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'We had abortions': 5,000 on Ms. [magazine] petition
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | October 4, 2006 | DAVID CRARY

Posted on 10/04/2006 5:33:24 PM PDT by MotleyGirl70

NEW YORK -- As the abortion debate rages, Ms. magazine is releasing its fall issue next week with a cover story titled ''We Had Abortions'' that lists names of thousands of women who signed a petition making that declaration.

The publication coincides with what the abortion-rights movement considers a watershed moment.

Abortion access in many states is being curtailed, activists are uncertain about the stance of the U.S. Supreme Court, and South Dakotans vote Nov. 7 on whether to ban virtually all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.

''All this seems very dire,'' said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Ms.-publishing Feminist Majority Foundation. ''We have to get away from what the politicians are saying and get women's lives back in the picture.''

Even before the issue reaches newsstands Oct. 10, anti-abortion activists have been decrying it. Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, wrote in a commentary that when she saw a Ms. announcement of the project, "the evil practically jumped right off the page."

Ms. executive editor Katherine Spillar said more than 5,000 women have signed the petition so far -- heeding its appeal to declare they are unashamed of the choice they made. The magazine itself had room for only 1,016 names, she said Tuesday, but all of them will be viewable online as Ms. encourages other women to continue adding their signatures.

Ms. says it will send the petition to Congress, the White House and state legislators.

The signatories include Ms. founder Gloria Steinem, comedian Carol Leifer, and actresses Kathy Najimy and Amy Brenneman, but most are not famous names.

Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing -- although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.

Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago -- enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic -- in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.

"I wanted to do something bigger with myself -- I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.

Another signatory, Debbie Findling of San Francisco, described her difficult decision last year to have an abortion after tests showed that she would bear a son with Down syndrome.

"I felt it was my right to make the decision, but having that right doesn't make the decision any easier," she said. "It was the hardest decision I've ever made."

Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a philanthropic foundation executive.

She says too many of her allies in the abortion-rights movement tend to minimize, at least publicly, the psychological impact of abortion.

"It's emotionally devastating," she said in a phone interview. "I don't regret my decision -- but I regret having been put in the position to have to make that choice. It's something I'll live with for the rest of my life."

Findling strongly supports the Ms. petition, and believes women who have had abortions need to be more open about their decisions. She has written an essay about her own experience, and plans to include it in an anthology she hopes to publish next year.

Ms. mounted this kind of petition drive when it was first published. Its debut issue in 1972 included a manifesto signed by 53 women -- many of them well-known -- declaring that they had undergone abortions despite state laws outlawing the procedure.

The next year, the Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights nationwide. Some abortion-rights activists are concerned that Roe could be overturned, either by the current court or if President Bush has the opportunity to appoint one more justice.

Smeal said Ms. staffers called the women who signed the petition to verify their information and be sure they were willing to have their names in print.

"The women thanked us for doing this," Smeal said. "They wanted to tell their stories."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion
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1 posted on 10/04/2006 5:33:25 PM PDT by MotleyGirl70
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To: MotleyGirl70
The signatories include Ms. founder Gloria Steinem,

This vile woman wears the fact that she had an abortion as a badge of honor.

2 posted on 10/04/2006 5:34:33 PM PDT by MotleyGirl70
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To: MotleyGirl70

Good! That's at least 5000 fewer liberals.


3 posted on 10/04/2006 5:36:59 PM PDT by reg45
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To: MotleyGirl70

Not to be too graphic, but......

How could Gloria Steinam have had an abortion?


Being such a man hater, how did she ever.....um......do the types of things that cause pregnancy?


4 posted on 10/04/2006 5:37:16 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: MotleyGirl70
Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a philanthropic foundation executive.

Presumably they won't be giving anything to the Special Olympics.

5 posted on 10/04/2006 5:37:43 PM PDT by madprof98
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To: MotleyGirl70
Another signatory, Debbie Findling of San Francisco, described her difficult decision last year to have an abortion after tests showed that she would bear a son with Down syndrome.

"I felt it was my right to make the decision, but having that right doesn't make the decision any easier," she said. "It was the hardest decision I've ever made."

Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a philanthropic foundation executive.

I'm speechless.

6 posted on 10/04/2006 5:41:10 PM PDT by MotleyGirl70
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To: MotleyGirl70

My, my, my!

What people will do to get their names printed in a magazine.


7 posted on 10/04/2006 5:41:16 PM PDT by Kenservatized
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To: MotleyGirl70
"The women thanked us for doing this," Smeal said. "They wanted to tell their stories."

You mean they wanted to try and remove some of their guilt. I'm certain it didn't work. If it does, they have no conscience.

8 posted on 10/04/2006 5:41:53 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: MotleyGirl70

I bet Ms. Findling's parents were quite proud of her.


9 posted on 10/04/2006 5:43:00 PM PDT by gotribe (It's not a religion.)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

A " coyote drunk ".


10 posted on 10/04/2006 5:43:53 PM PDT by unkus
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To: gotribe
That part of the article brought tears to my eyes.
11 posted on 10/04/2006 5:44:25 PM PDT by MotleyGirl70
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To: MotleyGirl70
"I wanted to do something bigger with myself -- I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.

I'm sure that she meant to say "anyone." These people didn't just kill a child, they killed their own children. They'll say that it's "their body." That is false. A DNA sample from the baby they just ripped apart won't match their own DNA. Womb vs. delivery room is irrelevant; where the baby is located is just geography. It's like saying "it's ok to kill your kid in the living room, but not in the dining room." Evil!

12 posted on 10/04/2006 5:47:00 PM PDT by TUAN_JIM (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: MotleyGirl70
"I wanted to do something bigger with myself -- I didn't want to be stopped by anything," she said in a telephone interview.

Wow...where to begin?

13 posted on 10/04/2006 5:47:38 PM PDT by NittanyLion
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To: MotleyGirl70
<smacks head> That's it! The Nazi's should of just signed a petition.

"I'm Adolf Eichmann and I'm OK with what I've done. So why can't all of you just get over it?"

How truly sick it's all become.

14 posted on 10/04/2006 5:47:57 PM PDT by avg_freeper (Gunga galunga. Gunga, gunga galunga)
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To: MotleyGirl70

This is just another example of the "celebration of sin" a fine tradition shared by many a liberal.


15 posted on 10/04/2006 5:50:17 PM PDT by Kimmers
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To: reg45
"Good! That's at least 5000 fewer liberals."

No, it just means 5,000 fewer babies. And then down the line, fewer crayon pictures on the refrigerator, fewer toys in the front yard, fewer jelly-sticky hands, fewer goodnight kisses, fewer silly requests like "Read me Goodnight Moon again, Mom," fewer great dreams of being an astronaut, a fireman, a ballerina, a pastrycook, a gymnast, a saint---

Nobody knows what these kids would have become. I'm terribly sorry that they're gone.

16 posted on 10/04/2006 5:50:25 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life.)
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To: Dilbert San Diego
"how did she ever.....um......do the types of things ..."
Here is how she found the man....

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

17 posted on 10/04/2006 5:52:24 PM PDT by dynachrome ("Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?")
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To: madprof98
C'mon--she's an "executive" from San Francisco. Only designer children need apply. Can't be having those--y'know-- different children around, messing up the professional image. Trying again at 42--a real einstein to boot.
18 posted on 10/04/2006 5:53:33 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: MotleyGirl70

Freep the Ms magazine poll on the article here if ya want to:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1713729/posts


19 posted on 10/04/2006 5:54:14 PM PDT by dynachrome ("Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?")
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To: MotleyGirl70

What works for me is I ask my liberal female friends if they've signed up yet? Are they willing to admit to killing a child? Or, are they ashamed of what they did IF they did it? I have yet to have one woman admit to having an abortion. That may not be surprising since I don't have many liberal friends.



20 posted on 10/04/2006 5:57:16 PM PDT by Morgan in Denver
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