Written by: gemma on 10/6/98 at 6:26AM.

well, the other day the annual life chain day was "celebrated".

pro life groups gather and form a human chain between aborion clinics. in vancouver, we had about five thousand and the stretched from everywoman's to the hospital (victoria to oak, east to about downtown). the group claims that this happened all over north america with a cuople million people. i was wondering if that was made up or if it was sadly true- anybody hear about the activities in their city? hearts, gemma

Replies:

Reply from: brock on 10/6/98 at 6:30AM. didn't hear about anything happening in south dakota. and if it were to be north america-wide, there would be something going on in south dakota, which is allegedly an "anti-abortion stronghold".

Reply from: carrie k. on 10/6/98 at 7:14AM. two years ago, it happened in my tiny town of irwin, pa. there weren't a ton of people (it stretched maybe two blocks). but my friend, her uncle, and i went disguised as reporters. we talked to the lady in charge of this particular rally, and she was just really incoherent. we asked her why she was pro-life (even though i disagree with that term....), and she stumbled with her words a lot, at one point mumbling something abt pirates off the coast of Barbary (i am NOT even making this stuff up), and how they didn't kill babies. it was sad; some parents had their 5-year old kids there holding up signs that said "HONK if you are pro-life!" of course, the kids got a huge thrill out of this. almost everyone who drove by honked. that was super-scary. it was really stupid and awful. but yeah, it happened. i'm not sure if it happened again in my town again this year. i'll ask my friend who still lives there. xoxo- carrie k.

Reply from: carrie k. on 10/7/98 at 1:54PM. top!!!!! this is important!

Reply from: gemma on 10/7/98 at 3:19PM. the part that got me to post about it was that i was at work, and i do the kinders. we were talking about our weekends, and one of the little girls said that she missed going to church on sunday to stop people from "killing babies". she said she got hot chocolate and cookies and got to hold a sign. sick. she didnt have a clue what is was about, she thought that a man was going to kill his baby and they were trying to stop him. this little girl turns five tomorrow. it was really harsh for me because she was talking about protesting at the place where i had an abortion the next day. it just made me ill.

Reply from: m.Amazon on 10/7/98 at 10:58PM. I didn't hear about any chain of life activities, but I heard something else that was scary. In Pittsburgh two detonated bombs were found inside two separate abortion clinics. My best friend lives there and she had an abortion last year, so it jolted me when I heard this on the news. These people are really frightening.

Reply from: carrie k. on 10/8/98 at 7:29AM. there were detonated bombs in Pittsburgh? i live there, and that's so scary!! yeeowch! how long ago was this?

Reply from: kit on 10/8/98 at 7:35AM. you can get a zine that has something on this subject from Neptune's Darling distro.. the zine is called "libel" and i reccomend you get it... just email me for the address of the distro and i'll hook you up. xoxoxo karyn

Reply from: carrie k. *again* on 10/8/98 at 7:40AM. a comment abt the kids thing - they really get sucked in by this rhetoric of killing babies. i think a lot of it is because the "pro-life" side of things can be put in simplistic, even if not factual, terms. "killing" and "babies" and even "pro-life" are emotionally loaded words, and they can reach nearly everyone. the pro-choice side is a lot harder to explain. no one gets attached to words like "fetus" which i guess is kinda good. but fetus is not a strong word like the other ones. it is scientific, cold, and not really an everyday word for most people. what are the strongest words the pro-choice movement has??? all i can think of are "choice," "reproductive freedom," and "rights." what else is there??? i need answers! - xoxo- carrie k.

Reply from: m.Amazon on 10/8/98 at 7:56AM. Carrie- From what I heard, the bombs were found recently. This was on the news, so I assume it happened over the weekend. Not sure though...

Reply from: brock on 10/8/98 at 7:59AM. i heard about people finding bombs in clinics, but i thought it was in north carolina. i think i heard about that on sunday. they found very powerful bombs in two clinics in north carolina. but they may have left bombs in pgh too, and i just didn't know about it.

Reply from: carrie k. on 10/8/98 at 7:59AM. oh, wow.... i have been so cut off from the outside world since i started college. i am so shocked. i will have to watch the news tonight or pick up a paper.

Reply from: gemma on 10/8/98 at 8:22AM. it's a really scary thing. like, i live in canada where there's alot less violence, but pre surgery i was sitting in the private counselling room and the counsellor started asking me "do you hear that?" she thought it sounded like someone was on the roof and called for it to be checked in case it was a bomb. scary shit.

i remember when i was a little kid not really knowing about it till i was seven and then asking my mum. she told me that it's about a women not wanting to have a baby when she's pregnant and she can have an operation to stop it. most importantly, it was about her choice. it wasnt till later that i learned about my dad's catholic churches actiities and why my mum didnt let him go anymore. the difference was that i had a clear understanding of what happened and why. and i knew that some people thought it was wrong. these kids are told by their parents in big scary words- simplistic that's true. but then thtey grow up and keep themselves attached to terms they were given as kids.

Reply from: An anonymous viewer on 10/8/98 at 11:52AM. top

Reply from: An anonymous viewer on 10/8/98 at 3:58PM. top - this is, as carrie k. says, important!!

Reply from: An anonymous viewer on 10/8/98 at 4:05PM. top

Reply from: Sara Wednesday on 10/8/98 at 4:11PM. *Shudder* This post is so important, but it's making me sick. "Pro-lifers" make me want to puke.... I was at the library today and I saw a car in the lot that had one of the fucking smug bumper stickers that said "We vote pro-life." It's like *who the fuck cares?* you know? I wish I had the courage to pull the sticker off... I think the pro-choice rally is in April -- does anyone know for sure? I want to get some kids together that have floorspace to donate for a night or two and bring in HUNDREDS of people so the march will be extra noisy and extra angry. I'm so sick of "life chains" and shit like that. *fume* ox, Sara

Reply from: gemma on 10/8/98 at 4:13PM. my 'favorite' is "i beleive in equal rights for unborn woman".

Reply from: carrie k. on 10/8/98 at 5:11PM. there used to be this girl at my high school who had a "save the baby humans" bumpersticker....ick. at a cemetery near my hometown there is a billboard sponsored by the same church as the cemetary... it says ABORTION: the choice that KILLS. in big red letters. it pisses me off so bad... but a coupla weeks ago i went back to the area, and that billboard was lying flat on its face. word is, though, it's back up. damn.

Reply from: brock on 10/8/98 at 5:26PM. the catholic church here gives out bumperstickers that say "pro-choice? that's a lie...babies don't choose to die". it's so hokey. i like my "just say no to sex with pro-lifers" sticker better. heh.

Reply from: brock on 10/8/98 at 5:31PM. hey, sara, what pro-choice march? i wanna go! i probably would go, too...

Reply from: An anonymous viewer on 10/8/98 at 8:33PM. top this!

Reply from: julia on 10/8/98 at 9:53PM. doncha just love the irony of "pro lifers"? those bombs would have killed everyone in the clinic - born and unborn. my favorite pro-life logic ever: "give the child the choice. i've never heard an aborted baby say i'm glad you aborted me." so, what are they saying, have the kid then ask it if it wants to commit suicide?

Reply from: An anonymous viewer on 10/8/98 at 10:25PM. Uh no thats not waht they are saying. They are saying you are making the choice for that baby whether it lives. It wouldn't choose to die on its own would it? But I am not going to state my opinion on this issue. I remain some what neutral. I just want to know how many times gemma has had an abortion. She is using it as a means of birth control or so I hear and that to me is wrong. Someone please tell her to use a condom or the pill or something. Or maybe just abstain until she doesn want kids.

Reply from: Brian Crabtree on 10/8/98 at 11:51PM. Fuck you, anon. (As if we don't know who you are) The existence of people like you is the best argument for abortion I've ever heard.

Reply from: gemma on 10/9/98 at 0:09AM. to clear up this issue cuz i'm real real tired of it.

last may a condom broke. i was using spermicide too. my period was late and i used an herbal abortion/period inducer. it's more like an emergency pill (aka morning after) than ru 486.. i was uncomfortable with taking the pill as it's health implications, but the condom/spermicide whatever didnt cut it and i had to have a surgical abortion. i'm on the pill now because nothing else works for me. i think alot of the "how many has she had" thing going around is because i was on my mind for about eight weeks and although i'm not good at verbalizing, it's easier for me to express my feelings about it in writing and because of the content of the board, alot of that ended up here. i am in no way using it as a means of birth control. it's called being fertile and unlucky. if you were halfway decent enough to put down your name and email i would have been able to send you this in private but yr not so i cant.

and i find it really, really intereting how through all of these negative choice posts that only me, and not my partner, has been questioned and blamed. there's two of us, and yr only showing how backwards yr stance is by not recognizing responsibilty falls in both places.

Reply from: Sara Wednesday on 10/9/98 at 0:29AM. Brock and anyone else interested: I am almost positive there is a march and rally in DC every year for reproductive rights. There's one for anti-choice types, too.... The one for reproductive rights is in the spring or summer, I think... that's why I think it would rock so hard if DC was bombarded by tons of loud, angry kids for the next rally. I'm sick of the anti-choicers' holier-than-thou attitudes... *retch* I'll try to get some info from NOW and put in on a webpage so people can start making travel plans early. :) ox, Sara

Reply from: Tracey on 10/9/98 at 0:34AM. anonymous... that was really shitty... i wonder if it makes you feel at all better about yourself to bash someone on such a personal subject as that? your sensitivity amazes me... really... gemma doesn't need to explain herself to you... she doesn't need to justify her actions to you... and the fact that she has solidifies any respect i have for her on the subject... you've chosen something that is one of the most personal subjects for women to talk about and decided to make it public domain... i hope you get someone to help you on your social graces... and while they're at it... help to sort out any possible problems you have that you feel need to be projected onto other people...

tracey

Reply from: Tracey on 10/9/98 at 0:38AM. sara... i don't know if it's annual... but i do know after the birth of my cousin's baby... she, being my cousin, my aunt, and new born baby courtney marched in support of pro-choice laws... i don't remember exactly when that was... a few years ago... but i haven't heard of any more that have been going on... that would be a cool thing to do though... :)

tracey

Reply from: gemma on 10/9/98 at 1:07AM. arg. Tracey, thank you. I really hate how every discussion on this turns into this drama thing, but i will refuse to shut up about it because safety threatening pro lifers, well, exist :) xoxo gemma

Reply from: Punkabelle on 10/9/98 at 1:53AM. *shudder* I can't believe some of these anit-abortionists *seethe* last year when i was at highskool, our school chaplain got some shonky doctor in to tell us how abortion (and euthanasia, homosexuality, and marx ??!!) were evil...I walked out in tears because 3 people in my whole fucking year disagreed..*fume* god I'm glad I've left that hole! Anyway,I totally agree that the emotional base of all their rhetoric is dangerous because not only does it fool little kids, but big kids as well - i mean, plenty of my 17/18 year old friends were swayed by it's emotional simplicity...******************** moving on, FUCK YOU VERY MUCH ANON!!! I've never met Gemma, but her private life is her own business & is not there for you to judge.Maybe yr a guy & you've never had to worry about contraception that much, or maybe yr just a really fucking dumb girl....I know a little about this, because I dated & slept with a loser of a guy who was careless & the condom came off when he was pulling out. So i took the morning after pill & spent the next day throwing up. I subsequently went on the pill, which made me permanently nauseous & bloated (until I dumped loser boy! hooray!!!) There are plenty of women who don't use abortions as contraception, but accidents happen, & it's just not practical for all sexually active women to wander about armed with condoms AND spermicide AND diaphragms AND be drugged up on the pill. *grrrrrr* big hugs to all the pro choice grrrls & buoys here & hope yr feeling ok now Gemma:) sorry this is so long, but it _is_ an issue I really, really care about xoxo Punka

Reply from: erinn on 10/9/98 at 5:41AM. here in indy there were about 3,000 pro life peolpe lining the streets of downtown... there were 7 of us pro choicers ... mainly under 18 grrrl's... we got spit on and yelled at... but we also had a great response from passer bys... glad that we were out there defending their rights... nnext year we hope to get no people involved... this was kinda a last minuet thing...... erinn

Reply from: Lady_ßunny on 10/9/98 at 12:04PM. Is there any kind of ''pro-lifer'' e-mail list that tells when they are having rallies and outside the clinic protests?? or religous newspaper or something?? I always want demonstrate against them at their protests, but i never find out about them until it's on the evening news! = (

''Keep your laws of my body!!!!''

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