Want to Do a Small Piece of Pro-Choice Activism?
***Note: E4 seem to have now taken it down! So let’s keep up the pressure on ITV!***
We’d like people to help out with this easy action!
Have you heard about the coercive, insensitive, and inaccurate “crisis pregnancy counseling” that some anti-choice organisations are being allowed to give to pregnant women? If not you can read about it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/02/abortion-pregnancy-counselling-found-wanting.
Both Channel4 and ITV have 1 or 2 of these organisations listed on their “helpline” pages. We want to get them taken down! Please email them a message outlining your concern on this issue, we have templates below if you’d like to use them.
E4 contact form is here: http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us
Message to E4:
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to you in order to express my concern about one of the organisations listed in the ‘Help & Support’ section for your television series, My Mad Fat Diary.
In this section there are a number of organisations listed under the heading ‘Teen Pregnancy and Choices’. I commend your station for listing reputable organisations such as Brook, BPAS, and the FPA, which are known to offer accurate, non-judgemental and impartial advice to women. However, the inclusion of the organisation Life on this list greatly concerned me.
In a study carried out in 2011, it was found that some of their centres were giving out misinformation about health issues including telling women that abortion causes breast cancer and infertility, and showing them baby clothes. Because of these findings EFC recommends that women are not signposted to centres that are part of these organisations unless an individual centre has been assessed and found to be offering good quality care and accurate information.
This issue of coercive pregnancy counselling has been reported on in the media. An article about it in the Guardian can be read here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/02/abortion-pregnancy-counselling-found-wanting.
It is vital that your viewers receive accurate, non-judgemental and impartial advice when considering their pregnancy options. Therefore, I would urge you to please consider removing this organisation from your otherwise laudable directory.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind Regards,
______________________________
This Morning on ITV can be contacted directly at: emailthismorning@itv.com
Message to ITV:
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing to you in order to express my concern about two of the organisations listed in the ‘Abortion Issues Helplines’ section for your television show, This Morning.
I commend your station for listing reputable organisations such as Brook, Marie Stopes, and the FPA, which are known to offer accurate, non-judgemental and impartial advice to women. However, the inclusion of the organisations Life and Care Confidential on this list greatly concerned me.
In a study carried out in 2011, it was found that some of their centres were giving out misinformation about health issues including telling women that abortion causes breast cancer and infertility, and showing them baby clothes. Because of these findings EFC recommends that women are not signposted to centres that are part of these organisations unless an individual centre has been assessed and found to be offering good quality care and accurate information.
This issue of coercive pregnancy counselling has been reported on in the media. An article about it in the Guardian can be read here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/02/abortion-pregnancy-counselling-found-wanting.
It is vital that your viewers receive accurate, non-judgemental and impartial advice when considering their pregnancy options. Therefore, I would urge you to please consider removing these organisations from your otherwise laudable directory.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind Regards,
___________________________________
Thanks in advance, please reblog and spread the word!
Please get in touch with ITV! It takes about 60 seconds.
40 Days of Choice #prochoicefriend Campaign Launched Today!
Each lent, many anti-choicers decide to camp outside abortion clinics and spread lies and misinformation about abortion. This year, a number of pro-choice groups are running a #prochoicefriend campaign to try and counter-act this shaming of those who choose abortion.
Interested in helping out? Here’s what you can do to:
TWEET!
The account for this project is @40DaysofChoice and the hashtag we’re hoping to use is #prochoicefriend. Please tweet messages like:
“To all my friends - if you ever decide to have an abortion, I will support you in any & every way that I can! #prochoicefriend “
“If you ever decide to have an abortion, I’m your taxi! #prochoicefriend”
“Need to talk about an unplanned pregnancy? I’m here and I’ll never judge! #prochoicefriend”
and more creative ones that you can come up with! Also please tweet photos at us, with your own message on a sign or photoshopped in! We’re hoping to get a massive collage by the end that we can turn into a video.
SHARE ON FACEBOOK
Share longer statuses on Facebook. This is one we came up with but it would be great if people can make up their own:
“Dear friends, family and anyone else who likes me – I just want to let you know that if you ever decide to have an abortion, I’ll support you! I’ll give you a lift to/from the clinic, I’ll make you tea, I’ll cook you dinner, I’ll talk to you if you’re not sure about it or just want to talk – whatever you want and/or need I’ll be happy to help :) there are too many people out there trying to make women feel ashamed for their choices, I just want you all to know that I would never judge any decision you make!”
UPLOAD A PHOTO
We’ve set up a Flickr account where we’re going to gather all the photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fortydaysofchoice/) so if you want to send one to the Facebook page, Twitter account, or email (fortydaysofchoice@yahoo.com) it, we’ll get them all up on the Flickr!
MAKE A VIDEO
Same goes, the more material we have the better, we’re hoping to get a great piece done by the end!
SPREAD THE WORD FAR AND WIDE PLEASE!
CNN’s latest iReport topic is abortion. They ask “How do you feel now?” “How did it change your life?” but how do we know that this won’t be just a mainstream outlet to spew abortion myths as absolute truth?
What is CNN’s motive? To get at truth? To start a fiery debate that will lead to a spike in hits and viewership? This is easy, low-hanging fruit “reporting”.
What you need to be focusing on is the cycle of poverty among women, the lack of access to reproductive healthcare, the attack across the country on women’s right to a legal abortion? In the southern states especially (CNN does know Mississippi’s last abortion clinic is on the chopping block thanks to a legion anti-abortion legislators headed by Governor Bryant?).
If CNN is interested in having a conversation about abortion – how about you make it the right one?Let’s get the views up on this so more people (and hopefully CNN!) will see. This iReport topic is lazy journalism. Maybe a sort of linkbait. View the whole post so we get the view count up and get more people to see what a *real* conversation is worth.
(via Registration | Civil Liberties and Public Policy)
Registration is now open for the CLPP Conference, which will be held April 12-14 at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA. This will be my fourth year attending the conference, and every year I leave feeling inspired and having learned so much more than I ever expected. You can learn more about the conference here and apply for a travel/lodging stipend here (application deadline March 1).
EVENT: Tonight, 8pm; Fundraiser for Abortion Support Network - Power Lunches Arts Café, 446 Kingsland Road, London E8 4AE
Line up:
Woolf
Loveover
My Therapist Says Hot Damn
Vampire Sushi Distro selling zines.
Girl Germs DJs playing all-girl punk, post-punk, 60s girl groups, grunge, britpop, hip-hop and pop.
£4, all proceeds go to http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/
(Source: purrstephanie)
Education for Choice’s report on how abortion is being taught in UK schools has been released today! Some of it is quite disturbing. Have a look at it here :)
1 notes
Permalink
Reblogged from
