Buttons Up! Creative Explorations

Buttons worn on shirts and lapels and vests and collars can make wonderful symbolic statements. Button collections can also be expanded into curiosities, event displays, wreaths, framed works, museum displays, and auction items.

The statement on a button has long been a key symbol of the feminist and pro-choice movements -- probably even more so than the other standards -- t-shirts, posters and bumper stickers.

The Chicago Women's Herstory Project, the online archive of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union, has a brilliant 1971 article by Jo Freeman that extols buttons and button-collections, as well as explaining the history and use of buttons in the feminist movement.

Button wearing serves many purposes. The most obvious is that it gives one an opportunity to make a public statement about strongly felt issues. Letters to the editor are rarely printed and the chance to make public speeches is available to only a few, but anyone can wear a button. It's a good way to start a conversation if you're in the mood to talk and to recruit if you want to proselytize.

The site's section on the arts also has a Feminist Buttons poster gallery with pages of buttons, like the one pictured above. Other pages show more iconic buttons, such as "Powerful Woman!" and "Abortion, a private decision" with a picture of the Statue of Liberty, a coat hanger and "Never Again," and "The Future Is Female."

Jo further explains the value of buttons:

You can say things on a button that you often can't confront people with directly. You can also say things repeatedly without being repetitive. Flo Kennedy's urgent plea to DEFEAT FETUS FETISHISTS can be stuck into casual conversation once, but you can wear it into almost any gathering where it will at least be read if not agreed with.

The button displays and Jo's article also point to a need in the pro-choice community. Jo writes, "Symbol-making is a necessary part of any social movement; it provides a quick, convenient way of proclaiming one's views to the world."

The reproductive justice community is sorely in need of new iconography -- the antis have polluted the public with theirs. I have a few ideas and am collecting others. To share: wordsofchoice@mindspring.com.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Feminist Button Gallery,Chicago Women's Herstory Project

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No Ban, No Joke -- Video

The pro-choice news out of Washington on healthcare reform can twists your insides with the hideous tagged-on amendment that, if it holds, will create an insurance plan that is an insurance ban on abortion. Few people refer to it by the initials of its chief sponsor -- Rep. Bart Stupak -- but that might be a more appropriate name. Maybe it's because the long-term consequences are too critical.

And add to this lousy reporting that gives misinformation about what it will do, and r-e-l-i-e-f seems nowhere in sight.

Now enter the Center for Reproductive Rights which, of late, has directed new energies to video illustration. Its one-minute video, "It's No Joke" is simple, direct and very effective (embed below). The video is shot in a mocked-up or real comedy club, with a woman performer (as yet unnamed -- but perhaps that can be remedied). The comedienne starts with a solid riff on an old joke -- "I think laughter is the best medicine, but maybe that's because I can't afford health insurance," -- and then goes on to tell a joke about the healthcare reform. While lots of news comedy (think Jon Stewart) relies on being serious to get to a humorous point, this video relies on a couple of good warm-up punches that do a quick reverse to knock the audience silent.

At least, it's a great relief to see a video that slices and dices and causes a chuckle and gasp.

"The Stupak-Pitts amendment tramples on women’s healthcare needs and violates President Obama’s promise that women will be able to keep the insurance coverage that they have today," writes the Center in releasing its video. Millions of women who have reproductive healthcare coverage under insurance, will have it yanked away and banned. (Remember, it wasn't supposed to be this way! Everyone was supposed to keep the coverage she already had, at a minimum.)

The Center uses the video to open a new microsite, http://www.NoAbortionBan.orgwhich includes fact sheets and actions.

Oh yeah -- CRR, please say who shot it and wrote it: artists deserve credit.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Screen shot from CRR video; Embed below.

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Ideas: Defining Freedom in Poetry

The words "reproductive freedom" do not necessarily roll off the tongue. But when people are asked to define it and write it, the invariably claim it and get it right. This abstract concept becomes more real, and maybe the words will roll the next time around.

At the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, New York, Words of Choice wrapped up the evening with audience participation activities.

We put a new twist on a exercise that we've used with substantial success in the past -- getting the audience to define reproductive freedom in ten words or less, and writing their definitions on index cards.

This time -- with two stellar actors on hand, Abigail Ramsay and Claudia Schneider (pictured above) -- we went to another level. Abigail and Claudia had the assignment of taking the cards and coming back in ten minutes with an audience presentation from the collected definitions.

Abigail and Claudia returned in grand style, with a poem that they performed using solo and choral components. This time the words really did roll off their tongues with panache, style and wit.

Here is what they created:

Poem for Reproductive Freedom
Sanctuary for Independent Media, Troy NY

MY BODY.

The right of any person to choose whether or not to parent.
Freedom for MY BODY, my mind, my spirit…for my own choice.
The ability to decide when, where and why.
Rights to one’s own mind, spirit, life & livelihood!

MY BODY.

The ability to make decisions on what birth control to use, to enjoy MYSELF with the same consequences a man would have.

Freedom to learn, understand and exercise the right to decide when and whether to be a parent, and to access quality care, regardless of MY choices.

MY BODY.

The freedom to choose how I love myself in the present & future; the freedom to choose the legacy I have.


What can you say, except wow!

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Abigail Ramsay (l), Claudia Schneider, at the Sanctuary for Independent Media

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Dear Justice Sotomayor: What I Want You To Know

The Words of Choice II performances (touring since 2008) begin with a collection of letters written to Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote the decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.The case recognized a constitutional right to privacy that prohibits states from making abortion illegal in all circumstances.

The letters from various people who both supported and opposed the decision in Roe were selected by Sally Blackmun, daughter of the justice. One letter begins: "Mister Blackmun. I could only wish your cancer had done you in before you wrote Roe vs. Wade." Another writer says: "Dear Sir, I'm just writing to tell you how much I appreciate the right to choose an abortion. The opportunity to terminate my pregnancy 10 years ago saved my life and I'm now a proud mother of two beautiful children whom I love and can physically and mentally take care of."

More letters were written to Justice Blackmun about Roe than have been written to the Supreme Court on any topic. Justice Blackmun, who served on the high court for 24 years from 1970-1994, died in 1999.

But what about the justices who currently sit on the U.S. Supreme Court? And particularly what about the newest member, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who took her seat this fall after being appointed by President Barack Obama as a replacement for retiring Justice David Souter?

Although the Supreme Court is now closely divided on retaining the vitality of Roe and preventing states from making abortion illegal, no one knows where Justice Sotomayor stands. What would letters to her say?

At a Words of Choice evening at the Santuary for Independent Media in Troy, New York, the audience was presented with this very current situation. What would they want Justice Sotomayor to know before she votes on an abortion case? One will surely come before the Supreme Court in the upcoming years. Paper and pen were soon in motion.

The results were a remarkable series of letters -- all are being delivered to Justice Sotomayor. Here are some samples.

"Justice Sotomayor. There can be no freedom to the future of young women in American without reproductive rights -- access to affordable birth control and true access to abortion services ... You have the power to make decisions for the women of America -- give them the power to decide for their own lives," said one letter.

Another said: "Dear Justice Sotomayor, First of all, I'd like you to honor the democratic principles of our founding fathers ... while remembering our founding mothers. If women lose the hard-fought right to make their own personal choices, their oppression will ripple down to all of our soicety .... This must be the most significant choice of your career -- a vote for justice, for independence, for women's right to choose."

And: "Dear Justice, I think another person does not have the right to tell a woman whether to have a baby or not. It is a woman's decision, not her doctor's, a person whose business is religion, or a politician's, elected for a few years. Children should be given proper happy homes."

And: "How much future do you think a woman should have? Should we plan our early womanhood? Our possible motherhood? What about our old ladyship? When do we call our lives our own? ... Can we consider ourselves to be citizens before we think of ourselves as mommies?"

And: "As a twenty-three year old woman finishing a graduate program and about to begin an unwritten journey, I cannot put to words the freedom and excitement I feel....I have made countless choices in my short life, none of which I regret, and all of which I remain confident in today. It is for this reason I ask you to maintain my right to make my own choice, my right to decide my future, my right to have an abortion."

And more. Some writers signed with their names, some did not. To keep the conversation going on site, we collected the letters and had three people read them out loud to the rest of us. We all learned from each other.

What do you have to say to Justice Sotomayor? Email: wordsofchoice@mindspring.com.

Send directly: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington D.C. 20543.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: A letter written by an audience member at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy, NY.

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Margaret Sanger In Her Own Words

She was a mover and a shaker who was determined to let women know that they could control their fertility and how they could do it. Margaret Sanger (1870-1966), the founder of Planned Parenthood, defied laws that made birth control -- and even discussion of it -- illegal. She rallied women and they rallied around her; she aroused passions and passions about her still continue today, even though she died more that 40 years ago.

She is also the subject of articles, books, publications and collections of her work and writings.

None is more fascinating, perhaps, that listening to a November 1953 radio broadcast, "This I Believe," part of Edward R. Murrow's radio show. Sanger is given the opportunity to explain her beliefs. Now, it's available as an mp3 file on the Internet site of the Margaret Sanger Papers Project at New York University. A transcript of the speech is also printed, but nothing can replace hearing her voice wrapped around the times with politeness and a 'womanly' tone, yet utterly firm and purposeful:

To build beyond myself, I must tap all inner resources of stamina and courage, of resolution within myself. I was prepared to face opposition, even ridicule, denunciation. But I had also to prepare myself, in defense of these unpopular beliefs, I had to prepare myself to face courts and even prisons. But I resolved to stand up, alone if necessary, against all the entrenched forces which opposed me.

Sanger is also the subject of a remarkable book by Ellen Chesler, recently re-released and updated, "Woman of Valor: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement in America." And Gloria Feldt, former president of Planned Parenthood of America and a motivational speaker, spoke this fall about lessons of leadership from Margaret Sanger at the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art in Brooklyn.

It's possible that a Sanger resurgence is underway. One New York woman emailed 'Words of Choice' to say that she has a Margaret Sanger musical in progress. This, I believe, to quote the radio show, could be pretty interesting.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured: Photos of Margaret Sanger from the Margaret Sanger Papers Project at New York University

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Resources: Who Are The 'Antis'? And What Do They Want?

Tracking the multi-hydra anti-abortion movement could be a full time job. But, it's a dilemma for pro-choice artists and activists: understanding their tactics and tricks is ultra important to portraying and combating their lies, distortions and falsities. The truth requires unlocking and exposing.

Fortunately, this IS the full-time job of researchers at the Political Research Associates, known as PRA, a group that researches, watches and reports on the Right wing. PRA has just released a comprehensive new online toolkit, Defending Reproductive Justice that provides first-hand examples and analysis of the Right-wing anti-abortion endeavors and efforts.

The poster pictured here, for example, is from the Right-wing Elliot Institute, which has mastered using subjects that concern women in false equations to attempt to whip up anti-abortion sentiment and cause women distress.

The the new release is a 2009 update of an earlier publication from 2000. Both now printed online in a crisp and accessible format.

In a new Overview called "Polished Lenses and Focused Targets: Defending Reproductive Justice," senior researcher Pam Chamberlain describes changes in the landscape since 2000, including ongoing activism, anti-choice legislation and a broadening of Right-wing attacks on contraception, emergency contraception, and a range of healthcare options, as well as abortion.

She writes:

Despite the range of attacks on multiple reproductive issues, opposition to abortion remains a lynch pin of conservative organizing. Whittling away at abortion rights from multiple angles provides continuous opportunities for movement supporters to stay active; there is always another campaign that needs their help. To maintain high public interest and mobilization, anti-choice forces deploy carefully crafted claims asserting both moral superiority and an obligation to act. Their main arguments can be summarized by the following three phrases: 1) The Culture of Life Must Resist the Culture of Death; 2) Women Must be Protected from Harm, and 3) the Fetus is a Person.

Sections then discuss "What the Right Claims," and "Progressive Analysis." A chapter called "Publications" contains a solid list of books on the topic from 2000-2009. My one complaint is the 2009 section called "Resources," which contains some outdated information.

What's great about this new PRA site, though, is it contains virtually all of the Right-wing arguments, organizations, literature and lies in one place. One of my favorite sections in "Primary Sources," with fundraising letters from Right-wing organization, pushing paranoia and fear. PRA dissembles the lies with carefully-researched truths and the back-up for them, too. Yay for the truth: After all, if anti-abortion people are so desperate that they make up science and use debunked studies, like the one that abortion causes cancer, how valid can their cause be?
Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Flyer from the anti-abortion "Elliot Institute," posted by Public Research Associates

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'The Heretics' Shows Comfort With Choice

"The Heretics," a new film premiering in New York that revisits women who published the feminist art and politics magazine, Heresies, is a wonderful experience all-in-all. It is a thorough but lively study of the excitement of feminism, arts and ideas explod-a-popping into consciousness, following the magazine's rollout in 1977 in New York to closure in 1993.

Made by Joan Braderman, the experimental style of the movie, with splashy animations, quirky camera angles, new and old footage, upbeat music and humor, far surpasses the usual documentary. It's a reminder of how much the women's movement drew upon creative thinkers and artists. The movie was produced by Braderman's 'No More Nice Girls' (logo above) with Crescent Diamond as the producer. (See a trailer.)

Even the New York Times describes the movie positively, as an "exuberant documentary." Writes Rachel Saltz, "Ms. Braderman intercuts the story of the magazine and of second-wave feminism with recent interviews with the women, who include Ida Applebroog, Pat Steir and Lucy Lippard. Thirty-odd years later, they’re just as passionate and engaged. It’s a pleasure to spend time in their company."

A key element in the film is describing the consciousness raising groups that led to the formation of the magazine, and the magazine's collective. Braderman skims over some of the deep angst that comes from collectives, but historic footage of women sprawled on the floor in lofts to sort out issues of the day is commentary on its own.

There is also a message of choice in the film, so deftly interwoven that it replicates the real world by showing abortion and reproductive healthcare as a part of women's lives. One story in the film, about two-thirds of the way through, is a visit with Sabra Moore, an artist who explains her visual interpretation of an abortion.

An additional benefit of the production is the collection and online access of resources for jumpstarting creative projects and other research. Archival copies of the original magazines are also posted online in pdf format with Excel guides to the articles. Flipping through them is a walk through the vast and enormous issues that feminists have tackled in the past thirty years. Bios of the 20 plus women interviewed are also online.

In Issue 23 (p.40) in 1988, Sabra Moore interviewed by Avis Lang, describes working at one of the first legal abortion clinics. "Abortion is cloaked in folk beliefs," she notes. "It's another of those things that's all right if you don't talk about it." She also describes the mechanics of opening a clinic, and the appearance of "external" threats from right-wingers. This type of contemporaneous and honest reporting is hard to replicate twenty years later, making these time-relevant stories especially illuminating.

In Issue 9 (p.67) in 1980, Jeannie Rose Lifrieri describes why she became the head of Catholics for a Free Choice. Su Friedrich, prominently featured in "The Heretics," illustrated the article. A story in Issue 7 (p.83) in 1979 describes in depth the founding of the Boston Women's Health Collective, which first formed the advocate for the legality of abortion and later turned to publishing "Our Bodies, Ourselves."

Other articles touch on activist art, feminist landscaping, women's music, sex, lesbians,community art, factory workers -- a "rich collage" of women's lives that is far from what is contained inside the pages of fashion magazines and glossies.

At a discussion at the Museum of Modern Art, where the film previewed, Braderman said that she hoped the movie would "restart a conversation about feminist sensibility." Producer Diamond urged young women her age to form collectives. Braderman plans to archive the 170 hours of film that she collected for the project.

In addition to dates at MOMA, ending October 15, the film's showings are posted on its site and at MySpace.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pic above: Screen Shot of 'No More Nice Girls' production logo.

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NARAL Pushes Creativity Over Complacency

Two more classy spoken word videos in the Free/Will/Power series of NARAL ProChoice America joined the first one as YouTube highlights, described here last year.

Highly-designed, each one minute (or tiny bit more) video features music by D.J. Spooky. On the second one, on "Will," Chicagoan Alvin Lau takes center stage, with an animated background. On his line "lawmakers scrutinize bedroom rituals under microscopes," the background shows three moralistic men opening the lids of houses to peek inside. "Skin is not a political currency to be pushed around," says Lau.

The third video, on Power has Deja Taylor, also from Chicago, (pictured) delivering a poem. The screen opens with words on an animated television screen: 'Next up, Overpriced Birth Control." Deja declares; "Our rights are being tampered with." An animated character puts duct tape over a profiled mouth as she says, "I didn't know sex was still a curse word." Looking in a mirror, she says, "You, Queen, have a right to know." Choice, we hear, is power.

Aside from their exceptionally healthy messages, the videos are a great mental and visual break: nice loops for a waiting room or getting rolling at a campus meeting.

NARAL is continuing to lift creative endeavors, and one way it's doing so is in recognizing Words of Choice with the 2009 Anne E. Fisher Champion of Choice Award, to be presented on October 14 in NYC.

Wrote Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL ProChoice America:

Projects such as Words of Choice are especially important now as anti-choice lawmakers continue their attacks in Congress and in the states. Dr. George Tiller's recent murder at his church in Wichita serves as a reminder of what can come from the violence and rhetoric aimed at women and abortion providers. We would like to recognize your courage and dedication to advancing reproductive freedom at this critical time."

Creative projects can change the landscape. In commenting on a recent poll, the New York Times noted, “The ... poll suggests that supporters of legalized abortion may have grown complacent, compared with opponents.” Not any more, we hope!
Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured: Screen Shot from 'Power' with Deja Taylor

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Exposing Extremism with Video

A new breed of citizen journalists and prochoice activists is using videography to expose the harassment of women seeking healthcare by anti-abortion protesters. That Abortion Care Network opened a dedicated channel on YouTube, featuring videos from clinics and groups such as "Enough! Basta! Stop Sidewalk Bullying At Women's Clinics." Turning the camera on the protesters does a great job of showing the public the obnoxious level of harassment that women face.

Videos from three parts of the country are posted on the The YouTube channel -- from Texas, North Carolina and Ohio. The one from North Carolina shows Flip Benham of Operation Save America, climbing a ladder so that he can yell at women over a 15-20 foot wooden security fence that protects the clinic. (Benham used to head Operation Rescue before disputes arose over the use of the name.) Another clip (pictured) shows a man in Ohio carrying a flagrantly untruthful poster that says "Abortion Causes Cancer," spewing about "feminazis," and later making comments of an anti-Semitic nature.

The YouTube site also has an audio tape of a harassing caller to a clinic in Pennsylvania, and a clip of Dr. George Tiller -- murdered in 2009 -- speaking out about how abortion responds to women's needs. Hopefully, more clips will continue to be added.

Anti-abortion activists have long used videos in an attempt to humiliate women, filming them as they seek healthcare services and posting the videos on their own sites. Now, these and other pro-choice clips, along with documentary films, are displaying the types of crazy and outrageous behavior that a woman must encounter to see her doctor, or a doctor must encounter to practice medicine.

In a separate online feed, video reporter Hunter Stuart with the site RH Reality Check has posted on YouTube an excellent video report from Wisconsin, where protesters are harassing women seeking birth control: the facility has no abortion services, only family planning and pregnancy prevention supplies. Women, even those in cars, must dodge protesters who harangue them with "killer" language. On the other end of Stuart's camera, however, the protesters look only fringe-full and frightful. They make it clear that there is no end to their venom: if abortion were outlawed, birth control would be the next target. It's women having control over their lives that they really hate.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
pictured: screen shot shows protester in Ohio, holding deceitful sign

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Art Expresses Feminist Visions of Health

Vibrant art that helps to project the visionary thinking of the women's health movement is on display at a fascinating art exhibit in Chicago.

The show, EveryBody!: Visual resistance in feminist health movements, 1969-2009 runs to October 10, 2009 at the I Space Gallery.

The show combines historical elements of the Women's Health Movement with presentations and performances by artists today. Candice Weber at Art Talk Chicago calls it "an impressive exhibition of visual resistance in the women's health movement that encompasses activist posters, video, performance, and the work of feminist artists both emerging and established."


Literature for the show explains: "Every Body! explores how feelings, theories, and actions are shaped into the creation of a place where all bodies are celebrated and health care is a human right."

The women's health movement was revolutionary in demanding attention to women's needs, including abortion, contraception, childbirth, alternative treatments and women's reproductive cancers. The movement served as a model for HIV-AIDS activism and patient rights movements. It brought about a change in the way that health professionals engage with patients and in the development of new funding sources to research breast and ovarian cancer and other conditions that affect women.

The visual displays show the genius and relevance of art to this movement. Posters from the late 1960s-70s include several from the prolific Chicago Women’s Graphics Collective and others from the Federation of Women’s Health Centers. Peppery literature collected for the exhibit includes Riot Grrl zines, and materials from Docs Populi Poster Archive, Just Seeds and the Duke University Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture. Suzanne Lacy's pivotal "Rape Is..." is on display.

Other work exhibited is by Heather Ault, CureThis!,Christa Donner, Suzann Gage, Terri Kapsalis, Madsen Minax, the Pink Bloque, Favianna Rodriguez, Dewayne Slightweight, Meredith Stern, subRosa, Laura Szumowski, Video Data Bank, Sara Welch, Women on Waves, and Faith Wilding.

Again, Candice Weber:

Suzann Gage's iconic 1981 illustrations for A New View of a Woman's Body serve as a jumping-off point for many of the works on display. Some of the younger participating artists refer to and continue Gage's goal of illuminating the female body and encouraging self-help among women. Heather Ault's Wallpaper Project presents Gage's illustration of a "del em," or menstrual extraction device, as a delicate and unassuming wallpaper design, imagining a world where abortion and health self-management can be taken for granted.

I Space is a venue for the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which worked with the Department of Gender and Women's Studies at the college. Bonnie Fortune curated the show.

The I Space Gallery is located at 230 West Superior Street, Second Floor, Chicago; 312-587-9976. Hours: Tu-Sa, 11 am -5 pm, with special events on certain evenings. In addition to the website, information is on Facebook..

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pic: Graphic from the Chicago Women's Graphics Collective

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"Team Tiller" T-Shirt: Be Creative, Be the Recipient

Have ideas about the creative use of a vintage "Team Tiller" T-shirt? Then we have an offer for you. We are searching for the perfect recipient for a pristine "Team Tiller" T-shirt.

Words of Choice is offering one "Team Tiller" T-shirt(pictured) to a pro-choice person who can describe a creative or activist or plain-good use. The T-shirt is being donated to us by a longtime collaborator, Suzanne Grossman, with the goal of using it to recognize Dr. Tiller.

As prior stories on this blog indicate (here, here, here), Dr. Tiller was a hero. He was a hero to Words of Choice, and to women across this country, and to the reproductive freedom movement.

The T-shirt is one that was developed by Dr. Tiller, who was murdered in late May 2009. The individual charged with committing the murder is an anti-abortion zealot with zero conscience. When arrested, the zealot also carried the phone number of an Operation Rescue leader on his dashboard, although none of that organization have been arrested yet. Operation Rescue hounded Dr. Tiller with unseemly and outrageous protests. And yet Dr. Tiller provided support and abortion healthcare services to women, and went to court repeatedly to protect his patients' rights.

The T-shirts came about in 2001, according to an article in the New York Times:

"In 2001, after heavy protests, (Dr. Tiller) held a party and gave each employee a dozen roses, a medal engraved with the torch of liberty, a T-shirt depicting Rosie the Riveter and the words, “We can do it Team Tiller,” and an American flag that had flown over the clinic."

Now, in an effort to spur creative remembrances of Dr. Tiller -- by an individual or a group -- this Team Tiller T-shirt is available to someone who is pro-choice. What ideas do you have to honor Dr. Tiller? A display? A work of art? A quilt? A frame in a clinic? Wearing the shirt to counter protests of Operation Rescue? Conducting an education session for college students? Using it during a concert performance? Making it into a pillow? Filming your staff as each touches it and recounts the work of amazing pro-choice doctors? Creating a display in your NAF conference booth? Putting up an office wall-hanging with notes of thanks? Getting a commitment from a museum?

To be the recipient, we ask that you send an email with: (1) Your real name, location and phone number; (2) Your pro-choice credentials; (3) How you would use this shirt to honor Dr. Tiller; and, (4) A statement that you will send us a picture of your usage.

Send your email with the subject line "Team Tiller T-Shirt" to: wordsofchoice@mindspring.com

Look forward to hearing your ideas.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: "Team Tiller" Tee-Shirt

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ProChoice Mobile Roaring in Nebraska

Just about anywhere can be a performance space, and creativity can burst out on any street, in any town, by any clinic.

But it was especially gratifying to see a picture of the ad hoc ProChoice Mobile (see pic) in Bellevue, Nebraska, on August 28-29, as supporters of choice delivered a roaring response to anti-abortion protesters at the clinic of Dr. LeRoy Carhart. Organizers from Kansas NOW, Nebraska NOW, The World Can't Wait, Physicians for Reproductive Choice, The Feminist Majority and others mounted an important campaign to respond to the nasty anti-abortion group Operation Rescue. Operation Rescue had called upon its "followers" to hound Dr. Carhart now that its favorite previous target, Dr. George Tiller, has been murdered. But in the end, the pro-choice presence outnumbered the antis by a count of two to one. And the pro-choice folks unfurled wonderful graphic displays.

Operation Rescue, on the other hand, is known for its hideous trucks with ultra-magnified photos of bloody images, which it claims (and others dispute) are fetal remains. As Rachel Maddow described, the goal of Operation Rescue is pretty singular and menacing -- to harass and intimidate medical providers who offer abortions, and the patients who see them.

That's why the picture of the Pro-Choice Mobile was a special delight. According to the notes of Lina Thorne of The World Can't Wait, the car was decorated spontaneously! Even the wheels were decked out! This is an image that should be emblazoned and imprinted on the minds of every pro-choice activist as a brilliant idea that merits repetition. Not only does the vehicle itself speak to the amassed support for Dr. Carhart -- the gesture is uplifting and joyful, and that also mocks the cynical and ugly propaganda of Operation Rescue.

Thorne's photo album gives other powerful evidence of the supportive pro-choice presence (and even shows one of its intimidation trucks, if you are inclined to want to see one.)

Thankfully, the rallying for Dr. Carhart rose to a new level of creative activism even in advance of the protest. The Physicians for Reproductive Choice posted a YouTube video with board chair Suzanne T. Poppema, MD, denouncing the anti-abortion protests. Individuals could sign on to a Facebook page, thanking Dr. Carhart. Debra Sweet of The World Can't Wait posted a video from Nebraska, reporting on pro-choice activities and sharing its enthusiasm.

Dr. Carhart deserves our thanks for all that he does -- not only performing abortions, but going to court again and again to support women's rights. And the people who signed up, sent money, showed up ... and made all of those brilliant signs -- also deserve thanks for stepping up and showing the vigor of pro-choice activism. So thanks!

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: ProChoice Mobile, photo by Lina Thorne

Showing Intimidation of Providers on YouTube

The Center for Reproductive Rights becomes the latest pro-choice nonprofit to discover the YouTube world with a short video on the dangers facing abortion providers. The timely five-minute video, Intimidation & Harassment: Abortion Providers Under Siege, is described as the first in a series of three videos.

The video, posted at the link above or on YouTube, begins with an interview of Jennifer Boulanger, director of the Allentown Women's Center, who says, "The sole purpose of home picketing is to intimidate and harass. It is not about free speech .... and that needs to be recognized." With well-used underscoring, Boulanger goes on to describe how anti-abortion zealots tracked her down and home, and harassed her and her neighbors. The protesters are shown, as well. One -- barely heard -- thinks long an hard before answering a question from the videographer -- "Do you think you are actually doing anything, you are having an impact?" (He says a barely audible 'naw.') The film goes on to show the anti-abortion websites where provider information is posted, along with pictures of clinic bombings, actual and suspected assailants.

The second section of the film interviews Sue Frietsche, a lawyer with the Women's Law Project in Pennsylvania, describing the ongoing tangles with protesters. "Providers have been subjected to an unbelievable amount of harassment," says Frietsche. The film describes the scene of riotous vigilantes blockading the Philadelphia Women's Center in 2007, including interviews with staff members (one, Marissa, director of patient services is pictured above). The intentional lack of cooperation in stopping the lawbreaking anti-choice rampagers ("the police would not answer basic questions about what is going on" says one clinic worker) is made more evident in an interview with police personnel whose face and voice are intentionally blurred that the police made a deal with protesters to permit the lawless activity to continue for an hour. Frietsche calls it "a very bad idea," noting "when police accommodate that kind of illegal behavior, it draws protesters from all over."

This absorbing video is meant to accompany a report released by the Center for Reproductive Rights in July, Defending Human Rights: Abortion Providers Facing Threats, Restrictions, and Harassment, described in this press release.

In employing an updated video style, the Center for Reproductive Rights deserves congrats ... but, hey, CRR -- who made the film? Videographers are artists, they're creative, and they deserve credit.

Update:
Since the original posting, the name of the mysterious filmmaker has been revealed -- it was made by Dionne Scott, senior press officer at CRR. Great work, Dionne, and keep up the ingenuity.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

Pictured above: Screen shot, installment 1, Intimidation and Harassment by Center for Reproductive Rights

Media:Moving From 'Prima Donnas, Martyrs, Victims'

How do media representations affect patients who are seeking abortions? This is the question that Heather MacGibbon addresses in a new edition of On The Issues Magazine, an online publication. MacGibbon reviews old films and new takes in films, theater and books.

MacGibbon takes a look at the old media narratives about women who seek abortions, and finds them -- no surprise here -- very limited. They come down to three types, says MacGibbon: upper class Prima Donnas in early films who seek abortions to preserve their status. "In these early films, abortion is the evil straw man for the argument in favor of legalizing birth control," explains MacGibbon.

Victims in the early films, says MacGibbon, "almost always includes callous treatment of women by men who seduce and then abandon them," whereas Martyrs are "women or girls shown dying from illegal abortions" often because their families had not guided their "moral" choices.

Fortunately, these narratives are beginning to change independent productions of women, says MacGibbon, citing Words of Choice and the publication of the script in Front Lines, along with Penny Lane's The Abortion Diaries and Jennifer Baumgardner's I Had An Abortion and her new book, Abortion & Life. These works "try to move abortion into the realm of open discussion," says MacGibbon, and "to create a body of works that resist the legacy of images of abortion seekers and move beyond the available media roles."

(In addition to her film, Penny Lane has also created wonderful Web blurbs of abortion in film and tv history, as described in a previous blog ... with portions performed in Words of Choice II.)

MacGibbon continues with her abortion narratives, comparing literature that describes the harshness of illegal abortion in the U.S. and Ireland, where women face dangers, traps and ordeals. Reviewing a new book by Ann Rossiter about the illegality of abortion in Ireland, Ireland’s Hidden Diaspora: The ‘abortion trail’ and the Making of a London - Irish Underground, 1980-2000, MacGibbon, who has worked as a counselor at an abortion clinic, writes that the tales "sound remarkably familiar to reproductive rights activists in the U.S., who also experience blocked access blocked, frightened providers, heckling crowds and financial hardship."

MacGibbon's knowledgeable and wide-ranging analysis, some which will soon be released in her book "Screening Choice: The Abortion Issue in American Film 1900-2000," is well-worth reading.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

pictured above, photo of Irene Dunne in the 1933 move "Ann Vickers" from On The Issues Magazine.com

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Words of Choice Supports Feminist Radio

Words of Choice Joins with WBAI's feminist radio show, Joy of Resistance, in offering premiums of media about reproductive freedom and choice -- ideas that can work for any program, fundraiser or event.

Host Fran Luck has compiled an impressive stack of pro-choice premium offerings to those who pledge support in the Summer Fund Drive of New York's progressive radio station. (The drive airs on AUGUST 13, 10 am to noon @ WBAI, 99.5 pm, www.wbai.org, but people may also pledge support via email and secure a pro-choice premium, as described below.)

"Joy of Resistance" will offer a two-CD set of the Live Performance of Words of Choice on WBAI earlier this summer.

The 2-CD set includes the live studio performance of Words of Choice, performed by Crista Marie Jackson, Carl H. Jaynes and Claudia Schneider under the direction of Francesca Mantani Arkus. The play's collection of 14 short works--from the tragic to the humorous--includes authors as various as June Jordan, Kathy Najimy and Justice Harry Blackmun, dealing with abortion, contraception, sexuality and the political forces that shape women's lives.

The 2-CD set also includes special bonuses:

An after-the-play discussion with the cast and creator Cindy Cooper, about what it was like to tour "anti-choice" states with the play

A recording from Redstockings' first abortion speakout in 1969--where women risked arrest to talk about their then-illegal abortions, sparking the push that ultimately made abortion legal;

Music of the abortion rights movement including an original rap song not previously aired;

A recording of Dr. George Tiller talking about his targeting by the Right;

Excerpts from "Reproductive Justice in the Age of Obama"--a conversation with Loretta Ross of SisterSong: A Woman of Color Reproductive Health Collective; Cristina Page, author of "How the Pro Choice Movement Saved America"; and Sunsara Taylor, writer for Revolution, on the challenges facing the abortion rights movement today.

The program is dedicated to the life and work of Dr. George Tiller -- murdered on May 31, 2009 -- who risked his life to give women access to their legal right to abortion.

In addition to the Words of Choice 2-DC Set, other elements of the Pro-Choice Package include:

The Book: "The Choices We Made" by Angela Bonavoglia, featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Grace Paley, Rita Moreno, Ursula K. LeGuin and other well known women writing about their personal experiences with abortion and sexuality.

The DVD: "I Had An Abortion" by Jennifer Baumgardner: Women 18-86 from many different backgrounds face the camera and face down social stigma, telling it like it is--and was--about the abortions they had

The complete 3-CD set of the historic 2007 SisterSong Conference--the largest gathering ever of Women of Color around issues of reproductive justice; includes speeches by former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders and Professor Dorothy Roberts on the future of reproductive technology.

"This is the most ambitious feminist offering of its kind at WBAI in many years--using multimedia and the arts--to bring into sharp focus the effects on women's lives of the battle raging in this country over who will control women's bodies," says Fran Luck, the host of "Joy of Resistance."

Listeners may order each of the four parts of the package (Words of Choice CD; Choices We Made book; I Had an Abortion DVD; SisterSong CDs) separately--for a pledge of $75, or can order the complete package for a pledge of $250. "This powerful women's freedom package, with its historic material and artistic presentation, is an essential resource for anyone interested in women's history and an excellent teaching tool on the subject of reproductive rights," says Luck.

Each item in the package offers an unique entry point and perspective on pro-choice art and creativity.

In this case, donations go to WBAI, New York's listener-supported progressive and non-commercial radio station, and can be made by pledge on August 13 between 10 a.m. and noon. The pledges will support "Joy of Resistance" and show strong support for feminist radio, says Luck. According to Luck, those who cannot pledge during that time slot can still direct a pledge to "Joy of Resistance" and secure a premium by emailing

joyofresistance@wbai.org or calling 212-209-2987.

Posted by Cindy Cooper

Pictured above: WBAI lobby, l to r: Carl H. Jaynes (actor), Crista Marie Jackson (actor), Cindy Cooper (Words of Choice creator), Claudia Schneider (actor), Fran Luck (WBAI host), Marilyn Torres (actor), Francesca Mantani Arkus (Words of Choice director)

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Stories: I Am Dr. Tiller

In the aftermath of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a new website was opened, I Am Dr. Tiller, is collecting stories to show the real lives of people who work in and around abortion clinics.

The site says: This website was created as both a memorial to the lifework of Dr. George Tiller and as a living testimony to the courageous lives of abortion providers.

Several dozen people have posted their stories, most with a picture of a handmade sign that says 'I Am Dr. Tiller,' or something similar. (Words of Choice posted, for example, with a sign that says 'We Are Artists and We Are Dr. Tiller.')

For example, a man named Eli from Pittsburgh wrote: I currently handle the security at ARHC. People ask me daily how I can deal with these PROTESTERS, how I don’t lose my cool. Well, I really want to make experiences for women and those who enter a good one. I meet our patients at the corner and sing songs or talk loudly to drown out the ANTI voice. I am proud to be here ....

A doctor in Arkansas who provides abortions recalls when he first entered medicine and saw a woman with a mass in her belly, who was impoverished and the mother of several children already. When told she was pregnant, she started crying. The doctor recalls her response vividly. "'Oh God, doctor,' she said quietly, 'I was hoping it was cancer.'”

A volunteer from Illinois writes: I am pro-choice, most simply, because I trust in my sisters to make informed decisions about their lives (with the help of sustained education and access to healthcare and services) that promote their own well-being and the well-being of those they love.

A worker at a reproductive health center in the Midwest writes: I am still constantly surprised by the outrageousness of the religious protestors I see outside where I work. The other day, I saw one had brought a little girl who couldn’t be more than five-years-old. They had covered her mouth with red duct tape so she could be part of the protest. I was shocked and worried for the poor, little girl who didn’t know what she was being used for or why she had been gagged. But there was nothing I could do. I had to walk away from the little girl and leave her with those who had taped her mouth shut and hoped I would close mine.

But I haven’t and I won’t.

Each story carries the important message of the good and work in support of reproductive freedom that so many carry on across the country. Their stories deserve to be read -- and shared.
Posted by Cindy Cooper

pictured above: logo from I Am Dr. Tiller website