Ruth Rosen and SF Chronicle NOT Pro Choice

Ruth Rosen, journalist and historian, recently published an article for the San Francisco Chronicle alerting Bay Area readers to horrors happening in their own back yard. It seems that a local entrepreneur, Gary Heavin, has the nerve to donate money to pro life causes. Heavin owns a successful chain of women's fitness centers in the Bay Area, and has the unmitigate gall to start a successful business and then make donations to pro-life organizations. This type of behavior, which is not surprisingly intolerable to a feminist like Rosen, is hardly cause for news. The fact that thousands of Americans donate to pro-life causes comes as no surprise to anyone, save for those in a coma for 30 years and, apparently, Ruth Rosen.

So what does Ruth Rosen do when she discovers that a local entrepreneur is donating to pro-life organizations? She writes an editorial which 1) smears the character of Heavin (bringing up a personal bankruptcy and a 6 month jail sentence for missed child support payments), 2) compares him to the man known as Satan in feminist circles, George W. Bush, and 3) admonishing clients to find a new place to workout. This is journalism? What does Heavin's past have to do with his chain of health clubs? What does the fact that he comes from central Texas near Bush's home in Crawford have to do with his chain of health clubs? Absolutely nothing. Her commentary is simply aimed at stirring up liberals and feminists in order to harm a man who chooses to donate to pro-life causes. Her intent is evil, her techniques are shallow, her political agenda is both hypocritical and transparent, and she has absolutely no business writing editorials for a major newspaper.

Perhaps we could snap Rosen out of her feminist rage by reminding her of a few key points. First of all, Mr. Heavin is free to donate to any organization he chooses. Perhaps Ms. Rosen thinks the only valid choice in our society is a woman's choice to murder her unborn child, but she would be wrong in that thinking. Secondly, Mr. Heavin is running a business and providing a valued service to thousands of Bay Area women. The money he donated came from his profits. With the tone of her article, Ms. Rosen would have you believe that he's embezzling money from his business, or cheating his customers. Finally, there are thousands of organizations in our great nation which donate money to liberal causes such as Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. Where are the editorials from Ms. Rosen admonishing conservatives to find new vendors? Where is her feminist rage when it comes to pro-life women who unwittingly purchase goods and services from such organizations? Of course, these editorials will never be written, because Ms. Rosen is pro-choice as long as those choices agree with her political views. Anyone caught making choices which disagree with her liberal agenda will likely catch a healthy dose of feminist rage.