Every day, I take a birth control pill (except during the "off" week). In this way, I am no different from a large number of American women. My daily pill is not an abortion under any recognizable definition of the word, but new regulations under consideration by the Department of Health and Human Services say that it is. Further, people who oppose abortions can deny me my right to medication that has been prescribed to me by a doctor.

There is nothing enlightened about abortion. And now that cameras can see into the womb, life is undeniable. Now that preemies survive life outside the womb at a younger age than many of those aborted, the barbarism of this practice is clear to those who have eyes to see.As a matter of advancing the cause of women, why is someone who treats her body as a commodity to be admired?Why is a woman with so little self-respect as to have sex without commitment to be admired?

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that reproductive rights were not a priority issue for women this election year. This insight struck me while I was in a writing class with nine other (mostly liberal) women in prime childbearing years (20s and 30s), and I was the only person who mentioned that repro rights were among the three issues I considered most important in this election. I wondered what this meant.

On July 1, Canada Day, Governor-General Michaëlle Jean's list of inductees to the Order of Canada was announced. It's usually a pretty ho-hum affair which "recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation" and really not that exciting unless you actually know someone who is receiving it. This announcement was anything but boring. On the list was one name that caused Canadians to lose their collective minds - Henry Morgentaler. Words that come to mind when people say that name range from life-saver, to murderer, to abortionist.

Have I told you lately how much I love how smart this community is? Here's what I'm on about: Over the weekend, BlogHer community member Valiens of A Brain Like Mine blogged great questions about the BlogHers Act fundraiser to save women's lives: "I'm wondering whether the women's health care available in any given country is able to provide birth control in any meaningful way, and I'm wondering what the general attitude and practice is among the providers in the various countries about abortion....I'm also wondering if any of the organizations being supported are specifically political in nature, or in support of, or being supported by, political organizations, and which ones they are, and what their mission statements propose. Again, this could be an important factor regarding donations. Transparency is most desirable.On top of that, I'm willing to say I have some potential donors who would have questions about vaccinations, AIDS treatments, religious involvements...more" I love Valiens' questions because it gives me an opening to talk more about BlogHer's philosophy for our BlogHers Act fundraiser, and why we chose to work with GlobalGiving to support five projects we deliberately selected with an eye to exactly the issues she raises. Here goes...

While stereotypically thought of as quiet and mousy, librarians (the 1980 Census showed that 85% of librarians were women) may be the biggest fighters for intellectual freedom in the US today. Since the Bush administration took office in 2001 and launched various campaigns to censor scientific information, as well as spy on the activities of Americans, librarians have been at the forefront of the fight for freedom of speech, privacy, and access to information.

There are few things that make me madder than thinking about my tax dollars funding so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs). CPCs, also known as pregnancy resource centers, are non-profit organizations established by pro-life supporters that work to persuade pregnant women to give birth rather than have an abortion (citation). They are frequently located right next to actual clinics and have misleading business names.

Gender-based abortions in India is no longer the man-bites-dog breaking news story. It's such a pervasive  practice that it probably doesn't outrage us enough to tackle it on a war footing. It is recognized as a problem by law, it makes some men shift in their seats and many women unhappy. In other words, it runs the risk of becoming just another addition to the endless list of gender issues that we know the country needs to deal with, and hope that time and a robust economy will drive it to its natural death.

A man purposefully puts RU-486 in a woman's drink, causing her to miscarry, not just once but twice (CNN News clip). This is truly a heinous crime and an affront to a woman's right to choose. A woman's reproductive rights are sacred, and just as no man should be allowed to force a woman to have a child if she is not ready, no man should be able to force her to lose a child if she is choosing to keep it.