(I’m assuming you know you’re supposed to sing the title of this post to the tune of Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Yay. If not… well… do that.)
Anyway, guys, lots of stuff to report and not much time for reporting it! Here goes:
1) The 8th Circuit federal appeals court just upheld a law in South Dakota requiring abortion doctors to inform women that “they’ll face a higher risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts if they go through with the procedure.” UGH. No matter that the correlation between suicidal tendencies and abortions has nothing supporting it, and that, as the linked-to article points out, the circumstances surrounding a lack of family planning and need for abortions may be the very same circumstances that lead to suicidal thoughts. Seems to me that doctors should be discouraged from connecting the dots between random phenomena when advising their patients on medical issues instead of being forced to by state law. If I went to my doctor for some antibiotics for a sinus infection, say, and my doctor told me that antibiotic use has been linked to superviruses and that therefore I’d have a higher chance of dying from super-gonorrhea if I allowed him/her to treat my sinus infection… I’d be pretty fucking sure that doctor was a lunatic. Right? And actually, those two dots on the antibiotic map might be WAY more closely linked than abortions and suicide. South Dakota… and federal appeals court… you are leading America down the road to moron land, where I hear the libraries are all closed, but thank goodness they’ve got Fox News and MTV, and McDonald’s. Thanks.
2) A great article on the dangers of the BackPage.com debates and protests over at Jezebel. Very well put, and thankfully Jezebel has a pretty hefty readership of people who tend to give a shit about the rights of people in general. And, given that sex workers who advertise on Backpage.com are people… Well, hopefully this will get some attention. If only federal courts had half this much sense. Sigh.
3) A really wonderful project is underway, and I just heard about it. A book project is accepting submissions from sexual assault survivors who have been affected with PTSD after their assault, offering advice and words of wisdom for other survivors–and, incidentally, providing the world with a volume that highlights the real-world ramifications of sexual assault on people’s lives. From the Facebook page: “I am putting together a book of advice from survivors of sexual assault or abuse, to other survivors, on what methods they use to help them cope with the symptoms of PTSD. Grounding techniques, help with triggers, body memory, dissociation, flashbacks, panic etc… If you are a survivor and are interested in submitting a letter for the book, please let me know.” Please do!
4) And, in interesting/awesome/cute news: the world’s oldest known bra has been found in a castle in Austria. Thank god, huh?