04.22.06

Boycotts

Posted in Life, the Universe and All that Jazz at 12:08 am by Meg

Over on The Denim Jumper they were having a discussion about the boycott of TOS. The Xians tried to take it off into a tangent that was off topic and were pretty quickly scolded for their effort. I completely agree with the scold, but it brought to mind something that has not gotten nearly enough airing. And while this is out of date, I want to make some points.

So, what am I talking about?

Last fall American Girl starting selling these pink bracelets to support Girls, Inc. Sounds great on the surface, Girls, Inc. is an organization set up to encourage girls to be independent and develop their potential. What could be a better match for American Girl? Hah, the Xtians quickly rallied against it and sent out many, many emails telling people to boycott American Girl. Why? Because supposedly Girls, Inc. was against funding ‘Just Say No’ programs and therefore was for abortions.

I was visiting a close friend when it was going around and she showed it to me. The email was full of inflamatory statements, but little facts. Knowing how this friend can get wrapped up into things; when I got home, I did a little research. Here’s the facts that the Xtians didn’t want you to know.

1. Girls, Inc. is not a fly-by-night organization that AG just decided to support. They are the renamed organization that we all know as Girls Club of America. I’m blanking now on the actual age of the organization, but it’s not a new group by any means. Furthermore, their national board of directors, past and present, includes many names that the fundies consider their friends. (Including someone that is currently a Supreme Court Justice, if I remember right.)

2. Girls, Inc. is not actually pushing abortions on young girls. They have their own ‘Just Say No’ program that they actually believe has a better track record of success than the federal program because rather than just making Just Say No a backless drill, their program is based on building each girl’s self-confidence and awareness of their options. Now, I will admit that I didn’t try to verify their statements with an outside source.

3. (And this is the kicker in my book) Girls, Inc. is not against the federal ‘Just Say No’ program. They do think they have something better, but realize that their program doesn’t reach everyone. What they are against is the fact that Congress had already given the federal program more funding that Bush (the Great Leader of Fundies everywhere) had requested and WANTED TO GIVE IT MORE!!

Girls, Inc. had come out publically calling for a stop of overfunding of the program in this time of deficit spending, and the Xtians were immediately deciding that that meant they must be wanting to encourage people to have abortions.

Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see this making sense. Do You?

Okay, I know that this will matter to some people. Just to make it clear, I wouldn’t not wish an abortion on anyone. I’ve had friends go through it and it is not an easy or simple choice to make.

OTH, If you look at the data, fewer people die when abortions are legal. Women have been getting abortions since they’ve been having babies. They will whether it is a legal option or not. The numbers that died either in the dirty back rooms with badly trained care-givers (not all were anywhere close to being doctors and nurses) or from the infections that they brought home, do not come close to the numbers that are more apt to get one now because it is ‘easy’.

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