North Carolina's new anti-choice law

This pisses me off to no end. The N.C. legislature and senate have overridden Governor Bev Perdue's veto of H.B. 854, the "Women Know Nothing" Act (that's what I call it!) This bill undermines the doctor-patient relationship and interferes in a woman's ability to make her own health-care decisions. Here are just some of the restrictions that women will now face when they try to access abortion in NC:

• Women will be forced to wait 24 hours before they can access abortion care.
• Doctors will be required to perform ultrasounds, even if they are not medically necessary, before providing abortion care.
• Physicians must read a script written by anti-choice legislators that includes medical inaccuracies to women prior to the procedure.

What’s worse, there are no exceptions to any of these provisions, including in instances of rape, incest, or fetal anomaly. These politically motivated attacks will have very real and devastating consequences on North Carolina women.

This infuriates me so much that I think if I ever found myself in a situation where I needed an abortion I would cross state lines to do it. Or find an NC doctor willing to break this stupid, harmful law. Honestly.

Watch out, ladies - governments at both the state and federal levels are barging in on our exam rooms and uteruses, eroding away at our rights and dignity as mightily as they know how.

Pizza dough recipe

I started making this pizza dough a few months ago when I came across the recipe in a Lutheran church cookbook (thanks Mommy!) I've been raving about it to anyone who will listen, and so I thought I'd post the recipe here. Full disclosure: it's not quite as yummy as yeast pizza dough, but it's very good considering how quick and easy it is!

Healthy Pizza Dough
submitted by Tom Kern for "Grace Our Table," a cookbook of Trinity Lutheran Church, North Bethesda, MD

1 c. whole-wheat flour (*I've only used all-purpose)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c. natural plain yogurt (*I've used both Greek and normal low-fat)
**This is for a 9 inch pie. I usually double or increase by 50% to sufficiently cover my 12 inch pizza pan. I prefer thick over thin crust.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Make a depression in the flour and add oil and yogurt. Mix and then knead lightly until smooth. Roll out for a 9 inch pie. Bake 400 F for 10 min; remove from over. Add toppings and bake an additional 20 min. *I only bake 20 min total, max - sometimes I just add the toppings right away and bake ~15 min.

So quick and easy!