Three Women Quit Gym over Fetus Tree

December 20, 2005

Three Women Quit Gym over Fetus Tree

AP
Three women turned off by a pregnancy counseling service Christmas tree have canceled their memberships at a women-only gym in Lawrence.

They quit Body Boutique last week after noticing that the tree in the lobby of the gym was decorated with plastic figures meant to represent fetuses.

Gym co-owner Lorinda Hartzler said the tree was placed by Birthright of Lawrence, a local nonprofit that offers pregnancy counseling. Hartzler said the tree was intended to support women
and their children through the holidays and was not meant to offend
anyone.

Blue and pink stockings on the tree were stuffed with a plastic figure labeled "between eleven and 12 weeks old.'' It also contained coupons for a video called "After the Choice'' and another tape showing an abortion procedure.
(snip/...)

http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/2094397.html

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Fitness club members criticize tree with Birthright message
Some offended by Christmas display in lobby of Body Boutique

By Ron Knox

Monday, December 19, 2005

Three Lawrence women have canceled their memberships at a women-only gym after finding a Christmas tree in the lobby adorned with plastic figures meant to represent fetuses.

The women quit Body Boutique, 2330 Yale Road, last week after entering the business and taking notice of the small tree on a table by the entrance, they said.

“This is insidious. This is in my gym,” former member Kelly Jones said.

The fitness center, Jones said, was a place to promote physical and mental health, not to push a polarizing issue, like a woman’s right to choose, onto the gym’s clientele.
(snip/...)

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/dec/19/fitness_club_members_criticize_tree_abortion_messa/?city_local

with that infamous pic of the woman dying on the floor after a botched, illegal abortion.

Stupid morons...

It's the TWELTH Century.
Indiana's stuck in the 19th...

Why should Kansas have all the fun, what with the upcoming "witch" burnings, and replacement of the Crimminal Code with the "Malleus Maleficarium" and all...

:)

It's not as much fun as it sounds.

That's like facetious, only crappier.

After the holidays-Oops!-I mean the "O'Reillydays" The World's Worst Legislature will take up pressing issues such as Ignorant Design and whether or not Lesbians should be allowed access to In Vitro...

chain mail hats and stuff? I mean come on, there were some great things about the 12th century! Witch burnings were just taking off big time and hey! who could want more than to have a Sunday afternoon witch burning?

As a Knight in the SCA, I spent 28 years wearing mail, steel hats, and avoiding the Inquisition (semi-successfully).

Of course, I did get to hit some freepers with sticks, (including one butt plug who styled himself 'Aryan the superior') so it did have its happy days.

to be a hoosier

that they now carry.

Merry Fetus!

Strange.

hahaha

Getting out of that state was a such a relief.

We were moving to CO and when we passed the state border from KS to CO, we hooted and honked (we were in two different vehicles).

My sympathy to those enlightened and intelligent folks who are stuck living there now. MKJ

the story says the tree 'was placed' by some anti-abortion group. does that mean other places have 'em too? is this a trend ?

It's a masterpiece of bad taste, isn't it? WHEN will people learn to butt out of other people's private lives? We've got more than our share of fools.

How will the "War on Xmas Warriors" respond to this outrage?

you are fucked.

Seriously, this is just crazy.

that the owner is a major contributor to anti-choice causes.

b/c they have the okay stamp of buyblue.org

impact. There are few places to work out where I live, so it's very popular. I actually liked the place and the people and was very disappointed to find out the money was going to militant anti-abortion funding. Oh well, I can watch C-Span from my treadmill.

because I'd read about their anti-choice stance and donations to anti-choice causes.
Also, Curves has lousy hours for working women. I go to a gym that opens at 5am and closes at 11 pm.
There are so many choices that I refuse to give any of my hard-earned money to those who want to force their American Taliban on our culture.

Those two anti-choice organizations are notorious in adoption circles. The stories I have heard from pregnant women who went there to discuss their options were ghastly. They rank up there with the infamous maternity homes/adoption agencies like Catholic Charities and Edna Gladney.

and cancel their membership...

Erm, no, I don't think that was really the intent. Birthright wanted to promote their services, but they certainly could have done it in a less offensive manner ... and the gym should have had the sense to turn them down.

they are some kind of passive victim here.
I hope more customers leave.
The owners need to learn respect for their patrons. ALL of their patrons.
If they want to open a church, they should abandon their gym and open their church. Then they can put up all the fetus trees they want.

their m.o. is to use "shock and awe" to "win" people over. I guess they know that reasoned debate will not work.

How could that not be offensive? What about women who have miscarried? Do they really need that crap in their face at the gym? What about women who can't get pregnant? Is that the most appropriate way to counsel and help them? What about women who chose to get an abortion--how could they not get offended?

Those people are so far off the deep end it's scary. They obviously are incapable of loving their neighbors as themselves.

This is very despicable. As someone trying to get pregnant, and having had two miscarriages, this tree would be so deeply offensive to me, I would probably do what these women did. How disgusting. If the manager of this gym knew about the tree and let it stay, he/she deserve the public scorn they get. If some office yahoo let these fascists put up the tree without management approval, it should be tossed in the round bin with the tampons and other trash.

Why, oh why, do I ever think that anti-choicers could possibly have CLASS or COUTHE?

A tree with fetuses on it??

That alone is reason to cancel your membership.

Not meant to offend anyone? Are you fucking kidding me?

I don't know if I can follow politics anymore. I get too angry at stuff like this. My levels of political tolerance are eroding. How do you tolerate the politics of people who have no tolerance? These people think they can push their nutty fundie crap in everyone's faces.

Next time this shit is put in my face, I will not be so polite. It's shout down time for people like this.

A relative just had a miscarriage. How would she have responded to this message of "support"?

Having said that, I maintain the incredibly unpopular opinion that women contemplating an abortion should have no objection to being completely informed about their decision. I don't see making any decision any other way.

This is an anti-choice slogan -- "We just want women to be informed of ALL options." Like women don't already know what their options are? How demeaning, to think that women can't make their own choices and find needed information without someone trying to forcefeed them some 'save the fetus' propaganda.

I'm referring to understanding and agreeing to all the ramifications of our options. When we refuse to do this we are not only acting without integrity, but we are acting like your average repuke who supports a perspective simply because it is endorsed by the party. I'm a vigorous supporter of the right to choose, but I am also a believer in informed consent. This is a personal philosophy of mine, and does not relate only to politics. But it is certainly appropriate when discussing abortion.

You don't think women don't think about the 'ramifications' of any choice they might make regarding a pregnancy? OK then... I'm just speechless.

only "white" ones are WORTHY </SARCASM>

that's not funny... lol yes it is! Can't help it. Thanks for the giggle.

I use sarcasm on the thugs, war criminals and the rustic illiterates

In a gym?!

:wtf:

:crazy:

Yeah, that's what I want to see when I go to work out...

Apparently they didn't get the memo from Jerry, Pat and the gang.

The headline of the second story is cute:

Fitness club members criticize tree with Birthright message
Some offended by Christmas display in lobby of Body Boutique

Funny...the story contain nothing about 'some being offended by Christmas display', just rightly offended by some of the politically themed ornaments hung on it.

Christmas being attacked again by liberals, tsk tsk

These anti-choice types are in some sort of fetus worshiping cult. You can not resist the siren's song of the fetus!

This almost sounds like something from southpark, but its almost too strange even for that show.

That is sick! :puke:

I'm against abortions as everybody is who loves life, I just think it's not my right to tell someone what they do with their body. But, when I read what these femi-nazis did, I cringed!!!!!


SERIOUS?????? A FETUS TREE? DOES THAT SEND CHILLS DOWN YOUR BODY??? HOW BIZARRE.

I'D LOOK AT THE LADIES AT THE COUNTER, AND SAY, "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?"

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY (OH GOSH, I'M CRACKING UP RIGHT NOW), LET'S GO DRINK EGG NOG NEXT TO THE FETUS TREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lolololol. SOME REALLY SICK SHIT.. I BETTER STOP BEFORE I PASS OUT.

KO has to show this on countdown!

...... at a local business. It will include plastic scenes from the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades and the Salem Witch Trials. It will include a video, "What to Expect from Your Church". All of it will be 100% factual.

It will all be very tasteful and not intended to polarize. I don't know what the fuss will be all about. :sarcasm:

PB

is that fetus sporting a machine gun?

PB

looks like he's auditioning for a role in a porno flick. :evilgrin:

Bush needs fresh meat ya know
:sarcasm:

I would've quit too. Gosh, for how oppressed those fundamentalist Christians say they are, they certainly seem to be taking over.

Seeing things like this, I am just at a loss for words.

Just Strange.

Here's the number (785) 749-2424

Express your sentiments that you have expressed here!

This outrageous behavior is so typical, it is insensitive and disgusting. THEY ARE MORBID CREATURES those ignorant sluts of Birthright of Lawrence!!!!

I just got off the phone with them to express my outrage, they said they have taken them off. However, I did not talk with Gym co-owner Lorinda Hartzler.

The whole POINT was to offend a certain segment of the population. There would be no point in it otherwise.

with pictures of aborted fetuses in Wichita is "not meant to offend." :eyes:

Deck the halls with clumps of flesh... fa la la la la.. la la la la

Watch the toilet fill with blood fa la la la la la la la la

Don we now our paper gown... fa la la la la la.. la la la

Because it didn't all come down.. fa la la la la

better yet, how about

oh fetus tree, oh fetus tree,
how bloody are thy branches!


this is the STRANGEST story I've heard in a LONG time. creepy people think this is a good idea... they have to attend some small church that freaks out when blacks drive by...

I would've left too if that was in my gym. It's disgusting. I can see plastic figurines of baby New Year, but fetuses? Ew.

What next? A poop tree? A tumor tree? Gross, to the max.

After making merry round the tree we'll go outside and stone harlots ...