Planned Parenthood supporter? There's one place to be and one place to avoid on Saturday!

If you support women's reproductive health and rights, then please don't go to Planned Parenthood tomorrow (unless of course you have an appointment). On Saturday, there are planned protests occurring outside of Planned Parenthood offices nationwide -- including here in Pittsburgh. 

Naturally enough, some are organizing counter protests. 

All good, right? 

NO.

That 'no' is coming from Planned Parenthood itself:

Adrienne Verrilli, Associate Vice President of Communications at Planned Parenthood of New York City told The Huffington Post on Tuesday that too many cooks in the kitchen can be really detrimental to a patient’s experience ― and the patient’s experience is their ultimate priority.  

“Our goal is making sure our patients are comfortable,” she said. “The quieter it is outside, and the less people are engaging with each other, the better it is for our patients.” 
...

 When counter-protestors are present, patients don’t see them as helpful, Verrilli said, “they just see chaos.” 

Planned Parenthood of Western PA is in agreement: They do not want counter protesters.

Unfortunately, there is a counter protest planned. 

A Facebook event was set up for the counter protest by a group of three men and two women, with the International Socialist Organization - Pittsburgh later added as a sponsor.

Their event page garnered hundreds of comments from women and Planned Parenthood asking, imploring, and literally begging them to reconsider. The pleas were met with complete resistance -- primarily by two of the men who set up the page. Via Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents:

This is what what my friend Jodi Hirsh calls ‘the ultimate mansplain.’  I am reposting my own comments from Facebook with regard to the intent of a group of self-identified Socialists to organize a counterprotest in support of abortion rights, but IN SPITE of the wishes and experiences of Planned Parenthood, clinic escorts, patients and pro-choice activists across the region. 

This is not okay. A group of 3 men and 2 white women are organizing an event to defend choice in spite of the vehement opposition of Planned Parenthood, clinic escorts, patients and more. 

This counter-protest threatens our safe access to PP clinics. It shows disregard for the leadership of women and the experiences of women. It flies in the face of logic. 

But mostly it says that these men do not trust Planned Parenthood and do not trust women. They are taking action on our behalf much like all of the Republican men who sign anti-choice legislation do. Their opinions matter more than anything else.

Listen to women, socialists. Listen to women and demonstrate the capacity to model political resistance where men center women’s experiences instead of their own.

I'd link to that event page, but it was deleted by the sponsors and replaced by a new one sponsored solely by the International Socialist Organization and where no commenting is allowed.

And, in one more act of ignoring the reality of the situation, the cover photo on the new event page is actually taken from a rally in support of Muslims which took place in Denver (13th photo in the slideshow here) -- nothing whatsoever to do with women's reproductive rights. But I guess, they figure the 'look' was right. Just like they like the idea of a counter protest and the sound of their own voices -- however counterproductive that is in reality in this case.

If you could see their original counter protest page, you would see that Planned Parenthood tried to work with them. For example, suggesting that they protest at PP's Greensburg office which is closed for the day (so no patients to upset), or protesting outside of "crisis pregnancy centers" (fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion). Planned Parenthood even set up their own event people could attend to demonstrate their support, but to no avail.

So, if you do want to support Planned Parenthood, again, please do not go to the counter protest in Pittsburgh.

Instead, join them at their I Stand With Planned Parenthood Celebration and avoid both the rabid forced birthers and the unhelpful mansplainers. 

The irony of supposed supporters doing the exact opposite of what the group they say they're supporting is beyond rich. And, it's no way to be a real ally.

I Stand with Planned Parenthood #StandwithPP

Today is "Pink Out Day." People around the country--including Pittsburgh*--are rallying in support of Planned Parenthood as once again, congressional Republicans (and Republican presidential candidates) continue their relentless attacks on reproductive health care. They do this even to the point of threatening to shut down the government, despite the fact that government funds do not go to paying for abortions.

One in five American women have received care at a Planned Parenthood health center. And in 2013, Planned Parenthood served 2.7 million women, men, and young people. Maybe that's why USA Today found that Americans back government support for the group by more than 2-1.

If you're not already at a rally, you can still participate:

Wear pink to show your support for women's health and for Planned Parenthood, and make sure your friends know why. 

Share a #PinkOut selfie to #StandwithPP on social media.

Pink Out your Facebook and/or Twitter profile image.

Let them know that we're sick of this bullshit.


* Thank you  Lynn Cullen, and City Councilman Dan Gilman!

BREAKING! Carly Fiorina has seen video proof of zombie outbreak!

Here it is!

 

 Just in case you were wondering, when Ms. Fiorina said at the debates last night:

"I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says, 'We have to keep it alive to harvest its brain,'" Fiorina said Wednesday night at the GOP presidential debate, during a discussion about a congressional vote on defunding Planned Parenthood.

1. No scene anything like the one she described were in any of the versions--edited or unedited--of the Planned Parenthood videos put out by Center for Medical Progress.

2. There was a scene of a baby in a mini documentary by Center for Medical Progress that was not filmed at any Planned Parenthood, that may have simply have been ten-year-old stock footage of a preemie that was used to *illustrate* someone's never proven claims about Planned Parenthood.

See here, here, here (and numerous other sites).

But by all means, let's shut down the entire government over a scene that was not in the videos she claimed it was in and that did not show what she claimed it did!

And, by the way, when she was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, she illegally sold hundreds of millions of dollars of computer products to Iran, meanwhile every single investigation of Planned Parenthood about those videos has turned up nothing illegal.

Pro Choice/Anti Readshaw Rally Turns Ugly

On Wednesday, May 7, Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Advocates held a "Rally Against Readshaw: 31 Minutes for 31 Votes Against Women's Health" in front of PA State Rep. Harry Readshaw's (D-Allegheny-Dist 36) Brownsville Road office. Here's how the event was described on Facebook by the hosts:

Representative Harry Readshaw has voted against women’s health an astonishing 31 times in the Pennsylvania legislature, and it’s time to show him that the women of South Pittsburgh deserve better. 

Join us for a 31-minute protest out side Rep. Readshaw's district office against the 31 times Harry Readshaw voted to restrict women's access to reproductive healthcare in PA. Let's make Readshaw tell us why he thinks women are not capable of making our own medical decisions.

Here are some photographs from the event:

And, here is a list of Readshaw's votes on women's health: www.31votesagainstwomen.com. It includes the infamous bill he introduced which would have forced women:

[T]o have a medically unnecessary ultrasound 24 hours prior to an abortion. It also forces doctors to turn the ultrasound screen towards the woman’s face. It then forces the woman take TWO prints with her (one for her scrapbook, and the other one SHE has to bring to the doctor performing the abortion.) And, furthermore, it forces civil and criminal penalties for doctors and patients who dare defy their legislating of medicine.

Here's the ad Planned Parenthood is running against him:

 

Readshaw has run unopposed in the Democratic primary for many years and has been a legislator since first winning in 1994. However, since House districts have been redrawn, he now has an opponent in the May 20 primary: Rep. Erin Molchany (D-Allegheny-Dist 22) who is progressive and pro choice and who has picked up endorsements from such local elected democrats as County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Mayor Bill Peduto, City Council President Bruce Kraus, City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, and others.

Maybe that's what's driving (no pun intended) some of Readshaw's supporters over the edge. From the Community Matters blog description of the rally:

I've been to hundreds of demonstrations in my lifetime. This began as a pretty standard event. We circled the sidewalk in front of Readshaw's office until a woman in a large SUV backed up along the curb, nearly hitting some protestors and reporters. Jeanne Clark, a longtime Pittsburgh activist, walked to the driver's window and said "Stop. There are people behind you." The driver said "You don't care about killing babies", and she did it again. Deliberately. She sat in the car screeching "Abortion is murder." Apparently, she doesn't have a problem with vehicular homicide or critical injury. Pro-life my ass. 

We learned that the woman is Megan Readshaw Perfetti, Harry Readshaw's DAUGHTER. 

Perfetti is a health teacher and coordinates the health education curriculum for the Pittsburgh Public Schools. I guess she doesn't think women need health care. 

Before the event even began, a man from the business next door strongly objected to our presence. He shouted that he was calling the police. No one cared, since we were protesting legally. A Pittsburgh Police car arrived a few minutes later, after Perfetti's stunt, and sat in a parking space across the street. Perfetti walked over to talk to the officer. I don't know what they discussed, since she was clearly the only person committing a crime at the time, but the officer never left his car. He drove away as the event ended.

Wow! And they call themselves "pro life."

You can also read the City Paper's Blogh coverage here.

Vote like your lady parts depend on it!

There he goes again! Mitt Romney tries to flip-flop on abortion one more time.

In a not totally unexpected "shift" to the center, here's what GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told the Des Moines Register Editorial Board in an interview yesterday:

“There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.”

Looks like Mitt wants to keep that gain he made with women in the polls after the debate last week -- a debate which utterly failed to address women's reproductive rights issues.

So who should women believe -- Mitt or Mitt -- when it comes to our lady bits?

Here's Romney on abortion...before he started running for president:

  Here's Romney at a Planned Parenthood fundraiser in 1994 (he and Ann wrote them a check for $150 that year):

Here's Romney on Planned Parenthood in 2012:

  Here's Romney earlier this year saying he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade and that he supports "a pro-life policy":

“I’m in favor of a pro-life policy. The legislation that relates to abortion which is something that is going to have to be approved by the Supreme Court and the key decisions I’ll take as the president will be number one, stopping funding for Planned Parenthood, re-instituting the Mexico City policy which says our funds can’t be used for abortion around the world and appointing justices to the Supreme Court that will follow the Constitution, hopefully reverse Roe v. Wade, and return to the states, the authority for making law with regards to abortion.”

Romney's folks are already walking back his comment to the Des Moines Register. Here's what Andrea Saul, Romney for President Press Secretary, tweeted yesterday via Katrina Trinko, National Review reporter and member of USA Today's Board of Contributors:

. @andreamsaul on Romney's abortion comment to DMR: Rom "wld of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life"
— Katrina Trinko (@KatrinaTrinko) October 9, 2012

So, again, who do women believe? Mitt or Mitt?

Was he lying to us earlier this very year or was he lying to the Des Moines Register yesterday?

  Who can believe one word that comes out of his mouth?

Women's health issues are "shiny objects"

Women's reproductive health as seen by the Romney campaign

Not only are women's jobs a mere distration, but women's health issues are a distraction too as well as being "shiny objects."

Komen defunds Planned Parenthood breast exams

That will teach those slutty, slut sluts trying to get reasonably-priced breast exams at Planned Parenthood -- let 'em get cancer!

Via The Washington Post:

The Associated Press reports that Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation’s leading breast-cancer charity, will cut off its funding to Planned Parenthood affiliates, where the foundation has traditionally paid for preventive screening services.

According to the AP, the move will mean “a cutoff of hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, mainly for breast exams.” Planned Parenthood confirms that Komen is the first, and only, organization to cut off funding since the Congress began debating the issue in earnest last winter.

Komen said it could not continue to fund Planned Parenthood because it has adopted new guidelines that bar it from funding organizations under congressional investigation. The House oversight and investigations subcommittee announced in the fall an investigation into Planned Parenthood’s funding.

Notice this was done under new guidelines that they adopted. What's also new is their senior vice president, Karen Handel, who ran for governor of Georgia on a platform of defunding Planned Parenthood.

Just another anti-choicer who doesn't really give a shit about women.

What can you do?

Via Shakesville:

Call your local Komen office (find yours here) and let them know what you think of their new funding guidelines. Donate to your community's Planned Parenthood (find yours here) and ask that your gift be put toward unfunded breast health care. And breast-havers, do your annual self-exam!

Progressive Voter Guides

For the progressives in the house!

Keystone Progress has gathered most of the endorsements by progressive groups and put them into one handy-dandy voter guide. You can view it here.

I noticed that a couple of groups didn't seem to make it into the guide, so here are the endorsements by Planned Parenthood PA PAC and by Progress Pittsburgh PAC.

UPDATE: James in the comments section reminds me that The Pittsburgh 14th Ward Independent Democratic Club was not incuded either.
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Government Shutdown Averted; GOP Loses to Planned Parenthood

A shutdown of the Federal Government has been averted. A continuing resolution will be passed tonight (already passed by voice vote; actual vote to likely occur a little after Midnight) to prevent a shutdown and the budget will actually be voted on next week and will contain $39 billion in cuts. The riders -- including the one to defund Planned Parenthood -- will be voted on separately next week so that Republicans can get their public hard-on over denying women health care for their lady bits.

Here's what the overall spending cuts compromise looks like:

(Click to enlarge; original here)
The defunding for Planned Parenthood actually had nothing to do with abortion. Federal funds are already prohibited by law from covering abortions. The funds the GOP wanted to cut were for Title X funding -- a program started by President NIXON -- which:

"...fund a range of preventive health care services free of charge to patients at or below the poverty level. For low- to moderate-income patients, there is a sliding fee scale for access to Title X services, which include breast and pelvic exams, Pap smears and other cancer screenings, HIV testing, pregnancy testing and counseling, and affordable birth control."

And, speaking of Planned Parenthood and abortion, despite claims today that "that’s well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does," here's the actual breakdown of what they do:
Notice, that would be 3%, not 90%.

Here's GOP female House members avoiding saying what they think of Title X:

And, to take the bitter taste out of you mouth from the above video, here's Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards' cover version of the White Stripes "Effect and Cause."*

Rock on, Congresswoman, rock on.

*(h/t to Digby)

And Now A Message From Richard Mellon Scaife

This is so important I am keeping my commentary to a minimum.

In a piece from Today's Tribune-Review titled Don't Defund Planned Parenthood, Richard Mellon Scaife writes:

My grandmother was a friend and a supporter of Margaret Sanger, one of America's earliest, most effective advocates of birth control.

I met Sanger several times before her death in 1966 and was impressed by her intellect and her commitment to many issues, not the least of which was enabling every woman to be "the absolute mistress of her own body," as she put it.

I didn't agree with everything the formidable Mrs. Sanger espoused. Yet I respected her dedication to making health-care and birth-control services available to all Americans, especially to those with low incomes, no insurance and no other recourse to medical services.

And I admired her fearless, relentless readiness to stand up for what she believed, despite decades of angry, mean-spirited, often hypocritical attacks on her ideas and her character.

So I am aggravated by the continuing attacks on Sanger and her primary legacy, the Planned Parenthood network that still serves so many Americans today.

Now the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives -- urged on by conservatives opposed to abortion -- has voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

On this issue, Republicans and conservatives are dead wrong.

Remember, this is Richard Mellon Scaife writing, owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, financial backer of the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy and so on. His conservative bona fides are secure. He continues:

Abortions are a minor aspect of Planned Parenthood's mission to provide reproductive health care, education and other services to Americans, regardless of income.

More than 90 percent of its work focuses on preventing unintended pregnancies that almost inevitably lead to unwanted, neglected and abused children.

In Pittsburgh and across America, Planned Parenthood offices help people to make better decisions about whether to have children. They help to arrange adoptions for women or couples unable to raise a child but unwilling to end a pregnancy.

Most of their clients are poor Americans who cannot afford birth-control measures that cost as much as $1,500 a month.

Of the 10,000 to 12,000 people who use local Planned Parenthood services, about 20 percent are teenagers, half are ages 20 to 30 and the rest over 30.

Of course, no one wants teenagers to get pregnant. Yet far too many do -- and they need reliable, honest advice about what to do next. For many of them, Planned Parenthood is the only reliable source of that advice. For many others, Planned Parenthood is the only safe, reliable source of counseling to avoid getting pregnant in the first place.

If not for Margaret Sanger's vision and bravery, many poor Americans would have no place to turn for birth-control measures and counseling or for other health care services.

To take that away makes no sense.

I criticize Scaife's paper and his editorial board quote often and I plan to go on criticizing it for as long as it needs to be corrected. But in this case when the man's right, he's right.

Defunding Planned Parenthood makes no sense.

Rallies and Protests and Press Conferences, Oh My!

Looks like folks are awakening to the assault on, well, everyone (who isn't super rich)! Women, children, union members, the middle class, the working class and the working poor, public transit riders -- unless you're Donald Trump -- the Republicans have some plan to screw you.

We're not "special interests" when we are the majority!

Please attend any of these that you can:

THURSDAY, 2/24/11
Impacts of Proposed U.S. Budget Cuts on Pittsburgh Jobs & Families Press Conference (This is for the media)
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: WGF Office, Landmarks Building, 100 W. Station Square Drive, Suite 315
WHAT: Via press release [edited]: "Women and Girls Foundation hosts. Southwest PA organizations, their local workers and service recipients, would be directly impacted by the drastic cuts included in H.R. 1 which slashes billions of dollars of funding resulting in the elimination of millions of jobs and services for working families in our region. Federal programs impacted range from early childhood education and college financial aid to nutritional assistance for infants, veterans housing, public broadcasting, and reproductive healthcare. It eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and it defunds the implementation of health care reform and EPA pollution enforcement. It now moves to the Senate for vote later this month. Representatives from the following organizations will speak: Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, Fair Housing Partnership, Just Harvest, WQED Multimedia, Women’s Center & Shelter, PennFuture, Planned Parenthood, Adagio Health, The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Community Services, Action United, ACLU Pittsburgh, SEIU, Women’s Law Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, and Health Care for America Now. (Members of the media are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend.)"

MoveOn / Democracy for Pittsburgh: Invest in America!
TIME: 11:30 AM;11:45 AM
WHERE: Gather @ Aldo Coffee Shop, 675 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), PA 15228; Proceed to Office of Rep. Murphy, which is at 504 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), Pa 15228
WHAT: "We are going to go to Rep. Murphy and let him know that cutting billions from funding health care, education, and science will do nothing to turn our economy around, but it will hurt the other 98% of us that are barely getting through the worst recession since the Great Depression. We will go to the office of Rep. Murphy with our Invest in America message, and share our personal stories of why we need support for our broken economy and communities." Please RSVP for the event by clicking on the link below: http://pol.moveon.org/event/invest2011/112639

“Fighting For the American Dream” Rally
Stand in Solidarity with the Wisconsin Workers
TIME: Noon (lunch provided)
WHERE: USW International HQ, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5 Gateway Center, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: "Our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states are in a fight for the very survival of their jobs and their union. This is our moment to stand and show solidarity with them and let their Governor and the extremist organizations financing these attacks know: WE STAND TOGETHER! "


FRIDAY, 2/25/11
People's Rally For Public Transportation
TIME: 8:30 - 11:30 AM
WHERE: Mellon Square Park, 6th & Smithfiled, Downtown Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: Protest the drastic cutbacks in public transit.


SATURDAY, 2/26/11
Rally to Save the American Dream, Harrisburg, PA
TIME: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Steps, 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA 17101
WHAT: "Americans who believe in the right to organize are standing up on Saturday. It's time to stop the dismantling of organizations opposed to the right wing agenda."
RSVP: http://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=112822&is_manage=1

Scenes from today's Pro Planned Parenthood Rally/March in Pittsburgh

Scenes from today's Pro Planned Parenthood Rally (courtesy of David):








(Umm, lady, your taxes don't fund abortions.).

Stand With Planned Parenthood -- Rally Today

“Save Women’s Lives: Save Federal Funding for Women’s Health Care”

TODAY Wednesday, February 23

12:00 Noon

Meet at 933 Liberty Ave

If you can, please wear pink and bring your signs in support of Planned Parenthood’s family planning and basic health care services.

RSVP to Stephanie: Stephanie.L.Shaw@gmail.com OR 412-434-8957 ext. 116 OR RSVP on Facebook here.

Via Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania:

There has never been a more urgent time to support Planned Parenthood of Western PA and the thousands of patients we serve every year.

As you may know, last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed a historic measure to end Title X funding for preventative reproductive health care and entirely bar Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding for any purpose whatsoever and we need your help in Western PA!

Next week, the U.S. Senate will be voting on these very issues. There could not be a more critical time to let Senator Casey know that these attacks against Planned Parenthood and reproductive health care make it harder – if not impossible – for our patients, and his constituents, to receive the care they need and deserve: annual exams, breast exams, birth control, STI treatment, and life-saving cancer screenings.

JOIN US as hundreds of PPWP advocates, volunteers, patients, and staff walk from our downtown health center to Sen. Casey’s office to let him know that we stand behind him and that we are counting on him to support Planned Parenthood.

Horses: Yes; Women: No

Via Blog for Choice:

Politico and RH Reality Check are reporting that anti-choice Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana has introduced an amendment to a spending bill that would promote contraception--for wild horses.

But, they strip all federal funding for Planned Parenthood (mind you, this would be funding for contraceptives, cancer screenings, basic health care, etc. and not abortions) and want to stop all funds for all family planning for low-income Americans (Title X).

That would be:

Horses 1, Women 0

At least you know where you stand, ladies (barefoot and pregnant).

Via Digby, during the course of the debate on defunding Planned Parenthood:

Rep. Jackie Speier listened to debate on the House floor on Thursday evening as a Republican Rep. Chris Smith read a long, detailed description of an abortion and a "mangled image of a dead, tiny baby." Finally, Speier stood up and told her colleagues she had undergone an abortion in the early 1990s following a complication nearly four months into her pregnancy.

"As the night wore on, the vitriol and grotesque commentary got worse and worse," Speier, a second-term Democrat from California, told HuffPost. "I sat there thinking, none of these men on the other side have even come close to experiencing this, and yet they can pontificate about what it's like. It just overwhelmed me."

[snip]

"This was a wanted pregnancy, it was the second miscarriage I had had," she told HuffPost. "What they express doesn't come close to the experience that a woman goes through when she is losing a baby or when a pregnancy is terminated. It's a painful, gut-wrenching loss."

[snip]

Representative Speier shouldn't have to bare her personal life to the whole country. But she did because cynical, paternalistic Congressmen like Smith and Mike Pence thinks she is a child, a cruel child, who like all women cannot be trusted to make her own decisions. They have no clue about these experiences and no respect for the agency and autonomy of those who have to deal with them. (The women who support these patriarchal nincompoops are just as disrespectful.) It is a rare woman who has an abortion without understanding the seriousness of it and no one but she can rightly make the decision.

If you haven't already, watch Rep. Speier speak here:


Of course, here in PA, women are used to being treated as children (stupid and cruel children at that) as there is a mandatory lecture and waiting period for all women who seek an abortion in this state.
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That Time of the Month -- On the Spot

We've written about On the Spot before because it's an excellent project. On the Spot raises awareness and much needed funds to purchase pads and tampons for girls who have irregular access to these products. As the co-founder puts it:

For girls in foster care, unstable family situations, economically troubled households and shelters, “that time of the month” brings panic and uncertainty. Many skip school for lack of an alternative. In some local schools local staff provides products out of their own pocket to make sure girls have a back-up.

On the Spot will be holding a back to school fundraiser this Friday:

WHEN: Friday, September 10th
WHERE: Remedy in Lawrenceville (5121 Butler Street)
DETAILS: The event will include a paper bag auction, a cookie table, a DJ, and drink specials. Admission is $10 or $5 and a box of pads/tampons.

Can't make it? Donate products or money here.

On the Spot has collected over 1700 pads and distributed them to seven local schools, a women’s shelter and several after school/summer programs for girls. The project was also able to put together and distribute several hundred personal care bags for boys and girls in need. On the spot is a project of Desiree VanTassel and Jennifer England. All funds and products are distributed by Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Education Fund, (a 501c3) in schools that have a demonstrated need for help.
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Cookie Table & Cosmos for a Good Cause!

(Some of the actual cookies you can enjoy tonight.)
Just a reminder that the Inaugural On The Spot Happy Hour Fundraiser is this evening.

On the Spot is a new campaign to raise money to provide menstrual products to girls in local public schools. Many girls actually have to skip school because they don't have access to these products!

Event Details:

Inaugural On The Spot Happy Hour Fundraiser

Monday, February 22
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Over the Bar Cafe
2518 East Carson St.
Pittsburgh PA 15203

DJ Mary Mack, Kellee Maize, Silent Auction, Drink Specials ($2 Yeunglings, $3 drafts, and $4 On the Spot Cosmo), and Cookie Table

$10 or $5 and a box of supplies (pads preferred)

More info here.
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On the Spot

From the folks @ On the Spot:

A fundraiser on February 22 will kick off On the Spot, a new campaign to raise money to provide menstrual products to girls in local public schools. Many local students do not have access to proper menstrual products for various reasons, including economic hardship and disrupted family situations. Teachers, nurses and administrators at the schools do their best to provide the products, but pay for them out of their own pockets. Even more heartbreaking, young girls stay home from school while menstruating. How can these girls receive a proper education if they are missing multiple days every month or are distracted and stressed while in school?

On the Spot is an independent project of Jennifer England and Desiree VanTassel in conjunction with Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Education Department. All funds raised will be donated to Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania and used to purchase supplies.

Event Details:

Join Us for the Inaugural On The Spot Happy Hour Fundraiser!

Monday, February 22
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Over the Bar Cafe
2518 East Carson St.

DJ Mary Mack, Kellee Maize, Silent Auction, Drink Specials ($2 Yeunglings, $3 drafts, and $4 On the Spot Cosmo), and Cookie Table

$10 or $5 and a box of supplies (pads preferred)

And here I thought that this was only a problem in places like Africa. Help out anyway you can. You can still make a donation if you can't make the event.
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Pittsburgh's Bubble Zone Gets Pricked

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the City will have to choose whether Pittsburghers seeking medical attention will be harassed at the doors of medical facilities or be stalked on the way to medical facilities. Apparently allowing Pittsburghers to seek medical care sans some sort of direct intimidation is too much to ask.

Of course, when I write "Pittsburghers" I mean women in Pittsburgh attempting to enter women's clinics because no one is, say, stalking men going to get Viagra prescriptions.

From the Post-Gazette:

That was the opinion of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday in striking down a 2005 Pittsburgh ordinance that limited the rights of pro-life protesters at medical facilities where abortions are performed. [Actually, legally any medical facility.]

The ordinance, designed to protect patients who said they were being harassed as they entered the clinics, created an 8-foot bubble zone around people approaching medical facilities, as well as a 15-foot buffer zone from center entrances.

In an 83-page opinion, the circuit court wrote that the combination of the two zones was too much and burdened "substantially more speech than necessary" [because wimmin are dumb, impulsive bitches and having a state imposed 24-hour waiting period just isn't enough to help these hos with their barely human thought processes -- or something like that I'm guessing].

[snip]

The Supreme Court has separately found in favor of both buffer and bubble zones, but the Third Circuit said the use of both has never been upheld.

Reaction by Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania:

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is troubled and disappointed by the recent ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit which effectively reduced the protection of women seeking out medical care at family planning centers in Pittsburgh. While pleased that the court approved a modified version of the original ordinance, Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is concerned with the reduced protections this rule offers patients and others impacted by protesters at medical facilities.

[snip]

“The security and privacy of our clients has been greatly enhanced by the Pittsburgh Medical Safety Zone Ordinance” said Kim Evert, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. “We will continue to work with the city to ensure that patient safety needs are met and are dismayed by the courts decision to weaken these protections.”

Reaction by mayoral candidate Franco Dok Harris:

“Protecting women’s rights to have unfettered access to family planning services free of intimidation and threats will be a top priority for my administration. Protecting free speech is important but the Nation’s founders never meant free speech to be used to intimidate, harass and endanger women” Harris says.

Many of the clinics this ordinance protects provide health services like free and low cost breast exams, pap smears, and pre-natal care for low income women.

Franco Dok Harris is the only pro choice candidate in the race and the only candidate not to receive endorsement or large donations from anti-choice Political Action Committees.

Harris added that “we must create new protections immediately so that there is no lapse in the safety we are able to provide to women seeking health care services. Women should never feel unsafe or intimidated when they need care.”

Reaction by Pittsburgh City Councilor Bill Peduto:

William Peduto, a city councilman who helped craft the original legislation, said that there will be a meeting with the solicitor's office this week to determine how to move forward.

The city could appeal the court's decision, or choose to narrow the ordinance.

"In my opinion, it's essential that people have the right to obtain legal health care without being subjected to intimidation," Mr. Peduto said. "We can do that while protecting individual rights of freedom of speech and expression."

.

Sex Ed Sideshow!

Lights, Camera, Action Fund presents...SEX ED SIDESHOW!

Start Time: Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 8:00pm
End Time: Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:00am
Location: The Nerve Gallery
Street: 500 Dargan Street
City/Town: Pittsburgh, PA 15224 (Bloomfield) (map)
Tickets: http://sexedsideshow.vox.com/

Featuring...
Ring Master - Gab Bonesso
Lucky The Painproof Man
Puppeteer Flora Shepherd
Emcee Kellee Maize
The TypewriterGirls
Romairas Romeo Harp and the House of Krayola
The Bridge City Bombshells
Tarot Reader Paula Flaherty
Face Painting by Lauren Toohey
Music by DJ Ja(m) (Bo)x and special guest Ed Um
Slammin' Silent Auction
Satisfy your sweet tooth with treats by the Goody Truck!

Afterparty at the Brillobox!

"All of this and MORE, to benefit the Action Fund’s efforts to ensure sex education for Pennsylvania’s students. We have had one giant win this year in getting sex education mandated education for Pittsburgh’s Public Schools. That only leaves…wait? How many school districts are there in western Pennsylvania? WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO! Teens and parents are counting on us to get this job done. Let’s get it done with some flash."
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