Draper begins: "A national syndicate will offer replacement 'Doonesbury' comic strips to newspapers that don't want to run a series that uses graphic imagery to lampoon a Texas law requiring women to have an ultrasound before an abortion, executives said Friday."
Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau as illustrated by Tim Rickard. (photo: Tim Rickard/Greensboro News and Record)
Papers Refuse to Run 'Doonesbury' Abortion Law Strip
10 March 12
Doonesbury's banned abortion series: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
national syndicate will offer replacement "Doonesbury" comic strips to newspapers that don't want to run a series that uses graphic imagery to lampoon a Texas law requiring women to have an ultrasound before an abortion, executives said Friday.
A handful of newspapers say they won't run next week's series, while several others said the strips will move from the comics to opinion pages or websites only. Many already publish the strip by cartoonist Garry Trudeau, whose sarcastic swipes at society's foibles have a history of giving headaches to newspaper editors, on editorial pages.
"We run 'Doonesbury' on our op-ed page, and this series is an example of why," said David Averill, editorial page editor for the Tulsa World. "Many of our readers will disagree with the political stance the series takes, and some will be offended by the clinical language. I believe, however, that this series of strips is appropriate to the abortion debate and appropriate to our op-ed pages."
The comic strips feature a woman who goes to an abortion clinic and is confronted by several people who suggest she should be ashamed. Among them is a doctor who reads a script on behalf of Texas Gov. Rick Perry welcoming her to a "compulsory transvaginal exam," and a middle-aged legislator who calls her a "slut."
One panel equates the invasive procedure to rape and describes the device used to perform it as a "10-inch shaming wand."
"Our readers are accustomed to pointed political and social commentary in strips like 'Doonesbury' and 'Mallard Fillmore,'" Tom McNiff, managing editor of The Gainesville Sun and Ocala Star-Banner in central Florida, said in an emailed statement explaining the decision not to run the series. "But the language the author used to make his point in two of the strips was quite graphic for a general readership."
Trudeau said Friday that "it would have been a little surprising" if there hadn't been any pushback against the series.
"Abortion remains a deeply contentious subject. Having said that, the goal is definitely not to antagonize editors and get booted from papers," he said in an email to The Associated Press. "It's just an occupational risk."
Texas' law does not specify the type of sonogram a woman must receive, but a transvaginal ultrasound is necessary to meet requirements that the doctor show the woman an image of the fetus, describe its features and make the fetal heartbeat audible in the first trimester. The procedure uses a wand inserted in the vagina to yield an image instead of a wand rubbed over a woman's belly.
Asked for comment on the "Doonesbury" series, Perry spokesman Catherine Frazier said the governor is proud of his leadership on the sonogram law.
"The decision to end a life is not funny," Frazier said. "There is nothing comic about this tasteless interpretation of legislation we have passed in Texas to ensure that women have all the facts when making a life-ending decision."
Sue Roush, managing editor at the Universal UClick syndicate, said newspapers uncomfortable with the abortion law series have the option of a set of substitute strips.
Steve Shirk, manager editor of The Kansas City Star, said his paper would use the replacements in the comics section while moving the abortion series to the opinion page.
"We felt the content was too much for many of the readers of our family friendly comic page," Shirk said. "We felt that (op-ed) page was more appropriate for that story line."
Dennis Ryerson, editor of the Indianapolis Star, said the newspaper would use an earlier "Doonesbury" strip instead.
"We simply don't want to be part of the personalization and debasement of political discourse. We've had too much of that from all sides," Ryerson said.
Chris Mele, executive editor of the Pocono Record in Stroudsburg, Pa., said the paper will run the replacement strips during the week, but the Texas series will appear March 18 on the front of its op-ed section. He said the paper would try to "have a dialogue" with its readers about the debate.
Universal UClick president Lee Salem said he wouldn't be surprised if 20 to 30 of the 1,400 newspapers that carry "Doonesbury" decided to opt out and run the replacements.
"Once every five or six months there's usually something in 'Doonesbury' that causes a stir. Every two or three years there's something that causes a bigger stir," Salem said. "Historically, that's par for the course with 'Doonesbury' because Garry explores topics on comics pages that are not normally there."
Six installments of "Doonesbury" satirizing the anti-abortion movie "The Silent Scream" were canceled in 1985 when the syndicate decided they were too controversial to be distributed.
Other states have enacted laws requiring pre-abortion ultrasounds, although Virginia removed a provision from its measure that specifically called for the invasive exam. The measure in its original form had become a target of national political columnists and the word "transvaginal" was mocked and parodied on "Saturday Night Live" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Associated Press writers Matt Moore in Philadelphia; Mitch Stacy in Tampa Bay, Florida; and Chris Tomlinson in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
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Comments
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So why is it so "over-the-top" in a newspaper. The little tots are much more likely to see and hear the objectionable terms on TV then they are to read them in the newspaper.
And the AP decides that Indianapolis, Kansas City, Tulsa and Gainesville are archtypes for American social mores?
Why not quote the Vatican or Liberty Univeristy?
Keep up the great insights into our emotionally manipulated, superstition rent, knee-jerked and mindless society Mr. Trudeau!!
Of course, every reader can decide for him or herself what is important to them, but covering a story is not a statement that the editorial staff - or readers - consider that story to be of vast, world changing import. I don't know how you got the impression that this story was viewed as such. The title is "Papers Refuse to Run Doonesbury' Abortion Law Strip", not "The End is Near! Major Cities in Ruins!"
Jus' sayin'
the vagina" ....my God what is happening in the U.S.??
Ok women...don't let this happen...haven' t we come far enough, but not far enough, that we won't put up with this?
the vagina" ....my God what is happening in the U.S.??"
Yes indeed you are a good reader. What scares me is doctors, you remember the do no harm guys, are embracing this new practice. They are eager to promote the war on women rather than standing their ground and refusing to participate in this medically approved rape. Reminds me of doctors in Nazi Germany who blindly followed 'government policy' experimenting on people. No ethics.
We all need to wake up. We need to demand that everyone realize the simple fact that opinions based on faith, with no proof or logic outside religious pronouncements have no place in law or government.
Government deals with factual matters, such as infrastructure, education, fire and police protection, and health care for example. Everyone is affected equally by these things, and everyone can discuss them on the obvious basis of verifiable facts and information.
All other opinions about religious themes are to be left to religion, and kept private. Nobody gets to tell a Catholic that he or she MUST use contraception, and no Catholic gets to tell anyone else that they MUST NOT use it. It is just that simple. If we all understand and agree with these obvious principles, we can all work together.
That is why most of these laws are being declared unconstitutiona l ... at _great_ expense to cash-strapped states that are having to defend them in court.
I cannot figure out why mentioning anything vaguely connected to sex would arouse such ire. Especially in states which thought of the procedures mentioned long before Trudeau did.
I don't think that these papers care about suppressing the strip. They care about offending their readers and possible lowered circulation numbers as a result. Maybe they consider themselves to be family friendly and know their readership demographic well enough to know where 'the line' is for that demographic.
Got that right...I can't wait to see the strip. I don't read newspapers, so I'll wait for the viral appearance on the internet.
As a woman, I thank the men on this comment page for their support...also as a woman I see the looming presence of Torquemada trying to make a comeback.
But to not run this at all when it is customarily syndicated in their paper sends a very bad message about freedom of expression and of the press and First Amendment rights. Newspapers should be at the forefront of running the most controversial material from both right and left. Any paper choosing not to run this is running away from their responsilbities and engaging in self-censorship . Isn't that for the government and narrow-minded and spiteful hate groups to do? Let's show some backbone here folks. And the shaming wand? Love it!
When a small government
guy such as Rick,
Tells a woman that
she MUST stick
a wand that looks
like a di--
somethings gotta give
somethings gotta give
somethings gotta give
If he thinks that
freedom is chic
He should let HER
decide what to stick
not some faceless
government pri--
That's what free
means I think
Yes, small government to watch those that want to harm and steal from the rest of us, Big government to watch us and force us into their ways.
Deregulation and selective shrinking of government agencies over the past 30 years, predominantly by Republicans, has resulted in a lack of enforcement of laws designed to protect consumers from corrupt corporate greed. That, and appointing industry-friend ly political hacks to positions controlling these agencies, to make _sure_ that nothing gets enforced.
"The decision to end a life is not funny," Frazier said. "There is nothing comic about this tasteless interpretation of legislation we have passed in Texas to ensure that women have all the facts when making a life-ending decision."
Because, of course, women are idiots and can't make this decision on their own. They have to be subjected to a humiliating, invasive procedure first.
I find it especially grotesque when another WOMAN makes statements like this.
This says it all: Dennis Ryerson, editor of the Indianapolis Star, said the newspaper would use an earlier "Doonesbury" strip instead. "We simply don't want to be part of the personalization and debasement of political discourse. We've had too much of that from all sides," Ryerson said.
I'm willing to bet my house that Ryerson has given months and years of coverage to all the shameless lies and invective espoused by politicians and pundits that have "personalized and debased political discourse", but he won't run a comic strip? Please!
to run for Pres? Yes, sure.
Kids already know a _lot_ more about sex than their puritanical parents think they know ... unfortunately, a lot of it what they "know" is wrong ... because their parents are "protecting" them from the truth.
(As my high school English teacher once commented, we're a lot more puritanical than the Puritans ever were.)
And we will police the newly drawn border with electrified barb wire and all former Republican Texans will be treated as illegal immigrants. When captured by the border patrol, they will be stripped and searched by ObGyns and their private parts photographed for publication by the National Enquirer.
And Trudeau will have grist for his next cartoon strip.
"Indeed the Idols I have lov'd so long
Have done my Credit in Men's Eyes much wrong:
Have drown'd my Honor in a shallow Cup,
And sold my Reputation for a Song". Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat.
During a transvaginal ultrasound, a tubular probe is inserted into the vaginal canal. The probe is completely covered by a lubricated condom. The probe can be rotated slightly to obtain close contact images of the uterus and ovaries. You will be asked to empty your bladder before the test. You may be asked to change into a hospital gown. You will lie on a padded examining table. A probe is gently inserted into the vagina. There will be minimal discomfort during the test. The ultrasound takes about 40 minutes to complete.
But to really understand,plea se go to the picture:
http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/11098/hb15-a-transvaginal-ultrasound-wand-in-every-woman
What part of RAPE, or *UNWILLING* DON'T YOU GET ?
Did you follow that last link?
I think that was his/her point.
This procedure will only take an hour, there will be some discomfort, but its important that we all do our part, and not put this all just on women!
In my wildest dreams I could not have imagined this degree of utterly cruel madness to emerge from the minds of actual US citizens. The Republican Religious Right is a bunch of lunatics who probably qualify for incarceration in wards for the criminally insane. Every woman and man with any pretense of sanity should rise up to protest this abuse of human rights. The world needs to react to this one. Assad may be worse, but this is getting right up there with him. These people and their gerrymandering lust for power that goes to such extreme lengths to deny the vote to thousands of fellow citizens have waltzed right off the edge. We need to fight back, because the Repuglycant Taliban is totally focused on destroying any concept of decency and fair play that still exists. They are willing to destroy the country in order to possess it. They have lost all sense of honesty or balance. I fear them. They are like some kind of horrible new disease that makes "flesh eating bacteria" look like a minor rash.
This is what authoritarianis m is all about.
women who decide that abortion is their only out and last resort know that the thing inside them has a heartbeat. making them look and listen is not going to change their minds and just wastes health care dollars.
How about publishing it with his permission on RSN????
Doesn't he recognize the irony of his statement? In this case, it is the political discourse that has become personalized and debasing.
I am also amazed that Perry's spokesperson, Ms Frazier, does not see the irony in her statement about the importance of having "all the facts when making a life-ending decision." This lack of knowledge didn't phase her boss from authorizing an execution of an innocent father who had already suffered the devastating loss of his family in a fire. WHAT HYPOCRISY!
Ah yes Art, 'embracing' may not be the right word. Perhaps the old phrase, 'just following orders' works better here. Either you have the ethics and the courage to refuse the orders and face the consequences or you are with the program. Like all of us Doctors have a choice. If all doctors refuse, the policy dies.
I think they just don't want a lot of flak and people agitating to kill the strip altogether. Some folks on the other side of the river get their panties all in a bunch about things like that.
Drug Laws Make Drug Lords
Prohibition Never Works.
Laws restricting a woman's right to control her own body are Prohibition Laws "born" from the warped minds of the US Taliban Religionazi Far Right, which, as in the case of laws prohibiting the production and use of certain substances, cause needless suffering and death.
the Doonesbury strip is my first read.
If the virgin Mary had wanted to abort
Jesus in Texas, does that mean that
Governor Rick Perry would have perforated
a virgin?
If you look at the places this strip isn't being run, or is being buried in the editorial page, it's all red states full of prolifers and religious zealots.
It's ART and censoring art is part of TOTALITARIANISM .
What does that tell you? :P
It's funny. The religious right complain, loudly, about the "war on religion" but they are the one allowed to get in everyone else's face every chance they get. They're allowed booths outside of Walmart to sell their religious music; they're allowed to sit inside and hand out their religious tracts; they're allowed to knock on your door at all hours to try and convert you; they're even allowed to pollute by leaving literature under your car window.
I often wonder what would happen if people from other religious or atheists wanted to do the same thing...
The Murdock propaganda machine!
We don't get News, we get feed garbage!
An actress in court is going to affect your life?
10 minutes of that and 30 second of hard news.
Sad! And 90% eat it up!
I assume it is carried as a politically correct sop to the right wing radicals, to defuse complaints about media running the Doonesbury strip.
"If I owned Hell and Texas, I'd rent out Texas and live in Hell."
-- General Sheridan
I suppose he was criticizing the climate, but it seems some of the people might not be too perfect either.
Har, har, har............ .
I hear these old white men complaining about how things "used to be" but a brief look at history will show that these men are looking at the world through racist and misogynistic eyes. Women, before Roe vs. Wade, died in back alley abortions. Remember, rich women had D&Cs; poor women had abortions. People of color were relegated to the "back of the bus."
These old white men want to hold on to whatever small thread of power they have left. They will use fear and intimidation to do so.
Think about this for a moment; before the Taliban took over, Afghanistan was very similar to the United States. Now women are forced to cover themselves head to toe and forgo any type of education. No longer do women occupy the highest levels of education and government.
This latest war on women will lead down that same path if we let it. Women and minorities must stand up and fight against this type of tyranny.
When are the rest of us going to stand up to the religious minority?
If they cared so much about life then why are they the largest supporter of war. They think nothing of killing innocent children, women & men in other nations and our children who became soldiers to defend our nation not their foreign assets & accumulation of wealth.
It's time they get out of our personal lives. The decision to have an abortion is the woman's and her alone she doesn't need an ultrasound to understand what she is doing.
We must take a stand now!!! They have gone to far an embryo is not alive anymore than the liver, ovaries, uterus, gallbladder or appendix are. It is part of the woman's body and can not survive outside it.
Regardless of how you feel about the subject it is unconstitutiona l to impose your religious values on anyone except your minor children.
If you care so much about life stop all the wars, & targeted assassinations.
Does it really make sense to allow children to be programmed while they are too young to think about the issues? Of course the other part of the question would be, "How could this programming be prevented or avoided?" No easy answers occur to that one. One of the major challenges to becoming more aware is how to recognize and eliminate social programming that leads to unconscious acceptance of attitudes. Things like racism and religious fervor result from programming from various sources from birth on. Until the search for programming within oneself begins with the recognition of the problem, nothing challenges these attitudes. They are accepted as completely normal, essential and unquestionable.
Could "Persons of Faith" (which I find to be a pejorative phrase bordering on gross insult) understand that their concept of reality should be regulated like alcohol and tobacco? Not made available to minors?
I have long thought of starting a "religion" of truth, that simply educates people about the concept of the "unchecked assumption". Seeking the programming within oneself would be a main meditation.
Interestingly enough, Science has the same problem. For example, there is a very common assumption, wholly unproven, that has acquired the status of an article of unquestioned faith among many so-called scientists. That is the theory that awareness results from the brain. There are holes in that one you can drive a truck through, but try to suggest the alternative to a "scientist". Can be very hard to do. I suspect that one reason is the battle between science (as logical honesty) and religions, which of course peaked during the inquisition. Some scientists may identify any idea of awareness existing separate from the body as a religious concept, which is not necessary at all.
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