[net.women] Pro-choice action

sam@phs.UUCP (Sherry Marts) (01/26/85)

Subject: Pro-choice action
Newsgroups: net.women
==============

Yosi Hoshen asked for suggestions for getting involved on the pro-choice
side of the abortion issue.  There are pro-choice groups who are actively
countering the anti-choice attacks on our reproductive rights.  I am
active in NARAL-NC, the National Abortion Rights Action League in North
Carolina.  NARAL has chapters in 38 states, with a national office in
Washington, DC.  ( I don't have the address handy but will be happy to
mail it to anyone who is interested).  NARAL, like many other pro-choice
groups, is a single-issue, grass-roots political organizing group.
All of our funding comes from our membership.  We spend that money and
our time and energy on educating people about the issue, organizing and
motivating pro-choice folks, legislative lobbying, and political
campaigning for pro-choice candidates.  Unfortunately, the anti-choice
groups are able to raise more money and volunteer time than we can, in part
because their membership is highly motivated and emotional about the issue.

Yes, our reproductive rights are being threatened.  Yes, there is
something, a lot of things, YOU can  do about it.  Money, time, energy,
ideas are all needed.  Find out who the prochoice groups are in your area,
phone them up and ask them what they need.  Knowledge about computers
is currently in demand as a powerful organizing and communtications skill.
 
Yours in the fight to keep abortion safe and legal,

Sherry


Subject: Subject: Pro-choice action
Newsgroups: Newsgroups: net.women net.abortion
Distribution: ==============

Subject: Subject: Pro-choice action
Newsgroups: Newsgroups: net.women
Distribution: ==============

karl@osu-eddie.UUCP (Karl Kleinpaste) (01/28/85)

----------
> Yosi Hoshen asked for suggestions for getting involved on the pro-choice
> side of the abortion issue.  There are pro-choice groups who are actively
> countering the anti-choice attacks on our reproductive rights.
----------
GET THIS OUT OF NET.WOMEN!

There's  a  whole  newsgroup   devoted  *expressly*   to  this  issue.  It's
net.abortion, and it was created precisely because too much of this argument
was coming up in net.women. It doesn't belong here, and Yosi had no business
even asking for a pointer here; he could have looked in net.abortion himself
and either posted his request there, or asked someone privately in mail.

There are those of us who do not view this as your "reproductive rights"; in
fact  we think that's an awful abuse of the language. Since this is  exactly
the sort of disagreement which caused net.abortion's creation...

		GET THIS ARGUMENT OUT OF NET.WOMEN!

Now!
-- 
Karl Kleinpaste @ Bell Labs, Columbus    614/860-5107  +==-> cbrma!kk
                @ Ohio State University  614/422-0915  osu-eddie!karl

karl@osu-eddie.UUCP (Karl Kleinpaste) (01/28/85)

In support of my contention  that  abortion  discussions  do *not* belong in
net.women at any time whatsoever (somewhat flamefully stated in my  previous
posting), I offer you a portion of  one  of the "netiquette" documents which
are posted periodically by Gene Spafford to net.announce.newusers.

----------
>Newsgroups: net.announce.newusers
>Subject: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
>Message-ID: <11513@gatech.UUCP>
>
>This document discusses some items that occur repeatedly on Usenet.
>They frequently are submitted by new users, and result in many
>followups, sometimes swamping groups for weeks. THE PURPOSE OF THIS
>NOTE IS TO HEAD OFF THESE ANNOYING EVENTS by answering some questions
>and WARNING ABOUT THE INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCE OF ASKING OTHERS...
>...
>13.  net.women: What do you think about abortion?
>
>     Although abortion might appear to be an appropriate topic for
>     net.women, more heat than light is generated when it is brought
>     up.  Since the newsgroup net.abortion has been created, ALL
>     ABORTION-RELATED DISCUSSION SHOULD TAKE PLACE THERE.
>...
[caps all mine -kk]
----------
And with that, I respectfully (and  somewhat less heatedly) request that all
abortion discussion of any type move to net.abortion in perpetuity.
-- 
Karl Kleinpaste @ Bell Labs, Columbus    614/860-5107  +==-> cbrma!kk
                @ Ohio State University  614/422-0915  osu-eddie!karl