!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! ! ! ! Catt's Claws ... A Feminist Newsletter #36 ... April 27, 1995 ! ! ! !.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! Since January, Catt's Claws has received more than 2500 email messages (I've gotten more than 8,500 messages since January 1 and that includes personal messages, those for Women of Achievement and Herstory as well as those concerning Catt's Claws) - with this load, please understand that I cannot answer all the posts personally. I do have to sleep. For example, yesterday, Wednesday 04/26 I downloaded 475,649 bytes of email messages, and that took more than an hour just to download because the long distance servers of Tymnet and Sprintnet only gives my city a 2400 baud rate - 1/20th of the speed of the 14.4 most of you get your email at. Thank you for your understanding - BUT PLEASE don't stop sending in news items, comments, questions, etc. I'll do what I can do ... ....................... * ........................ \ To those seeking "back issues" of Catt's Claws (the addresses given in the original Catt's Claws have been supplanted by the website < Our deepest appreciation to people ....................... * ........................ From: IN%"EvaS@aol.com": Dr. Brian Finkel, whose practice consists mostly of performing abortions in the Phoenix, Arizona, area has bullet-proof windows in his office, wears a bullet-proof vest and helmet walking to his car, and carries a gun. Now he faces John Joseph Jakubczyk, the general counsel to Arizona Right to Life, and the newest anti-abortion strategy: malpractice suits against the doctors who perform abortions. Jabubczyk has filed nine such suits against Finkel in the last decade running up Finkel's legal fees and insurance. Jakubczyk has also filed malpractice claims against the local Planned Parenthood affiliate, the A-Z Women's Center, a doctor at Abortion Services of Phoenix, and a doctor at the Family Planning Institute. AND LOST EVERYONE OF THEM - Jabubczyk lost the only case that went to trial. Most have been dismissed or withdrawn. And in one case against Finkel, the judge thought the charges so flimsy that he fined Jakubczyk for filing a frivolous suit, but the fine was later overturned by an appeals court. In response to Dr. Finkel's complaint, the Arizona bar is investigating whether Jakubczyk's lawsuits violate ethical standards. According to J. Thomas Smith, a partner in a new law firm devoted to abortion malpractice, only 86 abortion-malpractice verdicts have been issued nationwide in the last 10 years. While no one knows how many current cases will end in verdicts, Life Dynamics Inc., an anti-abortion group in Denton, Texas, that is encouraging such suits, says it is involved in 80 cases. Mark Crutcher, the president of Life Dynamics, said his group had more than 600 lawyers in its "Abmal" network, 40 percent of whom, he said, support abortion rights. In Pensacola, Fla., Mike Conroy says his organization, Legal Action for Women, gets about 10 calls a day on its toll-free line, 1-800-U-CAN-SUE, from women who say they have been injured by an abortion. A 1992 anti-abortion manual urged abortion malpractice suits "... to force abortionists out of business by driving up their insurance rates." None of the attorneys would talk about the money, but usually in such cases the attorneys collect at *least* 50% of the settlements making it a lucrative new field. ....................... * ........................ From: IN%"amptmeye@sage.cc.purdue.edu" "Ryan Amptmeyer": "There's a temporary boycott of Pizza Hut due to their TV ads with Rush Limbaugh. I sent announcements about this boycott to various individuals and accidentally got it published in a local newspaper. We need not panic. The dittoheads here in central Indiana have called a counterboycott, but let's remember that public pressure was successful in getting Snapple, Florida orange juice, and Kinko's to flush Rush." CC-->> Boycott Pizza Hut? Horrors, but never fear, most of us wouldn't EVER knowingly eat at the same place Rush does. Personally, I'd be afraid of catching something from the filth that comes out of his mouth. A reminder, you may reach Pizza Hut at their toll-free number: 800-948-8488 ... to let them know how we feel about including Rush in their advertising program ... ....................... * ........................ From: IN%"hcoao003@huey.csun.edu" "marybeth welch" in answer to CC's note about a group forming in Bulgaria to help girls: "Girls Inc., formerly "Girls Clubs of America" is specifically oriented toward providing girls with the resources to "be all they can be." They have one program "Operation Smart" which is a free program which helps girls build self-confidence, interest and skills in science, math, and technology by giving them practical experience in using power tools, electrical equipment, and computers. "They have over 200 centers in 122 major cities. Contact Girls Inc., 30 East 33rd St., New York, NY 10016; 212-689-3700. "(Info from "How to Make the World a Better Place for Women in five minutes a day" by Donna Jackson, New York: Hyperion Press, 1992.)" ....................... * ........................ Want to do something that doesn't cost a lot of money? Donate a woman-friendly book to your library in the name of your NOW chapter, or LWV, or AAU or whatever. My little city library isgetting quite a collection in their reference department. I try to donate a book every six months. . . and donate a book "in memory of" in lieu of flowers. ....................... * ........................ From: IN%"coombs@email.unc.edu" "Frances Coombs": "The more he apologizes the more he needs to apologize "One of the first term members of the North Carolina Legislature spoke rather too clearly on camera last week and has been apologizing ever since. "Unfortunately, he says things as he apologizes that he needs to apologize for too. "State Rep. Henry Aldridge, R-Pitt County, North Carolina, stated last week on camera that 'The facts show that people who are raped -- who are truly raped -- the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work and they don't get pregnant.' "In an interview with the Greenville Daily Reflector in which he apologized he managed to refer to female members of the North Carolina State Legislature as girls. "'I think all the girls were offended -- well not all the girls -- just the ones who would have taken issue with me anyway.'" CC-->> You may express your opinions (please be polite) via Email: Henry_Aldridge@NCGA.Legislature.State.NC.US. For snail mail or fax/voice phone: Dr. Aldridge, Marvin W., wife Susu, occupation Periodontist, telephone 919-756-2807, 108 Oakmont Dr. Greenville, NC 27858 - 919-756-1456 Fax: 919-355-5020 HOUSE OFFICE: Room 533 Phone #: 733-5958 ALDRIDGE ....................... * ........................ From: IN%"aclark@d.umn.edu" "autumn clark": "Does anyone on "Catt's Claws" know of the civil rights organization of/for/by "handicapped" individuals??? I think it operated out of the West coast. Anyone??? ....................... * ........................ Kris Jakobsson sent this to another net and it is being passed around as another example of what ACTUALLY went on that HIStorians don't write about: "This is a notice displayed by a shopkeeper in Wellington, New Zealand, shortly after women were given the vote in 1893. "`Notice to epicene women. Electioneering women are requested not to call here. They are recommended to go home, to look after their children, cook their husband's dinners, empty the slops, and generally attend to the domestic affairs for which Nature designed them. By taking this advice they will gain the respect of all right-minded people - an end not to be attained by unsexing themselves and meddling in masculine concerns of which they are profoundly ignorant.' " CC-->> Reminds me of the song in _Camelot_ where they sing about women not inheriting the earth but the dirt ... When I lived in the French Quarter of New Orleans I used to hire guys to clean my apartment ... I loved it. ....................... * ........................ A tale of morality: Genisis Chapt 19: verse 5. etc. "...the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both young and old, and they called unto Lot...`Where are the men that came to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know (have sex with) them.' "And he said 'I pray you, my brethren, do not (act) so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters that have not known man (virgins); let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and DO YE TO THEM AS IS GOOD IN YOUR EYES; only unto these men do nothing; for as much as they are come under the shadow of my roof.'" ....................... * ........................ This is not to minimize or to try to take away any of the horror of what happened in Oklahoma City last week ... but for YEARS women's organizations ranging from Planned Parenthood to NOW have been warning anyone who would listen about the Religious Supremacists and their tie-ins with the Klu Klux Klan, Aryan Nation, and other para-military groups that use force and murder to try to force their personal beliefs on others. More than 100 bombings, arsons, acid attacks, physical injury, and murder incidents have occurred in this nation at medical facilities in the last couple of years - all master-minded by such men as Don Treshman, Terry Randall, Flip Benham, Robertson, Jerry Falwell. etc., etc., etc. Their followers' flimsy hold on reality have been further eroded by the words of hate-mongers on radio such as Rush Limbaugh and the slew of imitators who are trying to become millionaires by selling hate to minds sickened by paranoia. These are not nice people. These are not christians. It is time we openly called these people what they are: purveyors of hate for personal profit. And it is time for the Christians of this nation to call these people what they are: holders of the false idols. Until we do, it ain't gonna get no better ... ....................... * ........................ Women's rights are young and tender and we must protect them from the plagues of holy water and newts. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>> Send your ideas, comments, and news to irenestuber@delphi.com for inclusion in the Catt's Claws feminist newsletter which will be emailed three times a week: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. This is NOT an interactive discussion net but an exchange of information and is NOT sponsored by any organization. <<<