"“If you want to make decisions about my uterus and my reproductive life, you get to make all the decisions about my life. You don’t get to cherry pick.” -- Bethany Erickson
That's how Texas mom Bethany Erickson began the Need Your Permission campaign. It started as a one-day event via her Facebook page and has swept through Texas and onto other states facing restrictions on women's access to reproductive healthcare. Women were invited to Tweet, fax, email, and phone the governor, lieutenant governor, and Texas legislators to ask their permission to make decisions on everything from tampons to lunch decisions to which wireless phone company to select.
So many women took part that Karen Teegarden of UniteWomen.org asked Erickson's permission to expand the effort and take it nationwide, so that women in other states where reproductive rights are being challenged could invite their own legislators and other state leaders to help make those decisions that are too tough for mere females.
Currently, there are Need Your Permission events taking place in 26 states, and there is one federal-level event as well.
We're doin' it live here in North Carolina now for the coming month. Will you join us?
In which MsSpentyouth asks the governor for advice after N.C. legislators first Trojan-horsed a bill outlawing Sharia law and then, when that met opposition, switched the bill's content the next day to legislation regulating motorcycle safety.
North Carolina's
Need Your Permission event will run through August 8. Folks are invited to Tweet, email, fax, phone, or Facebook decision questions to Gov. Pat McCrory, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, and N.C. legislators who recently Rick-rolled anti-abortion legislation from a go-nowhere bill to legislation ostensibly banning use of Sharia law in North Carolina courts to (when that met opposition) a bill regulating motorcycle safety and insurance matters.
Hashtags for Twitter and Facebook: #NeedYourPermission #NYPNC
Governor Pat McCrory
Phone: (919) 814-2000
Fax: (919) 733-2120
Email: http://www.governor.state.nc.us/...
Twitter: @PatMcCroryNC
Address:
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Lt. Governor Dan Forest
Phone: (919) 733-7350
Fax: (919) 733-6595
Email: lt.gov@nc.gov
Twitter: @DanForestNC
Address:
Office of the Lt. Governor
20401 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0401
N.C. Rep. Chris Whitmire's Twitter: @RepWhitmire
N.C. Rep. George Cleveland: (no Twitter, apparently)
Rep. Jacqueline Schaffer's Twitter: @SchafferJM
Rep. Larry Pitman: (no Twitter, apparently)
There are several other sponsors of HB 695, but these four are the primary ones and were responsible for Trojan-horsing/Rick-rollling HB 353.
You can find contact information for all the N.C. House sponsors all the sponsors here.
Here are just a few Tweets that went out to North Carolina lawmakers, the governor, and the lieutenant governor today:
@PatMcCroryNC - Is it murder for me to swallow my husband's sperm when performing oral sex? Or do I need to spit it into an ice cube tray for future use?
@PatMcCroryNC - I’ll be going shopping tomorrow and I really need Gov McCrory to tell me which brand of chastity belt will be the safest one for me.
@SchafferJM @RepWhitmire @PatMcCroryNC- Is toilet paper still safe or should I exclusively use the flushable moist wipes?
@PatMcCroryNC - We have lots of leftovers in our fridge - you let me know what to pick: mango chicken? pork chop? PB&J?
@PatMcCroryNC - Just heard all women's reproductive care must be performed on the back of a motorcycle. Does Rep. Skip Stam have to be holding handlebars?