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The Activist Beat with Rose Aguilar, host of Your Call on KALW in San Francisco is a weekly roundup of progressive activism that the mainstream media ignores, undercovers, or misrepresents.

March 8 marked International Women’s day. Rallies, protests, and events took place around the world, from Gaza to the Arctic.

I love looking at photos and reading articles about women working for a more sustainable and equitable society for all, but it was hard to focus on what’s happening overseas as we suffer so many setbacks here at home. It’s tough to keep up and make sense of what we’re currently facing. Look at what’s happened in the past week alone. Here are a few headlines.

Tennessee abortion bill would require publishing names of doctors

Georgia Senate panel votes in favor of ‘fetal pain’ abortion bill

Arizona might curb birth control coverage

“Conscience Cause,” A new SuperPAC, forms to deny women access to birth control

Alaska rep says women should have to get a man’s permission to obtain an abortion

Pennsylvania governor criticized for saying women can ‘close your eyes’ to avoid viewing ultrasound image

It gets worse. This afternoon, a live ultrasound demonstration is scheduled to take place in the Idaho state Capitol by Stanton Health Care, a crisis pregnancy center. Three Stanton clients, one in each trimester of pregnancy, will participate. The media rarely report this, but crisis pregnancy centers are not medical clinics. According to investigations and women who’ve visited these centers, they provide clients information that has been medically refuted and try to talk women out of having abortions.

On Monday, the Idaho state Senate passed a bill requiring women to have an ultrasound before terminating a pregnancy. It should be noted that State Senator Sheryl Nuxoll co-sponsored the bill and arranged for the “voices from the womb” event. Electing women to office, simply because they are women, is not a solution.

Women and men around the country are protesting these horrific laws. Protests recently took place in Boise, Idaho.

Women are also stepping forward to tell their personal stories, which is a very important form of activism. Carolyn Jones recently wrote a powerful piece for the Texas Observer called ‘We Have No choice’: One Woman’s Ordeal with Texas’ New Sonogram Law.
After learning that the baby she was carrying was profoundly ill and wouldn’t develop correctly, she and her husband decided to end the pregnancy.

Texas law requires that women have an ultrasound and then wait 24 hours before having the procedure. What she goes through is painful and heartbreaking. She writes, “What good is a law that adds only pain and difficulty to perhaps the most painful and difficult decision a woman can make? Shouldn’t women have a right to protect themselves from strangers’ opinions on their most personal matters?”

We need to continue telling these stories to make these issues real.

Women are also expressing their views on the Facebook pages of politicians like Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and Texas Governor Rick Perry. Women are posting questions about sex, menstruation, PMS, and anatomy. On Virginia State Senator Ryan McDougle’s page, Elizabeth Heidelberg writes, “Dear Senator, I’ve had an IUD for the last 6 years. At 48, I’m thinking maybe it’s time to get rid of it, but really wanted to get your expert opinion on women’s health issues before I decide. Please let me know what you think my best course of action would be. Condoms? Just in case. Thank you so much for your time.”

This makes me want to reread “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood, a science fiction novel about the subjugation of women.

So what’s next for the women’s movement? What’s most effective? Our personal stories and voices are the most powerful tools we have. And it’s up to those of us in the media to elevate them.