Capitol Times! DC VA MD: Here We Come!

Words of Choice will be traveling to Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland in April for a series of exciting events and inspiring collaborations.

*DC ABORTION FUND 4-23 at 7 in DC

On Friday, April 23 at 7 pm, Words of Choice will appear live in DC in partnership with the DC Abortion Fund for an event that will raise funds to help disadvantaged women pay for abortions. The performance will be in DC at the Lankford Auditorium, 1200 U St., NW, in the True Reformer Building. A brief discussion follows the 70-minute performance.

DCAF writes: "The DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that makes grants and no-interest loans to DC regional women who cannot afford the full cost of an abortion. DCAF affirms women as decision-makers. We hope to make “choice” a reality because we believe that a woman’s right to healthcare should not depend on her wallet."

Tickets are $20 and $40. Info is available at dcafevents@gmail.com.

And DCAF is seeking interested sponsors -- contact Allison_mitch@yahoo.com. It's well worth sponsoring!

Thanks to Suzanne Turner, Turner Strategies and The Turner Report for the nice shout-out!
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*VIRGINIA NOW, 4-24 at 2:30 pm in Harrisonburg

On April 24, the Words of Choice actors and team will partner with Virginia NOW at its State Conference, being held at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.

Marjorie Signer, who is number 22 on the Aiken Progressive Blog as "one of the 106 best people of the year" is President of the organization. Virginia NOW explains,says: "The purpose of Virginia NOW (National Organization for Women) is to bring women into full equality in all aspects of life," and adds: "We’re grassroots, we’re feisty, and we’re fearless. We take on the issues others won’t or can’t. That’s NOW’s tradition and our passion."

"Words of Choice" first partnered with Virginia NOW in its first tour in 2004 to do a series of performances. Now, a new group of actors from New York is going back with our powerful new show.

The show is scheduled for 2:30 pm in the Montpelier Room of the East Campus Dining Hall. Register for the Virginia NOW conference at http://virginianow.wordpress.com/
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*AMNESTY INT'L Human Rights Art Festival -- 4-25: two events

On April 25, Words of Choice kicks up TWO happening events in Silver Spring, Maryland, part of the first Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival. It's an honor to be bringing reproductive justice topics to this weekend festival celebrating human rights and the arts that speak to them.

!!Workshop, 4-25, 12:30 pm, Silver Spring MD

On Sunday, April 25 from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, artists from Words of Choice will hold a Creativity Workshop on Reproductive Rights and Women's Rights at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, 8230 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring, Maryland. The event is free and open to the public. Audience participants will learn theatrical techniques to open new discussions on reproductive freedom. Joining the workshop will be filmmaker Angie Young, who created The Coat Hanger Project.

**Performance, 4-25, 4:30 pm, Montgomery College, Silver Spring MD, plus discussion

Later that afternoon on April 25, at 4:30 pm, Words of Choice will present a live performance as part of the same Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival at Montgomery College (Takoma/Silver Spring) in the Auditorium of the Health Sciences Building, known as HC 122 on the campus map (7977 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring MD 20910.) The Health Sciences Building is right across from the Performing Arts Center. The performance is free and open to the public.

A discussion will follow with Jill Morrison, reproductive rights specialist at the National Women's Law Center, Claire Moses, editorial director of Feminist Studies and professor of women's studies at the University of Maryland, and moderated by Regina Oldak, former chair of the Montgomery County Commission on Women, a Board member of Planned Parenthood Metro Washington, and counsel at the National Women's Law Center. Planned Parenthood Metro Washington will be on hand with literature and information.

More Details

All of the performances will feature Crista Marie Jackson, Carl H. Jaynes and Claudia Schneider. This cast traveled to Colorado and Kansas in 2008, and joined in a benefit for Planned Parenthood of New York City in 2009. Kelly Vieau is stage manager. Francesca Mantani Arkus directed, and Cindy Cooper, creator and producer, will guide discussions and workshops.

Words of Choice -- smart, funny, endangered -- weaves together the words and writings of a dozen incredible writers to present a panorama of reproductive freedom and women's rights. The incredible array of writers include June Jordan, Angela Bonavoglia, Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney, Esosa Edosomwan, Michael David Quinn, Jana Mackey, Dr. Susan Wicklund, Justice Harry Blackmun and Sally Blackmun, Judith Arcana, Kathleen Tolan, Barbara Lindsay, Cindy Cooper, Alix Olson, Penny Lane, and others.

Posters for all of the events can be downloaded online here.

For more information, see www.wordsofchoice.org, or email wordsofchoice@mindspring.com, or call 212-560-2616 (vm).

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Crista Marie Jackson, Claudia Schneider, Carl H. Jaynes, in performance at Judson Memorial Church, NYC; Photo by TAY.

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Feeling A Little Pregnant? Pro-Choice Help To Sort Options

After a woman or girl finds out that she is pregnant, what pro-choice resources exist to help her weigh her options? Is this the time when she wishes to bear a child? Is an abortion right? An adoption? What exactly is involved?

One of the best resources is the Pregnancy Options Workbook, which is available online for free. The 109-page workbook was written by Margaret Johnston and first published in 1998. According to the online version from The Ferre Institute, the last draft was prepared in 2009. In hard copy, which can also be ordered, the publication is 8 x 11, printed on newsprint, and illustrated with various drawings.

The information is truly pro-choice -- that is, it helps a woman discover her deepest feelings about whether or not to bear a child, putting the decision in her hands.

The publication covers 11 basic topics: 1-Deciding What to Do About A Pregnancy; 2-Getting Ready to Make the Decision; 3-Deciding What To Do; 4-Having a Baby/Being a Parent; 5-Abortion; 6-Adoption; 7-Stages of Pregnancy; 8-What Can Hurt the Pregnancy?; 9-Spiritual and Religious Concerns; 10-Healing Work; 11-Taking Care of Yourself; and 12-Exploring Your Feelings Afterwards.

Each area provides a series of exercises that can help a woman think through her options and evaluate what might be best.

For example, "Deciding What to Do" has these sections: How we make decisions in our families; Comments from Women (which are sprinkled throughout the publication); Pregnancy Experience; Other Women's Pregnancy Stories; Special Tear Out Section for Parents; Are you in an Abusive Relationship?; What if?...What Then?...; Draw a picture of your life; The Pie Exercise; Pros and Cons; What If I Make the Wrong Choice?; What If I Think I Made the Wrong Choice: Guided "Day Dreams."

One example of an exercise is:

EXERCISE 15: What if... Then What?
On a separate sheet of paper, finish the sentence:
"What would happen if...?" and put that answer in the middle of a large drawn circle.
Draw another circle next to it and answer the question, "Then what might happen...?"
Continue for as many times as you can, and as many answers as you can think of.
Use additional paper as needed. Start with each option you are considering.
(Example: "What if I had a baby."
"Then, I would take a year off school."
"Then, my boyfriend would..."

The book offers a comprehensive guide, and is useful for counselors, for teen groups and for educational purposes, as well.

Here's a tip to an aspiring or working filmmaker: consider it.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Cover of Pregnancy Options Workbook, hard copy.

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Teens Experiment with Creative Platforms

The video is a couple years old, and the MySpace page, while updated in 2010, mostly dates its blogs to 2008, before the presidential election. But Teens for Choice has a lot of great ideas that could inspire any local group of activists -- especially high school and college groups looking for how to share their pro-choice values.

The video is short, and mostly created from text screens and a music background. It's now on YouTube, and at 1.14 minutes, it's short and sweet. With the song, "Love is not Enough" by Nine Inch Nails as the background, several screens appear, white lettering on black:

We are teens
We are the future
We protect the right for safe and legal abortion.
We are pro-choice
We are pro-choice in a time that teens are being misled
To be part of the pro-life movement
False information and graphic pictures are used to evoke emotion
We fight back with the truth
We will win
"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, the truth" ~ Buddha
Life as a pro choice teen is tough
But we will prevail
We will march on
For what is right
And what is true
We are pro-choice teens.

Truest to read is that teens are being misled by the pro-life movement. Saddest to read is that "Life as a pro-choice teen is hard." Most uplifting to read: "We will prevail."

Unfortunately, as is their common practice, anti-abortion commentators have swarmed the YouTube site with the obnoxious comments.

Teens4 Choice, which appears to emanate from Oregon, also has a MySpace page with interesting tidbits -- a long list of pro-choice celebrities, and information on what how abortions are performed and a "pill" abortion is. It's subtitled: because a woman has rights" and has a picture of a pregnant woman showing her belly, with the words "My baby is pro-choice." There are some fun and funny posters -- like the one that says "May the fetus you save be gay."

It's one of the truisms of life that teens move on to new projects and new experiences. (And, thankfully, a lot who are "pro-life" end up as pro-choice after they get out into the world.) But this site is a great place for more teens for choice to pick up and find ideas! Teens sharing their creative pro-choice energies can reach out in new ways, and invigorate new activism.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictures above: Graphic from Teens for Choice MySpace

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Making Our Own 40 Days: Faith Aloud

Faith Aloud, a coalition of 30 pro-choice religious organizations in Missouri, has released its own positive response to the nasty anti-abortion campaign known as "40 Days for Life."

Faith Aloud describes its mission as:Promoting Reproductive Justice through the Moral Power of Religious and Ethical Communities.

Guided by executive director, Rev. Becky Turner, Faith Aloud has released 40 days of pro-choice prayers to counter the nonsense of the anti-abortion campaign known as "40 Days for Life."

With the support of conservative right-wing organizations, the anti-abortion campaign uses the period of Lent to harass abortion providers, amassing outside of clinics to pester and hound patients, staff and doctors alike. One feature of the anti-abortion campaign -- which can look benign from a distance, but is not -- is to insist on the primacy of their religious beliefs and to issue daily prayers in opposition to abortion. (What happened to world peace?)

But, Faith Aloud, like artist Heather Ault, described in a previous post, has developed its own creative response. With its deep understanding of pro-faith religious beliefs, Faith Aloud, put together "40 Days of Prayer to Keep Abortion Safe and Legal."

Here are ten samples of the Faith Aloud Prayers:

Day 2: Today we pray for compassionate religious voices to speak out for the dignity and autonomy of women.

Day 4: Today we give thanks for the doctors who provide quality abortion care, and pray that they may be kept safe.

Day 6: Today we ask for blessings upon the women who pass through hostile protesters on their way into an abortion clinic. May they be shielded from physical and emotional harm from those who do not know them.

Day 8: Today we pray for elected officials, that they may always support a woman's right to make her own medical decisions.

Day 12: Today we pray that women know the power of their own stories. May they find their voices and tell their truths.

Day 15: Today we pray for parents whose teen daughters are pregnant. May they help their daughters through this difficult time with kindness and openness.

Day 17: Today we pray for increased financial support for low income women to access contraception, abortion, and childcare.

Day 25: Today we pray for women who have been made afraid of their own power by their religion. May they learn to reject fear and live bravely.

Day 34: Today we give thanks for abortion escorts who guide women safely through the hostile gauntlets of protesters.

Day 40: Today we give thanks and celebrate that abortion is still safe and legal.

The truth is, every one of these prayers is a gem -- save them, put them on your desk, your wall, in a drawer for a needy woman. They are also released regularly on Facebook, and you can do a simple "share."

By way of contrast, the first "prayer" of the paternalistic anti-abortion crew is: "That we may use these 40 Days for Life to plead for God's mercy and grace upon all those involved in the sin of abortion." On Day One, Faith Aloud dwells in reality and simply says: "Today we pray for women for whom pregnancy is not good news, that they know they have choices."

What's most interesting about the anti-choice campaign, however, is how it, too, dashes the notion that religious people are all anti-abortion. In its own moment of reality, under "day of preparation," its website says: "And lest we think this is an issue outside the church walls, 43 percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27 percent identify themselves as Catholic." (These statistics are true.)

Faith Aloud's efforts -- also seen in a video described in 'Religious Folks Say You're Okay' -- demonstrate that many people of faith support women's right to make decisions without the church or the government dictating what they must do, and understand that women need access to safe and legal abortion services. Here's a suggestion for days 1-40 and beyond: Send a note of thanks to Faith Aloud.

Posted by Cindy Cooper
Pictured above: Faith Aloud logo

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