I have the Pink Ribbon application on my Facebook, and I just got an email about something nifty. I'm sharing this here because it's relevant to women's health, which anti-choicers think always boils down to evil abortions and plenty others think is something icky and nasty and shouldn't be publicly mentioned because vaginas and anything else female-related is evil. (Don't mind me, misogyny just makes me twitchy, and I'm in fandoms. I twitch a lot.)

The Pink Ribbon has great news--we've partnered with Yahoo! Search to create LookPink.com--a search engine with world-class search results that contributes its revenue to Breast Cancer Research.

Every time, you search with LookPink.com, you help fight against breast cancer!

We have a fantastic opportunity here -- if over 1,000,000 people (only 1/3 of the people in the Pink Ribbon Application getting this email) search with LookPink on any day before the New Year arrives, then over $100,000 will be generated by LookPink Search to help prevent breast cancer.

http://www.lookpink.com/

1,200 picket women's clinic
AURORA -- The rhetoric continued to ramp up Saturday during the largest protest yet of the Planned Parenthood clinic scheduled to open next month on the far East Side.

Police estimated that 1,200 people peacefully picketed near New York Street and Oakhurst Drive -- with the large majority being anti-abortion advocates carrying signs, praying the rosary or chanting slogans.

Both sides of the abortion issue state their cases Saturday during a demonstration near the Planned Parenthood facility that is set to open next month on the far East Side of Aurora. The Pro-Life Action League also is in the midst of a 40-day vigil to protest the women's clinic.

They heavily outnumbered the 20 or so pro-choice advocates, although each side promised that every person in attendance was standing in for dozens -- or hundreds -- who wanted to be there.

"This is not just a local abortion clinic; this is a regional headquarters," said Eric Scheidler, communications director for Pro-Life Action League and an Aurora resident. "We want the city of Aurora to see clear as day that Aurora does not want Planned Parenthood as a neighbor."

Groups join growing protest of Aurora Planned Parenthood clinic
What began earlier this month as a prayer vigil protesting a Planned Parenthood clinic under construction in Aurora morphed Saturday into what organizers hope is now a full-blown, regional battle over abortion.

More than 1,000 demonstrators carrying posters with images of unborn and aborted fetuses flanked the sidewalks near the Planned Parenthood clinic at 3051 E. New York St. Saturday morning, calling for its closure and the end of abortion.

Anti-abortion advocates sue, claim harassment
AURORA - An anti-abortion advocacy group said it filed a federal lawsuit against Aurora on Friday contending Aurora police officers were interfering with protests outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

The Thomas More Society of Chicago said it requested a temporary restraining order on behalf of the Pro-Life Action League and Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood. The society claimed "the move was prompted by several recent incidents of harassment by Aurora police toward protesters involving restrictions on where they could protest and how they could display protest signs" in violation of their 1st Amendment Rights.

And for your retching pleasure, a Focus on the Family link:
Life Advocates Fight Stealth Illinois Abortion Clinic
Planned Parenthood tried to sneak its largest clinic in the country into Aurora, Ill., but residents are having none of it.

Last month, neighbors of the "Gemini Health Clinic" were shocked to learn the $7.5 million facility will actually be used for abortions. On Saturday, more than 1,200 pro-lifers gathered near the building to express their outrage. Some marched with signs, while others prayed or handed out leaflets in the surrounding neighborhoods.

A 24-hour, 40-day prayer vigil began Aug. 9 and organizers say it will continue until the scheduled opening Sept. 18.

Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, said court is next.

I'll try to do this on a regular basis, and I encourage other members to do the same.

Most Americans Would Keep Abortion Legal
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States express support for allowing pregnancy termination, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 57 per cent of respondents think abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37 per cent believe the procedure should be illegal some or all of the time.

Romney loses cool with radio talk-show host in Iowa
Mitt Romney is known for his cool, disciplined demeanor on the campaign trail. But last Thursday, a conservative radio talk-show host in Des Moines provoked him into a rare show of ire in a heated exchange about abortion, Mormonism, and the role Romney's faith should have in his politics.

Romney Struggles to Define Abortion Stance
(Washington Post) Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said this week that as president he would allow individual states to keep abortion legal, two weeks after telling a national television audience that he supports a constitutional amendment to ban the procedure nationwide.

In an interview with a Nevada television station on Tuesday, Romney said Roe. v. Wade should be abolished and vowed to "let states make their own decision in this regard." On Aug. 6, he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he supports a human life amendment to the Constitution that would protect the unborn.

"I do support the Republican platform, and I do support that being part of the Republican platform, and I'm pro-life," Romney said in the ABC interview, broadcast days before his victory among conservative Iowa voters in the Ames straw poll.

Spitzer Pushes Abortion Law
ROCHESTER, NY (2007-08-23) Governor Spitzer has proposed a bill, the New York State Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, which would remove references to abortion under the state's penal law, and enshrine the right to chose the procedure in health statute.

Advocates for the bill say that it will protect women's health. Marcia Pappas, president of the New York state chapter of the National Organization for Women, says the move by Spitzer is a defensive one, meant to keep abortion legal in New York state. A recent ruling by the Supreme Court allowed states to change their abortion laws, and Pappas says Spitzer wants to insure that abortion rights are protected in New York.

Amnesty International Becomes a Pro-Choice Organization
In a move that has upset many Christians, the human rights group Amnesty International has abandoned its position of neutrality on abortion and will now actively campaign for pro-choice measures.

The organization’s executive committee decided in April to support access to abortion – "within reasonable gestational limits” – for women in cases of rape, incest or violence, or where the pregnancy jeopardizes a mother’s life or health. Delegates gave the decision overwhelming support at its mid-August conference in Mexico.

What Pro-Choice Presidential Candidates Should Be Saying
Pro-choice presidential candidates are missing a huge opportunity to win over an unlikely voting bloc: pro-life voters. The debate over reproductive rights has for decades existed in the abstract, a volley of "values" that's been heavy on emotion and light on fact. But the facts reveal surprising truths and they don't bode well for the right to life movement. The facts show the pro-choice movement is doing a better job at what the American public views as "pro-life" goals i.e. reducing the number of abortions, preventing late term abortion, than the pro-life movement. "Pro-life" presidential candidates may campaign on the "immorality" of abortion but the policies they support seem to lead to more of them. The pro-life establishment is expert at finger wagging, but isn't it time to turn the tables? Shouldn't pro-life groups and leaders be accountable for finding solutions to the high rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion, too? Especially since they're the ones who have a problem with abortion? Instead the pro-choice movement alone takes responsibility for finding effective solutions.

Let the posting commence.

Political news, clinic reviews, birth control, questions in general about the topic - it's all welcome.