Posts Written by Saira

I’m pro-choice (and so can you!)

Cross posted on Feminists for Choice

 I was raised in Pakistan, where abortion is illegal. So as you can imagine, there’s a big market for illegal abortions there, and it’s horrific.

In 2012, Nele Obermueller reported for The Guardian:

“Shamin was not married when she got pregnant. Rather than face the shame of being a single mother in Pakistan, she secretly sought out an untrained birth attendant who gave Shamin anti-malaria pills to induce an abortion. ‘But part of the baby stayed inside – and my Shimi got an infection,’ says Jino, who works as a maid in the province Punjab. ‘That’s when she came to me and told me everything. I took her to a clinic but it was too late. She died that same day.’

“Shamin’s story is common in Pakistan, where, according to estimates by the Guttmacher Institute, 890,000 women have unsafe abortions annually. Eight hundred of these women will die and a further 197,000 will be hospitalised due to complications. ‘However even these figures are a gross underestimation, as so many cases go unreported,’ says Nighat Khan from the Guttmacher’s research team in Pakistan.”

As Obermueller indicates, Shamin is not alone in Pakistan.

I have witnessed some (of the many) horrors that women must face in a nation where abortion is illegal. I know women who have had upwards of 10 children that they could not afford because contraception is frowned upon. (However, it is important to note that over the past ...

Savita Halappanavar =/= Tonya Reaves

I saw this on posted on Tumblr earlier today:

Interesting how liberals get all up in arms when a woman dies unnecessarily and tragically overseas at the hands of Catholic law but could care less about someone in the states dieing because of a botched abortion at the hands of Planned Parenthood… Not a word from them… Planned Parenthood let this girl hemorrhage for hours without calling 911… What about Tonya Reaves? Why didn’t you pitch a fit about her? Why haven’t they been talking about this? Because they worship Planned Parenthood. Their religion is always right… especially when they let women bleed to death. No liberal would ever question Planned Parenthood… NEVER! We’ve heard NOTHING from ...

I saw this on posted on Tumblr earlier today:

Interesting how liberals get all up in arms when a woman dies unnecessarily and tragically overseas at the hands of Catholic law but could care less about someone in ...

“This is a Catholic country”: Savita Halappanavar’s unnecessary death

On November 13 the Irish Times reported on Savita Halappanavar’s unnecessary death. They wrote:

Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist, presented with back pain at the hospital on October 21st, was found to be miscarrying, and died of septicaemia a week later.

Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar (34), an engineer atBoston Scientific in Galway, says she asked several times over a three-day period that the pregnancy be terminated. He says that, having been told she was miscarrying, and after one day in severe pain, Ms Halappanavar asked for a medical termination.

This was refused, he says, because the foetal heartbeat was still present and they were told, “this is a Catholic country”.

She spent a ...

On November 13 the Irish Times reported on Savita Halappanavar’s unnecessary death. They wrote:

Savita Halappanavar (31), a dentist, presented with back pain at the hospital on October 21st, was found to be ...

A response to ‘Are post-abortive pro-lifers hypocrites?’

I’ve posted a variation of the following as a comment on the post titled Are post-abortive Pro-Lifers hypocrites?

You are brave for sharing your story. Women who choose abortion or don’t choose abortion should always and continue to share their stories. But her story is your own, her experiences do not speak to the experiences of others. For the thousands of women that regret their choice, there are thousands that do not, there are thousands that felt relief afterwards. There are women who were already parents who chose to have abortions to keep their families out of poverty, to be able to provide children the love and care that they need. Contrary to what the author believes based on studies by the

I’ve posted a variation of the following as a comment on the post titled Are post-abortive Pro-Lifers hypocrites?

You are brave for sharing your story. Women who choose abortion or don’t choose abortion should always and continue to share ...

Affirmative Action: Yay or Nay?

Cross posted on Saira Says

In 1961 President Kennedy issued Executive Order No. 10925 which began an era of Affirmative Action based legislation that set out to ensure that hiring and employment practices are free of racial bias, this went on to include schools and colleges. Today,  there are many proponents and many opponents of Affirmative Action . Tomorrow one of those opponents will have their day in court. The Supreme Court of the United States will be hearing Fisher v. University of Texas and as Andrew Cohen says in The Atlantic:

No matter how hard good folks have worked to argue otherwise, no matter how many amicus briefs have been filed, I ...

Cross posted on Saira Says

In 1961 President Kennedy issued Executive Order No. 10925 which began an era of Affirmative Action based legislation that set out to ensure that hiring ...

September 25, 1957: 55 Years Later

Fifty-five years ago today Little Rock Central High School was integrated. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education and ended de jure segregation. The ruling was protested by civilians and government officials. The outcry from white Americans was violent. It took nearly three years to start implementing the historic ruling.

It’s important to remember this today because over half a decade later racism, prejudice, and bigotry disguised, as it always is, as religious, cultural, and traditional beliefs is rearing its ugly head to deny people their civil rights. This year alone we saw folks enthusiastically voice their love for fast-food giants that have supported hateful companies with discriminatory national stances and murderous ...

Fifty-five years ago today Little Rock Central High School was integrated. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education and ended de jure segregation. The ruling was protested ...

Election 2012: The American Dream

Cross Posted on Saira Says

Barack Obama embodies the American Dream, in every way. The same dream that has brought millions upon millions to this country year after year– the dream of achieving a better future.

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to a white woman, Ann Dunham, and a black man, Barack Obama Sr., in 1961. Back then he would’ve been known as mulatto, today he’s interracial. Though he’s part white, we can reasonably say that Barack Obama Jr. is a minority. Obama Sr. left his family asoon after Obama Jr. was born. Ann Dunham, a single mother, remarried roughly four years later. Though Obama Jr. was born in Hawaii, he ...

Cross Posted on Saira Says

Barack Obama embodies the American Dream, in every way. The same dream that has brought millions upon millions to this country year after year– the dream ...

Steven Ertelt of Life News

Cross posted on Saira Says 

I’m not a vindictive person. Nor do I usually put much thought into my twitter arguments after the fact. Twitter is a hodge podge of liberals and democrats. I’ve had some intelligent debates, I’ve had some downright nasty arguments with some horrifically uninformed people but this one really takes the cake and I just had to share it. Let me be the first to say that the comments on all sides were slightly hostile.  This, however, doesn’t mean that you run away, it means you fight fire with fire and present your counter argument.

Last night during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention, I came across the following thread on Twitter. In it, a woman ...

Cross posted on Saira Says 

I’m not a vindictive person. Nor do I usually put much thought into my twitter arguments after the fact. Twitter is a hodge podge of liberals and democrats. I’ve ...

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