Fran's Ramblings

More PAC thoughts

I'm not really, truly back to blogging.  At least not on a daily basis.  Well, I don't think I am.  We'll see.

But I may have a name for the new PAC, and I wanted to run it by you. 

The Uterine Defense League!

It makes me grin, although that may be me being about 12.  The idea of a "league" makes me think of superheroes, although we wouldn't be wearing spandex. 

Or maybe the Uterine Defense Coalition, which does sound more professional, doesn't it? 

Still, I see us all gathered around Tea Party rallies, wearing t-shirts with bright pink uteri (I was told that's the plural -- thanks, Carl!) and the letters UDL (UDC?) and shouting, "Uterus! Uterus!" at them.  Or outside any government gathering where they're voting on reproductive rights.  Or women's rights, come to that. 

And if we could have someone make big ol' pink foam uteri to wave in the air, that'd be spectacular!

I'm being a little flip, kind of glib and humorous here, but more and more I'm serious about the PAC and I'm definitely serious about women's rights.  It still pisses the hell out of me that the Equal Rights Amendment never passed Congress.  Women tell me that it's not necessary, that there are other legal protections for us out there, but the fact is, we're being systematically threatened. 

Women still get paid less than men, are promoted less, and if you've followed the discrimination case brought against WalMart by women and about women, you'll see that how the Supreme Court votes on it will determine how powerful women are allowed to be.  I am not hopeful.

There are changes in the air.  We in the GLBT crowd are accumulating more rights and we're overturning entrenched oppression.  And now all manner of legislation is coming down that wants to restrict women in one form or another.  I see a pattern, but in my defense, I have been known to create patterns to soothe my sense of order.

Nonetheless, what I see as a unifying theme is a fading power group making one last stand at legislating their superiority.  For a while I thought it was old white men, and to a certain extent it is, since repressive legislation is out there for people with somewhat more pigmentation in their skin as well, but that's not it entirely.  I'm now seeing kind of a feudal mentality taking over, using repression and fear to control the masses, keeping a servant class to tend to the rich and powerful. 

And who is, by restrictive religious dogma, supposed to serve the master?  Women. 

So they control our bodies because they can't control our minds.  Not any more.  Oh sure, they try, but there's too much access to information out there.  Although, I've got to admit the trope about going back to the "good old days" is seductive, as long as you don't look too closely at what those alleged "good old days" were actually like.

But I addressed that already.

So my stand against the tide of regression and repression is a theoretical PAC, approached with humor -- for now -- but with an underlying purpose of standing up against those who would demean not just me but the lovely young ladies who are growing up now, like Raine and Lilah.  It's my fight, yes, but it's not just for me. 

Okay then, enough with the soap box, which you've probably skipped because you've either already come to the same conclusion and I'm preaching to the choir or you've dismissed me as a nutcase conspiracy theorist.  I'm cool with both.

But the name of the PAC?  That still needs some input.  So which do YOU prefer: Uterine Defense League or Uterine Defense Coalition?  Or is there another, catchier one out there?

My new political plan

It's no secret I'm pro-choice (and you do know that one of your choices is not to abort, but at least you HAVE the choice to make), and that I'm pretty pro-active about, well, pretty much most liberal type ways of thinking.  I'm decidedly pro-woman, on lots of levels.

So I've been watching this whole abortion business with growing astonishment and amazement and more than a little trepidation and nausea.  This new crop of politicians who were nominally elected to minimize government and create jobs seem to be wholeheartedly determined to take women's rights back to the Middle Ages.  Or at least the 1950s.  Neither one is good for womankind, I'm tellin' ya.

I mean, have you heard about the proposed legislation in Indiana?  They're trying to pass a law that would require -- REQUIRE -- a doctor to read from a script that is filled with medical untruths, to tell their patients that having an abortion leads to getting breast cancer, when that has been disproved.

And a Florida representative was censured for using the word "uterus" on the House floor.  So apparently it's okay to regulate what goes on in a woman's reproductive system, but it's uncool to use its name in public.  Thank all the gods he didn't use the "V" word!  Can you imagine the palpitations if he'd actually said "vagina"?  The mind boggles.

But not long after Rep. Scott Randolph was censured, the ACLU bought a domain name -- Incorporate My Uterus (www.incorporatemyuterus.com) since that was what Randolph had said, that if a woman incorporated her uterus, the folks looking to regulate it would back right off, since they had no problems leaving corporations alone, they just wanted to mess with individuals.

So I got to thinking.  Dangerous stuff, I know, but listen anyway.

You know how I wanted to form a church so I'd be tax exempt and could rake in big money with no oversight, except, well, I'm not cynical enough to do it?  This is like that, but this might actually work.

I want to form a Political Action Committee, a PAC that lobbies on behalf of womens' uteruses. Uterii? Reproductive systems.

It would be international (since it has been ruled that PACs with overseas ties are more than welcome to lobby in D.C.) and it would be for women with and without reproductive systems (since I no longer have mine, but dammit, it's my PAC and I want to play!), and its purpose would be to lobby for better working conditions for the uterus.

Comprehensive medical care, truth from physicians, the right to choose when to work and when to be on vacation, these are the things that would be covered in my PAC. 

And here's the cool thing.  Because it would represent all uteruses/uterii, the lobbying power would be ginormous, and the financial pressure brought to bear would be unreal.  I mean think about it.  If every woman who currently has, or has had a uterus donated $5 to the cause, just five bucks, the total revenue would be in the billions.

I, as chairwoman, would of course require a small stipend, just a few hundred thousand dollars (plus clothing and travel allowances, since I'd have to travel all over to lobby, and I'd have to present an imposing and businesslike appearance while I did so -- no more comfy jeans and sloppy sweaters, but we all have to make sacrifices for the greater good, right?), and my accompanying staff would have to be paid, but hey, look, JOBS!  So we're fulfilling two goals, uterine protection and job creation!  Woo hoo!

Of course it would be staffed by all my good friends -- cronyism is a time-honored tradition, after all!  And these are people I know and can trust!  I can trust you, right?

And who could stand before the power of the Uterus?  No one!  We could make serious policy, and finally women would have the respect they deserve.  Okay, it would be our uteruses -- seriously, is it "uteruses" or "uterii"?  If I'm gonna do this, I have to at least sound like I know what I'm talking about! -- but still, the wave of estrogen that would sweep the country, hell, eventually sweep the world would be a complete game changer in politics!

Okay then, my lovely and loyal friends, whaddya think?  Would it work?  Would you want to be a part of it? 

And what are we going to call our new PAC, now that "Incorporate My Uterus" is no longer available?