THF: A call to activism (a.k.a., letter-writing)

I, The Happy Feminist, am happy today to accept the title of President-elect of the Women's Rights Coalition. Feel free to add me on facebook (I'm listed as President-elect in our facebook group); you can message me anytime with anything you may need. I write my first blog from D.C. today.

I am not feeling awesome about the assassination of Dr. Tiller, but I took a page (pun...is it a bad time for puns?) from Carolyn Maloney's book and decided to make a call for action.

I invite you all to take any outrage you may have about Dr. Tiller's death and write to your senators and congressmen/women about it. Whether it be New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Transylvania, whatever. Contact them! Here's a letter I sent to mine, please read it and send it along:

To my esteemed Senators:

I would like to begin my letter explaining how much I appreciate the work that you do; I am fully aware of how little like a picnic your job must be.

I write to you today to ask for renewed enforcement of the FACE Act of 1994, and I am sure you know why. Dr. Tiller’s work is controversial to some, but we can at least agree that civil disobedience may be a tradition we respect in this country, sure, but violence is not. Trusting women is the belief of the pro-choice movement, but the health of a human being is the belief of those who support late term abortions.

Politics aside, domestic terrorism is unacceptable. I cannot imagine what those people attending church the morning of Dr. Tiller’s death felt upon hearing the gunshots. My fear of domestic terrorism is not unfounded:

“The man charged with murdering a high-profile abortion doctor claimed from his jail cell Sunday that similar violence was planned around the nation for as long as the procedure remained legal, a threat that comes days after a federal investigation launched into his possible accomplices.” (Roxana Hegeman, Associated Press Writer, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_re_us/us_abortion_shooting)

I am calling on you for renewed enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994. “FACE makes it illegal to intentionally use force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction to injure, intimidate, interfere with, or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with individuals obtaining or providing reproductive health care services. FACE also punishes anyone who intentionally damages or destroys a facility that provides reproductive health services.” (http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/facts/face_act.html)

I know that this issue will continue to be debated in the years to come, but I hope that we can at least do so peacefully.

Sincerely,