#women's organizations

[eretzyisrael]

by Suzanne Downing

In an era marked by women’s rights militancy, a deafening silence looms over the savage atrocities experienced by Jewish women and girls at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

The United Nations commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Saturday, while a blatant contradiction stared the world right in the face: The systemic rape and murder of Israeli women and children by Hamas terrorists, in what appears to have been a preplanned part of the terror campaign launched by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The systematic dehumanization of Jewish women and children challenges the selective activism that plagues the global women’s rights network. The failure to even acknowledge these war crimes contrasts with the movement’s relentlessly shrill stance on other women’s issues. Whatever happened to “Believe All Women”? (RELATED: BRYAN LEIB: The World Is On Fire And Biden’s Spineless Foreign Policy Isn’t Helping)

Do the women’s organizations not believe the account of a survivor, who hid during the Oct. 7 raid on Israel, but could see from her hiding place a girl who had been captured and was being passed from Palestinian to Palestinian terrorist, who took turns defiling her?

“As I am hiding, I see in the corner of my eye that [a terrorist] is raping her,” the witness recounted to Times of Israel. “They bent her over and I realized they were raping her and simply passing her on to the next [terrorist],” the woman recounted. Her story is not isolated.

Such accounts should catalyze immediate outrage and action, from the White House to the United Nations, yet there remains a baffling silence, a betrayal of the very principles that women’s rights movements say they believe.

On Oct. 13, even though the torture of Jewish women had already been documented, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres equated Hamas’s brutalities with Israel’s self-defense.

Guterres said of the situation in Gaza that Hamas had killed more than 1,200 people and injured thousands, but, on the other hand, Israel had killed 1,800 people in response and injured thousands. He went on to say that Israel was being unreasonable to call on Palestinians in Gaza City to move to the south of the territory within 24 hours.

[filipinofoodart]

Here are just a few of the products homegrown by two women’s groups working to protect forests in the Southern Sierra Madre. You can find kamias prunes and catmon sinigang powder from KUMARE, an organization that was founded in the 90’s after a typhoon hit their homes in Real, Quezon. It stands for Kilos Unlad ng Mamamayan ng Real - “Action to develop citizens of Real.” The eco-bag featuring a rafflesia flower is produced by KALIPI Infanta federation, which stands for Kalipunan ng Liping PIlipina - “Association of united Filipino women.” Together they work with the Women Go project of the Haribon Foundation to insure that forest management in their protected area includes women leadership. Worldwide, 85% of government agencies and ministries in charge of natural resources and the environment are still led by men (IUCN 2020). The difficult work to change this, continues. For more information about these products and how to get them, contact Ms. Amelita D. Talotalo at inday.talotalo@haribon.org.ph. For info about Women Go, contact Ms. Arlie Jo B. Endonila at arlie.endonila@haribon.org.ph.

[hclib]

Thursday Musical

Since today is Thursday, we're highlighting the Thursday Musical -- one of the nation's oldest arts organizations. Founded in 1892 by a group of Minneapolis women, the "Ladies Thursday Musicale" (as it was then known) brought classical music performance to the city. Club members, many of them trained musicians, staged concerts themselves and also hosted guest instrumentalists and vocalists. In addition to organizing performances, the Thursday Musical quickly became a patron of musical education and arts philanthropy. Club members performed in factories, schools, and community centers. They advocated for music education in the public schools and also offered scholarships to student musicians.

Still active today, the Thursday Musical continues to promote and support local musical opportunities and performances, including through its namesake Thursday concert series.

Programs from the Collection on the Thursday Musical (M/A 0136) available in Special Collections.

[thinaiir]

U.S.-based Resources for Women + Girls + People Facing Unplanned Pregnancies

The post I had originally pinned to the top of my blog had mostly broken links, so I’ve made my own :) Feel free to spread it to those who need help, whether that’s by sharing it on your Tumblr or sharing the links with people in your life who need it. This is mostly U.S.-centric since that’s where I’m from. 

It’s a long-ish post, so I’m putting it under a Read More.

Resources for Women Facing Homelessness and/or Joblessness:

Women’s Shelters Search (search by state or city near you - offerings vary by shelter) https://www.womenshelters.org/ 

Good Counsel (faith-based - teaches life skills to women so they can avoid homelessness; teaches about budgeting and vocational assistance, parenting, nutrition, and spirituality) https://www.goodcounselhomes.org/contact-us 

211 (secular hotline that helps you get financial resources if you're struggling; also offers help for  mental health concerns) https://www.211.org/about-us 

Resources for Women Facing Unplanned Pregnancies: 

Real Alternatives https://www.realalternatives.org/ 

Option Line (helps you locate health centers that offer food, shelter, care for your baby, after-abortion support, etc. - offerings vary based on health center) https://optionline.org/center-locator/ 

Abide Women’s Health Services (black-owned - secular - based in Texas - offers pregnancy care, ultrasounds, and breastfeeding support) https://www.abidewomen.org/ 

Human Defense Initiative (secular - has a non-judgmental pregnancy helpline and offers material assistance to expectant mothers) https://humandefense.com/helpline/

Birthright International (secular - offers free and non-judgmental support as well as referrals for medical support, financial resources, housing, legal, social assistance, professional counseling) https://birthright.org/

Standing with You (secular - confidential and non-judgmental - offers STI/STD testing, support for unplanned pregnancies, financial assistance, housing assistance, education financial aid, scholarships, and childcare) https://www.standingwithyou.org/  https://www.standingwithyou.org/local-resources/

Women Deserve Better (secular - offers or directs you toward various resources, including for working mothers, single mothers, and student mothers) https://www.womendeservebetter.com/

Teen Mother Choices International - (faith-based - helps teen mothers get the financial resources and care they need for raising their babies, and also allows the moms to complete their education) https://teenmotherchoices.org/

Legacy of Life Foundation (faith-based - offers safe and non-judgemental support and resources for women in unplanned pregnancies during and after they have given birth)  https://www.legacyoflifefoundation.org/ 

Good Counsel (faith-based - teaches life skills to women so they can avoid homelessness; teaches about budgeting and vocational assistance, parenting, nutrition, and spirituality) https://www.goodcounselhomes.org/contact-us 

Adoption Resources:

Gladney Center for Adoption (secular - resources for parents who want to put their children up for adoption or for those seeking adoption) https://gladneyadoption.com/ 

Post-Abortion Counseling:

Pregnancy Choice (secular) https://pregnancychoice.org/abortion/abortion-recovery/ 

Human Defense Initiative (secular) https://humandefense.com/helpline/

Project Rachel (faith-based) https://hopeafterabortion.com/ 

Lumina (faith-based) https://www.goodcounselhomes.org/what-we-do/lumina 

Alternatives to Planned Parenthood by state: 

Planned Parenthood makes money off abortions, thus incentivizing the killing of preborn babies (including female babies, AKA future women). There also are a disproportionate amount of PP clinics in underprivileged communities and majority people of color communities.

Health Clinics Listed by State (compiled by Consistent Life Network) http://www.grassrootsdefunding.org/matching/ 

These health centers may be cleaner and safer than Planned Parenthood (see Check My Clinic for health violations at local abortion clinics)

These health centers may offer mammograms, which Planned Parenthood does not

They are not incentivized to perform abortions as PP is

Many offer various services, from STI/STD testing, birth control, pregnancy tests, to pap smears and more

Offerings vary by health center

Midwife and Doula Resources and Info:

Choices in Childbirth (secular) https://everymothercounts.org/choicesinchildbirth/ 

Black Midwives Alliance (secular) https://blackmidwivesalliance.org/ 

Their goals, as outlined on their website:

To increase the number of Black midwives and access to Black midwives in order to have more providers who can impact perinatal health disparities.

To raise public awareness that Black midwives exist and provide services in their respective communities.

To support legislative efforts led by Black midwives and supporters in various states.

To advocate for and support the development of educational pathways for Black student midwives.

To establish and raise funds for a scholarship specifically designated for Black student midwives.

To provide member benefits, for example: negotiating group discounts, access to legal advice and representation.

[thingsorganizedneatly]

Flower Mandalas by Kathy Klein

via Colossal

[aromanticduck]

You've heard of gender non-conformity, now get ready for gender malicious compliance.

[golden444manifest]

[theambitiouswoman]

Foods You Can Eat Instead of Taking Vitamins and Supplements 🍎🥥🥦🥑🍌

Vitamin A: Carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale.

B Vitamins: Whole grains, meat, eggs, nuts, legumes.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): Whole grains, legumes, nuts, pork, fortified cereals.

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): Dairy products, lean meats, almonds, leafy greens. Vitamin B3 (Niacin): Poultry, fish, nuts, legumes, whole grains.

Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): Meat, poultry, eggs, avocado, whole grains.

B6: Chicken, turkey, fish, bananas, chickpeas.

Folate (Vitamin B9): Leafy greens, legumes, citrus fruits, fortified grains.

Vitamin B12: Animal products (meat, fish, dairy), fortified plant-based foods.

Vitamin C: Citrus fruits, strawberries, bell peppers.

Vitamin D: Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel), fortified dairy products, sunlight.

Vitamin E: Sunflower seeds, almonds, vegetable oils, nuts, spinach, broccoli.

Vitamin F (Essential Fatty Acids): Fatty fish, flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts.

Vitamin H (Biotin): Eggs, nuts, sweet potatoes, salmon, avocado.

Vitamin K: Leafy greens (kale, spinach), broccoli, Brussels sprouts.

Vitamin K2: Fermented foods (natto, cheese), animal products, leafy greens.

Vitamin L1 (Anthranilic Acid): Cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower), legumes.

Vitamin P (Bioflavonoids): Citrus fruits, berries, onions, green tea.

Vitamin Q (Ubiquinone): Fatty fish, organ meats, spinach, cauliflower.

Vitamin T (L-carnitine): Red meat, poultry, fish, dairy products.

Vitamin U (S-Methylmethionine): Cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.

Betaine: Beets, spinach, whole grains, seafood.

Boron: Fruits (apples, pears), legumes, nuts, avocado.

Calcium: Dairy products, leafy greens (kale, collard greens), almonds.

Carnosine: Beef, poultry, fish.

Carnitine: Red meat, dairy products, fish.

Catechins: Green tea, black tea, dark chocolate.

Choline: Eggs, liver, beef, broccoli, soybeans.

Creatine: Red meat, fish, poultry.

Chromium: Broccoli, whole grains, nuts, brewer's yeast.

Chondroitin: Cartilage-rich foods (bone broth, connective tissue of meat).

Copper: Shellfish, nuts, seeds, organ meats, lentils.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10): Fatty fish, organ meats, nuts, soybean oil.

Ellagic Acid: Berries (strawberries, raspberries), pomegranates.

Glucosinolates: Cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower).

Glucosamine: Shellfish (shrimp, crab), bone broth, animal connective tissues.

Glutamine: Dairy products, meat, poultry, cabbage.

Inositol: Citrus fruits, beans, nuts, whole grains.

Iodine: Seafood, iodized salt, dairy products.

Iron: Red meat, poultry, beans, lentils, spinach.

L-Theanine: Mushrooms, black tea, white tea, guayusa.

Lignans: Flaxseeds, whole grains, cruciferous vegetables.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin: Leafy greens (spinach, kale), corn, eggs.

Lycopene: Tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit.

Magnesium: Spinach, nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans.

Manganese: Nuts, seeds, whole grains, leafy greens, tea.

Melatonin: Cherries, grapes, tomatoes.

Omega-3 fatty acids: Flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, fatty fish.

PABA (Para-Aminobenzoic Acid): Whole grains, eggs, organ meats.

Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5): Meat, poultry, fish, whole grains, avocado

Pectin: Apples, citrus fruits, berries, pears.

Phosphorus: Dairy products, meat, poultry, fish, nuts.

Prebiotics: Garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, bananas (unripe), oats, apples, barley, flaxseeds, seaweed.

Probiotics: Yogurt, kefir, fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi).

Potassium: Bananas, oranges, potatoes, spinach, yogurt.

Polyphenols: Berries, dark chocolate, red wine, tea.

Quercetin: Apples, onions, berries, citrus fruits.

Resveratrol: Red grapes, red wine, berries, peanuts.

Rutin: Buckwheat, citrus fruits, figs, apples.

Selenium: Brazil nuts, seafood, poultry, eggs.

Silica: Whole grains, oats, brown rice, leafy greens.

Sulforaphane: Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts), cabbage.

Taurine: Meat, seafood, dairy products.

Theanine: Green tea, black tea, certain mushrooms.

Tyrosine: Meat, fish, dairy products, nuts, seeds.

Vanadium: Mushrooms, shellfish, dill, parsley, black pepper.

Zeatin: Whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds.

Zinc: Oysters, beef, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains.

[twitt3rpate]

leaving a three hour lab be like:

what time is it? why is it dark outside? where did the sun go?

I'm starving.

I'm never doing that again (literally has the same lab scheduled the following week).

[browsethestacks]

Leonard Nimoy The Activist

Leonard Nimoy Picketing At The 1981 WGA Strike

Leonard Nimoy At The 1989 National Organization Of Women Rally For Women's Rights For Abortion In Washington

[socialjusticeinamerica]

[demdelis]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kavitha Surana at ProPublica:

In her final hours, Amber Nicole Thurman suffered from a grave infection that her suburban Atlanta hospital was well-equipped to treat. She’d taken abortion pills and encountered a rare complication; she had not expelled all of the fetal tissue from her body. She showed up at Piedmont Henry Hospital in need of a routine procedure to clear it from her uterus, called a dilation and curettage, or D&C. But just that summer, her state had made performing the procedure a felony, with few exceptions. Any doctor who violated the new Georgia law could be prosecuted and face up to a decade in prison. Thurman waited in pain in a hospital bed, worried about what would happen to her 6-year-old son, as doctors monitored her infection spreading, her blood pressure sinking and her organs beginning to fail. It took 20 hours for doctors to finally operate. By then, it was too late.

The otherwise healthy 28-year-old medical assistant, who had her sights set on nursing school, should not have died, an official state committee recently concluded.

Tasked with examining pregnancy-related deaths to improve maternal health, the experts, including 10 doctors, deemed hers “preventable” and said the hospital’s delay in performing the critical procedure had a “large” impact on her fatal outcome. Their reviews of individual patient cases are not made public. But ProPublica obtained reports that confirm that at least two women have already died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state. There are almost certainly others. Committees like the one in Georgia, set up in each state, often operate with a two-year lag behind the cases they examine, meaning that experts are only now beginning to delve into deaths that took place after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.

Thurman’s case marks the first time an abortion-related death, officially deemed “preventable,” is coming to public light. ProPublica will share the story of the second in the coming days. We are also exploring other deaths that have not yet been reviewed but appear to be connected to abortion bans. Doctors warned state legislators women would die if medical procedures sometimes needed to save lives became illegal. Though Republican lawmakers who voted for state bans on abortion say the laws have exceptions to protect the “life of the mother,” medical experts cautioned that the language is not rooted in science and ignores the fast-moving realities of medicine.

The most restrictive state laws, experts predicted, would pit doctors’ fears of prosecution against their patients’ health needs, requiring providers to make sure their patient was inarguably on the brink of death or facing “irreversible” harm when they intervened with procedures like a D&C. “They would feel the need to wait for a higher blood pressure, wait for a higher fever — really got to justify this one — bleed a little bit more,” Dr. Melissa Kottke, an OB-GYN at Emory, warned lawmakers in 2019 during one of the hearings over Georgia’s ban. Doctors and a nurse involved in Thurman’s care declined to explain their thinking and did not respond to questions from ProPublica. Communications staff from the hospital did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Georgia’s Department of Public Health, which oversees the state maternal mortality review committee, said it cannot comment on ProPublica’s reporting because the committee’s cases are confidential and protected by federal law.

The availability of D&Cs for both abortions and routine miscarriage care helped save lives after the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, studies show, reducing the rate of maternal deaths for women of color by up to 40% the first year after abortion became legal. But since abortion was banned or restricted in 22 states over the past two years, women in serious danger have been turned away from emergency rooms and told that they needed to be in more peril before doctors could help. Some have been forced to continue high-risk pregnancies that threatened their lives. Those whose pregnancies weren’t even viable have been told they could return when they were “crashing.” Such stories have been at the center of the upcoming presidential election, during which the right to abortion is on the ballot in 10 states.

Thurman, who carried the full load of a single parent, loved being a mother. Every chance she got, she took her son to petting zoos, to pop-up museums and on planned trips, like one to a Florida beach. “The talks I have with my son are everything,” she posted on social media.

But when she learned she was pregnant with twins in the summer of 2022, she quickly decided she needed to preserve her newfound stability, her best friend, Ricaria Baker, told ProPublica. Thurman and her son had recently moved out of her family’s home and into a gated apartment complex with a pool, and she was planning to enroll in nursing school. The timing could not have been worse. On July 20, the day Georgia’s law banning abortion at six weeks went into effect, her pregnancy had just passed that mark, according to records her family shared with ProPublica. Thurman wanted a surgical abortion close to home and held out hope as advocates tried to get the ban paused in court, Baker said. But as her pregnancy progressed to its ninth week, she couldn’t wait any longer. She scheduled a D&C in North Carolina, where abortion at that stage was still legal, and on Aug. 13 woke up at 4 a.m. to make the journey with her best friend.

On their drive, they hit standstill traffic, Baker said. The clinic couldn’t hold Thurman’s spot longer than 15 minutes — it was inundated with women from other states where bans had taken effect. Instead, a clinic employee offered Thurman a two-pill abortion regimen approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, mifepristone and misoprostol. Her pregnancy was well within the standard of care for that treatment. Getting to the clinic had required scheduling a day off from work, finding a babysitter, making up an excuse to borrow a relative’s car and walking through a crowd of anti-abortion protesters. Thurman didn’t want to reschedule, Baker said. At the clinic, Thurman sat through a counseling session in which she was told how to safely take the pills and instructed to go to the emergency room if complications developed. She signed a release saying she understood. She took the first pill there and insisted on driving home before any symptoms started, Baker said. She took the second pill the next day, as directed.

Deaths due to complications from abortion pills are extremely rare. Out of nearly 6 million women who’ve taken mifepristone in the U.S. since 2000, 32 deaths were reported to the FDA through 2022, regardless of whether the drug played a role. Of those, 11 patients developed sepsis. Most of the remaining cases involved intentional and accidental drug overdoses, suicide, homicide and ruptured ectopic pregnancies. Baker and Thurman spoke every day that week. At first, there was only cramping, which Thurman expected. But days after she took the second pill, the pain increased and blood was soaking through more than one pad per hour. If she had lived nearby, the clinic in North Carolina would have performed a D&C for free as soon as she followed up, the executive director told ProPublica. But Thurman was four hours away.

The consequences of draconian abortion bans are being felt, as at least two women in Georgia died over being denied emergency medical care.

[rotzaprachim]

it’s actually incredibly hard to talk about Jewish religious extremism beyond tzionus you’re met with the fact that half the population thinks Jews are basically just inherently evil parasitic bad actors and ultra orthodox people especially are stupid and/or evil for the crime of Looking Different and then the other half believes that ultra orthodoxy couldn’t possibly do anything problematic or religiously extreme cause hey look at least (some) of them aren’t Zionist!

[she-is-ovarit]

Data spanning from 1995 to 2021 in India revealed a striking gender imbalance in organ transplants, with four men getting organ transplants for every woman. A total of 36,640 transplants took place in this period, out of which 29,000 were for men and 6,945 for women.

This substantial difference is attributed to a complex interplay of economic responsibilities, societal pressures, and deeply ingrained preferences. 

Dr Anil Kumar, director of the government-run National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) highlighted this significant aspect of the organ donation landscape.

While more men contribute as cadaver donors, a staggering 93 per cent of total organ donations in the country come from living donors, he told the Times of India newspaper. This hints at a trend: a majority of living organ donors are women.  Socio-economic factors a driving force for women donors? A study published in the Experimental and Clinical Transplantation Journal in 2021 delved into the intricacies of living organ transplantation in India. The findings showed that 80 per cent of living organ donors are women, predominantly wives or mothers. The socio-economic pressure on women to assume caregiving roles within the family emerges as a primary factor, compelling them to step forward as donors. Men's reluctance in surgery In many cases, men, often the primary breadwinners, hesitate to undergo surgery, contributing to the gender gap in organ recipients. The study highlights that when the recipient is a male breadwinner, family members, especially wives or parents, feel a heightened responsibility to donate organs. Emotional dynamics The emotional dynamics surrounding organ donation are intricate. Women recipients, in particular, may experience guilt when their family members, especially wives or mothers, become donors. This reluctance leads to a scenario where women recipients may find themselves on waiting lists.  Notably, Karnataka has topped the charts in organ donation in the past decade. The number of donations have risen from 102 in 2013 to 765 in the first 10 months of 2023. 

A user on Ovarit added this helpful context:

"Just a little more context to this: men produce male-specific proteins (on the Y chromosome) which often get rejected by women's bodies. Since males have an X chromosome, their bodies recognize proteins from female donors. This makes it more difficult for women to receive male tissue/organs, while still being acceptable candidates for donating to men. Even still, these ratios are very disproportionate".

"As women we absolutely need to be aware of our vulnerability of being used as spare parts in a man's world. Especially when we are being socialized into believing that we need to sacrifice our bodies and lives for others- and society has developed a sense of entitlement to this sacrifice, while downplaying the suffering of women."

[umbrvx]

[ @orvwomenweek ] free day (anna croft + love) || day 7