The Alabama Human Life Protection Act

The Alabama Human Life Protection Act, a controversial bill that criminalizes abortion and attempted abortion, was enacted on May 15th, 2019. This act categorizes abortion as homicide and a Class A felony while attempted abortion is now considered a Class C felony. Section 2 letter I, compare the casualties of the Holocaust, the Soviet Regime, and the Rwandan genocide to the estimated “50 million babies… aborted in the United States since Roe v. Wade passed in 1973.” The legislation also defines an unborn child, child, or person as “a human being, specifically including an unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability.” It also defines a woman as “a female human being, whether or not she has reached the age of maturity”, (House Bill 314, section 3). One of the most problematic aspects of the bill includes the lack of exception for abortions in the case of impregnation through rape or incest. The passing of the law has resulted in backlash along with praise from those who agree with the legislation.

Not only is this bill incredibly heinous for its lack of empathy but for its lack of inclusion. HB 314 denies any person that is able to get pregnant the choice to terminate that pregnancy, but specifically protects women or “female” people from criminal charges if the mother’s life is at risk. While it is possible for any person of any gender to receive an abortion, this rhetoric does not allow the same protections for trans and non-binary folk, only cis-gender women. Ericka Hart, a queer Black femme, activist, and an accomplished teacher of sex education discusses the dangers that go beyond the bill itself. She states, “One day, people are sharing about abortion being a “women’s issue” – intentionally leaving out trans people and the next day, they are sharing about the death of Black trans women. If the only time you talk about trans existence is when we are gone, you aren’t helping”. Ericka’s studies and work focus on the systemic and historical events that allow for White supremacist, sexist, transphobic and homophobic bills to pass.

This bill will have a significant impact on poor minorities specifically when Black maternal death is a profound and prevalent issue, and currently at an all-time high. There is little to no access to contraception and proper sex education for the impoverished. While the wealthy and middle class can afford birth control, condoms and emergency contraceptives these products are not accessible to people without sufficient income or insurance. When rhetoric like “pro-life” is used it demonizes people who get abortions by implying that they are anti-life or pro-murder. The use of this language creates stigma for people who have already had abortions as well as those in need of an abortion. This stigma leads to shame and isolation which can end in lethal circumstances. To take away the right to a sterile and proper abortion puts countless lives at risk and puts immense financial stress on families. Prioritizing a life that has not yet begun over a life that has current meaningful existence and relationships is hypocritical. The right using the term “pro-life” is a manipulation tactic born out of the desperate need to maintain power and control.

The abortion ban in Alabama brings attention to a lot of systemic issues that plague many government bodies and society as a whole. It is important for the public to be educated correctly on whom these bills affect the most. Unfortunately, the attention tends to gravitate towards the most privileged and powerful leading to the silencing and erasure of marginalized voices. This ban will have negative effects on many and in some cases lead to life-threatening or lethal circumstances. In times like this, it is vital to prioritize those who face immediate danger in the rise of this ban. Audre Lorde, a Black, lesbian, poet, and educator stated, “The master’s tool will never dismantle the master’s house.” This quote remains relevant and impactful in the present. It can help to explain how powerful structures have maintained control and are able to pass an oppressive and dangerous bill like HB 314. If radical and revolutionary means are not taken society cannot progress and the marginalized will continue to suffer at the expense of our collective silence.

Ericka Hart: Twitter, Instagram 

Similar Read: Legal Attack on Women’s Rights to Choose (How Did We Get Here?)

The Veiled Epidemic of Suicide

On Tuesday, June 5th at approximately 10:10am Kate Spade, a world-renowned fashion designer known for her timeless creations, was found dead in her New York home. Spade’s death was ruled a suicide by both the coroner and law enforcement. Many are speculating as to why Spade decided to take her own life. The discussion gravitated towards both her bipolar disorder and her recent separation from her husband. Others reserved themselves to sending love and prayers to her family and friends in wake of this tragedy.

Not three days after Spade’s untimely death, Anthony Bourdain, a beloved television personality, author and chef, passed under very similar circumstances. There is a phenomenon that exists, dating back to the 16th century, from Johann Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther known as “copycat suicide.” Copycat suicide refers to the replication of a suicide that has been publicized in mass, resulting in what is called a “suicide contagion.” After Goethe’s novel became a success there were reports of young men dressing as Werther and using the same weapon used in the novel as well. These patterns show themselves true as this epidemic grows.

Suicide remains a difficult and complicated topic to discuss let alone recognize or prevent. According to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US. While it is obvious that the suicide epidemic only continues to amplify with time there is hope in education and activism. Organizations like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offer a multitude of services for individuals dealing with suicidal ideation. Additionally, there is statistical information on suicide and educational resources on the warning signs and preventative care in regard to suicide.

It is difficult to pinpoint why death by suicide has been steadily rising since the 90’s. Nell Greenfieldboyce, a science correspondent for NPR reports, “Suicide rates have increased in nearly every state over the past two decades, and half of the states have seen suicide rates go up more than 30 percent.” With this exponential rise in deaths by suicide, the research done thus far reflects interesting and unexpected conclusions. One of the most striking being the fact that over half of the people who died by suicide did not have a diagnosed mental illness and that over half of the deaths are attributed to firearms.

The research and methods on how to minimize suicide and suicidal ideation are coming to fruition. Now it is time to implement the facts in our approach to fighting the suicide epidemic which affects the world at large and continues to take lives in mass. The stigma attached to suicide leads to romanticizing and sensationalizing death by suicide and tends to shift blame and burden to the victim. On top of that, suicide is much too often conflated with mental illness.

The data published by the CDC named stressors like physical, economic, and relationship problems as some of the highest contributors to suicide deaths. The CDC also noted housing stability, outreach to high-risk groups such as the mentally and physically ill, military veterans, and people struggling with substance misuse as well as teaching coping skills from a young age as possible ways to combat death by suicide. All in all, this fatal issue will only be exacerbated by exploitation and regret until humankind, as a collective, can talk candidly and apply not only scientific but empathetic solutions to these complex societal plagues.

If you or someone you know is considering attempting suicide or struggling with suicidal thoughts please contact emergency services or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1(800)-273-8255.

The Framing of TUAlerts

Over the course of the 2017-2018 school year, Temple University has experienced it’s fair share of tragedy. Add to that the general unease on university campuses world wide with the rise in gun violence and the stress on safety has never been more prevalent. On more than one occasion the topic of Temple Universities alert system was addressed in the classroom and at my place of work. I was surprised to hear multitudes of my peers reporting instances of bomb threats and evacuations on Temple’s campus that I had never heard about. Why was this information not being reported through the Temple University Alert system? Then a coworker of mine, who is also a Temple Student, brought up the fact that Temple tends to pick and choose what they believe to be important information, as far as student safety goes.

When I first came to Temple, almost four years ago, I remember hearing that there was a sort of “cutoff” where you left what I would call the “safe zone” and entered a “danger zone”. After years of living here I realized that this divide was yet another somewhat masked form of racism and classism exacerbated by the massive gentrification Temple reeked on North Philadelphia thus far. Interestingly enough when I went through the most recent TUAlerts I have received very few of the incidents reported happened on campus. On the contrary there are issues heavily reported just outside the bounds of campus.

Of course it is important to keep students aware of potential dangers around campus. However, it is manipulative and counter productive to pick and choose what is dangerous and what is not. A bomb threat on campus has the same potential danger (if not more so) than an armed robbery or shooting off campus. Not to mention that a slew of the incidents that Temple reports have nothing to do with Temple students. Temple is sneakily framing the greater Philadelphia areas it has not yet built on as the problem so to speak while any place Temple owned is safe and sound. The withholding of information in this case is what gives us incite into how Temple markets itself in conjunction to it’s North Philly neighbors.

The Murder of Stephon Clark, Gun Control, and Law Enforcement

The murder of Stephon Clark, an unarmed young man of only 22, in the privacy of his grandparents’s backyard is yet another example of how black people are and continue to be criminalized and unfairly profiled by police. The Sacramento police department were quick to suspend these officers but not without pay. Clark’s family sent for a private autopsy that concluded Clark was shot multiple times in his back and passed within 3-10 minutes after being wounded. The ambulance arrived after he was lying there for 6 minutes. The police had apparently mistaken his cellphone for a weapon. Clark is one of many young lives lost to gun violence this year alone.

In the wake of protests about gun control the issues of police brutality and racism are often diminished or even dismissed. We tend to view police as noble protectors but Tanisha Anderson, Alberta Spruill, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd and so many other black lives have been taken at the hands of police. Many of these officers never face a trial. Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University reports, “Between 2005 and April 2017, 80 officers had been arrested on murder or manslaughter charges for on-duty shootings. During that 12-year span, 35% were convicted, while the rest were pending or not convicted”. These statistics make it obvious that the police are treated differently than the average citizen in regard to the law.

I think that it is about time we take a closer look at law enforcement, how they are trained and the way they are treated under the law. They deserve to be put to trial like any other person who has been charged with homicide. Not only that but it is pertinent that these officers are being trained to protect people, not murder them. There are inherent stigmas and prejudices that make marginalized groups far more likely to be killed by law enforcement. The police should be aware of this knowledge long before they are handed a lethal weapon and taught to kill if faced with a perceived threat. With gun control becoming an increasingly salient topic in our society, I think we are far past the need for gun control within law enforcement institutions. There are other ways to handle a situation that do not involve firing 20 rounds at one person.

The police are fiercely protected in our society, but at the end of the day their job is to serve and protect us.  How many more people will die before law enforcement takes responsibility for this neglect and carnage? The murder of Stephon Clark cannot be forgotten. Now is the time for radical reform, not excuses.

Response: Nice Guys Finish Last

[Article: Nice Guys Finish Last]

The real issue that I have with this article is the author’s insistence on enforcing gender binaries, Darwinism, and using anecdotal experiences with women to support his argument on why “Nice Guys Finish Last.” The author provides very little evidence to back his theory on why “Nice Guys Finish Last” in general. The author continually exploits the women in his life as weak and confused beings that are intrinsically drawn to men or masculinity, and by not choosing others, are therefore examples of how “Nice Guys Finish Last.”

Another, even more problematic aspect of this article is that the author assumes that the sexual relationships these women partook in were consensual, when he has no right to speak on their behalf. He flip-flops between blaming women for their own sexual objectification or assault by way of Darwinism, but then preaches support and love for these same women. He admits…

“I’m not victim blaming, I’m not excusing any men for their behavior, and I’m not taking an inch away from the #MeToo movement that is so sorely needed to advance our species forward. BUT I am asking that for every father that must educate his son on how to properly treat another woman (or man), there must also be a mother who teaches her daughter how to properly treat or react to another man (or woman) such that the wrong behavior is not accepted or tolerated.”

This quote is a transparent example of his lack of understanding of these complex issues, his trans exclusionary rhetoric, and his belief that there are only two genders, woman or man. At the end of his article, he is asking women and “mothers” to be more proactive in endorsing “better men.” In essence, this strikes me as utterly hypocritical. This particular man is claiming that because he is a “nice” heterosexual, cisgendered man that he should be rewarded for treating women with respect. Overall, I believe that his argument is incredibly flawed and feels defensive. If this man truly cared about the women in his life, he would take responsibility and lift up these women’s voices instead of asking them to fix the oppressive systems that they did not construct.

I think at the end of the day his own misogynistic ideology, lack of responsibility for his own actions, and complete lack of understanding for what the #MeToo movement serves to address, makes his understanding of women and what embodies respect, subpar.