Murder in Kansas

I could not write about the murder of Dr. Tillman yesterday. I was in shock.

Today, after some time to reflect, I will attempt to articulate my feelings on this latest senseless slaying of someone for simply doing their job and protecting and upholding a woman's right to choose - as provided for in the constitution.

Dr. Tillman has been the recipient of several attacks, including being shot in both arms, and having his clinic blown up. Attorney General Holder has order increased protection at certain abortion clinics. What a sad, sad thing.

A church is a sanctuary, a place of peace, harmony and tranquility. To murder a person in cold blood in a church with their family nearby (I assume, given that he had a wife and 4 children, one would think that at least one family member was likely in church with him that fateful day).

I encourage all of you, men and women, to make a contribution to Planned Parenthood in the name of Dr. Tillman. Pray for the board members and staff at Planned Parenthood offices across this great nation that they will be protected. I know personally of a Planned Parenthood Executive Director and board member. They are both phenomenal women and I admire them greatly. Thanks Annabel and Melanie for all that you do.

Read this thought-provoking NY Times editorial and you will get a sense of where I stand on this issue. We need to do more to protect those on the front lines of the abortion issue.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/opinion/02tue2.html?hpw

Planned Parenthood's controversial gift certificates

Planned Parenthood in Indiana is recognizing that in a difficult economic time, women put their health on the back burner. A brilliant marketing idea is the genesis of gift certificates for Planned Parenthood services.

Some extrememists think that the certificates will be used - gasp - for pregnancy terminations - I believe that this is highly unlikely, rather that women might use the morning after pill or other contraception.

Either way, it is a needed thing and again, a clever marketing tool to help women of all ages get the services they need.

I would purchase one for a friend if she needed me to.

Academy award winning (best original screenplay) Juno - a remarkably candid movie

I am a movie buff - became one during my Salt Lake years. I particularly loved movie going at Trolley Square or the Broadway cinema - a good choice for Indy flick lovers. And, of course the dollar movies in Sugar House - everyone loves that - movies and popcorn for under ten bucks for two.

Now that I am resident in the NYC area, and my budget is somewhat limited, movies are not something that I can enjoy on a weekly basis - as a result, my tastes are more discriminating. This is a good thing.

I recently saw Juno - a movie about a teen couple who become pregnant, finds a newspaper ad and seeks out a couple to whom to gift their child. The mother of the child had originally wanted to have the pregnancy terminated, but after being heckled at an abortion clinic and hearing that her baby already had fingernails, she changed her mind and sought out the aforementioned couple (Jennifer Garner - uptight, Stepford wife and Jason Bateman - immature and amazingly inappropriate acting husband).

The movie was so very well done. Everything from the taunts that mum-to-be (Ellen Page), must endure in order to get around at school as her belly gets increasingly larger with the pregnancy's progression, to the awkwardness that comes to her relationship with her boyfriend and father of the child.

Juno is quirky, believable, loveable, kind and good-hearted. For those of you who have faced the heart-wrenching choice to terminate a pregnancy, the movie might be a bit much - it has a pretty decent ending - not Stepford-wife-esque - more Desperate Housewives-esque.

The movie is a candid look at the adoption process and its foibles. I highly recommend it. Having two close friends who have adopted, I loved the movie and how well it portrayed the emotions of the awaiting parents - the quandaries of the single mother and how this issue is far more complex than many realize.

Let us hope that Planned Parenthood will regain some of the funding lost through the Bush administration so that women actually have choices again.