In the special election scheduled for February 6th in Nassau County, there's a lot of talk and counter-talk about reform; Craig Johnson, the Democrat, is endorsed by Eliot Spitzer, who of course brought reform to Albany in the first place. His opponent, Maureen O'Connell (google her), is campaigning on virtually the same platform of change; this because, presumably, reform is what Joe Bruno really wants to bring to the state capitol, along with democracy.

One thing O'Connell really seems to want to reform is that part of the law pertaining to a woman's right to choose. A fact sheet from a leading choice advocacy organization details her past record of extremist activism in the State Assembly:

Blocking Access to Birth Control
Maureen O’Connell vehemently opposed legislation that would reduce unintended pregnancy by permitting women to access the “morning after pill” directly from a pharmacy.

Criminalizing Abortion
Maureen O’Connell supported legislation that would send doctors and nurses to jail even when facing the most catastrophic situations.

In the universe of anti-choice activism, there are gradations. Opposition to emergency contraception and the demand to criminalize doctors and nurses are extremist by any standard; that's Operation Rescue territory.

In a released statement by Planned Parenthood congratulated Sen. Hillary Clinton in her efforts to get Plan B approved for over-the-counter use. NARAL, PFAW and the ACLU have been swift to point out that it's a half-win : underage women and fertile children have no free access to emergency contraception. Which is why at culturekitchen Lorraine Berry is taking the pledge to start a PlanB Underground and buy the damn thing to anybody under 18 who needs it.

There is no need to force underage women and fertile little girls down the path of an abortion or unwanted pregnancy for irrational health reasons. Reasons that have all to do with religious extremists obsession over parental rights. Hoorah for New York State Senator Liz Krueger to tackling the issue head on:

NARAL tells me that, an hour ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the "morning-after" pill for over-the-counter sales (without a doctor's prescription). Congratulations to all who worked on this issue. It's safe, effective and now available. How often in the last Bush years has sound science, public policy and individual liberty triumphed over unreason and superstition? Not enough. We should enjoy the rare victory.

I've heard Republicans crow about how Long Islanders are the "value voters" of the New York City metro area. Well, I ask my fellow Long Island moralists, what is worse : an abortion before or after birth?

[via New York Daily News - Home - Tot found flattened on L.I. road]:

Residents of a quiet Long Island neighborhood made the grisly discovery yesterday of a dead, naked newborn who had been run over by several cars.

"The baby's body was completely flat, as flat as a pancake," said Sandra Thompson, whose husband, Earl Washington, discovered the corpse on his morning walk.

Police are trying to find out how the baby came to be abandoned on Sunset Drive in Hempstead, a cul-de-sac bordering the Hempstead Golf Course.

Cops said the infant was struck by several vehicles and had been on the road for "some time." Because of the body's condition, detectives said, they could not pinpoint the body's gender or race or exactly how long it had been outside. But some residents said the baby was a boy.

If the pregnacists in this country really wanted to protect the "sanctity" of life, then they would move mountains to spread the technology available for averting unwanted pregnancies. Isn't this a good enough reason to approve the selling of Plan B without parental control and over the counter?

But they will not.

Forcing women to be pregnant is not at all about morality. Forcing women to be pregnant is all about controlling the very foundation of our society : the bodies of women.

A special screening of the award-winning documentary The Education Of Shelby Knox will take place at 8pm in 304 Barnard Hall, at 117th St and Broadway, on Thursday, October 20th, followed by a Q & A session with Shelby Knox and director Rose Rosenblatt at approximately 9:30 pm. The screening is sponsored by student groups Students for Choice, Columbia University College Democrats and Q. The Education of Shelby Knox is a coming-of-age story about Knox’s campaign for comprehensive sex education in the high schools of her Lubbock, Texas. As Shelby is swept into the fight, she begins to question her deeply conservative Southern Baptist upbringing; when the campaign broadens to include a fight for a gay-straight alliance, Shelby confronts her family and her pastor, in the end declaring herself a feminist and a liberal Christian. The Education of Shelby Knox has won awards at the Sundance, South By Southwest and Miami Gay and Lesbian film festivals, and has been called “Well-made and extremely funny" by Film Threat and “Brilliant

No, sluts are not the only ones using Plan B.

I have been a proud user of Plan B (Levonorgestrel) Emergency Contraception and there is just not enough good things for me to say about it.

I am one of many women who cannot use oral contraceptives, no matter how low the dosage of hormones. My family physician had me try everything possible to no avail. From physical problems like nausea and dizziness to "mood swings", the pill is just not for me. Mind you, my partner and I use condoms, spermicides AND a diaphragm. We even try to do the twist while keeping Rhythm. But you never can be safe enough : Our two kids are testaments to what a broken condom (actually two) can look like.

For people like me, though, it was always a privilege to have PlanB available, albeit a privilege limited to one pharmacy. How many women, especially the many poor and working class women who have no medical insurance or enough money to pay out of pocket for a doctor's visit, may have ended up paying more money for an abortion because they didn't have access to this $30 solution?

I have been monogamous and "reproductive aware" as they can be. I have been with my partner now for about 18 years. For the first 9 years of our relationship, nary an "accident" happened. And as I said, we have two children --unplanned but not unwanted.

It's crazy that even for people like me this product was not easily available. Yet what is insane is the fact this law is a compromise of sorts. Why? The registered nurse or pharmacist does not have to dispense the prescription if they do not want to :