In the Shoes of a Left-Wing Pro-Lifer

Terissa Bukovinac is a normal San Franciscan. Democrat, vegan, atheist, liberal, feminist and … pro-life?

Terrisa Bukovinac is used to not fitting in. Growing up in Adrian, Michigan, she and her family belonged to what she refers to as a cult. No celebrating Christmas, no birthdays either; she was used to being excluded from the mainstream. Looking around in her apartment in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, you’ll find the juxtapositions of her experiences. Sheet music of hymns from her grandmother, a large Marilyn Monroe poster, a book by Nietzsche and a bullhorn that she uses when she protests. At her pro-life events.

Today, Bukovinac seems like the typical 30-something San Franciscan. She’s a Democrat, a feminist, a vegan and loves to go to karaoke with friends and drink at Dolores Park. She also happens to be the president and founder of Pro-Life San Francisco, an inclusive group of millennial pro-lifers fighting against the “abortion industry in its own metaphorical backyard.”

A recent decision to lift a ban on elephant hunting could swing the upcoming election and reshape global conservation efforts.

Baabetfwe Motshegwa joined the Mmadinare Development Trust in 2014 — the year that then-President Ian Khama instituted a nationwide ban on all hunting in Botswana. Until then, the organization, a collective formed by villagers in central Botswana, used to earn around $9,000 from selling five elephants to overseas hunters every year. Elephant hunting also provided employment opportunities for the 17,000-strong community. “Our revenues collapsed overnight. … Our coffers are empty,” says Motshegwa.

A decision by current President Mokgweetsi Masisi in May to lift the ban now promises to revive the collective’s revenue stream — and potentially elevate the sagging political fortunes of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). Internationally, conservationists and several celebrities — from Ellen DeGeneres to Kristin Davis — have criticized the move. Davis has called for a tourism boycott of Botswana. A survey commissioned by the nonprofit Humane Society International found that 73 percent of U.S. respondents believed that reintroducing trophy hunting would harm Botswana’s image as a leader in wildlife conservation.

How OZY imagines the tormented commissioner could end Kap’s three-year exile.

Scene: A sweltering late-summer day at NFL headquarters on Park Avenue in New York City. Commissioner Roger Goodell welcomes quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick into his spacious office. Four helmets are arranged on the desk.

Goodell: Kap … can I call you Kap?

Kaepernick: That’s cool.

Please … sit.

Thank you for agreeing to meet me. It’s long overdue, and that’s on me. And thank you for coming alone; I didn’t want this to be a show — no cameras, no media. You’re not on Snap, right?

[laughs] Nah … we good.

To think that you haven’t set foot on an NFL field since Jan. 1, 2017, is unconscionable, and I can’t hide behind the league’s 32 owners who are too gun-shy, or whatever, to sign you. Not anymore.

I’m happy to hear that.

...