electrify my life

love it love it love it love it love it.


♥

rights and lefts

THE VERDICT

The Abortion Wars Get Technical

Women have few rights at all when doctors can legally misinform them or deny service entirely.

By Dahlia Lithwick | NEWSWEEK

Published Dec 6, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Dec 15, 2008

Manoocher Deghati / AFP-Getty Images

Under a new regulation poised to become law any day now, any health-care worker may refuse to perform procedures, offer advice or dispense prescriptions--like the morning after pills pictured here--if doing so would offend their 'religious beliefs or moral convictions'

What does it tell us about the state of the abortion wars, that battles once waged over the dignity and autonomy of pregnant women have morphed into disputes over the dignity and autonomy of their health-care providers? Two of the most pitched battles over reproductive rights in America today turn on whether health workers can be forced to provide medical services or information to which they ethically object. But as we learn from these fights, our solicitude for the beliefs of medical workers is selective: abortion opponents will soon enjoy broader legal protections than ever. Those willing to provide abortions, on the other hand, will enjoy far fewer. And women seeking reproductive services will be more caught up than ever in the tangle between the two.

The first dispute concerns a new rule purporting to protect the "right of conscience" of American health-care workers. Under a new midnight regulation crammed through by the Bush Department of Health and Human Services and poised to become law any day now, any health-care worker may refuse to perform procedures, offer advice or dispense prescriptions, if doing so would offend their "religious beliefs or moral convictions." Congress has protected the right of physicians to opt out of providing abortions for decades. This new rule, which President-elect Obama can overturn (although it may take months), is far broader. It allows one's access to birth control, emergency contraception and even artificial insemination to turn on the moral preferences of a pharmacist, nurse or ambulance driver.

The second dispute involves a South Dakota law that went into effect last summer after an appeals court lifted a preliminary injunction. The law requires physicians providing abortions to read from a state-mandated script advising the patient that she is about to "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being" with whom she has an "existing relationship." The doctor must have her patient sign each page of a form indicating that she has been warned of the "statistically significant" risks of the procedure, including "increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide." These "risks" are almost completely unsupported by the scientific literature. A new comprehensive study released by Johns Hopkins found "no significant differences in long-term mental health between women in the United States who choose to terminate a pregnancy and those who do not." The disparity between the empirical data and the mandatory script thus forces physicians into a Hobson's choice between providing patients with accurate medical information, and possible license suspension and misdemeanor charges.

Reading the new HHS regulations together with the mandatory South Dakota "script," one can only conclude that those same health providers who cannot be compelled to perform an abortion may nevertheless be compelled to deliver misinformation about it. The freedom and autonomy of doctors who oppose abortion are protected by law. But those willing to provide abortions can be forced to deliver a state message with which they completely disagree. Both the HHS's right-of-conscience rules and the South Dakota script purport to clarify the complex legal relationship between health provider and patient, but each instead confuses and obfuscates settled law. The HHS rule, as written, is so ambiguous that nobody can say for certain which health-care workers or medical procedures are covered, beyond establishing that both categories are broadly expanded beyond those protected by existing right-of-conscience laws. The rule even fails to define abortion, leaving open the possibility that anyone who thinks birth control is abortion may decline to dispense it, turning every visit to the ER or the pharmacy into a spin of the constitutional roulette wheel.

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine similarly blasts the South Dakota script for introducing novel and confusing legal language about "human beings," "constitutional rights" and "relationships" into a medical conversation between doctor and patient, concluding that these words are there "to intimidate pregnant women with vaguely described and legal-sounding consequences."

Almost completely missing from this fascinating legislative discussion of what health workers might be forced to do and say with respect to reproductive rights are the reproductive rights themselves. Whether we like it or not, the right to birth control, emergency contraception and—under most circumstances—abortion is still constitutionally protected. But these are not services a woman can provide for herself, which leaves her with few rights at all when her doctors are empowered by law to misinform her, withhold advice or deny services altogether. Even beyond the problem of subordinating a woman's rights to her doctor, however, there looms a larger question for health-care workers themselves: if they are indeed seeing their rights and freedoms either hugely expanded or severely restricted based solely on which side they've chosen in the culture wars, they might properly wonder whether any of them are truly free at all.

Lithwick is a NEWSWEEK contributing editor and a senior writer for Slate. A version of this column also appears on Slate.com.

© 2008 Newsweek

and it's ironic too

if i could live within any one song/video,
it would be this one:



another by Jem:



a better version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kHNXpj54Jo

i'm not sure why they keep making videos for '24' with footage from 'ultraviolet'
i guess her song was on the soundtrack

whatever, i'm hooked

the book of love

amazing.

jambo absinthedisco!

i'm kind of obsessed with my photostream



but more importantly, with kate's

my pictures aren't that good, i'm aware
but i really like some of them
especially from the Berlin set
i kind of think i should've brought my shitty point 'n' shoot to China
oh well

opportunity is not a lengthy visitor

so my mother informs me that i've been offered a position to teach English at Suzhou University (which they've spelled "Soochow," ew) for a year starting next summer.

...

um

!!!!!!


obviously, i haven't poured over the pros and cons and what have you, but at this point, i'm pretty sure i'm going to take it. especially considering that it's no walk in the park for recent grads to land decent jobs.

then again, not that i've been trying...

beautiful dirty rich

none of which actually describe me. which is fine.

i am enjoying Lady Gaga's debut album, "The Fame", even though it's totes not anywhere near "my type" of music. but then i tried to think what my type was and couldn't come up with anything. if you would like to synthesize some sort of folksy singer-songwritery gypsy-punk-cabarety dancy spanishy...yeah i'm just gonna leave it at that. the album is good. catchy pop for sure, but with a little extra pizzazz, i guess? i suck at writing about music, but here's a video to make up for it:


love this bish.

i just realized that i've been taking hayley duff and ashley tisdale to be the same person. whatever; i think their faces look similar enough, as do their careers-ish? dun care.

this guy is hilarious:


so i've been in china for a week. it's been nice...mainly just chillin' at my uncle's house, sitting at my computer 24/7. haha, so worth the 98148923-mile trip. but no, honestly, i'm enjoying spending time with family that i only get to see every couple of years. i think it's pretty unanimously agreed upon that i should visit more often, and i would like that myself. maybe i'll bring a coupla friends with me next summer or winter for christmas break. of course, then i'd have to go out and do touristy stuff. urgh.

Communist Bloc(k) Party

Ummm so am currently in the biggest Red State in the world. They've blocked Live Journal (haha, yes, I am still an emo middle schooler), and so I've had to resort to Blogger...um, no offense, I guess?

Well whatever. 'Tis my first foray into the colourful landscape of censorship. A strange sensation, but hell if they'll keep me from having fun :D

Hodge Podge Is Better:

- couldn't get wireless on the flight after all (Delta only offers wireless on domestic flights...starting in 2009), sooo have been spending the past few torturous days in the dark regarding international matches (well ok I know the England match result, but Corrine made me promise not to look up anything else...and i won't; i don't wanna be spoiled)

- lady across the aisle from us gets the Worst Parent To Ever Set Foot On An Aircraft award: two whiny, crying children whom she alternately neglected throughout the flight, and whose stinky diapers she insisted on changing right in their seats. yup. right there in the cabin. delicious.

- watched three movies: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, In Bruges, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. in a row. plus a few tv shows. yay inflight entertainment!

- got my first ever facial, which was cool, i guess. except some of the um cleansing moisturizing exfoliating minty fresh drippy magic elixir leaked into my eye, which was definitely NOT cool. but whatevs, my face feels better. oh, and the lady shaved my eyebrows. um, wtf?! ugh, i thought she would use wax or tweezers. but also, not a disaster (thank god).

- at the beauty parlour, they set my mum's eyes on fire. well ok, on top of a towel and another uhh pretty strong layer of something, obvi, but it was an eye treatment for her undereye bags. hee, it was actually pretty cool; wish i'd brought my camera.

- GOT AN ENGLAND SHIRT!!! :D :D :D umm, not sure where exactly it fits in the catalogue, since their home shirt is white and away is red. *shrug* who cares, it's awesome, i love it, i'm wearing it now, i love it i love it and did i mention i love it??!

- my uncle totes denied the whole scandal about that gymnast being underage at the lolympics. heh heh. well i don't even know the whole deal, but i'm pretty sure it was true. i really don't give a shit about the lolympics, but they sure made alotta merchandise!

- my cousin has class six days a week!! D: she had a test this morning (Saturday). and she said some of the more competitive schools make their students go a full seven days. unbelievable. hay remember when college was always 3-day weekends? that was the life.

- mosquitoes are eating me alive

Ok so I've actually found a way around the LJ block, but I thought it would be nice to post on here, since I rarely ever do anymore. "Rarely ever do anymore"? Does that sound right to you?

Interesting

More at ljsecret

unsuspecting idol

i secretly fangirl this blogger, who was in my painting class a coupla years ago and who is an infinitely sharper wit and more talented writer than yours truly. not that that's really saying much. plus, she was an english major.

i wish i had the guts to just up and move to alaska for awhile.


but i'm not a can-can dancer.
i'm just mopey.

Wish List!

You'll Never Walk Alone Scarf


August can't come soon enough.

as needed.

so i'm down with the "lather, rinse" part of the process...but does anyone actually "repeat"?

yesterday, i saw a unicyclist in riverside park! it was exciting, in a laidback way, and it made me glad that i chose to sit facing the walkway instead of the river.

chocolate hazelnut gelato by Ciao Bella is yummy. their sorbet, however, is chalky.

i can't wait 'til all this "Zomg I'm a senior!" shitstorm is over.

nice hat.

man, i am so good at being (read: so frequently find myself as) the third wheel, i should start my own club. my third-wheelership. we could meet every wednesday to discuss new techniques of looking away casually at crucial moments.


also, i broke my diet for jo's birthday dinner party. it was worth it :)

but it's gonna cost ya...

this is kind of awesome: Tibetan Protesters Scale Golden Gate Bridge
i also love that the torch was briefly put out during protests in Paris

ha ha ha.

Tactiles.

So what's all this I hear about Scrabulous? I know some bloggers are already playing it, but I haven't had a chance to check it out myself.

Here's an article that says Hasbro and Mattel are threatening to shut it down cuz of piracy and what all.

I didn't know it had become such an addiction for some people -- one person says playing it keeps him in regular contact with his mother! But I'm glad people are latching onto something a little more...shall we say, 'wholesome'?...than most other hobbies (what am I talking about, I just think everyone gossips about Britney Spears and plays video games all the time). A similar thing is FreeRice.org.

Words and such. Nice! :)

- - - -

Also, this: Horrifying and Unnecessary.

Seriously? What the deuce.

an excellent idea!

a reader's comment on this article:

My wife and I have often thought that the Food Network program, "Iron Chef", should feature an episode where the chefs create their fabulous meals while a 2 year old runs loose in the kitchen. Now that would be reality tv.

also, i could stare at this picture for hours:

no me gusta

i really hate my job. my boss is wasting the government's money on stupid shit while people starve and freeze to death every day.

brief interruption

Top 5 Favourite Albums of the Moment:

1. Transatlanticism [Death Cab For Cutie]
2. 11:11 [Regina Spektor]
3. Nightsongs LP [Stars]
4. Begin To Hope [Regina Spektor]
5. Houses of the Holy [Led Zeppelin]

Eye Spy

Anybody else see the upper portion of a nude female torso in this picture? I'm not talking about the dress dummy.
Heh. My friend Mallory saw it; it's not just me!

- - - -

Also:

This is so much fun.

spinning from key to key

why is the chapstick always across the room from where i am?

i've never been too good with secrets.

this is interesting.

New Englanders GTFO

I actually really, really want the Giants to win. Who the fuck cares about New England!? 

NOBODY.

- - - -

Edit: WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

where the beginning and the end no longer rhyme

if i close one eye and focus reeeally hard on (heh) the inside corner with my other one, i can just make out the blurry red outline of a spot of blood oozing out of a pimple i just popped right on the bridge of my nose. mmm. haha, bet you wish you hadn't read that.

sort of felt like revamping my list of things to do before i die:

- see the aurora borealis/australis (depending on the hemisphere i happen to be occupying at the time)
- attend a holi celebration (hindu colour festival), preferably in india
- dance in spring/summer rainstorms in a sarong and flower garlands; preferably with a friend or a small group of friends, and with music
- worship at a buddhist temple/monastery

- make something with my hands that i can be really proud of (e.g. a piece of furniture, pottery, or maybe something even more useful); try not to worry about how long it will "last" since everything is transient

- if i don't end up raising a child of my own, then i'd want to be a positive and hopefully lasting influence on at least one child

- read every book i want to read (oof)

- make a significant sacrifice

- become well-versed in political discourse and international current affairs; participate and make irrefutable arguments in a debate

- know my way around a wine cellar/liquor cabinet/fully-stocked bar :)

- do something for each of my parents that would make each profoundly happy and that nobody else could've/would've done for them

- acquire some fierce cooking skills; make a dazzling meal (appetizers to desserts) from scratch and throw a kickass dinner party

- really learn the meaning and value of family instead of just shrugging it off as an annoying inconvenience

oof, a lot of these sound bourgie, don't they. ah well, guess that's just how i roll (at least for the time being). i know, it's an embarrassing admission, but hey at least i'm being honest.

i really like thinking about death. of course, i'm operating under the notion that mine will arrive after a life generous in length and breadth and in a peaceful and merciful manner (maybe during an unexpected nap in a cushy chair while reading). uh, not sure if that's how it's gonna be (obv), but i sure hope so. i've never witnessed an actual death. i used to want to become a mortuary beautician. that would've been interesting to blog about, eh? but idunno, maybe i'll get decapitated in a freak water skiing accident like that actor dude's son, something o'neal. too lazy to look it up now. whatever the case, i just hope it's not drawn out and excruciating. i imagine being conscious of one's death as it occurs must be one of the most ghastly things one could ever experience.

and on that note, i'm off to bed. for a whole day of work tomorrow when i thought i didn't have to be going in at all this weekend. blurgh.

fooding fooding fooding

i am going to regret putting that dyed scarf into my laundry. the colours ran rampant last time i washed it, but oh well; i really wanted to get that chocolate shit off. on a happier note, wednesday afternoon is an excellent time to do laundry!

but hey guys! how is everyone? i've finally started classes, and i LOVE them. had institutional critique (with my favourite professor!) and then postmodernism with another awesome professor yesterday; loved them both, cannot wait to start reading for them. then this morning, went to my michel foucault & the arts seminar, and the syllabus looks amazing for that as well (the reader cost $57 and weighs approximately as much as a small child, but it's got all the readings we need, so major ups to that). i'm also getting a really good vibe from the professor who, by the way, comes off as a cross between jeffrey tambor and louis black. awesome. he seems engaging enough and, though he rambles quite a bit (and i mean what did i expect, it's an entire course about foucault for fuck's sake), i feel as though he'll be able to keep our focus and heighten our understanding of the course material. one can only hope.

what are you all taking!?

side note: if you haven't already, you all should check out the Classico® brand vodka sauce. i find it deeeeelicious -- so creamy, but just the right consistency so as not to smother my pasta or coat my throat and make me want to vomit. i think i'm going to make grilled chicken penne alla vodka tomorrow. i would do it today, but i'd forgotten to buy pasta (aka i kind of want to wait for my mom to buy it for me at national wholesale, where it's cheaper, and then bring it to me at school when she comes around to fetch some stuff to bring home wow nobody really needs to hear about this, ugh). and SPEAKING of food, i went food shopping earlier and my basket was so heavy that i got a nosebleed from straightening up to lift it cuz i kept putting it on the ground. idunno, it was kind of embarrassing, but it also cleared my nasal passages, so...silver lining! but yeah, i must start exercising. i need more energy, and my hamstrings/everything else are really tight. i wish i could take pilates for dancers, cuz that really strengthened my back.

...

um, back to food: what are some other things i could make for dinner? i've lately fallen into a pattern of pita-hummus-baby spinach and/or premade mixed salad. of course, tuna out of the can is always a nice thing to throw in there. i've bought chicken breast to grill on the foreman (heh), but umm that's still not too much to work with. someone suggested zucchini and squash; i say too much work. cereal and milk or flatbread and yogurt are my fallback meals at all times. ugh, i'm so lazy.

count the headlights on the highway

5 favourite movie moments (currently):

1. busride singalong (almost famous)

2. when time slows and camera holds its gaze on gwyneth paltrow after she gets off the bus, and then the music starts (the royal tenenbaums)

3. hugh grant saying "ooo can we call her chubby?" in that really high-pitched voice (love actually)

4. anytime emma thompson appears in the frame (stranger than fiction)

5. tie between juno saying "ah FUCKITTY fuck" and "WHOA dream big!" (um, duh)

5 favourite moments in almost famous:

1. elaine miller's (frances mcdormand) reprimanding monologue to russell hammond (billy crudup) over the telephone.

2. close-up of anita miller (zooey deschanel) telling william miller (patrick fugit), "one day...you'll be cool."

3. jeff bebe (jason lee) speaking at length about his theories regarding the dynamics between brain and instincts to william on the tour bus. (extended scene from director's cut)

4. penny lane (kate hudson) dancing amid the debris on the concert hall floor to cat stevens's "the wind."

5. "i miss you, and i love you." -- elaine miller on the phone with william (very emotive moment)

ahh movies. please feel free to share your thoughts and moments as well!

and

i'm having trouble finishing things lately: emails, blog posts, blog comments, conversations, letters, etc. etc. etc.

this won't be finished but i'm just going to hit 'publish post' anyway

you can write but you can't edit. edit. edit. edit. unless you hit the 'edit' button.

any guesses for the title reference? onto more pressing matters, then...

i've found that i've developed a habit of leaving the milk out after i'm done using it (usually for the coffee). i never used to do this. my mother has always strictly reinforced proper kitchen protocol (always putting things back in their spot, closing the fridge door, emptying meal and drink remains before depositing something in the sink, etc. etc.), but i guess a few years of the relaxed and obscenely unsupervised life of an undergrad has rendered me rather lax on such things. it's really kind of bad, too, as sometimes the milk will get left out all day--say, if i'd been coffeeing just before departing for a workday or a morning (or afternoon, as is more often the case) of classes. but again (what? when was the first time...), i've reverted to loosening my deathly fear of expiration dates. adaptability! ;)

but anywho, anybody else do this or other odd things that you didn't used to do? weird how we track (or don't track) the little things that change over time. well, obviously.

also, my sneezes are getting aggressively louder, or louder and more aggressive. sometimes they frighten me. not that that's such a tall order.

Tangerine

Rene and Georgette Magritte with their dog after the war.

- - - -

Edit: Mmk, that was for test driving purposes. And to continue this most unfanfared inaugural post, hi you guys! Welcome to Gong Blog II. New blog for a new year (ok, cheesy, i know, but in this case, also refreshing, and, quite,, apropos,,,,,,,,,). I've found that my first (ever!) blog had grown entirely too whiny and nauseatingly introspective for my liking; some of you of the old blogging circle might argue that such had always been the case. Whatever the verdict, I decided to start afresh and anew;skdfhablsdhfwawc yeah ok ok we GET it moving on...

...well actually, I didn't really have much more to say. I hope to produce something of substance on a semi-regular basis for your collective enjoyment, O Faithful Readership. I was well on my way to working up a proper worry storm over the impending content quality versus presentation, etc. etc. buuuut that's just silly. Ok I lied, I'd already brewed a pretty hefty dose of anxiety, but that's over and done with. Discussion is always welcome; I like that Blogger comments are now popoutable. Let me know if you would like to be linked and/or if you find a noteworthy blog that I might like and add to my links. Ew, I feel like I'm giving an orientation to a newbie at a small e-commerce firm. ...Firm? Words confuse me.

K BYE