Originally published in Indy Week. FORTY YEARS AGO, WHEN SHE WAS A TEENAGER, Miriam Aikens had an abortion. Then she had another. “I was young,” she says. “I was uninformed.” She was raised a devout Christian, and still “in the church” when she terminated the two unwanted pregnancies. Describing the aftermath, she mostly avoids the […]
A Mean Machine
For all its combativeness, the Republican National Convention failed the address the country’s most fundamental issues. Scenes from a week in St. Paul. Originally published in Indy Week. THE VETERANS MARCHED IN LOCKSTEP as they approached the Minneapolis State Capitol, which sits on a hill overlooking downtown St. Paul. Some wore Army greens. Others wore camouflage […]
DNC Day 2: Streets of Gore
Anti-abortion activists confront feminists in Denver. Originally published in Indy Week. DURING THIS WEEK OF THE DEMOCRATIC National Convention, it’s hard to walk more than a few blocks in downtown Denver without encountering clusters of abortion opponents carrying billboard-sized photos of fetal remains. They often make a lot of noise—but the demonstrators outside the University Club on […]
The Scientist Who Hated Abortion
Endocrinologist Joel Brind says research has shown him the truth about abortion, and that’s why he set out on a crusade that now reaches into the heart of the nation’s most powerful cancer agency. But what if he’s wrong? Originally published in Discover. IN A LARGE, FORMAL PHILADELPHIA COURTROOM six years ago, endocrinologist Joel Brind swore on […]
‘I Had An Abortion When I Was Six Months Pregnant’
Confronted with desperately ill unborn twins and great risks to her own health, a young woman steps into a political minefield. By Gina Gonzales as told to Barry Yeoman. Originally published in Glamour. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD CARE PASSIONATELY about the abortion issue or that I would find myself defending one of the most controversial medical procedures […]
The Quiet War on Abortion
After decades of noisy protests and violence, anti-abortion activists are relying on a new ‘stealth strategy’ to shut down clinics. Originally published in Mother Jones. IT WAS COUNSELING DAY LAST SPRING at the Hope Medical Group for Women, a small brick abortion clinic tucked discreetly along a street of upscale shops in Shreveport, Louisiana. In the waiting […]
Rain of Nails
When an anti-gay bomb shattered the peace in Atlanta, was the far Right’s new “leaderless resistance to blame? Originally published in Out. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ONLY 9:45 P.M., early for a Friday night in Atlanta, the Otherside Lounge was already cranking up February 21. One hundred and fifty women and men had settled into […]
