Take back the Ursus Arctos Horribilis!

There was an interesting blog today in the daily report for the National Partnership for Women and Families. Gail Collins, New York Times, writes that she "think(s) it is time to take back the mama grizzly," which former Alaska Gov. and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used as a symbol of GOP female candidates in the midterm elections. Feminist writer and activist Gloria Steinem told Collins that real female grizzy bears "are famous for their reproductive freedom." She added that they "mate later than other bears," have fewer cubs, wait longer between pregnancies and "re-absorb the embryo into their body" if they are faced with a poor situation for raising cubs.

Is this true? Is the female grizzy bear a better symbol for the pro-choice crowd? Of course we needed to check out the sources and you can check them out also, on Wikipedia.

• grizzly bears have one of the lowest reproductive rates of all terrestrial mammals in North America
• once mated with a male in the summer, the female delays embryo implantation (birth control!) until hibernation, during which abortion (abortion!) can occur if the female does not receive the proper nutrients and caloric intake.
• on average, females produce two cubs in a litter and the mother cares for the cubs for up to two years, during which the mother will not mate (of course they're not married so they should be abstinent!)
• once the young leave or are killed, females may not produce another litter for three or more years depending on environmental conditions.
• grizzlies are subject to fragmentation, a form of population segregation, which can decrease the average litter size (more birth control!).
• ...and they can reabsorb the embryo.(Eastern Slopes Grizzy Bear Project)

And btw, blond grizzlies are rare and they don't look white.

And the heat goes on...

It's so very unfortunate that the House of Representatives will now be ruled by anti-choicers, who will do all they can to make not only abortion illegal or difficult to obtain, but also birth control. They will not doubt try to slash government subsidies for family planning - especially the government subsidy that currently keeps Family PACT afloat (the California state-run family planning program.)

As Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the anti-choice Susan B. Anthony group "This shift in numbers from pro-abortion to pro-life women is historic and not accident. It is a corrective moment for the women's movement who must either drop abortion out of its center or risk dropping off the face of the earth."

Oh, I don't think so.