"Personhood" Amendment for Ladies
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Over at Shakespeare's Sister, one of the Shakers had an idea to fight back against the "onslaught of anti-choice legislation that includes encroachments on reproductive rights that undermine the autonomy of women, as well as proposed "Personhood Amendments" to confer personhood on fetuses". She suggested that we need a Personhood Amendment for women to establish our rights as autonomous people. Melissa suggested they compose the amendment, and then try to get a clever Democratic Senator to introduce it into the US Senate.
So they did!
The original goal was 1,000 signatures, after which it would be delivered to Senators Patty Murray (WA), Al Franken (MN), and Kristen Gillibrand (NY) with a request to introduce the proposed amendment into the legislative session. But the initial response was so good, they're now trying for 5,000. The petition now has 2,377 signatures, but the rate of new sigs is slowing, so we need to spread the word further. Feel free to pass this on by whatever platforms you use, or link to this post or the Shakesville post.
You can sign the petition here.
Here's the text of the petition:
Why This Is Important
Women's reproductive healthcare has become a political football, with Congress and States acting in concert to remove funding for Planned Parenthood, and to establish numerous and capricious restrictions on legal procedures, and with presidential candidates, Congressmen, and pundits who don't even believe a woman has a right to contraception.
These positions are inconsistent with women's equality and liberty. If women and other people with uteri are full and free citizens of this nation, then they must have the right to make decisions about their own bodies from a full spectrum of choice. As that is currently being denied, women et al. evidently need a Personhood Amendment to guarantee agency over their own bodies. If we can get 1000 people to agree and sign this petition, we will deliver it to potential supporter Senators Patty Murray, Al Franken, and Kristen Gillibrand and ask them to introduce it to Congress:
"A person identifying as a woman and/or having a uterus shall retain all of the full, basic, and fundamental rights of a US citizen as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence-life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person's life, including but not limited to access to life-saving or life-improving healthcare, and/or medicines and procedures deemed necessary or beneficial by a medical professional and/or by the person having the uterus, procurement of which shall not be denied in and of itself by the presence of a uterus. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person's liberty, including but not limited to autonomy over hir own body and the ability to make decisions regarding hir own healthcare. Congress and the States shall make no law that interferes with a person's pursuit of happiness, including but not limited to access to a full spectrum of reproductive options, freedom from forcible reproduction, and the ability to make decisions regarding family planning and family resources."
You can sign the petition here.
One of the Shakers suggested that, if you're uncomfortable including your full address, you don't need to put your house number; just the street name and city.
The petition invites you to add a reason for why you're signing. As usual, I got a little carried away. I wrote:
Too many men in power insist that abortion is unconscionable, and even basic contraception is suspect. At the same time, they cut funding to allow women the medical care and other support services (WIC programs, well-baby programs, early-childhood education, EQUAL PAY!) they need to birth and raise healthy, empowered children that can become productive citizens of our country. Women are more than walking uteri and baby-making factories. It is nothing short of warped to hold the health, safety, and even life of a woman as *less important* than the potential that a baby -might- be conceived. We make no laws regulating what a man may do with his body; he would be offended at the prospect. But these men in power ignore the fact that their laws will have wellness consequences for a woman and, at worst, can force her into bodily slavery for nine months. It must be the woman's choice when to have children, and how many, and at what intervals.
And finally -- IT'S OKAY FOR A WOMAN TO HAVE SEX MERELY FOR PLEASURE! Men do it all the time. If they want to share the fun-times with a woman, she needs to be sure she can prevent pregnancy. Otherwise, the men better get real friendly with their right hands.
= = = = =
That last bit -- I'm still second-guessing myself about leaving it in, but I'm just so incensed. Rick Santorum is actually on record as opposing contraception because it's "not okay because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." I *love* (heavy sarcasm, there) that he and only he gets to decide the "right" way to do sex, and how it's "supposed" to be; sex needs to conform exactly to his specifications, otherwise it "becomes deconstructed to the point where it’s simply pleasure. And that’s certainly a part of it-and it’s an important part of it, don’t get me wrong-but there’s a lot of things we do for pleasure, and this is special, and it needs to be seen as special." Transcript here. And here's a discussion about the conservative attacks against birth control in Salon.
Will this petition change anything? Certainly not soon. But right now, it seems that women have fewer rights than anyone else in the USA -- fewer even than a two-celled combination of egg and sperm. If the senators do bring this to the Senate, maybe the uproar will get something started. So, please, if you're USian, sign the petition, and pass it on to your circles and friends.
.
Comment at Dreamwidth by Name, Anonymous, or Open Id -
Over at Shakespeare's Sister, one of the Shakers had an idea to fight back against the "onslaught of anti-choice legislation that includes encroachments on reproductive rights that undermine the autonomy of women, as well as proposed "Personhood Amendments" to confer personhood on fetuses". She suggested that we need a Personhood Amendment for women to establish our rights as autonomous people. Melissa suggested they compose the amendment, and then try to get a clever Democratic Senator to introduce it into the US Senate.
So they did!
The original goal was 1,000 signatures, after which it would be delivered to Senators Patty Murray (WA), Al Franken (MN), and Kristen Gillibrand (NY) with a request to introduce the proposed amendment into the legislative session. But the initial response was so good, they're now trying for 5,000. The petition now has 2,377 signatures, but the rate of new sigs is slowing, so we need to spread the word further. Feel free to pass this on by whatever platforms you use, or link to this post or the Shakesville post.
You can sign the petition here.
Here's the text of the petition:
Why This Is Important
Women's reproductive healthcare has become a political football, with Congress and States acting in concert to remove funding for Planned Parenthood, and to establish numerous and capricious restrictions on legal procedures, and with presidential candidates, Congressmen, and pundits who don't even believe a woman has a right to contraception.
These positions are inconsistent with women's equality and liberty. If women and other people with uteri are full and free citizens of this nation, then they must have the right to make decisions about their own bodies from a full spectrum of choice. As that is currently being denied, women et al. evidently need a Personhood Amendment to guarantee agency over their own bodies. If we can get 1000 people to agree and sign this petition, we will deliver it to potential supporter Senators Patty Murray, Al Franken, and Kristen Gillibrand and ask them to introduce it to Congress:
"A person identifying as a woman and/or having a uterus shall retain all of the full, basic, and fundamental rights of a US citizen as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence-life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person's life, including but not limited to access to life-saving or life-improving healthcare, and/or medicines and procedures deemed necessary or beneficial by a medical professional and/or by the person having the uterus, procurement of which shall not be denied in and of itself by the presence of a uterus. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person's liberty, including but not limited to autonomy over hir own body and the ability to make decisions regarding hir own healthcare. Congress and the States shall make no law that interferes with a person's pursuit of happiness, including but not limited to access to a full spectrum of reproductive options, freedom from forcible reproduction, and the ability to make decisions regarding family planning and family resources."
You can sign the petition here.
One of the Shakers suggested that, if you're uncomfortable including your full address, you don't need to put your house number; just the street name and city.
The petition invites you to add a reason for why you're signing. As usual, I got a little carried away. I wrote:
Too many men in power insist that abortion is unconscionable, and even basic contraception is suspect. At the same time, they cut funding to allow women the medical care and other support services (WIC programs, well-baby programs, early-childhood education, EQUAL PAY!) they need to birth and raise healthy, empowered children that can become productive citizens of our country. Women are more than walking uteri and baby-making factories. It is nothing short of warped to hold the health, safety, and even life of a woman as *less important* than the potential that a baby -might- be conceived. We make no laws regulating what a man may do with his body; he would be offended at the prospect. But these men in power ignore the fact that their laws will have wellness consequences for a woman and, at worst, can force her into bodily slavery for nine months. It must be the woman's choice when to have children, and how many, and at what intervals.
And finally -- IT'S OKAY FOR A WOMAN TO HAVE SEX MERELY FOR PLEASURE! Men do it all the time. If they want to share the fun-times with a woman, she needs to be sure she can prevent pregnancy. Otherwise, the men better get real friendly with their right hands.
= = = = =
That last bit -- I'm still second-guessing myself about leaving it in, but I'm just so incensed. Rick Santorum is actually on record as opposing contraception because it's "not okay because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." I *love* (heavy sarcasm, there) that he and only he gets to decide the "right" way to do sex, and how it's "supposed" to be; sex needs to conform exactly to his specifications, otherwise it "becomes deconstructed to the point where it’s simply pleasure. And that’s certainly a part of it-and it’s an important part of it, don’t get me wrong-but there’s a lot of things we do for pleasure, and this is special, and it needs to be seen as special." Transcript here. And here's a discussion about the conservative attacks against birth control in Salon.
Will this petition change anything? Certainly not soon. But right now, it seems that women have fewer rights than anyone else in the USA -- fewer even than a two-celled combination of egg and sperm. If the senators do bring this to the Senate, maybe the uproar will get something started. So, please, if you're USian, sign the petition, and pass it on to your circles and friends.
.
Comment at Dreamwidth by Name, Anonymous, or Open Id -