When it comes to women's healthcare, the stakes have never been higher.
Seriously, it has gotten to the point where every day, some shining beacon of hypocrisy (READ: politician) is spouting off misinformation or worse, trying to pass legislation about our lady parts that is so odious, so factually, morally, and scientifically inexplicable, that we need to get loud and get real.
It's not just a few first-term wonders like Allen West, the man who puts the "offensive" in "charm offensive"; no, it's people who keep getting elected!
It's 2-, 3-, 4-, 6-term congressmen and governors and state reps pushing garbage laws that are pushing women into life changing, untenable positions.
Laws that propose, "If a woman forces a miscarriage she should get the death penalty."
'Cause that's an epidemic sweeping the nation.
Consider the ever popular "Personhood Amendment," a proposed constitutional amendment being touted by Romney/Ryan and a cavalcade of Protectors of our Privates, that defines a fertilized egg as a person, with the same rights as you, your mom, your sister, and your best friend. Oh, and just as an aside, hope you never get raped because if you happen to be one of the unlucky women who can't magically kill rape sperm, you may be forced to have that baby and find yourself in a lawsuit where your rapist sues you for joint custody. Yeah, the shit is real.
Oh, and the classic law sweeping the nation: You must submit to a state-mandated trans-vaginal probe if you choose to have an abortion. Why? Because you are a woman, therefore incapable of good judgment about your own body. Subtext: I mean, you did get yourself knocked up now didn't ya? Why should we trust you to make a good decision?"
And who could forget the "When rape gives you lemons..." comment.
These were laws proposed or passed and comments made by elected officials.
Yes, this is all happening.
So -- I have had enough of these illiterate cretins and last week I launched a website called www.ladypartsjustice.com.
The goal is to expose hypocrisy through a series of videos that mix humor and outrage. I want to show people just what is getting legislated "on your behalf" when you decide to tune out.
Here is our first one. Have a look. It is close and uncomfortable and funny.
It is real.
It went viral instantly -- 300K views in 48 hours, 600k to date.
It has no stars in it; it got no push from TV news.
It went viral because Internet journalists and people who consume info on the web, understand what is at stake. They got it and they shared it.
I got emails from people who didn't know this was a law and thanked me for letting them know. I heard from people who felt a bit freaked out by the visuals, but also laughed at the hypocrisy.
I got a lot of comments on YouTube from people who hate me.
But honestly, I also get those when I post a video of kittens in a yarn basket.
Mostly, I got emails saying things like, "Please keep making these. It gives me something to show my mom or sister or friend who has become disengaged."
The video made them rethink their complacency.
And that's the hope. We want to activate people who have checked out. It gets the attention of those who have said, "Screw it" and spend entire weekends on the couch watching Law and Order marathons trying to find the perfect red wine to pair with Oreos.
They would be having sex if it were an option. And when they are getting laid, they want all options for access to birth control.
So how do we get people to sit up and take notice?
We also want to wake women up and remind them they are politically involved whether they like it or not. A lot of women don't even know what kind of zealots are being elected and what laws they have passed until her birth control fails and she goes to the drugstore, only to be greeted by some asshole pharmacist who sizes her up and tells her the law says his moral conscience isn't gonna give her the morning after pill because he gets to legally judge her.
She may not know that some dunderkind, who has been elected for 6 terms and sits on the science committee, believes women have a magical force field that acts as kryptonite to the sperm of a rapist rendering it useless.
And walks around telling people this.
Did I mention he has been elected 6 times?
That's 12 years someone in the media could have exposed this guy.
But didn't.
So now we will.
It's been just a week since the first www.ladypartsjustice.com video launched.
In that time, the politicians still keep revealing who they are. It is relentless.
A Wisconsin State representative, Roger Rivard, got all folksy with the Milwaukee Sentinel on the subject of premarital sex basically saying, "Hey teen boys, if you have sex with teenage girls and get one of them pregnant, be warned, most of them are vindictive whores who will accuse you of rape."
And just yesterday, this guy, oh this guy. Scott DesJarlais hits the motherlode, no pun intended, of hypocrisy.
This married GOP anti-choice state rep from Tennessee is also a doctor and in an attempt to save his marriage, tried to convince his mistress to have an abortion after he got her pregnant.
He seems nice.
So today we launch our second video, a short reminder you can share with your friends that simply reminds women in no uncertain terms, that there are people elected to office who are making very important decisions about our bodies, and they have no business doing so.