Black is white, right is wrong, day is night

Oh, the shame. In one more step away from its progressive heritage, MN is about to pass the "Positive Alternative Act," which - surprise, surprise - is neither positive nor alternative. Quoth the Strib:

Abortion opponents called the bill their next logical step after passage of the Women's Right to Know Act in 2003, which requires women seeking abortions in Minnesota to wait 24 hours and to be given certain information before undergoing the procedure.

"Women's Right to Know provided information; now we want to provide practical, direct help to women," Andrea Rau, lobbyist for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, told the House Health Policy and Finance Committee, which approved the bill on an 11-5 vote.

You have to give them credit for their talent with doublespeak. It's beyond anything Orwell could have dreamed up. The "Right to Know" bill (an insidious scare tactic forcing women who may be in a desperate or vulnerable position to view anti-choice propaganda and then wait 24 hours for their procedure) "provided information." Now the "Positive Alternatives" act (an insidious funding strategy designed to boost the federal funding of anti-choice organizations) is "providing help." They're co-opting our language for their purposes! The Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, a major supporter of the bill, is a prime example. (I won't link to them because I have no interest in sending traffic their way.) The title of their site is "Abortion information and referral site." This is a vehemently right-wing, anti-choice group. But if you don't know that, and you just got knocked up and need information on your options, chances are extremely high that you'll see their site, which is chock full of misinformation and propaganda about "unborn children." Meanwhile, clinics like Planned Parenthood that are actually offering their patients ALL of their legal options, are struggling to stay open. It just makes me feel so defeated. We have to start finding a way to frame this debate on OUR terms - the stakes are just too high to let them set the vocabulary. So let's start by calling this act what it is: A Negative No-Choice act. And a sad day in the history of a progressive state.

Update: There's a great response to this post and a wealth of (scary) information about the act over at Your Tax Dollars @ Work. Highly recommended.