Sunsara Taylor

I write for Revolution Newspaper and sit on the Advisory Board of World Can't Wait

Posts Written by Sunsara

By Sunsara Taylor • 11 years ago

Thoughts Upon Release From Jail After Sunday’s Abortion Rights Protest Inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral

It’s been just a few hours since I was released from jail in New York City. I was arrested yesterday and charged with “criminal trespass” and another lesser trespass charge as I was leaving St. Patrick’s Cathedral after a group of women and men shouted out the following statements during a break in the service:

“Abortion on Demand and Without Apology!”
“Forced Motherhood is Female Enslavement!
“Stop the War on Women!”

Above: Outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sat. Aug 11
St. Patrick’s is, of course, home of Cardinal Timothy Dolan – head of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, a lifelong staunch opponent of abortion rights, and the person who spearheaded the U.S. Catholic church’s recent political and legal revolt against birth control.

As I and one other woman, Alice Woodward, spent a long night each alone in a filthy cell, looking out between fourteen bars to cold flourescent lights, a dingy wall, and a window that revealed only the dirty bricks and tarp of the next building (no green and no sky), I thought of the women in El Salvador staring out of similar cells after being arrested out of the emergency room and imprisoned if the doctors suspect they are bleeding due to botched abortions. I thought of the women who are imprisoned in Afghanistan if they fall in love with the wrong man or end up pregnant while still unmarried. I thought of Dr. Pendergraft who had spent seven months in jail for ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 12 years ago

Abortion Clinic Burned on New Year’s Morning – Into the Streets for Abortion Rights On Roe V Wade!

On January 1st, by 1:00 in the morning, an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida was engulfed in flames. By all accounts thus far, this was a case of arson.

But chances are you have heard nothing about this.

The fact that there has not been a single politician commenting on this violent assault on an institution that is essential to women’s freedom and that this act of terror has not been picked up on in the national/mainstream media should only serve as a further wake-up call to those who care about women’s rights.

No one will defend women’s right to abortion and birth control but the millions of us who refuse to see women enslaved. We must rely on ourselves, not on the ...

On January 1st, by 1:00 in the morning, an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida was engulfed in flames. By all accounts thus far, this was a case of arson.

But chances are you have heard nothing about this.

The ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 12 years ago

In Defense of Abortion on Demand and Without Apology

Several years ago, I was approached by a young woman after giving a talk examining how patriarchy is at the core of the world’s dominant religions and calling out the Christian fascist movement to criminalize abortion. As she told me of her abortion, her demeanor suggested she was rather settled about it. But then suddenly she stopped talking, her face flashed with emotion, and she burst into tears.

I tell this story precisely because this young woman was a confident and articulate atheist. She had been raised pro-choice and still was. Her boyfriend was supportive. She received great medical care. Extremely important: she made clear she had never felt guilty.

So, why was she sobbing?

She explained, “Until today, I have never in ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 12 years ago

Abortion, Let’s NOT Leave Religion Out of It!

Over and over and over again people tell me to leave religion out of the debate over abortion. “Many Christians believe in the right to abortion, at least in cases of rape or incest,” I am often told, “So, why alienate them by bringing up religion?”

It is true that a huge number of people who identify as Christian also support the right of women to abortion. It is also true that an even greater number of Christians will get an abortion in a desperate situation even if they believe it is “wrong.” However, we do ourselves NO FAVORS by leaving religion out of the debate over abortion.

The reason for this is that the movement in this country to restrict, criminalize, ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 12 years ago

The NYT whips up more moral agonizing about women’s reproductive rights – enough!

Against the backdrop of a record breaking number of restrictions on abortion being proposed and passed at the state level, as high profile national politicians cut budget deals over the lives of women, as Christian fascist shock troops target courageous abortion doctors, the New York Times has decided to feature yet another article calling into question the morality of women who make their own decisions about their child-bearing.

In their August 10 Magazine piece entitled, “The Two Minus One Pregnancy,” the NYTimes agonizes about the ethics of reducing twin fetuses to a single fetus so that a woman can have one child instead of two.

The article attempts to portray its own agonizing over twin reduction as having nothing ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 12 years ago

The Thing About Slutwalks…And a World Without Rape

I’ll admit, when I first heard about Slutwalks I cringed. I hate the word slut. It is too hateful. Too bound up with shaming women for their sexuality. Too linked to the deep trauma experienced by millions of women and young girls every single day throughout the world. Too much part of the cultural DNA that says, “She deserved it,” or, “She was asking for it,” or, “She’s dirty,” or, “You little cunt whore.”

To get right down to it, for me the word “slut” was too indelibly linked to a girl named Kelly who transferred into my Junior High School in the middle of the year. She was ridiculed and outcast in that kind of mean-girls way that reduces a ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 12 years ago

Abortion doctor Leroy Carhart is a hero – Operation Rescue wants him dead

A determining focal point in the battle for abortion rights and the lives of women begins July 31 in Germantown MD. One of the most courageous and prominent abortion providers in the country is being targeted by one of the most hateful, fascistic, anti-woman groups in the country. Anyone who cares about the future for women needs to be there or find a way to support those who will be.

Dr. LeRoy Carhart is a hero. He provides abortions. As simple as that may sound – and as simple as that ought to be – this means that every day for more than two decades he has risked his life for the lives of women. He’s been threatened. He’s been ...

By Sunsara Taylor • 13 years ago

Islamic Clerics and Atheist “Boobquake” — Lets Not Pick Our Poision, Lets Fight For Liberation

I have now had several people send me links to the “Boobquake” being planned for Monday, April 26th . http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html The idea is that, since an Iranian cleric blamed earthquakes on women who dress immodestly, that a bunch of women would show their cleavage and dress as provocatively as possible on Monday as part of “testing” this theory and proving it wrong. Some people seem to think – since I am an atheist and someone who rejects the view that women’s bodies are shameful and dirty – that I am going to be thrilled with this so-called act of defiance against Islamic fundamentalist ignorance and misogyny. “Many women ...