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Position On The Adirondack Pregnancy Center

Crisis Pregnancy Centers, or CPCs, are anti-choice organizations that masquerade as health facilities in order to trick women who are considering abortions. The goal of these centers is to plant themselves in close proximity to real abortion providers and divert potential clients away with deceptive advertising. Once inside a CPC, people are lied to, shamed, and pressured about their reproductive health decisions, often delaying their procedure or pushing them past the deadline for a legal abortion altogether.

One such center is on its way to Saranac Lake. Partnering with the notorious anti-choice organization Heartbeat International and approved by the Village Development Board to do business just one block away from the local Planned Parenthood, the Adirondack Pregnancy Center has all the tell-tale signs of a crisis pregnancy center (CPC). CPCs are unethical entities that employ deceptive, politically motivated practices, and the current project in Saranac Lake should be shuttered immediately.

This should not be a contentious issue in Saranac Lake. In addition to Carolyn Koestner’s comprehensive letter to the editor about CPCs in the March 10, 2020 issue of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, there’s plenty of evidence that CPCs do not provide women with objective medical counseling on pregnancy options. The goal of these organizations is specifically to dissuade women thinking of having abortions by any means necessary, including false information about pregnancy and abortion.

In 2018, the American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics published an article titled “Why Crisis Pregnancy Centers Are Legal but Unethical.” Drawing on multiple undercover surveys of CPCs and detailed reviews of the centers’ promotional materials and websites, the study reports on how women who sought counsel at CPCs across the country were falsely told that abortions are linked to mental health issues and breast cancer. They were also told contraception is an ineffective means of preventing sexually transmitted infections.

In a segment on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver covers how CPCs often mislead women into waiting to get an abortion until it’s too late in their term to do so. Yet, because CPCs are not medically licensed facilities (Adirondack Pregnancy Center received a “Certificate of Incorporation” from New York State), they are able to give their clients misinformation without legal ramifications because of a “free speech” loophole.

That the Adirondack Pregnancy Center will be any different from these kinds of CPCs looks more and more unlikely the more digging you do. Their partnership with Ohio based Heartbeat International is particularly incriminating, given the sheer number of Heartbeat’s existing partner pregnancy centers worldwide that have been exposed for their disinformation practices. What’s the common denominator? Heartbeat International provides a handbook to their partners with “suggested scripts” that center workers can use to coerce their clients (see Last Week Tonight).

Not only does the APC have access to these harmful materials, their board members recently attended Heartbeat International’s Annual Conference, which is designed for those involved in “life-affirming” centers and provided the board with “invaluable training”. The keynote speaker for APC’s upcoming banquet is a paid speaker for the anti-choice movement.

It gets even worse: the owner of the domains www.adirondackpregnancycenter.com and www.adkpregnancycenter.com were both registered by an Ohio based company that on their own about page admits they “are experts at making sure your website is attracting the abortion-minded client.”

The company is currently in hot water for potentially exploiting personal medical information of pregnancy center clients. Clearly, the APC is backed by large, multi-national interests more invested in pushing an anti-choice propaganda campaign than actually helping women with unwanted pregnancies and allowing them to make their own decisions regarding their bodies.

If the proponents of the Adirondack Pregnancy Center are actually interested in providing quality care to pregnant women, they should obtain a medical license and engage in 100%-truthful, full-disclosure healthcare. Or they could help single mothers and other economically disadvantaged parents take care of and pay for their children, giving women with unwanted pregnancies a resource they can rely on should they choose to give birth.

Until either of those things occur, High Peaks DSA calls on the Village of Saranac Lake Development Board to take all available evidence on the unethical behavior of CPCs into account in a reconsideration of the board’s initial approval of the Adirondack Pregnancy Center. Failing that, we call on the people of Saranac Lake—the same community that stopped Walmart—to say “NO” to this entity and its deceptive practices that will bring harm to our community.

Additional Resources

The post Position On The Adirondack Pregnancy Center appeared first on High Peaks DSA.

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Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón on the Latinx Community, Sexuality, and the Churches

Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón on the Latinx community, sexuality, and the churches In this episode of the RS podcast, Heart in a Heartless World, our guest Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón is a medical anthropologist who trains African-American and Latinx activists to prevent HIV and AIDS in their communities. He is of Puerto Rican descent, an expert in Latino gay and bisexual culture and HIV, and is a Christian and socialist. He speaks to our host Elisa Batista on how all of his identities form his desire for a more humanitarian and just world. To follow Dr. Rivera Colón's work, go to the "Karl Marx Ate My Field Notes" podcast, the "Militant Tenderness" YouTube channel, and/or his Facebook page. Karl Marx Ate My Field Notes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karl…es/id1477005233 Miltant Tenderness www.youtube.com/channel/UCIRJLMgB-Q-eGAZIAnDW5lg Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón Facebook www.facebook.com/edgar.riveracolon
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Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón sobre la comunidad latinx, la sexualidad, y las iglesias

Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón sobre la comunidad latinx, la sexualidad, y las iglesias En este capítulo del podcast RS, <> o Un corazón en un mundo sin corazón, nuestro invitado Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón es un antropólogo médico quien entrena a activistas afroamericanos y latinos en métodos de indagación para prevenir al VIH y SIDA en sus comunidades. Él es de raices puertorriqueñas, un experto en la cultura latina gay y bisexual y el VIH, y un cristiano y socialista. Él platica con nuestra locutora Elisa Batista como todos sus identidades forman su deseo para un mundo más humanitario y justo. Pueden seguir al Dr. Rivera Colón en su podcast Karl Marx Ate My Field Notes, por su canal de YouTube Miltant Tenderness y/o su página de Facebook. Karl Marx Ate My Field Notes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/karl-marx-ate-my-field-notes/id1477005233 Miltant Tenderness https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIRJLMgB-Q-eGAZIAnDW5lg Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón Facebook https://www.facebook.com/edgar.riveracolon

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Justice for Ahmaud Arbery

The Metro Atlanta DSA mourns the tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who was senselessly murdered while jogging through his own neighborhood in Glynn county three months ago. No parent should have to watch their child be slain in such a disgusting way, for no reason other than racist hate. There is no question about it: this was a modern-day lynching.

This murder, and the subsequent refusal of the capitalist state to take action against the killers, reflects the despicable systemic racism that plagues our whole country. The fact that this crime has gone unaddressed for 3 months provides a glimpse into what black americans face in an environment built on racial profiling and white supremacy.

We unequivocally stand with the NAACP in demanding the resignations of District Attorneys Jackie Johnson and George Barnhill. We echo their call for justice for Ahmaud Arbery. We encourage our members and supporters to participate in the distributed Dedication Distance Run planned for this Friday, May 8th, in his honor.

REST IN POWER

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May Day 2020: Atlanta Car Parade & Protest

Every Human is Essential

On May 1, 2020, Metro Atlanta DSA joined with a massive coalition of Atlanta-area unions and activist organizations to put on a car parade and protest against the unacceptable handling of COVID-19 by the Georgia state government.

Protesters’ demands included:

  • State-funded paid sick leave for all essential workers
  • State-funded hazard pay for all essential workers
  • Expanded unemployment benefits
  • Expanded medicaid coverage
  • Expanded food stamp subsidies
  • Moratorium on rent
  • Decarceration of jails and ICE detention facilities

The showing was incredible! Upwards of 100 vehicles participated in the caravan.

DSA members erected a mock guillotine along the parade route and in front of the state capitol building. Their signs read, “WE ARE NOT PAWNS FOR YOUR PROFITS.”

“Cars in the caravan all drove by blasting their horns with their fists raised, as did quite a few people who were not demonstrating,” said DSA member Rachel K, who worked closely with other organizers to make the mock guillotine stunt a reality.

More photos from the car parade and protest:

Atlanta’s 2020 May Day demonstration was organized and sponsored by:

  • Concerned Members Of ATU Local 732
  • United Campus Workers Of Georgia
  • Shift Change Atlanta
  • Southern Workers Assembly
  • National Nurses United
  • Black Alliance For Just Immigration
  • Community Movement Builders
  • Atlanta Industrial Workers Of The World (IWW)
  • Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists Of America
  • Science For The People – Atlanta Chapter
  • Georgia Detention Watch
  • Black Workers For Justice
  • Workers World Party
  • Georgia Peace And Justice Coalition
  • Georgia Workers Alliance
  • Housing Justice League
  • New Orleans Hospitality Workers Alliance

Get involved with Metro Atlanta DSA

Never forget — the wealthy elites need us more than we need them. Without our labor, they would have nothing. When we stand together, we are unstoppable.

JOIN METRO ATLANTA DSASUPPORT OUR WORK

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Heart of a Heartless World -Catholicism, Socialism, and Healthcare with Colleen Shaddox

In this episode of the RS podcast, Heart in a Heartless World,, our guest is Colleen Shaddox, a devout Roman Catholic, a committed socialist, and a veteran healthcare journalist. Shaddox’s articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, and many other outlets. Along with her co-author Joanne Goldblum, Shaddox just completed a book on the everyday lives of persons living in poverty and the broken policies that cause their suffering. Shaddox is interviewed in this episode by the Religion and Socialism Working Group member Fran Quigley. They discuss the connection between Catholicism and socialism, what socialism has to say about the COVID-19 pandemic and access to healthcare, what progressive Christians should be doing in response to reactionary Christianity, and Colleen’s interesting paths to Roman Catholicism, socialism, and writing about healthcare. “It’s Matthew 25, right?” Shaddox says. “You're supposed to feed the hungry and care for the sick, and we don't do that under capitalism.” Some of Colleen Shaddox’s healthcare journalism can be found here, and her book can be pre-ordered here. Look on our website for more about DSA’s Religion and Socialism Working Group.

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