With a little less than half of the U.S. self-identifying as Pro-Choice, it's easy for us to stick together. When you're young, hip, sexy, and buying quinoa from Trader Joe's, it's even easier. Sex and Choice are natural conversation points at parties. Supporting Planned Parenthood is taken as a given. Some of us may even blog for an intended audience already in agreement. For people like us, there are rallying points like this great video:
Wesleyan University - "I Have Sex"
And this more cloying one:
Second City - For Those With Vaginas
But preaching to the choir only goes so far to effect actual change. Eventually, we actually need to mobilize our fervent energy and bring our concerns and our message to the other side, to those who don't already agree with us, to those who are uncomfortable with our position. Accordingly, today I performed my most futile of civic duties: I wrote a letter to my Senator, ultra pro-life Saxby Chambliss (R - GA Douchebag). Note how I pretended that "budget cuts" are really the issue at hand:
"Dear Senator Chambliss,
I am writing to express my concerns about measures currently under consideration regarding reproductive health. In the ongoing Congressional debates on FY2011 budget cuts, you have voted to defund both the United Nations Population Fund and Planned Parenthood. I ask that you reconsider your stance on these issues, and lend your support to these vital organizations. I am one of your constituents, and a citizen concerned both with the nation’s growing deficit, as well as with the impact of unintended pregnancies both at home and worldwide. I believe not only that these two causes are related, but that they are intricately and inextricably linked.
First, I urge you to vote in support of providing funding to the United Nations Population Fund. This organization does not fund abortions, but rather provides desperately-needed access to family planning resources and education to millions of young women and men around the world. In addition, the UNFPA also provides medical care to pregnant women in an effort to decrease the enormous number of maternal deaths and injuries that occur each day. These measures, which allow women in the developing world to determine the size and spacing of their families, have proven their positive impact. Nations with fewer unintended pregnancies, smaller family size, and fewer maternal deaths are more stable socially, economically, and politically. Such improvements would spell positive changes for our global community.
Second, I ask that you support federal funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization which provides family planning and health services to millions of Americans. The mission of Planned Parenthood is to prevent unwanted pregnancy, allowing women and girls to complete their educations and further their careers, and saving millions of dollars each year in Medicaid and Welfare costs.
I understand the severity of the nation’s current financial situation, but I firmly believe that cutting funding from family planning programs is not the way to save money. I am sure that you have heard the saying that every dollar spent on family planning measures saves four down the road. Thus, in this time of economic crisis, it would behoove us as citizens of Georgia, the United States, and the world to invest in women’s future and in fiscally-sound family planning measures.
Thank you."
Naturally, my letter is going to end up being ignored. Actually, it's not even going to be ignored by Saxby Chambliss; it's going to be ignored by Saxby Chambliss' secretary's intern. But I'm glad that I finally voiced my dissident opinion to someone who is supposed to be representing me. And maybe a hundred such letters would be harder to ignore.
Happily, Planned Parenthood is safe for now, but the failure of H.R. 1 bought only about three weeks of time. The threat of budget cuts is not going anywhere. So I'm going to go all PSA on ya'll and beg you 1) To donate to Planned Parenthood, and 2) to write to your Senators and Representatives. Feel free to copy and paste my letter, emend it, or ignore it and write your own. If you give a shit about this cause, please tell someone. And don't let me be that someone. Make it someone who doesn't already know.
Saxby's response:
ReplyDelete"Thank you for contacting me regarding the budget of the federal government. It is good to hear from you.
As a conservative, fiscal responsibility is one of my top priorities in the United States Senate. To ensure that future generations of Americans are given every opportunity to succeed, we must address issues today that will affect them tomorrow. This includes living within our means, finding lasting solutions that will address our current entitlement programs, and instituting a tax code that is less burdensome to the taxpayer.
As you are aware, the American people spoke clearly on November 2, 2010 when they said that the unbridled federal spending must stop. We must recognize the unmistakable truth; that in 2010, federal spending reached almost 24 percent of America's gross domestic product (GDP) – the value of all goods and services produced in our economy. The danger of this threat is substantial and imminent, and future generations will end up paying the price if we continue to ignore the difficult decisions required to fix this grave threat to our country's financial stability.
On December 1, 2010, the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform released a proposal for deficit reduction and debt stabilization. It is against this background that Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and I began discussions to specifically address the deficit problem. It is incumbent upon us to try to educate ourselves, as well as educate other members of the Senate about the seriousness of this issue and discuss the way forward. These meetings have resulted in a bipartisan working group that has grown, and we now have a significant number of senators who are prepared to address this issue, and address it soon. The decisions before us will not be easy to make, but we must engage in a serious debate, and one with serious purpose.
While the recommendations of the Commission may not reflect the beliefs of all the members of the Senate, I congratulate the Commission's members for having the courage to recognize and discuss the problem. The Commission's report included substantial reforms to reduce federal spending as well as recommendations to overhaul and simplify our federal tax code. Senator Warner and I plan to introduce a bill that embodies the recommendations of the Commission. While there are plenty of provisions I would not have chosen, our nation would be far better off with a comprehensive deficit reduction plan than without one.
Ultimately, the American people expect us to act, and to act in good faith. If we do not get a handle on federal spending, including both discretionary and entitlement programs and make serious reforms now, we will pass this burden on to our children and grandchildren. I believe that as the Administration and Congress evaluate these fiscal issues, we must achieve much-needed reform to our budget process, put an end to wasteful spending, and implement the fiscal responsibility that you and other taxpayers demand and deserve."
What?