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> Words of Choice

That Uppity Theatre Company was selected to direct a regional tour for “Words of Choice,” a project that uses theatre to emphasize reproductive issues and civic dialogue.  Written by Cindy Cooper, "Words of Choice" explores what the world without Roe v. Wade was like and what it will be like again if Roe is overturned by the Supreme Court and a woman's right to choose is put in the hands of the states.  The show premiered in St. Louis and then did an emergency tour of the “red” states, stopping in Kansas and Oklahoma.

September 9, 2005
KWMU's CityScape host Stephen Potter speaks with artistic director Joan Lipkin and cast members about the reproductive rights ensemble work "Words of Choice"
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On the Road with Words of Choice
Monday, September 12, 2005
Frederick Clarkson blog:

Abortion can be hard to discuss -- between family members; between ostensibly pro-choice allies in the Democratic party; among friends. But there is one place where abortion is discussed in a lively, engaging and dynamic way, where the voice of the lives of ordinary people, not wonks, are heard. And that's following a performance of Words of Choice, a play by my friend Cynthia Cooper.

Words of Choice is about to go on the road -- in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas: St.Louis (Sept 14); Webster University (Sept 15); Lawrence KS (Sept 16); Manhattan, KS (Sept 19); Wichita, KS (Sept 20); Tulsa, OK (Sept 21); Washington University, St. Louis (Sept. 23).
"I didn't set out to measure the health of Roe v. Wade when I toured my play Words of Choice from New York to 10 states in the past year," Cooper wrote earlier this year for Women's eNews. "But traveling to Missouri and Florida, Virginia and Minnesota, I keep feeling the temperature: signs of liveliness and weaknesses in ways I didn't imagine.

At a church in suburban St. Louis, a young woman in a hip pink poncho offers me one clear insight when she strides up to the front of the community room after the "Words of Choice" performance. The play weaves together a dozen diverse writings about true-to-life experiences, comic and serious, with contraception, childbirth and abortion; my role is guiding the post-play discussion.

"Can you come to my college in Kansas?" presses the young woman. "This made me realize that I'm pro-choice and I want my friends to see it." she says.

Another woman, whom I soon learn is her mother, steps forward. "Just a minute," the 40ish woman interjects. "You grew up in a pro-choice household."

"But we never talked about it," the student says in a tone of exasperation best known to mothers and daughters.

"I told you about your grandmother's illegal abortion, didn't I?" the mother continues.

The daughter's unblinking stare indicates otherwise. Within moments, we hear the decades-old story of a frightened Midwestern girl willing to gamble on outlaws and dangerous conditions to procure an abortion in the time period before the U.S. Supreme Court said, on January 22, 1973, that the government cannot criminalize abortion in all circumstances--the decision known simply as Roe to many.....

The experience of Roe in the lives of ordinary people is far from the world where policy analysts describe Roe's wrinkles and sagging losses to hundreds of state anti-choice laws, or explain that one or two anti-choice replacements on the Supreme Court could make Roe into an historical artifact. More than one newswriter has confessed to being tired of the whole saga.

But tell that to the woman from Southside Chicago who approaches after a performance. She has never heard of Roe before. "I intend to do some research," she says.

Roe is the pulsating heart of America's right to privacy. If it is eliminated, many rights are in peril: right to contraception, in vitro fertilization, medical privacy, sexual freedom, gay and lesbian rights, end-of-life medical options, and, of course, abortion. Roe articulates the right to be free from government restriction in all manner of personal decision-making--essential individual rights in a free society."

The play, which weaves together comic and serious stories by 15 writers, Angela Bonavoglia, Kathy Najimy, Emily Lyons, Michael Quinn, Emilie Townes, Alix Olson, Judith Arcana, Sherica White, Kathleen Tolan, and Justice Harry Blackmun, has been produced in over two dozen cities and states.

The true-to-life stories in Words of Choice touch upon hot-button topics such as emergency contraception, sexual assault, unintended pregnancy, abstinence education, and safe and legal abortion.

"It is funny, moving, informative, entertaining, and an evening of theatre like no other," says Joan Lipkin, director.

Words of Choice is touring three 'red states' in a time period in which the right of privacy is under attack," according to the tour press release. "The state attorney general of Kansas has subpoenaed the records of women from two abortion clinics, and most recently, he sued the state to stop payment for the abortions of survivors of rape. The governor of Missouri is spending $100,000 in an "emergency" special session to pass anti-abortion legislation. The U.S. Senator from Oklahoma decries the use of condoms for birth control or safe sex."

Cooper has blogged about Missouri Gov. Blunt's draconian legislation at Talk to Action (the temporary site of what will launch as a national, interactive site in a few weeks. Cooper will be a front page writer.)

"I want to break open the conversation on reproductive rights," Cooper says. "The right to privacy belongs to all of us. It can't be left to politicians trying to score points."

What Operation Rescue had to say about the Wichita production of Words of Choice:

Abortionist Tiller and Pro-abortion Play-goers, Challenged Over Abortion Death
WICHITA, KS – Operation Rescue challenged a small group of pro-abortion supporters who gathered Tuesday evening, (September 20, 2005), at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Wichita to celebrate child-killing by viewing a production called “Words of Choice.” A radical pro-abortion group that calls itself the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, sponsored the program. Greeting the Rescuers was Carl Sweeney, a security guard at George Tiller’s abortion mill, Women’s Health Care Services. Sweeney was agitated and continually threatened Rescuers with arrest. Police were summoned, but simply stood by while Rescuers peacefully exercised their First Amendment rights.
Rescuers, who parked two Truth Truck in front of the program facility, recounted the timeline that led to Christin Gilbert’s death last January after a third-trimester abortion by George Tiller. To the dismay of the abortion supporters, OR President Troy Newman told them repeatedly, “According to the Sedgwick County Coroner’s report, the cause of death was complications of therapeutic abortion.”
“I thought they were visibly shaken,” said Newman. “These people want to be heroes, so it is hard for them to face the reality that their pet cause actually hurts women and destroys lives.”
Abortionist George Tiller arrived and mockingly blew two-handed kisses to the rescuers who were calling him into account for Gilbert’s tragic death. “I think he may have been quite drunk,” said Newman who chastened Tiller for misdiagnosing Gilbert’s condition as dehydration when in reality she was dying of sepsis. “I told her that Christin Gilbert’s name would forever haunt him,” Newman added, “But he was acting as if her death was a joke.”
In addition, Rescuers played a copy of the audio recording of the 911 call made by Tiller employee Marguerite Reed as Christin lay dying at Tiller’s mill on January 13, 2005. Newman supplied the commentary to recording for the group gathering for the abortion-promoting program.

Rescuers also recounted the stories of abortionists such as Suresh Gandotra and Bruce Steir, who both were responsible for killing abortion patients in California. Gandotra fled the country to avoid murder charges in the death of Magdalena Rodriguez, while Steir was jailed for taking the life of Sharon Hamptlon. “Tiller certainly deserves a similar fate,” said Newman.
As the program attendees filtered into the building, Rescuers repeatedly chanted, “Christin Gilbert! Christin Gilbert!” They ended their outreach with prayer for the repentance and salvation of Tiller and his cohorts.

Play to focus on reproductive rights
Published on Monday, September 19, 2005  
Lola Shrimplin
Kansas State Collegian

Only three locations in Kansas will host performances of "Words of Choice," and K-State is one of them. An ensemble group from St. Louis, Mo., will bring the play, created by Cindy Cooper and directed by Joan Lipkin, to the K-State Student Union Main Ballroom at 7 tonight. The play focuses on reproductive rights with three performers in 17 scenes by contributing writers, Sarah Shimchick, the play's stage manager, said."Essentially, the whole play is about pro-choice and reproductive rights," she said. The play's message is conveyed through both dramatic and comedic scenes, from a Taco Bell contraceptive burrito to a mother who testifies before U.S. Congress after an abortion showed severe birth defects would have killed her fetus. One scene features an actor playing Emily Lyons, a nurse who was in an abortion clinic bombed by Eric Rudolph, as she gives a speech to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The actors, Thomasina Clarke, Jacqueline Masei and Kimberly Mason, play both female and male parts. Cooper said she created the play after watching a PBS movie called "The Education of Shelby Knox." Knox was a student in Lubbock, Texas, where the school district had a policy of teaching abstinence in sexual education classes. Yet, Lubbock had the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy in the state. Knox protested other aspects of sex education weren't being taught. Later she attempted to create a gay-straight alliance in Lubbock. Knox's actions and the actions of others swayed Cooper to speak out about issues some might find uncomfortable and to support those who were speaking out on their own."Fred Phelps actually inspired me in some ways," Cooper said. Phelps and his family often protest events they find objectionable, including Knox's creation of a gay-straight alliance in the Lubbock schools. Shannon Babcock, senior in social work and chairperson of Manhattan National Organization for Women, said the cast wanted to perform in Kansas because of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline's attempts to access medical records of some women who received abortions at two Kansas clinics. The group was, however, hesitant to perform at K-State because of the university's more conservative reputation. The "Words of Choice" cast performed in Lawrence on Sept. 16 and will perform in Wichita on Sept. 20 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church. Masei said there have been a few protesters at previous performances, but they haven't affected the cast or the performances. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is recommended.

Tradition of social change is alive, well in theater Words of Choice , which comes to Orlando tonight, is only one among many politically motivated plays found on U.S. stages.

By Elizabeth Maupin
Sentinel Theater Critic

October 24, 2004

When three actors take the stage in downtown Orlando tonight, there will be little doubt where their sympathies lie.

With their stories about a father whose daughter has been raped, a pregnant teenager who wishes she could be adopted and a woman who shares a birthday toast with Roe v. Wade, the trio of actors will be delivering an abortion-rights message. You don't have to know that the local sponsor is Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando to figure it out.

Words of Choice, which is touring Florida and five other swing states before the Nov. 2 election, is just one of a deluge of politically motivated plays on stages across the United States this fall. Those plays are part of a long tradition of using drama to work for social change -- a tradition that began almost as long ago as theater itself.

"We try to get you to think about it -- and to think about it in a different way," says Cindy Cooper, a playwright and journalist who adapted Words of Choice (with director Suzanne Bennett) from writers as varied as comic Kathy Najimy and the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.

"There's just so much rhetoric," Cooper says. "It's become a slugfest of terminology. But it's a real issue that's going to become important for so many people. We're just trying to help people connect with that."

This election season has brought out the rhetoric, to be sure, and a lot of it has wound up onstage. In New York, Archbishop Desmond Tutu made a cameo appearance in a critically acclaimed drama called Guantánamo: "Honor Bound to Defend Freedom," based on the testimony of Guantánamo detainees. In Coral Gables, New Theatre will hold readings this week of a play called Dear George: Letters to the President as a fund-raiser for the liberal advocacy group People for the American Way.

On the West Coast, Sacred Fools Theater Company in Hollywood, Calif., is presenting Dubya 2000, a "political horror tragedy," while a little company called Human Nature, based in rural northern California, is working on a piece called Global Warming: The Musical.

Actor-playwright Tim Robbins' satirical comedy Embedded has been playing in London. And Susan Sarandon will play Laura Bush Monday night in New Haven, Conn., in a reading of Tony Kushner's Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy, in which the first lady reads Dostoevsky -- said to be her favorite author -- to the pajama-clad souls of Iraqi children.

Meanwhile, reclusive playwright-actor Sam Shepard has rushed his comedy The God of Hell -- opening Friday at New York's New School Theater -- into production largely because he hopes to influence the election. The show, which Shepard has called "a takeoff on Republican fascism, in a way," tells the story of a quiet farm couple whose lives are roiled by a corrupt government official.

"I think a more vigorous debate needs to happen to prove that we have a vigorous democracy," Shepard told the San Francisco Chronicle.

'All theater is political'

Those who don't go to the theater may wonder, why all the political action onstage.

"All theater is political," says Judith Malina, who co-founded avant-garde troupe the Living Theatre in 1948.

Lucy Komisar, a freelance theater critic, tries to explain why.

"Free from advertising, the theater is the best place to express political views," she told an audience at a forum sponsored by the Drama Desk, a New York theater organization, this year.

That kind of theater can work, says David Charles, an assistant professor of theater at Rollins College, who is creating a course on theater for social change.

"I pray and hope that theater can change things," Charles says. "But it tends to be change on the individual level, moving to the global level."

Charles mentions the work of Brazilian director Augusto Boal, whose improvisational company, called Theatre of the Oppressed, led to grass-roots activism and to actual legislation.

Lean to the left

What do all of those plays have in common? It doesn't take a TV pundit to recognize that all of them -- like most political theater through the ages -- lean left.

Not all audiences are crazy about that idea. When the Florida Theatrical Association brought the anti-death-penalty play The Exonerated to Orlando last spring, executive director Ron Legler says he got 15 to 20 letters of protest.

"We actually had people who said they'd never come to our theater again," he says. "They said it wasn't entertainment.

"People either love it or they hate it. There's no middle ground."

At the Drama Desk, the audience laughed heartily when someone asked if there was any political theater on the right. The fact is that, except for plays produced by evangelical Christian groups, political theater tends to be theater for social change -- and social change tends to be a liberal preoccupation.

That's been true since the days of Aristophanes, a playwright in Athens during the fifth century B.C., whose anti-war comedy Lysistrata is the best-known of a string of satires that protested the politics of his time. Lysistrata is still widely performed in the 21st century, and a musical adaptation of Aristophanes' comedy The Frogs -- adapted by actor Nathan Lane as a comment on the current U.S. presidential administration -- played on Broadway this summer and fall.

Shakespeare was as political as the next guy: His history plays were recastings of real-life events to curry favor with current rulers, and the tragicomedy Measure for Measure (onstage at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival through Nov. 21) is a response to Puritan morality and government hypocrisy.

Three centuries later, a kind of theater called agit-prop -- named for the Soviet Union's Department of Agitation and Propaganda -- toured Europe in the 1930s with a pro-Communist message.

Eventually, agit-prop theater came to mean any kind of political propaganda, and it influenced Depression-era workers' theaters in the United States.

Carrying on a tradition

The 1930s Federal Theatre Project, the still-active Living Theatre and the Tony Award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe (a group devoted not to mime but to political comedy) all are inheritors of the tradition of drama for social change.

So is Cindy Cooper, who started her theater career with the well-regarded Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis and has written 10 full-length and 15 or 20 shorter plays. Cooper, who is also a journalist, was working for the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York when she began looking for ways to present the group's message through the arts.

"I couldn't find anything that represented the full range of experiences men and women have," she says. "I wanted to present a diversity of voices and stories."

So Cooper collected about two dozen stories from various sources -- journalism, poetry, drama and comedy -- and adapted them to create Words of Choice. The play was performed first in 2000, but it gathered steam about a year and a half ago when it was done as a benefit for Planned Parenthood in New York.

"They were galvanized," she says. "People were really anxious to talk about it."

The plan is formed

Eventually a plan came together to tour the play during the election season, with one cast taking the Eastern states and another the Midwest. Sally Blackmun, the Orlando lawyer who is the daughter of the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, saw the play in September in New York.

"It was pretty powerful," she says.

Blackmun went to law school with Cooper, and she chairs the Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando board. Some of her father's writings on his Roe v. Wade decision wound up in the play.

Words of Choice is especially important now, she says, because the next president could appoint several new justices to the Supreme Court. A new court could back off from its longstanding support for abortion rights.

"The purpose is awareness, and the fact that the choice issue is in serious jeopardy," Blackmun says.

As for Cooper, she's happy about the reactions Words of Choice has received, especially from people who came to it uninformed.

A college student who approached her after one performance turned out to be the audience this play seeks.

"I'm just at the age where I realize I don't have to agree with my parents," the student said to Cooper.

"I can form my own opinions," she said, "and you're helping me decide."

Elizabeth Maupin can be reached

at [email protected]

or 407-420-5426.

As Privacy Fears Grow, Women's Lips Grow Tighter

Run Date: 06/03/05

By Ann Farmer
WeNews correspondent

As the government shows more interest in seizing reproductive health histories, women are becoming more tight-lipped with doctors. The most recent governmental effort to access abortion records gained ground on May 30 in Indiana.

(WOMENSENEWS)--A woman seeking reproductive health care usually starts by filling out a questionnaire detailing her complete medical history including whether she is sexually active, past illnesses, number of pregnancies, number of live births, contraceptive use, marital status, gender of her sexual partner, occupation, address and more. Yet, as the legal battles over reproductive rights continue to increase in number and intensity, more and more women have become reluctant to be open and frank. And after May 30--when an Indiana judge denied the request of Planned Parenthood of Indiana to stop the state's Attorney General Steve Carter from accessing the medical records of its young clients--it may be even harder for doctors to gather an accurate health history from women and teens. Planned Parenthood of Indiana filed its lawsuit in March after the state attorney general's office implemented the state Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which apparently overrides federal health privacy laws, to investigate whether more than 40 Planned Parenthood affiliates are properly reporting cases of rape and molestation involving girls under 14. The lawsuit also asked the Superior Court judge to require the return of records already taken by the attorney general's office. Following the judge's denial, Planned Parenthood requested a stay in the case and has vowed to appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals if necessary."I think it's very disturbing and frightening," says Dorothy Greene, a New York City writer who had an abortion years ago but chooses not to share that information with her doctors. "I don't know anymore where these records end up or who sees them. I don't want to feel that the personal private records of mine will be open to scrutiny by someone who has no business looking at them except for their personal ideological reasons." Indiana is the second state in a matter of months in which prosecutors have sought full access to medical records held by reproductive health clinics.

Kansas Subpoenas in February
In February, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline served subpoenas on two Kansas reproductive health clinics seeking access to the medical records of at least 90 women who had used its abortion services. Attorneys for the two clinics--Comprehensive Health, a Planned Parenthood clinic located in the suburbs of Kansas City and Women's Health Care Services, located in Wichita--filed an appeal on March 16 with the Kansas Supreme Court to block Kline's access to the unedited files, which include the patient's name, medical history, psychological profile and sexual history.
"We made a commitment to our patients that their records are confidential and private," says Peter Brownlie, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, which, along with Women's Health Care Services, has not released any files to date. The decision on whether to uphold Kline's injunction is pending review by the seven-member Kansas Supreme Court and may not be issued for months. The Kansas women whose medical records were subpoenaed have expressed outrage at what they see as an incursion into their privacy, says Julie Burkhardt, executive director of ProKanDo, a pro-choice political action committee that she founded along with Dr. George Tiller, medical director of Women's Health Care Services. "They're very concerned that a non-medical official was going to be searching through their medical records."

Investigating Legal Violations
Both clinics cited in the subpoenas offer legal second-trimester abortion services. Kline says that he's investigating possible violations of a state law limiting late-term abortions and another that requires the mandatory reporting of suspected child rape.
"This is a fishing expedition," retorts Brownlie of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, noting that Kline is poised to run next year for either a second term as attorney general or for the governorship. "We fully comply with Kansas' laws." Whitney Watson, spokesperson for Kansas Attorney General Kline, refused to discuss any potential evidence, saying only that the District Court judge who signed the subpoenas had determined that probable cause existed.
Critics say Kline is pushing an anti-choice agenda. "He has been very clear throughout his political career that he is out to get abortion providers," Burkhardt says. "When this inquisition broke back in February, he repeatedly said that this is about protecting children from child rapists." But she says that Kline has subpoenaed the records of all women--not just the very young--who had abortions at or after 22 weeks of pregnancy during 2003. She says if Kline's motive was to uncover possible instances of child sexual abuse he'd also be looking at the records of family physicians, psychologists, social workers and others. When asked about that, Watson responded, "You don't know that we're not." A spokesperson for the Indiana attorney general's office also says that it is pursuing its legal obligation to investigate potential wrongdoing involving minors.

Carole Joffe, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis, believes even more women would conceal their abortion history if they knew what was going on in Kansas and Indiana.
"When young women in society see headline after headline that says the attorney general is seeking abortion records, it just adds to the sense that abortion is stigmatized. And that your records may be subpoenaed."
This stigma surrounding abortion, she says, compels many women to reach for their pocketbook rather than use their health insurance to cover the procedure.
"They're afraid to let their insurance company know or have it become part of their permanent medical record."
Both state cases follow a failed attempt in 2003 by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to gain access to women's medical records across the nation as part of litigation to defend an anti-choice law passed by Congress which would have banned abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy.
In addition, in 2002, after the discovery of a dismembered infant in Iowa, local law enforcement officials subpoenaed approximately 1,000 positive pregnancy test results from a Planned Parenthood affiliate there in attempts to locate the mother. Months later they withdrew the subpoena after lawyers for Planned Parenthood of Iowa successfully appealed to the state Supreme Court to block and review the lower court order. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller cited a deficit of time and resources as his reason for backing off from that intrusion into women's privacy.
--Cynthia Cooper contributed reporting to this article.
Ann Farmer is an independent journalist who lives in New York City. She reports for The New York Times and contributes stories to various publications including Emmy, More, Dance Magazine, and others.
Cynthia L. Cooper, a journalist living in New York, writes frequently about reproductive health and justice.

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri:

Office of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline Opinion No. 2003-17:
http://www.kscourts.org/ksag/opinions/2003/2003-017.htm

ProKanDo:
http://www.prokando.org

Press >

WordsofChoice.org

Common Dreams News Wire

Fractured Atlas

Frederick Clarkson blog

Washington University's Record

Webster University's The Journal

Two arts events shine spotlight on reproductive rights -- Pro-choice, GLBT issues go hand in hand
by NANCY LARSON

Breathe,” Judith Arcana told the frightened young teenager whose girlfriends helped get her to the makeshift clinic. It was 1971. Somehow — perhaps she’d sold her stereo — “Rachel” had scraped together enough money for an abortion, a solution that became feasible only after she was closing in fast on her second trimester.
“Where’s a 15-year-old girl going to find someone to perform an abortion when abortion is illegal?” Arcana asked, incredulously. Because Rachael was so late-term, the abortion was actually an induced miscarriage.
Arcana is not a doctor. She’s a writer. But on that day, she was the midwife for Rachel’s miscarriage. None of the others in the room had any professional medical training, either. But together, they were part of the Abortion Counseling Service of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Movement — now known as “Jane” — that began in 1969 by giving referrals. Soon, its members discovered the “doctors” they were assisting weren’t really doctors at all, and gradually they learned how to perform the abortions themselves. The women performed 11,000 abortions before the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
Flash forward 32 years to 2005: Reproductive rights are under attack on state and federal levels. On Aug. 26, the FDA again delayed a plan to make emergency contraception available over the counter. The nomination of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court further threatens reproductive freedoms. And here in Missouri, the State Legislature is set to consider several anti-choice bills in a special session that began Sept. 6.

Rolling back reproductive rights could return this country to the days of back-alley abortions and men controlling women’s bodies — possible developments that give new meaning to voices from the past. Some of the women and young girls helped by Arcana will speak through “Words of Choice,” a performance set for Sept. 14 at Central Reform Congregation to benefit NARAL Pr-Choice Missouri. Two free performances will also be offered Sept. 15 and 23. Arcana is one of 14 writers — including actor Kathy Najimy and the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun — whose work makes up the show, as illustrated in this excerpt: “Why do you do this? She looked around the small bedroom and said, You're not rich. With what you charge, you can't be doing this for the money. What's it all about? Are you a bunch of women's libbers? Is that it?
I'm not nervous. I think you are good women. I'm never nervous, maybe cuz I'm always tired. She was so tired that when the woman beside the bed rocked her shoulder softly to wake her up, she said, It's over? I'm sorry, I just closed my eyes after the shot you gave me down there. I'm sorry, but I was real tired, I had to work a double shift and din have no time between work and here.” - from “Words of Choice,” excerpts from “She Said” by Judith Arcana Arcana, who identifies as bisexual, stressed that reproductive rights are inseparable from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) issues. "The same people who are against abortion rights are almost always the ones who loathe and fear queer people in this country," Arcana emphasized. "They generally have these two issues paired for their political work in every state and region. I've come to believe that one of the primary elements at the core of their hatred and fear is a negative response to human sexuality — the organic, bodily experience of human sexuality. They want, fiercely and desperately, to limit people's freedom to live fully in our bodies." Ditto, said Joan Lipkin, That Uppity Theatre Company Artistic Director, who directs the “Words of Choice” ensemble cast. Following the St. Louis presentation, she is taking the show on a tour of Nebraska and Kansas, where the Kansas Attorney General wants to halt state financing of abortions for Medicaid recipients and is seeking access to the medical records of at least 90 women who used abortion services. Even in this negative climate, Lipkin vowed that no political Grinch will steal the whimsy from this important production.

“Although the issue of reproductive choice is a serious one, my approach often isn't,” Lipkin noted. “People can expect the kind of humor and dynamism with which Uppity's work is associated. We get serious, we get funny, we get musical and we even get hip hop. With this variety of personal narratives, spoken word, historical documents, dance, excerpts from plays and stand up comedy, it is an exciting piece of theatre.”

Art for the sake of choice
Helping people is an art, and Planned Parenthood of St. Louis has turned to art to provide money for its services. A “Choice Art” gala with a silent and oral art auction will be held Sept. 24 at the Bandwidth Exchange Building. All proceeds form the event will help Planned Parenthood provide medical services to more than 33,000 patients this year, and to educate thousands of young people.

It’s a daunting task made much more difficult by the current political climate, according to Planned Parenthood President and CEO Paula Gianino. “It appears to be a complete caving in to political extremism,” lamented Gianino. “There’s just no doubt that the rights we’ve come to embrace, to expect and to hold dear are all hanging in the balance.”

Planned Parenthood began brainstorming “Choice Art” after the state Legislature last year de-funded the state’s family planning program which cost Planned Parenthood a quarter of a million dollars. That loss, plus scheduled cuts in Medicaid have pushed the organization to get more creative about fund raising.
“With the coming cutbacks in the state Medicaid program, Planned Parenthood understands we must continue to do everything we can to serve every patient that comes to us,” Gianino said. “The Legislature has been in an attack-Planned-Parenthood and de-fund-Planned-Parenthood mode and we are serving more people every year — so we have to continue to look for support from the community.”

“Words of Choice,” written by Cindy Cooper, will be performed Wednesday, Sept. 14 at Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors with proceeds to benefit NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri. Free performances will be held Thursday, Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. in the library conference room at Webster University and Friday, Sept. 23 at 4 p.m. at the Women’s Building Formal Lounge at Washington University. Additional donations are welcome. For tickets call 314-531-8616 or visit www.prochoicemissouri.org.
The “Choice Art” auction will be held Saturday, Sept. 24 from 6:30-10 p.m. at the Bandwidth Exchange Building, 210 N. Tucker. Tickets are $175 or $75 for those 35 and under. Call 314-531-7526. The art can be previewed at www.ppslr.org, where more information is also available

Editorial: "Forum provides opportunity for discussion"
Monday, September 19, 2005  
Collegian Editorial Board

Kansas State Collegian
When it comes to abortion, everybody is right. Pro-choice, pro-life, pro-death, pro-other.

At least everybody believes that they're right. The problem is, when everybody is right that means no one is talking. The ability to have a dialogue is what separates sentient man from the rest of nature. However, for the issue of abortion there is little dialogue. In it's place, we find group A versus group B, with no room for something in between.
Surrounding ourselves with others who hold the same beliefs and ideas as ourselves allows us to construct a wall of, "yeah we're right" that blocks out opposing ideas from entering our well-protected consciousness While the play "Words of Choice" does promote a decidedly pro-choice message, the forum after the play presents a golden opportunity for proactive dialogue about one of the most divisive issues in our nation. By communicating with people who hold viewpoints counter to our own we force ourselves to examine the construction upon which our beliefs are built. Either shoring up or demolishing the ideas that we have constructed. At the very least, getting an insight into who the people are that counter your beliefs is a healthy experience. Learning that not everyone who is pro-choice has had a half-dozen abortions is just as important as learning that not everyone who is pro-life is a bible-thumping lunatic. There are reasonable arguments for both sides, and claiming a monopoly on truth is the hallmark of arrogance.

Words of choice important for all women
Published on Friday, September 16, 2005
Eric Thompson/Collegian

Rachel Thompson
Kansas State Collegian

On Monday, Sept. 19, the play "Words of Choice" will be performed at 7 p.m. in the Union Ballroom.

Why is this important? What does this have to do with you? Kansas is a conservative state with a hefty majority of anti-choice residents.
But this play addresses much more than abortion, it addresses an entire
range of reproductive freedom. And the circumstances that brought the
play to Kansas —- the invasion of the privacy of medical records -—
influence everyone’s lives.

"Words of Choice" is a collection of stories, presented as monologues, including a father’s view of his daughter’s rape, an anti-abortion protester, a contraception burrito, one woman’s wanted pregnancy, old wives' tales from the South, the true nature of abstinence-only education and emergency contraceptive, among others. After the play there will be an Education Forum on Reproductive Choice with a range of panelists, including a feminist, a pastor, a doctor and a political scientist, as well as the play’s creator, Cindy Cooper.
It seems that many people avoid open discussion concerning curiosity and facts about sex, pregnancy and a number of related topics. I don’t understand why; it make senses that a person informed about sex can prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, while the uninformed can discover by accident that sex produces babies. Knowledge is a powerful influence on actions and ignorance can have many repercussions. This play is a chance to initiate dialogue and raise awareness of rights that affect every woman, not just views concerning abortion. Dealing with rape, domestic abuse, and many other issues apply to all women regardless of who they are. A rapist does not discriminate based on beliefs, opinions or religions, and both women and men need to say that rape is not acceptable.

But, what brought this controversial play to the heartland? The group decided to perform in Kansas because of the recent actions of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. The Attorney General has served subpoenas for the medical records of 90 women from two Kansas reproductive health centers.
This invasion of privacy has prompted the play to enter into the conservative Midwest. The threat of having personal medical records open by those who are not doctors have bad consequences for everyone. If someone thinks that their medical history may not be kept confidential, they may not trust their doctors and may withhold important information. The doctor-patient privilege needs to be upheld. Doctors and teachers are required to report any evidence of child abuse, which they should, but having to report things like a girl kissing her boyfriend is absurd."Words of Choice" has come to K-State wanting to create dialogue and to make a statement against the invasion of privacy Phill Kline has
made. By attempting to raise wareness, this play is a wonderful, free way to talk about women’s rights and privacy.
Rachel Thompson is a sophomore in political science. Please send your
comments to [email protected].

Words of Choice production presented today

By Andy Clendennen

With political rhetoric heating up and the issues of freedom of choice and privacy at the forefront of many discussions, along comes a production that addresses many of these issues.
The Performing Arts Department and the Program in Women and Gender Studies, both in Arts & Sciences, are presenting Words of Choice, labeled as "dynamic pro-choice theater."
The performance will be at 4 p.m. today in the Women's Building Formal Lounge.

Created by Cindy Cooper and directed by Joan Lipkin, artistic director of That Uppity Theatre Company, Words of Choice describes the real-life effects of policies.
The stories — passionate, comic and dramatic — in Words of Choice address many topics, such as emergency contraception, sexual assault, unintended pregnancy, abstinence education, fetal anomalies, abortion and scare tactics against women.

The dozen short pieces in Words of Choice touch upon a wide panorama of modern lives.

In one serious piece, a father describes his feelings after learning of his daughter's rape; in another, a woman learns of severe fetal anomalies.

In a comic piece written by actress Kathy Najimy, two adventurous 30-somethings seek confessional forgiveness for their sins, and in a satirical selection from the publication The Onion, a publicist announces the release of the exciting morning-after burrito.

Barbara Baumgartner, Ph.D., associate director of Women and Gender Studies, will facilitate a post-show discussion that will include Lipkin and Allison Gee, political director of Planned Parenthood St. Louis.
Writings include works by Angela Bonavoglia, Judith Arcana, Harry Blackmun, Kathleen Tolan, Alix Olson, Emily Lyons, Sherica White, Michael Quinn, Emilie Townes and Gloria Feldt.

Cooper is an award-winning playwright and journalist in New York City. Her plays have been produced in New York, regional theaters, Canada and parts of Europe, including at the Women's Project, Primary Stages, Art and Work Ensemble, the Women's Project in Minneapolis, Venus Theater and elsewhere.
Among her works is How She Played the Game, about six women in sports history. A member of the Dramatists' Guild, Cooper's plays are contained in 11 volumes, including Great Monologues for Women and On The Edge. With a background as a lawyer, she was communications director in the field of reproductive justice; she first created Words of Choice in 2000.
"We need many more safe spaces for strangers and neighbors and even mothers and daughters to talk," Cooper writes on the production's Web site, wordsofchoice.org. "Spoken-word cafés. Church basements. Dormitories where five friends sit down and discuss. Tupperware-style house parties. Art galleries, bookstores, after-hours groups at doctors' offices.
"And our leaders need to sit in. Away from polls and focus groups and message-makers, they need to open new conversations with the people who need Roe, even if they don't know about it. No one owns the subject of reproductive freedom, and we are all immigrants to this strange new landscape where no one talks.
"We urgently need to learn from one another. Let the dialogues begin."