Steph Herold
“Like most of my fellow providers, I am often asked by a patient or a friend, “How do you do this all day?” I became a provider because there was a need and women should have safe, medical care for any health procedure, including abortion. What I came to realize over time, though, is that we each have an individual situation and our choices are unique. I am there to support a woman for whom it is not the right time to become a parent or add to their family, just as the doctors I worked with were there to support me and my husband.”
Read the whole thing here.
Media Silence on Gosnell? Let’s Talk About the Women of Color Without Decent Health Care
As a resident of Philadelphia and an abortion provider, I can tell you that the Gosnell case has gotten media coverage. But no one is talking about poor, under-insured, and under-served women.
What are you doing today? Typing on your computer? Putting the finishing touches on your latest blog post, grad school paper, work task? What about helping someone pay for an abortion they otherwise couldn’t afford?
Put down your coffee, stop typing, and put your money where your politics are. Donate to help people living in or traveling to New York access the abortions they need.
On April 21 I’m participating in the 4th annual national abortion access bowl-a-thon to benefit the New York Abortion Access Fund. I’ve had the honor of serving on the NYAAF board for the last two and a half years, and it is without a doubt the most important thing I’ve done in my life.
Every dollar goes to someone who couldn’t otherwise afford an abortion. This is how NYAAF makes our annual budget for the year—we’re 100% donation funded—no grants! So please help out if you can—even $15 goes a long way.
THANK YOU!
With love and so much gratitude,
Steph
While the head honchos at the HRC are making 6 figure salaries from donations to support ‘marriage equality’, hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ youth are homeless and are purposely ignored by mainstream gay organizations. The ‘fight’ for same sex marriage has proven to be a profitable business for gay ‘non-profit’ businesses, so it’s no wonder why gay marriage overshadows all other LGBTQ issues. After all, helping the needy results in smaller pay.
Supporting gay marriage doesn’t mean you support the queer struggle. In fact, most ‘allies’ and even a large portion of more fortunate queers don’t know the facts about LGBTQ homelessness, violence against trans* people, high unemployment, discrimination, etc, nor do they bother to research it. They are just concerned about their favorite gay celebrities being able to tie the knot.
If you care about the queer struggle, take a minute of your day to familiarize yourself with some of the disturbing statistics:
- 20- 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ. In comparison, the general youth population is only 3-10% LGBTQ.
- LGBTQ youth are twice as likely to experience sexual abuse before the age of 12.
- LGBTQ youth, once homeless, are at higher risk for victimization, mental health problems, and unsafe sexual practices. 58.7% of LGBTQ homeless youth have been sexually victimized compared to 33.4% of heterosexual homeless youth
- LGBTQ youth are roughly 7.4 times more likely to experience acts of sexual violence than heterosexual homeless youth
- LGBTQ homeless youth commit suicide at higher rates (62%) than heterosexual homeless youth (29%)
- At least 20% of ALL transgender people will be homeless sometime in their life.
- 29% of transgender people reported being turned away from a homeless shelter due to their transgender status.
Please consider taking action to help combat LGBTQ homelessness. I suggest making a donation to the Ali Forney Center or volunteering at your local LGBTQ homeless shelter.
“It looks like you’re six weeks and one minute pregnant!
Have some diapers.”
Here’s a laugh about the unconstitutional ND abortion restriction laws so you don’t rage yourself into a heart attack.
Make Smith Possible for Trans women
Hey, everyone: I’m Calliope, a rising senior-gal in a Connecticut high school who is (just now!) discovering Tumblr for the first time. And I have a rather serious personal problem to share with you all that does not involve GIFs, cats, or BBC shows. My problem is with
my dream college
that superspecial place of ironwilled and astonishing women I want to be a part ofSmith College and its policies (rather: problematic UNpolicies) on accepting transwomen into its ranks.
For me providing abortions is both a conscientious commitment to women and a political one. Abortion is about gender equity and self-determination, more than simply a medical procedure that women need when they determine that it is not the right time for them to carry a pregnancy any further or to raise a child. I never ask women the reason they are seeking an abortion, I trust them to make the best decision for themselves. For me providing safe and compassionate abortion care is about reversing the de-valuation of women and girls and ensuring they have the opportunity to lead the lives they wish to lead. And in large part it’s also about resistance, resisting the violence of stigma and silencing around abortion and abortion work. Women need abortions and deserve they be provided in the same way all medical care is with beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice.
