Tacky Judy Blume Planned Parenthood pitch makes LAT
Controversial children’s book author Judy Blume took such a hit in the pro-life community (read here and here) for making a Mother’s Day fundraising pitch for Planned Parenthood – double couthless – the Los Angeles Times has even taken notice. Wrote columnist Meghan Daum today:
But in seeing this saga unfold in my inbox, I was struck by a troubling question. Even though Blume may not be associated with abortion in and of itself (none of her protagonists ever got one), is there something about her persona that signals a lack of dispassion about its ramifications? Is she reminding people of a time when, in the relief of Roe being decided, there was a cultural perception that abortion was a simple procedure that needn’t come with attendant emotional baggage?…
[T]here’s no denying that the language and overall tone around abortion has changed. Despite what many pro-life groups seem to think, most abortion-rights advocates prefer “safe, legal and rare” to “no big deal.”
President Obama, pro-choice though he is, is hardly strident – and even a little evasive – on the issue, favoring language about reducing the number of abortions and finding common ground with the other side.
The pop cultural arena, for its part, has become downright allergic to the issue. In 1972, the sitcom heroine Maude had an abortion (on prime-time TV), and a story line in the 1982 movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High included it with relatively little fanfare, but 2007’s Knocked Up is so squeamish that the characters can’t even get the word out, hence the coinage of “shmashmortion.” (Don’t be surprised if, as he readies his Supreme Court nomination, the president himself adopts this term.)…
But for all of Blume’s radical (if nostalgic) cachet, what might be even more radical is if the pro-choice community could find a way of talking about reproductive freedom that neither reverts to the perceived casualness of the 1970s nor panders to the “shmashmortion” dialect of today. “Safe, legal and rare” comes close. But “safe, legal, rare and a big deal” might be even better.
This is another admission, even if pro-abort Daum doesn’t realize it, that we’re winning. Conceding that abortion is “a big deal” is a big deal. It forces them ever closer to having to admit abortion kills a human being.
Kudos to Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com for being the tip of the pro-life spear on this one. He’s mentioned prominently in Daum’s piece.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I’m glad that Blume got backlash! She got what she deserved!
SAFE, LEGAL, AND RARE…I’ll admit, it sounds good, but we all know it isn’t!! It’s not safe and it’s not rare!!
And I’ve got to pick apart “Obama wants us to come together and make it rare.” Not if he presses on with PBA, no parental notification, no waiting period, and government funding for abortion.
You know, if I got 300 negative letters and 25,000 positive letters, as Blume did, I’d be feeling pretty good, about my books, myself, and my choice of causes.
She wouldn’t have needed the help of Ms. Richards had the feedback been all that positive.
Why safe legal and rare if abortion doesn’t kill a human being?
Does anyone remember the attire: T-shirts, dresses, etc. That said “I HAD AN ABORTION”?? I’m not sure if they are still being made, but I hear they didn’t go over so well. Kind of like a lead baloon.
balloon..
Seems to me Judy Blume is hurting her own career by supporting an organization that kills more unborn future customers of hers than any other.
She’ll sell a lot less books if PP has it’s way.
You know, if I got 300 negative letters and 25,000 positive letters, as Blume did, I’d be feeling pretty good, about my books, myself, and my choice of causes.
Posted by: pro-choice author at May 14, 2009 3:18 PM
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You really need to read this post over at Conversion Diary:
http://www.conversiondiary.com/2008/07/good-people-bad-people-truth-and-lies.html
or go straight to see the shiny happy people:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/ssalbum/video/
One day people will look back at the auto-genocide within the USA and most likely will describe what what you defend in the same way as you’ll see in the video.
Doyle, how could I forget the obvious?
Madalyn Murray O’Hair (April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American atheist. She was the founder of American Atheists and, either openly or behind the scenes, was its President for 32 years from 1963 to 1995.
She is best known for the lawsuit, Murray v. Curlett, which led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling and ended the practice of daily prayer in American public schools. O’Hair later founded American Atheists.————————————————————————————— I had to bring this up. I wanted to share. Did anyone know that the very woman who took God out of the schools left behind a diary, [she was murdered} and in that diary she wrote; “Someone, somewhere PLEASE LOVE ME!
Man did my father detest her. God forgive him.
Posted by: heather at May 14, 2009 3:35 PM
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Amy (“I can’t stand buying extra large mayonnaise at Costco to feed my kids”) Richard’s pet project?
Wonder if she’d still wear it if it showed an actual abortion.
Chris, yes. That IS the shirt. I guess they did this as a ploy to make abortion more acceptable.
Here’s what I really think is happening with Judy Blume and Planned Parenthood:
http://www.thrufire.com/blog/2009/05/dont-feed-the-planned-parenthood-promotion-troll/
Wonder if she’d still wear it if it showed an actual abortion.
Posted by: Chris Arsenault at May 14, 2009 3:47 PM—————————————————— Chris, I doubt it, but they love to say that PLfers have a “fetus fetish”.
I wrote to Blume as well to express my disgust with her soliciting money for PP. The whole thing was massively ironic. Give money to an organization for Mother’s Day that ultimately destroys motherhood and hurts women. Thanks to all the pro-life sources and your blog for getting this info out. Now that I know Blume’s true colors, my children & I won’t be reading or purchasing her books anymore
Been there, done that, never bought the shirt.
Thanks for the kind words, Jill! What LAT forgets to tell its readers, of course, is that Planned Parenthood does abortions on 96 percent of all pregnant women who go to its centers and provides prenatal care for just 4 percent. Stats from its own annual report…
Planned Parenthood should be renamed Planned Barrenhood. They do not care about counselling women or providing prenatal care. All they want to do is kill the babies. Steven’s post bears this out.
Joanne, that’s what I call it all the time! That or Planned Parentless.
And she wears that stupid t-shirt like a badge.
So, what does she want people to do? Run up and hug her and tell her how wonderful she is because she killed her child ?
This makes we want to vomit.
Those T-shirts just kinda faded away, didn’t they? That was gonna be the beginning of a campaign to make abortion “respectable” in this country, but somehow it just fizzled.
I wonder what the reaction would’ve been if they’d tried to sell T-shirts that said “I killed my baby” instead?
I wonder what an animal rights advocate would say if I wore a shirt that said “I killed my dog”…………….. Actually, the good news is that I’ve never seen anyone wearing one. Tacky!
You see, I believe that satan crafted the word abortion. His clever way of getting truth to be a lie. It’s just a word, an option, a choice. I remember when some of the high school girls would call it “The A word”……. there was some shame in saying “abortion” Oh, but not anymore. Today women ask “Are you going to have an abortion?” or “Are you keeping it?” Going backwards we are.
The whole abortion business is a covenant with death. It is all Satan’s doing and FOR A TIME there will be many deceived by the lies of the biz.
“Of course. It’s quick, painless, and easy. It doesn’t hurt anyone, because a fetus isn’t a person and can’t feel pain. It just keeps a woman from being a parent if she doesn’t want to be, and heck, the USSC said it’s her RIGHT, that makes it ok, too, right?”
This is the lie that is so easy to believe for many people-little more than half of all Americans according to the polls-because the allure is so great. I mean, how often in life does one come across an undesirable occurance or misstep that can just be essentially washed away by paying a fee and a quick doctor visit? When I first found out I was pregnant with my daughter, a coworker of mine raved to me in private about her abortion and the wonders it did for her life. Now, call me an uncultured bumpkin, but for some reason I’m able to find just a bit more value in my daughter’s life than in the backpackpacking trip across Europe my friend’s abortion freed her up to have. But that backpacking trip is over, as is her abortion. She never has to think about any of it again, if she doesn’t feel like it. I think about my daughter EVERY DAY. I see her grow, smile, cry, learn, and laugh. The transitory nature of “a simple, 5 minute procedure” must also have appeal, especially when contrasted by the enduring nature of parenthood (think about every family tree you’ve ever seen…those “unplanned pregnancies” are committed to the ages-many go back centuries). Yes, the lies told and blind eyes turned to facilitate one’s convenience, or to make excuses for a friend or loved one someone knows who has done so themselves, go down smoothly, and the truth to such people is unpalatable.
xalisae, that’s quite a story. Hope the trip was worth it. When my girlfriend had her abortion 10 years ago, she made some small talk with a woman at the clinic. She told me that the woman said “I don’t want to lose my figure.” Of course my friend, a nursing student at the time, should have known how babies were made. Her reason for aborting? “I can’t stand “Jeff,” and I couldn’t stand the thought of having him in my life for the next 18 years.”
I can also honestly tell you that she still claims “No regrets.” So, we just don’t discuss it anymore.
You see, my friend justified her abortion, but she thought that the woman who didn’t want to lose her figure was an idiot.
“I can’t stand “Jeff,” and I couldn’t stand the thought of having him in my life for the next 18 years.”
Posted by: heather at May 15, 2009 9:48 AM
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Why do women have sex with men they can’t stand?
It boggles my mind. Especially when what women really want is love.
Chris,
Some women are confused about what love is. Speaking for myself, now I know!! :)
One more thought,
I was once in a very abusive relationship. I believed I did not deserve any better. I became what he said I was and hated myself more than I hated him.
Now I’ve recently faced a dilema regarding Planned Parenthood. I’m due for my well woman exam as well as need an apt. to address my irregular menstrual periods. However my regular primary care/gyn is back home 1 1/2 hrs away and is out of my insurance network making it expensive. Now I’ve searched for local community health clinics…
however PP’s the closest one and only one in our area. I’ve always been strongly opposed to PP providing abortion services, I just wish they’d focus on the other primary care & ob/gyn services more. So while I’m uncomfortable about going there, they have the services I need & are affordable.
I’m not crazy about PP either, this is just temporarily until I can find an ob/gyn down here who specializing in menstrual disorders, is in my insurance network and I get established with them.
And I’m just waiting for someone to say, “…but you can’t go to Planned Parenthood, they’re eevil!1!1!” :-p
Carla, that is so true! Thanks for covering the abuse…… @Chris, That’s a great ?? that I cannot answer. I guess it has been proven that often women mistake lust for love. I’ve done it myself a few times, but my friend was with a man sexually to make her ex jealous!…I warned her “You’re gonna get pregnant.” She was pregnant a month later, and without hesitation said, “I’m getting an abortion.”
Rachel C., Please don’t go to Planned Parentless. I also used to go there for my female exams. I have never had an abortion, but I have used BC. I severed the ties with them after educating myself about abortion. I cannot give $$ to an organization that harms women and kills children.
Rachael C.
Planned Parenthood is eeeeeeevil!! :P