now.

Organized solely on the internet in a matter of weeks by first-time activists, the first Walk for Choice brought thousands of people in 40+ cities into the streets a few months ago. The walks continue in many cities this May 21. Find one near you asap! Organize one in your area if there isn't one set up yet.

Walk for Choice
May 21 - Times/locations vary
All locations are listed here.

Particularly important among all the Walks is the action at the Germantown Reproductive Health Services in support of Dr. LeRoy Carhart. He's on the frontlines, literally now, as Operation Rescue and their Maryland friends have opened up a base to harass him and his patients from right across the street from the clinic.

Support Dr. Carhart
Saturday, May 21 · 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Reproductive Health Services
13233 Executive Park Terrace,
Germantown, Maryland
Event page on Facebook

Catholic Vote Makes a Pro-Choice Video

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:03:58 -0400

This is what I actually said, unedited:

You want to talk about morality? Look at what we represent right here. We represent caring about half of humanity!

We did in fact represent "abortion on demand and without apology" - it just makes more sense the way I actually said it.

Catholic Vote and Bill O'Reilly have put together and promoted what they hoped would come off as incredibly scary and damaging to the message we sent with nation-wide Walks for Choice in February (in case you didn't pick up on it, cue the horror movie music in the background and the carefully bleeped AND blacked-out portions of speeches).

On the contrary, though, other than a couple people who seemed caught unawares when "Catholic Vote" (or whatever they introduced themselves as) shoved microphones in their faces, the video in its entirety portrays a powerful demonstration put together by people firm in their convictions that women have an inviolable right to control their own bodies. Yeah, we were angry and unrepentant (Raven!) - and that's a good thing! We have nothing to be ashamed of in supporting women's right to abortion and birth control; the stigma hanging over women is a big part of what needs to be fixed. So as my friend Emma Kaplan said, thanks, Catholic Vote, for making this pro-choice video!

I haven't located any other videos of the speak-out at the end or at different points during the day, but here's one that basically records what Catholic Vote edited. Caution: bleeping nonexistent.

While this event was NOT "the voice of Planned Parenthood" as Catholic Vote insinuates, I'll just take this opportunity again to send some more love to all the providers and future providers out there, who *risk their lives* (how much of an obscenity is that!?) to save women's lives and provide us with control of the most essential thing: our own bodies. Thank you.

And thanks to Jill McLaughlin, who also spoke (a bit of a lapsed Catholic herself who was not included in Catholic Vote's video) about our kind of morality which respects other human beings, including women AND people around the planet suffering at the hands of the US military. Speaking of which, protests against the years and years of war and occupation are happening this weekend. And you should be there.

International Women's Day and Stopping These Wars

Tue, 8 Mar 2011 21:03:56 -0500

Today, 100 years after the first International Women's Day, women are STILL oppressed and subjugated, here in the US and around the world.

If you have to ask how women are oppressed here, look at the work of the U.S. Congress and many state legislatures to dismantle access to abortion, birth control, and even pap smears.

The United States is occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, justifying them in part because they will bring "democracy" and better lives for the people, women especially. But US-backed policies in Afghanistan which have attempted to slightly undo decades of fundamentalist oppression are now being discarded.

The Washington Post quotes a US official talking about this: "The grim reality is that, despite all of the talk about promoting women's rights, things are going to have to give."

So this means, after unleashing the most powerful military against the poorest country in the world for over 9 years of raids, bombings, and devastation, the rhetoric about "women's liberation" is finally conceded to be just that: rhetoric. Rhetoric which mainly served to demobilize good people here who, horrified by the medieval abuse of women under the Taliban, supported the US invasion, or at least have silently watched the years gone by and wishfully suppressed any further investigation into the true nature of this occupation.

In Iraq, in addition to suffering the destruction and death that all Iraqis have faced, women now have less rights than they did under Saddam Hussein (who was, if nothing else, secular).

Mission accomplished?

If you care about women, the sooner you lose the wishful thinking and join us in protesting these wars the better. The United States does not and will not enforce women's liberation or democracy within the countries it invades.

The women struggling to be free in these and other countries need our political support (as "members of civil society; not as states" as an Iranian activist once told me). In Egypt today, the march for women's rights was disrupted by a mob of men chanting: "Men are men and women are women and that will never change and go home, that's where you belong." A better world is possible but it will only happen with women and men fighting to end all oppression.

We need a morality that transcends borders. We need a movement that fights for justice for human beings of all genders and nationalities. We need an ethos that values the lives of all the people of the world and and brooks no compromise over our fundamental rights. Let's stand with women and STOP THESE WARS!