Doonesbury, Day Two

Kristin Teigen

Yesterday, I wrote about the Oregonian's decision to pull the comic strip, Doonesbury, from their pages because the strip was to spend some time focusing on the issue of abortion. In celebration of a not only diversity of thought, but some great satire, I'm including today's strip, below.

As a bit more background, the Oregonian is just one of 47 other papers around the country which have requested an alternate strip, rather than include one on a controversial topic. And what does Garry Trudeau have to say about it?

In an interview today with the Wall Street Journal, Trudeau stated, "I don’t want to sound disingenuous here — controversy is obviously good for business, especially if your business is satire. And it does amplify the discussion — in my view, a good thing. We need a robust debate on these shocking rollbacks of reproductive rights. But I didn’t set out to gin up some kind of furor. It just followed me home this week."

In other words, a bit of controversy, while unexpected, is bringing more attention to the continuing restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion. Uh, well, thanks, Oregonian.

By Kristin Teigen March 13, 2012