GAP is back!

GAP is back - please stop by the Terps for Choice Table outside the Union to chat, vent, or ask for more information about abortion!

GAP: Myth vs. Fact

Myth 1. Women who have abortions suffer from “post-abortion” syndrome.

Fact: There is actually no such thing as “post-abortion” syndrome. Studies indicate that the rate of depression in women that have obtained abortions are the same as the rate of depression in all women in society. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depwomenknows.cfm

Myth 2. Supreme Court cases Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton gave women the right to abort through all nine months of pregnancy.

Fact: These cases actually give women the right to abort until the fetus is viable, that is until it can survive out of the uterus, typically the beginning of the third trimester. After the fetus reaches this viable state, which varies from pregnancy to pregnancy, severe restrictions are imposed to prevent abortion unless the mother’s life is in strict danger. It is important to note that the recent Federal Abortion Ban does not distinguish between pre-viability and post-viability abortions, or make an exception for the health of the mother.

Myth 3. There is a link between abortion and breast cancer.

Fact: A recently released (last week) Harvard study shows that there is absolutely no link between abortion and breast cancer. Their posters are hopelessly outdated. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/23/health/webmd/main 2718947.shtmal.

Myth 4. Fetuses are able to feel pain as early as 8-13 weeks after fertilization, when most abortions occur.

Fact: A JAMA study shows that fetal pain is unlikely prior to the third trimester, as the fetus at this point has not developed the physiological structures necessary to perceive pain.

http://www.jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/294/8/947

Myth 5: Abortion Is Genocide:

Fact: Genocide is officially defined as actions done with the intent to destroy a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. GAP applies this definition to abortion by stating that the national group in danger is “unwanted” unborn children. But because abortion is not an act done with the intention of destroying all “unwanted” unborn American children, and furthermore because it happens on an individual basis it is not genocide. There is no united group effort to destroy all “unwanted” children.

10 Year Study Disproves Abortion-Breast Cancer Link

This will be good with GAP coming up!

There is no evidence that having had an abortion increases the risk of
breast cancer," Thun tells WebMD. "This is a subject that has received
a lot of visibility; something that has been looked at repeatedly. There is strong scientific consensus this is the case."

Take Back The Night

A huge thank you to all of you who came out for Take Back The Night - it was a huge success and I think you should all be very proud of yourselves for helping to end violence against women.

Federal Abortion Ban Upheld by Supreme Court

• Today the Supreme Court upheld the Federal Abortion Ban, which includes no exception to protect a woman’s health. This decision represents a monumental departure from prior cases, and with it the Court today effectively eliminated one of Roe v. Wade’s core protections: that a woman’s health must always be paramount.

• Just seven years ago, the Court struck down a similar ban, with Justice O’Connor casting the decisive vote to protect a woman’s health and the right to choose. Today, President Bush’s two new appointees, Roberts and Alito, provided the votes that eviscerated Roe’s promise of protecting women’s health.

• The Federal Abortion Ban outlaws certain second-trimester abortions, and does not include any exception for when a woman’s health is threatened. In upholding the ban, the Supreme Court ignored three decades of precedent requiring protections for women’s health, and retreated from Roe’s requirement that politicians not endanger women’s health when regulating abortion.

• The Federal Abortion Ban, which the Bush Department of Justice is now empowered to enforce, trumps state laws and constitutions that offer greater protection for a woman’s right to choose than does the federal constitution. Solidly pro-choice states are now subject to an abortion restriction enacted by an anti-choice Congress.

• Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion upholding the ban, which was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, along with Justices Alito, Scalia, and Thomas. Scalia and Thomas wrote separately to re-state their longstanding position that Roe should be overturned in its entirety. Justice Ginsburg authored the dissenting opinion which was joined by Justices Breyer, Souter, and Stevens.

• Justice Ginsburg appropriately criticized the majority’s decision: “Today’s decision is alarming. It refuses to take Casey and Stenberg seriously. It tolerates, indeed applauds, federal intervention to ban nationwide a procedure found necessary and proper in certain cases by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). It blurs the line, firmly drawn in Casey between previability and postviability abortions and, for the first time since Roe, the Court blesses a prohibition with no exception safeguarding a woman’s health.”

• The ban imposes a criminal penalty of up to two years in prison for physicians who are convicted of violating the law. Doctors can now face federal prison time for providing what they conclude is the safest possible care for their patients.

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT!

Help end violence against women by coming out to TAKE BACK THE NIGHT on April 18th!
6:30 PM: Rally at Nyumburu Amphitheatre
7:15 PM: Twilight walk through College Park
8:00 PM: Candlelight Vigil and Open Mic Speakout

Please bring donations of unopened shampoos, conditioners, lotions, soaps, makeup, and canned goods to benefit local battered women’s shelters.

If you are interested in speaking at the open mic, please contact Terps for Choice at terpsforchoice@gmail.com.

Sexual Health Spring Fling a success!

The first annual Sexual Health Spring Fling was held on Wednesday, March 28th and was a huge success!
Students lined up to play the Penis Ring Toss, the Ovum Beanbag Toss, answer trivia questions, play the pick-a-duck STD game, and to Label the Labia. Those who were successful won cotton candy or popcorn. Students could also purchase t-shirts and goodie bags containing condoms, candy, and other treats.
We also raffled off three viberators and two packages of emergency contraception to five lucky students.
Stay tuned for pictures and information about Take Back The Night, coming up April 18th!

Meeting Tomorrow!

There will be a meeting tomorrow night at 7pm in the Edgar Allen Poe room. Heather Sullivan will be doing her Talking About Choice training, which promises to be interesting and informative.

Save the Dates!

Save the following dates for the spring semester!
February 27th - Heather Sullivan from NARAL Pro-Choice America will be doing a Talking About Choice training at our usual Tuesday meeting!
March 7th - Take Back The Night Coalition meeting - any student organizations interested in cosponsoring TBTN should attend this meeting.
March 28th - Sexual Health Spring Fling! This will be an awesome carnival event to promote safer sex on campus.
April 18th - Take Back The Night! Speak out against sexual violence.