The New York Times recently carried a tragic story of two groups of twisted minds using the helpless body of a 29-year-old woman who has been in a coma for TEN YEARS. One group is her so-called loving family and the other a rapist.
      Yes, she is pregnant.
      The father is evidentally one of the aides at the nursing facility - at this point his identity is unknown (or unpublished). There have been other reported violations at the nursing home including other cases of sexual assault.
      But what makes this case even sicker is that the comatose woman's Roman Catholic family has decided to allow the baby to develop to term because they feel that SHE wouldn't want an abortion.
      HUH?
      The Times story contains the following: "...the case raises troubling ethical concerns. [A health care lawyer and bioethicist said:] 'There's some question here about using her as a vessel... Does that recognize her humanity? Is this something that offends the natural order?... You could wonder about the effects of a child born of this arrangement. What kind of explanation is due this child, and what are the potential harms that could flow from that?'"
      The woman's humanity has been robbed of her by being kept "alive" on machines instead of being allowed to die with dignity, now her family continues the rape of her body with a rapist's child.
      UGH !
      [See CC for 07-21-96 for the followup. Double UGH!]
      [Update fall of 1999 - the child was severely retarded and handicapped in many ways. Such is God's will?]

      Researchers have found there is no real difference in post-menopausal weight between those taking estrogen and those not taking such things.
      They can't however, determine why the middle age spread is so common.
      Oh, really? What don't they ask women?
      After half a lifetime of running after kids, baby sitting daddy, etc., it's good to sit down and relax.

      This message was sent to Abigail's Rebels by Danielle "Dj" Hollar djh33@aol.com and deserves lasting readership:
      "Hi! My name is Danielle Hollar although I go by the initials of Dj. I am 33 and an electrical engineer by profession. My new years resolution is to reduce violence against women in whatever ways possible. I am biased you see, a vicious stranger attacked me in September of 1994, trying to abduct and rape me. I resisted and he nearly beat and stabbed me to death. I didn't have much to fight with, 5-1 and 90 pounds. Now I have less. I am still hospitalized, I have had two strokes and neurosurgery as a result of his attack. I am permanently unable to speak, paralyzed on my left side, nourished by a feeding tube. I weigh 63 pounds now.
      "No, do not offer sympathy, I am beyond that. My suffering and rehabilitation are my personal battle. I do ask you join me in my outrage against violence and the assault against out basic freedoms as women, as human beings. Our freedom to feel and be safe in public, to be free from domestic abuse, from sexual harassment, assault and death. In other words, to enjoy all the rights and privileges bestowed upon the male gender without fear of reprisal and abuse."

      Noel M. Ullery nullery@sun1.iusb.edu is searching for information about women as police officers and some of the problems they face due to gender. He is a criminal justice student.

      My clone daughter writes:
      "Hi, MOM,
      "I have something for CC: a bumper sticker that is for sale by Texas Democratic Women of Bowie Co. TX. It's only $1.50 with a LARGE SASE. It reads 'PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HATE OUR PRESIDENT' matthew ???
      "They may be ordered from TDW, Atten: Molly, 30 Knotty Pine Place, Texarkana, TX 75503. For large orders, please call (903) 792-VOTE.
      "Also I thought every time I see that 1-800- number for ordering the OJ Lie, I would call and play 'SINNER MAN' for him. I mean, no there is no justice here, but where is he going to run to... 'on that Judgment Day'?!!"
      (I guess it's in the genes...)

      A woman from Germany wrote to try to shed some light on the bru-ha- ha regarding Compuserve's censoring of some of the newsgroups:
      "Hi, just to get it correct. It wasn't the German Government, but a judge in Munich, capital of Bavaria, one of the southern German regions (Laender). It is the same region, however, where schools have been ordered to have a crucifix in their classrooms although the German court of constitution had declared this unconstitutional after parents of a school kid had taken this law to court. To put it into perspective: not every child in Bavaria is catholic, there are many Moslems, atheists and so on."
      What is worrisome about this whole thing is that one judge in one place can effectively censor what people half a world way can read.
      This is something we must all stay aware of because you can just bet that number two on the hit list of censorship is women.
      (Number one being child porno which is the foot-in-the-door to allow censorship of ANY kind.) Can there REALLY be THAT many pedophiles? If so, we have REALLY got a problem with the way our men are raised.

      Does anyone know what happened at the Texas State Board of Education meeting two weeks ago? When they were supposed to discuss Texas education commissioner Mike Moses rejection of $1.85 million in CDC grants earmarked for AIDS prevention seminars and the state's health curriculum because he doesn't want mandates on how local schools teach sex education and this money came with too many strings attached.
      He wants to teach sex abstinence.
      Sex abstinence is a big pile of you-know-what put out by men who have extremely low sex drives.
      Yes, let's be honest about this for a change.
      They aren't interested so they don't want YOU to be interested.
      Really, Mike - you need medical treatment for your affliction.
      Sex abstinence doesn't work.
      For one thing, a lot of the teen-age pregnancies are caused by older men taking advantage of immature children - called rape or statutory rape in most test books, but ignored as such in our newspapers and by our congressional representatives.

      "In light of recent developments at Yale University, the Coordinating Council for Women in History would like to reiterate its respect for graduate students as colleagues and as teachers, and its support of workers' organizations, collective bargaining, and job actions. We are deeply troubled by reports of threats, reprisals, and other inappropriate responses by some Yale faculty and administrators. We urge our Yale colleagues to respond fairly to the concerns of the G.E.S.O., and we urge our colleagues everywhere to guarantee that all members of the university community are free to engage in political activity--including union activity--without threat of academic recriminations." (Unanimously passed at the annual business meeting: 5 January, 1996.)

      Susan Sweetser, who was married last summer, is challenging U.S. Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-VT, in the 1996 election - and is pregnant. Sweetser, a Republican, came to prominence in 1990 as she spoke openly of her experiences as a victim of rape. Since then, she has been an advocate for victim's rights issues.
      Republican Lt. Gov. Barbara Snelling is running for governor of Vermont this year. Snelling was pregnant and raising a toddler while she pursued a college degree at Radcliffe College.
      She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, although (Harvard) college officials would not let her participate in commencement because she was nine months pregnant.
      Please do not take this as an endorsement of either candidate. It isn't.

      Michelle Calhoun writes: "on NBC Nightly News it was reported that Bob Dole and Newtie wouldn't come to the capitol to speak with the President during the budget crisis - they would only communicate by the phone. Apparently they (Newt and Bob) were upset (wah) because Time ran a picture of the three of them in a budget meeting in which President Clinton was at an easel pointing something out and Newt and Bob were sitting on the couch listening. They complained that it looked like Clinton was the professor and they were the students. They said Time was out of line and that there would be no more `in person' meetings until this is resolved."

      A conference exploring the subversive potential of feminisms in the academy is scheduled for April 27-28, 1996, at the University of Melbourne, Australia, contact Email:umpa@postgrad.unimelb.edu.au. One of the many questions to be asked: "Is cyberspace likely to prove a fertile terrain for the creation of new feminist subversions and the building of alternative, virtual communities?"
      You may quote me as saying: "YES!"
      That's why the author of Catt's Claws who also compiles Women of Achievement and Herstory started her "mission" on Internet some six years ago.

      A Stanton, Michigan judge told a man convicted of spousal abuse to roll up his shirt sleeve, then punished him with a three-finger "slap" on the wrist and said "don't do that."
      Judge Joel Gehrke said the real crime was the adultery committed by Stewart Marshall's wife with her brother-in-law which led to the birth of a child. Marshall, 38, was convicted of misdemeanor spousal abuse after pushing his wife and throwing her to the ground.
      "In the laws of Israel, if Mr. Marshall had come home and found his wife in this situation, the question would not be, 'Did you strike her?' It would have been, 'Well, are you ready to publicly be the first one to stone her?"' Gehrke said at the Jan. 4 sentencing, referring to the Old Testament.
      "Today, we've lost the moral authority to prosecute the real crime," the judge went on. "As a result of our crummy, no-fault divorce law, as a result of the abortion non-law, the questions are, 'Did he touch her? Did he put her against the wall? Did he wrinkle her clothing?"'
      Instead of giving Marshall the three-month jail sentence, Gehrke punished him with a slap instead.
      Gloria Woods president of Michigan NOW replied to our request for a statement:
      "For some time Michigan NOW has been saying that we have a real problem with the judges in our state who discount, dismiss and disregard male violence against women. The actions of District Court Judge Joel Gehrke in Stanton, MI are a disgrace, but differ only in degree from the injustices we hear about all too often.
      "Judge Cashen, of Jennifer Ireland fame, is a Circuit Court judge in Macomb County, one of the three counties in the Detroit Metro area. Fortunately for Ms Ireland, as a U of M student, she was able to get excellent (free) legal representation from the U of M Women's Law Clinic (which, incidentally, closed this term ), was able to get that outrageous verdict overturned.
      "Two months ago, a judge in Oakland County (another of the 'Tri-Counties') awarded custody to a man, despite the fact that he had been convicted of domestic assault, despite the fact that he had been arrested and was awaiting trial on felony stalking charges (his wife was again the victim), and despite the fact that a warrant had been issued for another assault (this time, as his wife met him to give their daughter over for visitation!).
      "This week, a judge in the Central part of the Lower Peninsula literally slaps a man on the wrist for assault and seems to want to convict the woman victim to stoning to death. (His quote began, 'If we were in Israel...')
      "The truly terrifying thing about these cases is that we believe they are the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of women are being re-victimized by Michigan's judges and courts: one woman at a time, one judge at a time, in every county in the State.
      "Last month, Michigan NOW offered testimony on the Republican welfare bill and, the next day, on a bill concerning Friend of the Court reform. In both, our testimony discussed, in part, how each of these bills could impact battered women. After giving testimony on the second bill, a Republican staffer was heard to say: 'You women want to use domestic violence to exempt you from everything.'"
      The actions of local NOW chapters is why I renewed my membership, not the inactions of National NOW. Gloria is a hardworking, devoted feminist whom I have a LOT of respect for. WE DON'T ALWAYS AGREE. THAT'S A GIVEN. WHAT IS ALSO A GIVEN IS THAT WE BOTH WANT THE BEST FOR WOMEN... and we are doing SOMETHING !!!

      A British woman, 48, who became pregnant after her lover's vasectomy failed lost a claim against the doctors who did the operation when a judge told her that women were responsible for contraception.
      Lord Justice Thornton rejected Alison Goodwill's claim for the cost of bringing up her six-year-old daughter, saying "Her responsibility is to protect herself against unwanted conception."
      This is just another ruling that has women's groups up in arms about the way misogynistic judges are ruling against women.
      In 1993 an elderly judge mitigated the sentence against a man who attacked an eight-year-old girl by saying she was "not entirely an angel." Another turned loose a rapist and said that the 15-year-old girl victim could get over it all with a short vacation.

      While campaigning in California, Senator Bob Dole of Kansas said that one of his first goals as president would be to oust Barbara Boxer from the Senate. She's using the line in her fundraising...
      "Senator Dole wants to be the leader of the free world, and his first priority is to 'eliminate' me."
      Dole's campaign people refuse to comment.

      While Attorney General Janet Reno - who is adamantly pro-choice - said the Justice Department would continue to investigate any signs of conspiracy in anti-abortion activities, some of the men said the grand jury probe had failed to turn up any direction evidence of conspiracy aimed at abortion clinics.
      Evidence was gathered, however, that might lead to the solving of several women's health clinic arsons.
      NOW - we have a question...
      What happened to the lawsuit that NOW had going regarding the conspiracy thingie - the one that was cleared by the U.S. Supreme Court about two years ago... That all that money was collected for to keep it going? That was hailed as the GREAT accomplishment of NOW.
      Inquiring minds want to know.
      [Addendum: inquiring minds got their answer in the next issue of NOW's newspaper. It is "progressing."]

      News reports of the interview of OJ on the OJ entertainment channel said Simpson showed anger at the Browns and the family of Ronald Goldman, who was murdered along with Nicole Simpson.
      "We know that some of your people lied and why did they lie? So, that's aside of me that's a little pissed at Fred Goldman and the Browns..."
      Several readers who played "spy" reported that Simpson without cue cards spoke very poorly, using very bad grammar, etc.
      Catt's Claws had reported that the famed note that was read while OJ was driving around the LA freeways in his white bronco was filled with bad, bad grammar and spelling and that the published copies (in Newsweek, Time, New York Times, etc.) had been seriously edited to present a coherent literate person.
      "It was the selling of O.J. It was a shameless public relations ploy that reminded me of an infomercial," said Gloria Allred, an attorney for Nicole Brown Simpson's family. (Ads for OJ's tape were prominent in the hours before and after his "interview.")
      Allred said further, "I hope the public questions why the first lengthy interview was on an entertainment network. The murders were not entertainment."

      One in eight women in our country will develop breast cancer during her lifetime, compared to one in 20 a generation ago. And 46,000 American women will die of breast cancer this year. Time for your monthly breast exam - remember, the breast you examine is the one you want to keep.