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