October 2001

Red Cross’s “Women Facing War” Report
Summary: It’s Bad. Really Bad.
Thursday, October 18, 2001 A new study from the International Red Cross outlines the specific hardships of women during wartime, just in time for this devastating war in Afghanistan Civilian women are often targeted during war for rape and sexual abuse, as we saw in the Bosnian conflicts of the early ‘90s, and continue to see in places like Indonesia, whose army targets ethnic minorities fighting for self-determination. While this war has not “gone there” yet, there are some other terrible burdens faced by civilian Afghan women: as they are not allowed to work, and must rely on male relatives for any income, the conscription of so many men is leading women and children to the brink of starvation. You can read the report here, and you can donate to the International Red Cross here. Crikey! With all the bad news coming out of this region, we here at the BUST news center are almost starting to miss the halcyon days of writing about rape, sexual exploitation, and harassment!

Anthrax Scares Hit Abortion Clinics
Way to Be Pro-Life!
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 Letters that threatened to contain anthrax were sent to over 100 clinics providing abortion services this week; the letters said, “You have been exposed to anthrax. We are going to kill you. Army of God, Virginia DARE Chapter.” The Army of God is a domestic terrorist organization that has claimed responsibility for several incidents of arson and bombings at abortion clinics. They advocate the murder of abortion providers, and support criminals including James Kopp, killer of Dr. Barnett Slepian, and convicted felon/would-be killer Clayton Waagner, who is currently at large after breaking out of an Illinois jail. These incidents of terrorism are nothing new for abortion providers, who risk their lives constantly to make sure that women retain the right to terminate their pregnancies – one of the first incidents of terrorism after Y2K was a similarly threatening letter, supposedly containing anthrax, sent to Planned Parenthood offices. Health officials in the 14 states (plus the District of Columbia) where the clinics received the latest letters are testing the mail for anthrax spores. God’s lawyers, meanwhile, have formally requested that all terrorist organizations cease and desist from using Her name.

Clinic defense is more important than ever! If you’ve got a friend or loved one who needs an abortion, make sure to accompany her to the clinic. And if you can volunteer, call NARAL at 1-800-YOU-DECIDE and find out where/when/how you can make a difference.

Gay Rights Bill Passes in California
Call Him Gov. GAY Davis From Now On
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 Governor Gray Davis has passed a bill that will allow gay men and women in the state of California to enjoy some of the rights that their married het neighbors do – the right to adopt a partner’s child, to will property to a partner, to make medical decisions for an incapacitated partner, and to sue for wrongful death. Despite heavy pressure from opponents of the bill, the governor signed the bill into law, putting California on the gay-friendly map with Vermont and Hawaii. “This bill is about responsibility, respect, and most of all about family,” said Davis, who has hereby earned BUST’s “Most Huggable Governor” award for October 2001. While some dykes we know turn up their (be-ringed) noses at gay marriage, we think any law that sanctifies lesbo love is a (dental) damn good one.

UN’s Mary Robinson: Food, Not Bombs
Chief Humanitarian Chick Shows Maternal Side
Friday, October 12, 2001 The UN’s Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, is urging the US to suspend air strikes over Afghanistan so that vital humanitarian aid can be delivered before the onset of winter. “We must pause,” she said, in order to let the Afghan people relocate as necessary, and to effectively deliver supplies to a population under siege – now is an especially crucial time, as a brutal winter without adequate food and shelter will mean certain death for hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Robinson, the former president of Ireland, has deplored the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the US, but urges that our government not forget the plight of “desperate” Afghan civilians. Put a chick in charge, and she’ll do her best to make sure everyone has a good meal and a warm blanket.

Nancy Pelosi Is New House Democrat Whip
Highest Ranking Woman Will DOMINATE Congress
Thursday, October 11, 2001 Nancy Pelosi, a liberal eight-term congresswoman from San Francisco, has become the highest-ranking woman in the history of the US Congress with her election to the post of House Democratic leader. Pelosi is now the second-most powerful member of her party in Congress, after House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, and while she agrees with Gephardt’s current cooperation with the Bush White House team, she is likely to push her party to take a stronger, more combative stand on issues like reproductive rights, international human rights, and the environment. "We've made history," she said upon her election, "now we have to make progress." Even without the thigh-high leather boots and PVC bustier, we can tell this new herstory-making Whip is our kind of broad.

Women World Leaders React to World War
How Popular is Bush with the Bushy Crowd?
Wednesday, October 10, 2001 The handful of countries run by women are becoming more and more prominent on the international scene, as the largely Muslim states they oversee react to air strikes in Afghanistan. While Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri pledged her country’s support to President Bush, her constituents have been marching in protest and burning effigies of the guy. Megawati only became President two months ago, after her predecessor was ousted for incompetence, and her extremely unpopular stance may hurt her chances of staying in power. The new Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, is on pilgrimage to Mecca, but is being urged by both her own and the opposition party to decry the air strikes and refuse Bangladesh’s help when she returns to make her formal statement on the matter. Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has pledged military support for the US-led coalition, and will be meeting with Bush soon to confirm the extent of her commitment. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has been too busy suspending her country’s Parliament and trying to avoid impeachment to come out strongly on either side of the international issue. These women world leaders and the countries they run were formerly seen as politically negligible compared to greater world economic powers – “Sure,” Bangladesh’s Khaleda Zia was heard to mutter under her breath. “You were so busy with Japan and the European Union, you didn’t call for months, and now all of a sudden it’s, ‘Oh, Khaleda, you’re so foxy, when can I take you out for dinner and a flick?’ Ha! This chick’s been around the block too many times to fall for that.”

It’s National Breast Cancer Month
Also Domestic Abuse Month – Fun Fun Fun!
Thursday, October 4, 2001 The joy of being a woman is doubled during the month of October, when you can raise your consciousness about both breast cancer AND domestic violence. Yes, it’s time to review your early detection booby-squeezing techniques, and maybe schedule that mammogram you’ve been putting off. It’s also time to donate some of your extra clothes, money, and/or time to a shelter for survivors of domestic abuse. But this year, there’s something new about breast cancer you should learn – it’s NOT linked to abortion, as some anti-choice forces would have you believe. Abortion foes have been successful in spreading the false information (unsupported by both the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute) that women who undergo induced abortion run a greater risk of developing breast cancer. It’s a scare tactic, aimed especially at young women, and it’s refuted very nicely by a number of studies that you can read about here. And here’s something you should know about domestic violence: 31% of American women report that they’ve been the survivor of some kind of abuse at the hands of their partners in their lives (you can read more about that statistic and how to lower it here. But if you want to read some happier things about women in the month of October, you know where you’ve go to go – here!

Bangladesh Babes Battle for PM Post
Let the Swimsuit Competition Break the Tie
Wednesday, October 3, 2001 The recent election for the post of Prime Minister in Bangladesh showed a victory for challenger Khaleda Zia, but the incumbent Sheikh Hasina, a bitter personal rival of Ms. Zia’s, is calling the election “rigged” and says she should not have to leave her office. The election was a bloody one – at least 140 people died as a result of campaign-related violence – and the country has historically had problems getting and keeping fairly elected officials into seats of power, with thirty years of coups and counter-coups causing constant political upheaval (Prime Minister Hasina was the first PM to serve her full term without being violently unseated). Not only are the women political rivals, they also have long-standing personal grudges against each other: Ms. Hasina is said to believe that Ms. Zia’s husband was partly responsible for the assassination of her father, former President Mujibur Rahman, and Ms. Zia has said that she would celebrate the anniversary of that assassination like a birthday. The level of hostility between the two women and their political parties has reached a critical level, with some people fearful that the military might step in and assume power if Ms. Hasina does not concede defeat. As one observer in the mostly Muslim country noted, “This could turn into a full-on eye-scratching, head-scarf-pulling cat fight.”

Ireland May Tighten Anti-Abortion Laws
Worst Idea We’ve Heard Since Green Beer
Tuesday, October 2, 2001 The people of Ireland will have a chance to vote next Spring on whether or not the risk of suicide by an expectant mother is a threat to her life, and therefore grounds for a legal abortion. Ireland has the most restrictive anti-abortion laws in Europe – a fetal right-to-life law was passed in that country in 1983, and only in 1992 was an amendment adopted that allowed for termination of pregnancy in cases where the mother’s life is endangered. That same year, a 14-year-old rape survivor who was denied the right to an abortion in Ireland won the Supreme Court&0-76217;s permission to terminate her pregnancy in Britain, after she threatened to kill herself and the judges realized, yeah, that’s probably endangering to her life. Should the referendum outlawing abortion in the case of threatened suicide pass, women who have clearly stated that they would rather die than carry their fetus to term will be forced to bear their children (or to join the estimated 6,500 women per year who undergo the expense and hassle of traveling to England for the abortion procedure). See, now this is the kind of blarney that really raises our Ire.