Fake "Clinic" Cons 17-Year-Old Girl

I'm so mad about this I can't see straight. I can't even think of anything to say before I cool off. So I'll just post the story and save my comments for later.
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An Indiana mother recently accompanied her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend to one of Indiana's Planned Parenthood clinics, but they unwittingly walked into a so-called "crisis pregnancy center" run by an anti-abortion group, one that shared a parking lot with the real Planned Parenthood clinic and was designed expressly to lure Planned Parenthood patients and deceive them.

The group took down the girl's confidential personal information and told her to come back for her appointment, which they said would be in their "other office" (the real Planned Parenthood office nearby). When she arrived for her appointment, not only did the Planned Parenthood staff have no record of her, but the police were there. The "crisis pregnancy center" had called them, claiming that a minor was being forced to have an abortion against her will.

The "crisis pregnancy center" staff then proceeded to wage a campaign of intimidation and harassment over the following days, showing up at the girl's home and calling her father's workplace. Planned Parenthood's clinic director reports that the girl was "scared to death to leave her house." They even went to her school and urged classmates to pressure her not to have an abortion.

The anti-choice movement is setting up these "crisis pregnancy centers" across the country. Some of them have neutral-sounding names and run ads that falsely promise the full range of reproductive health services, but they dispense anti-choice propaganda and intimidation instead. And according to a recent article in The New York Times, there are currently more of these centers in the U.S. than there are actual abortion providers. What's more, these centers have received $60 million in government grants. They're being funded by our tax dollars.

A bill has just been introduced in Congress to stop the fraudulent practices of fake clinics, but it desperately needs more support. Tell your representative to take a stand: anti-choice extremists must not get away with this any longer!

Go to: http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/fake

Current Mood: LIVID

The Auction is Live!

We're all very excited about our Auction for the Michelefund. Michele is my critique partner, best friend, longtime cherry, all around fabulous person and future breast cancer survivor. Due to her husband being self-employed and a very minimal insurance policy, Michele needs some help paying for her breast cancer treatments.

YOU CAN HELP!

Here's how:

1) Go to www.themichelefund.com to read Michele's letter, check the lists of books and critiques from fabulous (and generous) authors, follow the link to e-bay or to make a donation.

2) There are more items available than what we have on our site, so don't forget to check our e-bay listings if books and critiques aren't your thing. Go to www.ebay.com and enter "cherriestmf" in the search. (Be sure to leave out the space betweeen cherries and tmf)

3) Pass the word along to all your friends and family.

Finally a thank you to the fabulous women who have put this all together. From the organizers, to the donors, to the crafters, to our e-bay expert, to the people aready bidding, the love and team spirit by all involved has moved me beyond words.

Together we can make a difference.

Thank you all. Your heart and hard work not only helps Michele, but her family and friends too. It helps all of us. Getting the word out about breast cancer is so very important.

Current Mood: EXCITED!

I'm learning

Hey! This blog stuff is kind of hard. Not the writing. That part's easy. The programming part. It's taken me two hours to figure out how to get links on the right side of this thing. So please check them out!

The good news is that they actually work. The bad news is that I didn't work on my WIP or write any critiques tonight. ::sigh:: I'm going to have to give myself a certain amount of time per night to work on the blog and devote the rest of my time to writing. I hate "scheduling" myself, but I find that it's the only way I ever get anything done.

One thing I'd like for my blog is one of those charts that shows the progress of my WIP. I found the template on a site and made a red one today. I tried to put it on the blog but it didn't work. Really, with my non-computer-techiness I should be insanely proud that I figured out how to do the links in one sitting. Tomorrow's another day.

If anyone's out there reading this ::cricket chirp:: (Yeah, that's what I thought.) and you have any tips for me, I'm all ears eyes. How did you learn to conquer the Blogger beast?

current mood: determined

Just who do you think you are?

Isn't that the reason why writers write? To figure out who we are?

This is me (right) and my critique partner the lovely Michele (left- where else?) sipping cosmopolitans at the 2005 RWA Rita/Golden Heart Ceremony in Reno, NV. Given our political views, we really should have switched sides. But I digress...

So, the redhead is me, looking writerly in her glasses--I had lasik in January so I no longer wear them, but you get the idea--anyway, creating blog made me think about all the things I am.

I think someone else made a list like this in her blog, but I can't for the life of me remember who. We were also asked to write a list of the roles we play at a writing workshop once as well. It surprised me how many different things each person came up with.

I'm a daughter. My mother is a wonderful person and after the divorce she raised me on her own, with the help of my grandma. I'm an only child and we are very close. I owe everything I am to her. She's my hero. From her and Grandma I learned that I could be anything I wanted to be if I worked hard enough.

I'm a wife. I've been married to my high school sweetheart for nearly 14 years and we dated 8 years before that. We have a lot of fun together and sometimes it's hard to believe we've been together for so many years. I can't imagine my life without Abner my honey.

I'm an activist. I support the Democratic Party and Progressive Issues. I'm Pro-Choice, Pro-Environment and Pro-Union. My new issue is Breast Cancer. My best friend was diagnosed with BC in February. She's doing very well--an inspiration to all who know her actually--but her treatment will be long and hard. Ladies, she would tell you not to forget to do your monthly self-exams. Breast cancer strikes one in 7 women. Please check out our fundraiser at: www.themichelefund.com We're auctioning off some great autographed books, critiques, craft items and other things. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to donate a book, critique, craft item or anything else for our auction.

I'm an aunt. I love my nephews and my new little niece. It's the best of both worlds having a niece and nephews but not having the responsibility, stress, worry (the noise!) or expense of being a parent. Thank you to my sisters-in-law for having them for me. :)

I'm a pet owner. (Who am I kidding? They own me!) No kids for us, thank you, but I loooooovvve my pets. We have a dog, Nikita ^-^and a cat, Rutherford >^.^< . I'm sure I'll be posting pictures of them very soon. My furry babies are quite photogenic.

I'm a friend. I have friends in many different places, some old and some new. I have a particular group of friends who I e-mail nearly every day and I hold very close to my heart. I'm an only child, but they are my chosen sisters. I try to be as good to my sisters as they are to me, but it's impossible really. I don't know what I ever did to deserve them, but I'm eternally grateful for B, B, C, C, D, H, K, M, P, P & R.

I'm a writer. I tried writing my first novel when I was in elementary school. I picked up the pen again in high school and again when I turned 30. I haven't put it down since. I've always wanted to be published, but I'd write even if I knew I'd never sell my novels. Writing is in my soul. My current work in progress is a Fantasy. I'm rewriting it at the moment. I've also written a couple of really bad contemporary romances as well as plotting and writing a few chapters of a Historical romance. Perhaps I'll go back to those when I'm done with the fantasy.

I'm a moderator. I was recently asked to be one of the moderators in Jennifer Crusie's new Cherry Forum. I'm so honored to be a member of such a fantastic group. We call ourselves the cherries. (You may have seen us at RWA events sporting cherry jewelry and making a general nuisance of ourselves.) I've learned more about writing from Jenny Crusie and the cherries in the last few years than in all my years of school and in all the craft books I've ever read combined.

I'm a cherry. Cherry Red to be exact. For me the cherry symbol has come to represent even more than our fabulous online workshop, but writing itself. Every time I look at one of my numerous cherry items, I am reminded that I am a writer. My cherry collection is extensive.

I'm a working woman. I'm a Purchaser at a non-profit and I spend my days looking for bargains. There is nothing more satisfying than finding a great deal on a product we need and knowing that the money I saved the company will enable us to help more people.

I'm a volunteer. I'm a member of my local RWA chapter OCC/RWA and I've worked on the Published Author constest the last 3 years in a row. I've also been known to stuff envelopes, make phone calls and march in a ralley or two with Planned Parenthood. I was honored to be one of the one million, two-hundred-thousand marchers in the March For Women's Lives in Washington DC in April of 2004. I won a scholarship to attend by writing an essay. Which brings it all back to writing, doesn't it?

Current mood- feisty

Giving this a go

Since this is my first post, don't expect anything brilliant. It's past my bedtime and I had the urge to finally create my own blog. Why now, you ask? I'm not sure. Just feeling contrary I suppose. I've worked all night and I never got to do anything fun so... now I've created a blog. And that's fun. Stick with me, it'll get better. Promise.

Good night for now. More later.

Current mood- sleepy