photo: Occupy San Diego's on the Roe V Wade vigil.
The Sunday picnic last week on January 22, was the 30th Anniversary of Roe v Wade.
The woman's group that hosted the discussions got me to say things I never thought I would ever say to a group of around 30 listeners, outdoors in a park on a Sunday.
The things I told them, I have only told maybe 2 people in my lifetime, in the dark, in the privacy of closed doors and whispers.
I was a baby factory. I would sit on a public toilet with an IUD and get pregnant. I had abortions. I thank God I kept the two I did. They are unbelievably perfect. I can't even think further than that.
In McArthur Park, women went on stack and shared their stories. To me, I was sharing secrets. Again, out loud, outdoors, in a park on a Sunday, with men listening.
Holy Moley, I hope no one remembers me.
Photo by Nick Smith ABC News
There was one woman who spoke and ...ranted rather, on the many various forces against abortion or pro-choice. She went down the line from politicians to by-laws and clause, she exclaimed, "It's unnerving and baffling just how many... practically everyone is opposed to pro-choice! They are against us being the master of our own bodies. What is up with that!??!
I got on stack because it was her question that made me want to. I felt like I had a sudden answer, i didn't even know if it was a right answer, I had no reference, only a suspicion.
I was after 5 or 6 women who had gotten on stack before me. They shared their beliefs and convictions. Eventually thank god, the crowd was thinning because my stupid turn, going on stack, was coming up. I can hardly stand talking in front of people when it comes to ranto-politico, because I'm a poet which is a free flowing art and you can't free flow ranto-politico unless you know what the fruck you're talking about.
My turn. I start babbling. I felt like I should do what they did when each of them spoke. I felt like I should errrr... tell my secrets and I did, just to preface what I really wanted to say. I told them I had X amount of abortions. I said I was sterilized against my consent when I was under anesthesia. All those secrets made them happy. My head was already throbbing before I started. So I just got to what I really wanted to say. I told them,
"Mid-wifery has been repeatedly burned at the stake... why? Beacause the medical industry is a greedy, diabolical industry."
I continued. "You are asking WHY is everyone... everyone against abortions and the rights to be the masters of our own bodies?" I think it's simple.
Abortions are cheap. Having babies are expensive. When you have an abortion, you exit, or perhaps never even enter the medical "system".
I said, "You know Ron Paul is anti-abortion. He pledged to end funding to Planned Parenthood. Well, he is funded by a pharmaceutical company."
I couldn't name who, but I had read it somewhere in an article about the Tea Party being an astro turf.
"Planned Parenthood is the probably the number one distributor of free meds. Meds for STD's, The Pill, and ...abortions. If you can't afford an abortion, they'll help you get one at no cost to you at all."
I hate the fact that I'm no good at ranto-politico where these occupy minds are the most intellectual minds that can be found in such large groups. Sure there are a couple of whacko fillers but everyone is so nice to them that sometimes I wonder if I'm one.
"Furthermore", I continued, "If you were to do the research, I bet you any money there's a huge difference in cost/profits when comparing childbirth to abortion."
"Thank you. That's All. Thanks"
Women in groups are the sweetest people sometimes. Well it depends on the group. So, nobody really cared about what I had to say. None of those sweet women appraoched me to say anything, but I what was I expecting? I really dislike getting on stack with people who never really go out of their way to talk to me. Just smiles. Nice smiles. Okay, the smiles are almost worth it. They're sincere. It makes me hungry and I go looking for cookies on the picnic table.
Yesterday the Sunday picnic was beautiful. We marched in Solidarity with Oakland where many of our Occupy Los Angeles folks went, a few were arrested. I still haven't heard anything about Emily.
Emily was the very first girl I met at OLA. I met Emily and Keepin it Real Steven at the very 1st GA at Solidarity Park, October1st. Emily beat the crap out of the pinata at the Roe v Wade picnic. I mean she annihilated the pinata. I hope she's okay. Still waiting to hear anything.
I don't feel like writing about yesterday because I am haunted by the things I said on the 22nd.
So I decided to go ahead and do the research. This is what I found, presented in my easy wayout cut and paste, with proper credit given of course. No copyright infringement here. ;D
"My own personal concern here is with an issue that I hold dear to me -- health care.
The medical establishment has become but a reflection of corporate culture with its caste system of privilege, indifference to the poor, and enslavement to corporate product and profit.
And so I say to you, isn't it also time for an Occupy Big Medicine movement?"
________________________________
I found an amazing web page entitled,
Vaccine Conflict of Interest quotes
Quotes Medical control ploys
The funnest part about research is getting your mind blown when it comes to "Ah ha! I knew it!" This page is a collection of Quotes, just like the title suggests. Read on.
Vaccine Conflict of Interest quotes
"The vaccination lobby shamelessly takes all the children of this world as hostages to still their greed for money and power. They relentlessly abuse our compassion for the weaker and our concern about health to promote their giga-business. No matter what. No matter how many more vaccine victims will suffer death or side-effects.
No matter how many financial resources this strategy devours at the expense of essential social investments like housing and employment. No matter what.
Shocking! There is no excuse for this crime. Just as shocking is the observation that (health) policy is no longer under local, democratic control.
Everything is set up and organised with scrutiny at the highest, international level by those who take profit from it: the pharmaceutical industry, the financial world, politicians."---Kris Gaublomme MD
Tedd Koren, D.C., quoted Barbara Fisher, who served 10 years on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee trying to reform the health care system herself, as revealing more than presidential election lobby monies:
‘We have bad science and bad medicine translated into law to ensure that vaccine manufacturers make big profits, that career bureaucrats at the Public Health Service meet the mass vaccination goals promised to politicians funding their budgets, and pediatricians have a steady flow of patients...As the drug companies have often stated in meetings I have attended, if a vaccine they produce is not mandated to be used on a mass basis, they do not recoup their R & D costs and don’t make the profit they want...official studies of vaccine risk have been designed and conducted by physicians who sit on vaccine policy-making committees at the Centers for Disease Control...some of whom receive money from vaccine manufacturers for their universities and for testifying as expert witnesses in vaccine-injury cases. And others are federal employees with an eye on career advancement within HHS and a future job with a vaccine manufacturer after retirement from public service" (Well Mind Association October 1993).
"When I look at it," Fisher says, "what I see is allopathic medicine at war with the other modalities. Homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic are perceived as challenging the basic premise of allopathic medicine, which is that germs are the ultimate cause of illness and must be destroyed--in this case, by vaccines.....
Both Fisher and Coulter agree that not only are vaccines the sacred cow of the public health system, they have also become the golden calf. What that means is money. Fisher points out that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with an annual budget of around $360 billion, is the most powerful and wealthiest federal agency in the country.
In the United States there are two main vaccine policy-making groups, the Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) under HHS. ACIP makes recommendations for vaccine policy. Fisher says these recommendations turn into mandates "because state health officials automatically turn them into state law.
In most states," she says, "[when it comes to public health] you no longer even have a vote by the legislature. All the state health departments have to do is issue a regulation, and it automatically becomes a law."
Back to the Vaccine quotes:
"For 16 years I have sat in rooms with these officials, both at scientific conferences and government meetings. I was appointed to the Vaccine Advisory Committee for four years under HHS. I was the token consumer representative."
What she observed was lack of oversight of this huge enterprise.
"You have the highly funded HHS. You have the federal health infrastructure that funds the state public-health infrastructure. Together they have decided they are going to use vaccines to eradicate disease-causing microorganisms from Earth.
Then there are the drug companies that manufacture the vaccines; they have a very profitable relationship with FDA and CDC. Everyone is committed to the same premise. What we are trying to make the public realize is that no money whatsoever has been portioned to independent researchers who work outside this very profitable, self-reinforcing loop."---Franklin Cameron
Okay, for rock 'roll i researched the cost of having a baby to compare to not having a baby, and having an abortion instead. Of course I went to the Planned Prenthood site and got this:
In-Clinic Abortion Procedures at a Glance
• Medical procedures that end pregnancy
• Safe and effective
• Available from many Planned Parenthood health centers
• Costs about $300–$950 in the first trimester
abortion pill costs ($350-$650),
I researched the cost of havng a baby and got this from Connie Brooks, a new mother who posted an article called, Babies Are Expensive! Total Cost of Having A Baby
Here's the breakdown.
Babies Are Expensive! Total Cost of Having A Baby
- by Jim Wang. This is a post by Connie Brooks, a new mommy in Louisville, KY.
1. Prenatal Care Our cost for pre-natal doctors visits over nine months was around $500. Your cost will vary depending on your insurance plan.
2. Prenatal Diet Our food ended up costing us $7,200. Prenatal vitamins added in another $270 over nine months.
3. Maternity Clothes total cost of maternity clothes was around $400.
4. Baby Clothes & Supplies it amounted to easily $800 to $1000 worth of diapers, clothes, shampoo, and supplies
5. Nursery & Travel Items crib $500, mattress, $100. stroller $400 total cost for her nursery was around $1,500 after decorations.
6. The Big Day(s): Hospital and Delivery Costs
The total cost fordelivery was nearly $4000.
7. The Paperwork
$30 spent on her paperwork. The follow-up visits probably ran us around $150.
8. The Aftermath
The follow-up visits probably ran us around $150.
From conception to birth, our daughter cost us about $14,000.
It also does not include childcare, which thankfully, we did not have to get.
Alrighty then, after some thought, I went surfing again and pulled this out of the current:
- oh and check out the *source beneath the chart.
________________________________
Vaccines are an important part of every child's health care regimen, and one of the best ways to keep your child healthy is to get those immunizations on time. This chart will help busy moms stay on schedule when it comes to the vaccines kids need at every age.
Here, vaccines are listed under routinely recommended ages. Blue bars indicate the range of recommended ages for immunization. Any dose that's not given at the recommended age should be given at any subsequent visit when indicated and feasible.
Recommended vaccines: 6 months-18 months
Recommended vaccines: 24 months-18 yearsPrinter-friendly version
_________________________________
Next, I thought I'd check out the political scene, see who I could suspect to be bought to wear the Pro-life button. Good old Wikipedia.
Wikipedia: The United States Republican Party platform advocates a pro-life position,[61] though there are some pro-choice Republicans. The Republican group The Wish List supports pro-choice Republican women just as EMILY's List supports pro-choice Democratic women. The Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) is dedicated to "increasing the percentage of pro-life women in Congress and high public office,"[62] and seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S.[63] The Democrats for Life of America are a group of pro-life Democrats on the political left who advocate for a pro-life plank in the Democratic Party's platform and for pro-life Democratic candidates. Former vice-presidential candidate Sargent Shriver, the late Robert Casey, a former two-term governor of Pennsylvania, and former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich), a vocal pro-life proponent and leader of the Democratic pro-life caucus in the United States House of Representatives, have been among the most well-known pro-life Democrats. However, following his vote in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the SBA List reported that her organization was revoking a pro-life award it had been planning to give to Stupak,and pro-life organizations accused Stupak of having betrayed the pro-life movement.
The New York Times reported in 2011 that the pro-life movement in the United States has been undergoing a disagreement over tactics. Since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, the movement has usually focused on chipping away at Roe through incremental restrictions such as laws requiring parental consent or women to see sonograms, restricting late-term abortions, etc., with the goal of limiting abortions and changing "hearts and minds" until there is a majority on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. However, some activists are calling for "an all-out legal assault on Roe. v. Wade", seeking the enactment of laws defining legal personhood as beginning at fertilization or prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detectable at six to eight weeks in the hope that court challenges to such laws would lead the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. They believe that Justice Anthony Kennedy, who nearly decided to overturn Roe in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, is open to rethinking Roe. Others fear that the Court would not only strike down the laws in question but other state laws as well, and take the opportunity to solidify the ruling in Roe. Evangelical Christian groups tend to be in the former camp and Catholic groups in the latter.
Okay, there you have it. I didn't get to meet the women at the picnic personally, or I would call them, or email them and tell them, "Check it out! Look what I found! ...even though I stood in front of them and told them my deepest, darkest secrets, just so i could be a suspicious theorist about something I thought to be obvious. And well, obviously, I was right.
On a lighter note,
'Curb' Star Susie Essman Worries She'll Have to "Declare Her Womb a Corporation" [DCist]
"Political influence. Now that corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to get people elected, we could direct our uteruses to start donating to SuperPACs, etc. By incorporating your uterus, you double your political influence over night. You personally could donate and then you could figure out a way to funnel however much you could through Uterus, Inc. and voila! You're twice as close to electing candidates who will fight for what's important to you.
It'd be nice if it doesn't come to this, because it would definitely be a pain in the ass to figure out how to turn a body part into a company—not to mention all the paperwork that's probably involved. But at least we know, should we be faced with a Republican president, that we have options." -Susie Essman, from "Curb your Enthusiasm"
So to quote Larry Malerbia again,
"And so I say to you, isn't it also time for an Occupy Big Medicine movement?"
oh yeah -Larry Malerbia
Recent comments