Before, it was just one lesbian-phobic clinic in California. Now -- if a particularly loony Virginia lawmaker has his way -- it could be a whole state. Via A Little Pregnant: "State legislator Robert G. Marshall -- or Delegate Bob, if you're feelin' folksy -- has introduced a bill preventing doctors from providing unmarried women with any infertility treatment that 'completely or partially replaces sexual intercourse as the means of conception.'" (So wait, he's saying he wants unmarried women to have sex?) ALP goes on: "Considering Marshall's record, this is nothing extraordinary. A quick spin around Delegate Bob's site reveals that he also authored a law that nullifies any same-sex partnerships entered into in other states. He sponsored a bill -- 'almost passed' -- prohibiting college health care services from providing the morning-after pill to students. He was also responsible for a law against something called partial birth infanticide."
On the upside, ALP notes, Bob did sponsor a law authorizing members of a Jimmy Buffett fan club to be issued special license plates. "I'm glad his busy schedule of oppressing women allows ample time for him to kick back and enjoy a cheeseburger in paradise," she writes.
If you live in Virginia, she adds, "will you please consider finding and contacting your delegate to discuss your opinion of the proposed legislation? And while you're at it, what the hell -- ask them about issuing a special license plate for cranky infertile bloggers who can't believe our elected representatives keep trying to pull this shit."
The abortion doctor
Susan Wicklund has received death threats and worn a bulletproof vest to work. But what really scares her, she writes in "This Common Secret," is the war on reproductive rights.
By Eryn Loeb, Salon
How abortion changed the world
From a sketchy underground doctor to the American fight against communism, a look at the unlikely forces that helped spread global family planning.
By Michelle Goldberg, Salon
What's wrong with the new pro-lifers
The progressive anti-abortion movement still doesn't truly value the life and identity of the mother.
By Frances Kissling, Salon
Is there a next generation of abortion providers?
As if the threat of violence and divisive politics weren't enough, getting trained is almost impossible.
By Kate Harding, Salon
When abortion was a crime
Reagan, an assistant professor of history, medicine and women's studies at the University of Illinois, dedicates her disturbing work on abortion in America before Roe v. Wade to "the lives of... women who died trying to control their reproduction."
The abortion debate
An incredibly interesting debate that looks at both the pros and cons of abortion from a secularist viewpoint.
“Egg-as-a-Person” Initiative on the 2010 Ballot in Colorado
My Saturday at the abortion clinic
Secular Sunday School: Blasphemy Laws
Weed: Shall Ye Be California's Savior? 