Category Archives: politics

Abortion Again! A Right, a Necessity, a Crime?

Around 1968, soon after it was founded, Population Connection—then called Zero Population Growth—called the members of its small New York group and asked them to counter a major march by the right-to-life forces, who were assembling in Central Park. My … Continue reading

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The Evaluation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Congress is in the process of evaluating the suitability of Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. In reality her potential appointment is a very realistic threat to the hard-won legal right of women … Continue reading

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Donald Trump Is “Making America Beautiful Again”

On February 10, 2020, I came across a small headline in The New York Times proclaiming that Donald Trump is making “America beautiful again.” It was paired with an image of the National Museum of African American History and Culture … Continue reading

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Raising a Gay Child Before Stonewall

I regret to say that I barely remember the riots at Stonewall, the bar in Greenwich Village where on June 26, 1969, a group of gay patrons successfully resisted harassment by the New York City police. The event would play … Continue reading

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Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh

This land is your land, this land is my land, From California to the New York island, From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters, This land was made for you and me —Woodie Guthrie On May 12, 1954, … Continue reading

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The Disastrous Consequences of Separating Parents and Children

More than fifty years ago, my three-year-old son David and I went grocery shopping in our smallish neighborhood supermarket. I concentrated on the week’s bargains while he immersed himself in the comics rack. Suddenly I felt a small hand tugging … Continue reading

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We Need a Funded Planned Parenthood

In 1949, when my big romance was morphing from casual to committed I was desperately searching for a reliable method of birth control. To be precise, I wanted a diaphragm, i.e. a rubber cap that would prevent my lover’s sperm … Continue reading

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Planned Parenthood and The Marseillaise: Aux Armes, Citoyens!

To arms, citizens, Form your battalions Let’s march, let’s march Let an impure blood Soak our fields This is the refrain of the Marseillaise, forever the battle-song of oppressed humanities. It was composed by Claude Rouget de Lisle in 1792 … Continue reading

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Farewell to a Gentler America

We are about to say goodbye to a president who conquered the highest office in America even though his father was not only foreign-born, but also black. It was a rare achievement for a country so divided between liberals and … Continue reading

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Refugee, But Not Forever

The other evening, after a satisfying dinner, I was lazily surfing the net when I came across a photo of a beach filled with Syrian refugees running across the sand, trying to climb aboard a rickety ship. Suddenly my heart … Continue reading

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