Keep Women in the Center of Pregnancy, and Life
To build a society based on human need, with love of all beings as its guiding principle, the reproductive needs of women have to be included in the center of the foundation. The feminine aspects of life, heretofore treated as peripheral, marginal, or unimportant, must be given their rightful status as central to the human condition. —Life Choices KEEP WOMEN IN THE CENTER OF PREGNANCY, AND LIFE In a gorgeous commencement speech in 2010, Meryl Streep pointed Barnard College graduates towards their destiny and responsibility to carry the torch for gender equality and understand it as a human issue rather than only a women’s issue. It’s an important distinction. Understanding gender equality as a human issue rather than as a women’s issue opens the way to correcting misperceptions and confusions about the specific issues that form the content of women’s lives. Reproductive choice is one of these, of course, and abortion the most controversial. Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t think of reproduction as a “woman’s issue,” and instead took responsibility as a society for the health and wellbeing of all. The only way to do this of course is to give women a central role in determining ways to provide for the health and wellbeing of all. We’re on our way to getting there, but we have a long way to go. Women are only partially empowered and only in some parts of the world. The gains we have made are still precarious and in need of continuous vigilance and care. Male referencing is rampant in our culture. Meryl speaks about it from her experience as a female actor. She explains her sense that men are unable to empathize with female characters. She says that most straight men can’t experience themselves through a female character the way most women are able to experience themselves and empathize with a male character. She attributes this to the way we are raised in this culture where a hero is assumed to be of the male gender and men and all things male are made to be superior to women and all things female. A few weeks ago, I gave a talk to a local community group. I asked each of the listeners to do their best to keep the woman in the center of the pregnancy experience as I was talking about abortion. This became controversial almost instantly. Someone asserted that she could not do that because for her it’s always about two people, the man as well as the woman. Another person asked, “But what about the child?” First, about the man. Ideally, it’s good for both the woman and the man involved to be on the same page with regard to a pregnancy. However, this is often not the case or not possible for myriad reasons, and the woman is left alone with the pregnancy and the decision. I go into more depth about this in my book. If you wonder about “the child,” the best thing to do is to ask the woman. She is the best authority on the meaning and place of pregnancy in her life. Don’t allow yourself to separate her from her pregnancy in your mind just because she’s considering or has had an abortion. She is not the enemy of “the child.” Far from it. She is the one, the only one, who knows all the intricacies of her current situation as well as the subtleties of relationship, both...
Read MoreHumanity’s Dream of Peace Depends Upon the Liberation and Advancement of Women
We must bring our human intelligence and compassionate judgment to bear on the nature and quality of Life on Earth. The planet needs our loving attention. All the technology in the world will not release us from our fundamental responsibility to be in right relationship with the world, with all living beings, and especially with each other. — Life Choices, p.158 HUMANITY’S DREAM OF PEACE DEPENDS UPON THE LIBERATION AND ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN. Seems obvious, but all over the world women (and men) are dying at the hands of men and governments controlled by men. And, the environment, our living breathing Earth, our precious habitat and the habitat of all the other plant and animal species, continues to be threatened and pillaged as though it doesn’t matter. HUMANITY’S DREAM OF PEACE DEPENDS UPON THE LIBERATION AND ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN. The liberation and advancement of women brings with it a nourishing and a nurturing, a caring consciousness for both women and men. This consciousness is more cooperative than competitive, and more relational than individualistic. It is more respectful and holistic. These are values and ways of living that benefit all equally. It’s not a matter of women or men; it’s about women and men. This has been said many times by the feminist movement over the years, but it bears repeating. The movement for women’s liberation and advancement is about everyone, all of us; not you or me, but us. HUMANITY’S DREAM OF PEACE DEPENDS UPON THE LIBERATION AND ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN. The coming of human equality is a force of nature. It is about the Earth as a whole. It is Earth righting itself, upgrading its consciousness to reflect its needs. The new consciousness that is being birthed is one that reveals choice making as a natural element in the flow of life. The legitimizing of pregnancy choice making in the fabric of society points us towards recognizing the place of women in that flow. When you understand abortion, especially legal abortion in this context, and you keep women in the center of the pregnancy picture, you begin to see that we have to change our thinking about how we view life as a whole. Our species needs to wake up and make the necessary shifts towards sustaining the good of the whole. Recognizing and respecting the power and legitimacy of women to make decisions about when and whether to bring life through their bodies is central to the unfolding of the new consciousness and to peace on Earth. January 22 marks the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the legalization of abortion throughout the United States. Click here for information about the celebration in Denver. Click here to read a recent article by Charlotte Taft. Lastly, I want to note the passing of a great feminist historian, Gerda Lerner, whose work formed the basis for my understanding of women’s history. MAY OUR HEARTS OPEN TO ALL OF EXISTENCE. MAY WE LEARN TO LIVE AS ONE BODY. MAY WE LEARN TO LOVE AS ONE BEING. ...
Read MoreRoom to Breathe – Winter Solstice 2012 – Conscious Caring
There is a new consciousness birthing itself on the planet—an awareness that supports conscious living, which means conscious choice-making. — Life Choices home page I feel like I have more room to breathe now that President Obama has been re-elected. While not the perfect progressive by any means, Obama is a fascinating figure. It’s not an accident that he has appeared at this time of history. He supports women’s health and empowerment, workers’ rights, and the health of the earth as a whole. Those issues are key to the advancement of world peace and the well-being of all. Obama’s presence on the world stage is a bridge to better possibilities, even though his actions don’t reflect that a hundred percent of the time. Historical consciousness has a way of twisting and turning through mazes of paradox and contradiction before showing itself on a clear path. It’s an evolutionary thing, good overall but often tough in the short run. Conditions will likely get worse before they get better, but we as a world are moving in the direction of a growing awareness that supports conscious living. We don’t have much choice in the matter. The Earth is moving us towards investing in our own humanity. There is a lot going on. You can feel it on both a personal and planetary level. I’m aware of a deluge of developments in people’s lives in both my close circle of friends, family, and acquaintances, and in the larger world around the globe. Lots of serious stuff. People are having to step up. I’m grateful the election period is over. The immediacy of electoral power politics consumes my attention in a way that pushes deeper, more long term issues aside. It sucks the air out of the room. It taints my perspective, feeds on fear, and makes it hard to remember the higher purpose that motivates my work. I have now settled back into my primary focus, which is to nurture people to open to the unity of being, the truth of existence—the Oneness, and to address their personal issues in a universal context. The trick is to stay connected to universal truths while at the same time applying ourselves to improving the quality of daily life, finding the balance between staying true to existence and meeting the incessant spontaneity of events. ~~~~~~~ The Winter Solstice is almost upon us. There is excitement in some quarters about this year’s solstice. They say December 21, 2012 is significant in the Mayan calendar. I don’t know a lot about this, but I do find it interesting. The doomsday prophecies making the rounds make no sense at all to me, but the idea that the world is moving in a profoundly transformative direction does. In an online article last year, a Mayan elder named Carlos Barrios is quoted as follows: Anthropologists visit the temple sites and read the inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya, but they do not read the signs correctly. It’s just their imagination. Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed. We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the World of the Fifth Sun. This is the time in-between, the time of transition. As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth Changes. Humanity will continue, but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have...
Read MorePrayer for the Election-Obama is a Bridge to a Better Time
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. —Leonard Cohen, Anthem May we find the right road as a nation; it’s a tense time. Yet, the sun still rises and the earth still turns. All is in place and moving in the heavens. Life below churns on. We confront our suffering and search for what is possible. We look within to find solace, strength, and truth of being. Love prevails no matter what twists and turns it takes. We reach for the honest way. May we find the right road as a nation. May we find the right road as a nation. May we find the right road as a nation. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Obama is a bridge to a better time....
Read MoreAbortion—It’s a Matter of Conscience
I believe abortion is essentially pro-life because my experience has shown me how it can enrich women’s lives. Large numbers of women could not have succeeded as lawyers and doctors, scientists and engineers, without the availability of abortion. Women have a greater degree and sense of safety in their lives because they know they can control the number of children born from their bodies without risk to themselves. (Introduction, Life Choices) It’s Thursday, November 1. Tonight, I’ll be selling Life Choices at the Boulder Theater at the annual party, performance, and fundraiser of the Boulder Valley Women’s Health Center. 39 years ago today, Women’s Health, formerly called Boulder Valley Clinic, opened its doors to serve the Boulder community and beyond. It was the first free-standing abortion clinic in Colorado and one that offered low cost, supportive services to any woman who requested them. It is now a thriving place that provides extensive gynecological and sexual health services. I was one of the founders, along with a small group of community activists who formed the core of the staff and board of directors. I stayed for fourteen years, directing the counseling program, assisting the doctors, and generally contributing to the running of the clinic. Why? Because of conscience. Conscience. A deep sense of moral responsibility. A driving desire to look out for the needs of women who were pregnant but did not want to or could not be. A personal history that included the terror and danger of illegal abortion. Conscience. The name of the magazine of Catholics for Choice. Conscience. The centerpiece of an article in New England Journal of Medicine about the commitment of medical professionals to provide abortion services. Conscience. Concern for the sanctity of life, the over-politicized distortions of which are beautifully discussed by Thomas Friedman in a recent column. Happy Anniversary Women’s Health! Next year will be the 40th! A deep bow to all those whose strength of conscience and courage keep women and their families safe and healthy. And, to all abortion providers throughout the U.S.and the world who risk their lives daily to serve the needs of...
Read MoreAbortion Rights and the Education of Girls
Malala Yousufzai has become a household name around the world. The fifteen year old is an activist for girls’ education in an area of Pakistan that has been besieged by the Taliban. We all know about the Taliban. They are the religious fanatics who are considered the enemy of freedom and democracy. Among its many terrorist aims, the Taliban wants to outlaw all rights for women and impose the strict rule of men over every aspect of women’s lives. Malala has been outspoken for girls and against the Taliban since she was eleven years old. For this she was shot at point blank range by one of them on October 9. The attempt to assassinate her has drawn worldwide protests. Decent minded people agree that what happened to Malala is wrong. We all pray for her full recovery. What does this have to do with abortion rights in the U.S.? A New York Times editorial reminds us of what many of us already know. We do not need to guess about the brutal consequences of overturning Roe. We know from our own country’s pre-Roe history and from the experience around the world. Women desperate to end a pregnancy would find a way to do so… Some women would die. Anyone who makes it illegal or difficult or impossible for women to find safe, legal abortions is potentially or actually contributing to the deaths of some of those women. Neither the New York Times nor I am being overly dramatic. It’s the truth. We will see a palpable increase in the suffering and death of women and their families if abortion becomes difficult or impossible to obtain. That’s the way it was before Roe, and the way it will be if Roe is overturned. It’s also the way it is in many places around the world. More information is here. Domestic terrorists have caused the deaths of several physicians and others who serve the reproductive needs of women. These American zealots are similar to the Taliban in that they inhabit a world of fanatical religious belief and behave as self-appointed saviors. Murder is justified in the name of God. Freedom is only what they say it is, and anyone who veers from their view is considered an infidel. Those who have been murdered here in the U.S. include: March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida July 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, also in Pensacola December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, in Brookline, Massachusetts January 29, 1998: Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama October 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian in Amherst, New York May 31, 2009: Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas How do we show those who don’t know or who have forgotten that putting Romney in the white house holds a strong possibility that terrorist activity will increase against women and their health providers, and that some women will die? But not only will some women lose their lives. If the availability of abortion is no longer protected by Roe v. Wade, children will lose their mothers, husbands their wives, boyfriends their girlfriends, brothers their sisters, and mothers and fathers their daughters. Some of you might say, Well, at least we’re not shooting young girls because they want an education like Malala Yousufzai of Pakistan. Okay, but think about it for a minute. What’s the difference? If you put someone in harm’s way, isn’t that the same thing as doing harm to them? If you threaten their well being, are you...
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