Props on connecting the dots
If I could type my applause, I would. Your last two issues, specifically the cover articles, were superb.
The “I Had An Abortion” piece (by Anonymous, September 26) was succinct and very well thought out. I appreciated the personal anonymous story, and the transition into where our presidential candidates stand on choice was smooth — and an important connection to make! (See “Where They Stand,” by Deirdre Fulton, September 26). All too often, the pro-choice movement has to play cards that are starkly black and white. Reading an article in a magazine as prevalent as yours that so easily connected the dots for readers, well, it just had my activist heart all a-flutter.
I was already feeling pretty on top of my pro-choice, sex-ed world, and then the next issue came out and you lifted my spirits even more! David Kish’s “Losing Common Ground” article (October 3) on the state of AIDS activism was incredible. I think that folks who aren’t specifically involved in actions and education around AIDS don’t necessarily understand that medical cures come from science.
The glamour of celebrities telling us to buy things that support addressing the AIDS crisis in Africa, or movies where a character discovers his or her status take away from the reality of our current global situation: there is no cure for AIDS. And simply wearing a red ribbon isn’t enough. It was refreshing, albeit upsetting, to read about the rift between activists and scientists — drawing the connections between education, awareness, and scientific breakthrough is a difficult task, and Kish did an excellent job.
Keep up the great work!
Katie Diamond
Portland
Related:
Controlling birth, Parental discretionary donors, Shifting sands, More 
- Controlling birth
Not surprisingly, I am searching for yet another birth control pill that doesn’t wreck my life.
- Parental discretionary donors
Polarizin’ Palin has people everywhere opening their pocketbooks to the pro-choice movement’s benefit.
- Shifting sands
No matter what decisions are made by the courts, Congress, or state legislators, birth control and reproductive rights are at the nexus of public policy, individual privacy, health-care regulations, ethical arguments, religious beliefs, and morality
- Thoughts on the 36th anniversary of Roe V. Wade
To commemorate that anniversary, the Maine Choice Coalition, along with the Maine Civil Liberties Union, the League of Young Voters, and the Portland Phoenix, are teaming up to screen the film I Had An Abortion at SPACE Gallery on Wednesday, January 28.
- Unveiling the new (old) Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood wants abortions for everyone! Well, not exactly.
- Obama and McCain: Repro Rights Checklist
It’s important to know where our next president stands with regard to reproductive rights — and to remember that those rights depend on who’s in charge.
- Quiet warfare
On September 11, 2006, the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks that devastated our nation, a man crashed his car into a building in Davenport, Iowa, hoping to blow it up and kill himself in the fire.
- Repro on the Red Line
Safe sex just got a little easier for women in Cambridge and Somerville, who won’t have to go quite as far for birth control, emergency contraception, or testing for pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections.
- I had an abortion
Does anyone think about us, the people who have actually gone through with an abortion, and accepted that it was the right decision, for whatever reason, at that time?
- Seeking help?
Here are some local sources for information on birth control and reproductive rights, related health problems, or for general medical advice.
- Are turtles making love at King Middle School?
“What your values are, and what actually happens, are quite different.”
- Less
Topics:
Letters
, Health and Fitness, Medicine, Sexual and Reproductive Health, More
, Health and Fitness, Medicine, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Contagious and Infectious Diseases, HIV and AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Abortion, Less
