RSVP for the Rally for Choice

Hi everyone!

I'm including a link to our Facebook "event" page if you would like to officially RSVP for the rally. Speak for Choice understands that many people have work, school, family, and prior engagements, but if you can come out for the rally (or come over lunch, for those of you working/living in Topeka), that would be AMAZING!

So click here to visit the event page!

Or, check out the "Rally for Choice" tab up top for more info.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment doesn't want to reveal how it developed new abortion law

From the Kansas City Star:

Kansas balks at disclosing how it developed new rules for abortion clinics

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/08/27/3104463/kansas-balks-at-disclosing-how.html#.TlvHU2QvGjo.facebook#ixzz1WkL8dRhZ

The state of Kansas is battling to keep from revealing details about how it developed new rules for abortion clinics.

Lawyers for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the attorney general want to prevent two abortion clinics from learning how the rules were crafted, as well as the mind-set behind them, according to their court filings.

They are asking a judge to limit the scope of what is shared with the clinics’ lawyers to prevent overly broad requests that don’t lead to relevant evidence, the court documents say.

Hays clinic will stay open and it's TIME TO RALLY!

Hi all!

Kansas has been ordered to resume funding Planned Parenthood on the same schedule that already existed (until the state crafted a law stripping Planned Parenthood of Title X funding). This is fantastic because the Hays clinic will be able to stay open! Planned Parenthood announced last week that if funding was not continued, they would be forced to close the Hays clinic. So yay!

Read the article here


In other news, IT IS TIME TO RALLY!

In one week from today, Speak for Choice and it's allies (Trust Women, Planned Parenthood, Kansas NOW, the ACLU, the MainStream Coalition, and the Young Dems) will be rallying for choice at the Topeka Capitol.

If you want more info about the rally, then check out the "rally" tab at the top of the page!

Flash from the past : Kansas clinics lose licenses in June

Hello readers! Speak for Choice will be posting articles from earlier this year as a reminder of why are angry and going to FIGHT!


From Mother Jones:

Kansas to Shut Down All but One Abortion Clinic Friday

It's official. Every abortion provider in the state of Kansas has been denied a license to continue operating as of July 1. As we reported last week, strict new state laws put in place this month threatened to close the remaining three abortion clinics in Kansas. The staff of one of these facilities, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, initially thought their operation could survive the strict new standards. But on Thursday afternoon, Planned Parenthood announced that the Overland Park clinic has thus far been denied a license to continue operating—effectively cutting off access to legal abortion in the entire state.

In late June, all three clinics in Kansas were denied their licenses! Though the Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri later had its license renewed, it had to scramble to comply with the new regulations, many of which had nothing. to. do. with. women's. health! And the other two clinics-Aid for Women and the Center for Women's Health-did not receive their licenses. They would have had to undergo extreme renovations to their buildings in order to comply with the new regulations, which dictated such important "life-saving" measures as: the specific temperature and size of the rooms, and required that women remain in recovery for 2 hours, which goes against the best practices of doctors. (FYI, women should be up and moving within 30 minutes following the procedure)

A judge issued an injunction and all 3 clinics remain open for the time being. On September 7th in Topeka, there will be a hearing regarding the abortion law passed earlier this year that put into place these regulations.

Which is why we are rally on September 7th in Topeka!!! Come out and show your support, and while you're at it, bring your signs, your kids, and your friends with you!


Read the entire article here for a refresher.

Speak for Choice Guest Blog on Abortion Gang

Kaylyn and Leslie wrote this guest blog for Abortion Gang.


Check it out by clicking here!


Thank you for letting us post. :-)

By the numbers

Population, Reproductive Health, Status of Girls and Women
Average births per minute U.S. 6

Average births per minute in developing nations 240

Percent of population under 25 in U.S. 20

Percent of population under 25 in Sub-Saharan Africa 43

Percent of women among the 1.3 billion people globally who live in absolute poverty 70

Percent women contribute to the world’s working hours 66

Percent of world’s income earned by women 10

Percent of the world’s property owned by women less than 1

Percent of girls among the 77 million children globally not attending primary school 60

Here are some sad stats of the state of things for women around the globe. Last year when I attended a presentation about feminism, someone asked why feminism isn't just humanism? Why the need for feminism to be distinguished? Heather (one of our lovely authors) responded that feminism was necessary as long as there was an inequality between males and females, even if the inequality wasn't as bad in our country as some other part of the world. She reminded everyone that we cannot forget our sisters around the globe who don't have any semblance of equality, who cannot own property, who work and barely make any money...



Read the rest of the article here

Shelly Donahue's odd sex ed program.

Read the article and watch the funny videos here.

Shelly Donahue presents Colorado's WAIT Sexual Education Program ("Why am I Tempted?")

According to the program, women's vaginas are like "little Hoover Vacuums" and will suck up every little bit of sperm that gets anywhere near them-inside, outside, 2 inches away, etc. Slurp slurp! Slurp slurp!

And the program also compares women to tape. We're only sticky and able to form great bonds if we're virgins. After that, we lose our stickiness, and get contaminated with gross skin cells from all those dirty boys and hair. She only makes the tape comparison to the women, not to the men. But the men are the dirty and the nastiness that sticks to the women. Which is worse? To be the dirty thing or the contaminated thing? I'm still picking up on it being worse to be female, because girls are the "contaminated" ones--Donahue definitely aims this concept of dirty-girls at the male audience members. (My interpretation of Donahue's brain-->)"Ah! Stay away from that sleezy girl! She's not sticky enough to bond with you! Too many males have sloughed off on her!"

What's even scarier? WAIT will recieve over $220,000 FROM THE STATE of Colorado to spread it's message of "waiting" (AKA slut shaming and guilting-mostly targeted at teenage girls, but also targeted at boys) to have sex. Yet abstinence-only-until-marriage sexuality education has been shown time after time to be ineffective!

Why not put real sex ed in schools and stop shaming people for engaging in what's a totally normal process? Why not prepare teens for the real world and its realities (which includes sexual activity) and help teens avoid STIs and unplanned pregnancies?