Pinko Magazine Hedonism + Activism

When I lived in Philly there was this John McCain 200-year old man who used to stand in front of the Planned Parenthood and ring a huge cow-bell, Paul Revere-style, chanting “this is where they kill the bay-bees,” over and over again, all day. He was great … great in the sense that when you have to face down a batshit crazy conservative, you want them to be really genuinely batshit. The guy brought his A-Game.

You can imagine, then, my disappointment at a new campaign from the “Christian Defense Coalition” (because Christianity is totally done for any day now?) targeting Barack Obama for his support of abortion rights. Is it their silly logo, above left? Is Uncle Sam (in blackface except wait it’s not generic blackface it’s just a poorly illustrated Barack Obama) the best they can do? The CDC (oh no I used the wrong link!) is going to be sending mailers, running ads, and implying that Barack Obama basically wants to run around the country with a pair of forceps stamping out pesky Christian babies with his unwashed Muslim hands.

First off, I personally wish that Obama was as radical on abortion as the ad campaign says he is. In many countries, domestic health care does cover abortions, just like the U.S. health care system covers a range of costs related to men’s reproductive and sexual health. Obama isn’t proposing a blanket health care reform that would haphazardly fund abortions. The most exciting thing to me about Obama on this issue is his willingness to end the “global gag rule,” the preposterous stipulation that forbids the U.S. from giving any foreign medical aid to any organization with any tangential connection to abortion. The rule has dire consequences, ranging from the denial of government funded condom distribution in AIDS-ravaged countries to a World Health Organization estimated 20 million unsafe and often self-performed abortions worldwide.

Obama does want to ensure that health care plans cover birth control, a common sense approach that helps people you know, not need abortions. His response to the campaign was strong. (click through to the article linked above for his statement) But the ad campaign clearly overstates his position (as usual) while failing to understand that the majority of Americans do support a common-sense approach to sexual health and sex education. I assume it will be irrelevant at worst and backfire at best, though you never know. I do wish the campaign had a cowbell or two to spice things up.

As a related note, if you want to support an organization that does give financial support to women with serious economic barriers to abortion and reproductive health options, the National Network of Abortion Funds is a great place to give a few dollars when you can.

Lastly, this Joe Conason piece lays out pretty effectively John McCain’s position on women’s rights in case you have a confused friend or two who thinks that McCain would be “not so bad.”

Yikes I started out planning a really outrageous post but this shit makes me so mad! Leave me many comments.

About The Author - Ben Wyskida is a writer, activist, conscientious hedonist and political communications strategist living in Brooklyn. - Visit Ben's site.