I put five stories about anti-abortion activism or bills in the show's morning news note today. You can read along with us.
From the Hill, HOUSE VOTES ON AMENDMENT THAT WOULD KEEP FED FUNDS FROM PAYING FOR ABORTION TRAINING:
The House late Tuesday was thrown off its schedule and is now expected to complete work on a healthcare bill Wednesday. The bill, H.R. 1216, would scale back federal funding for graduate medical student education. One amendment to the bill, from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), would ensure remaining funds are not used for abortion training. Debate on that amendment turned into a nearly two-hour affair, culminating in a Democratic objection to Republican attempts to move the debate along. That delay prompted Republicans to hold a vote on the two amendments it had fully debated, and delay further debate until later Tuesday evening.
From the Lexington Clipper-Herald, NEBRASKA OUTLAWS ABORTION VIA TELEMEDICINE, PASSES PARENTAL CONSENT:
Nebraska lawmakers closed the door Monday on a practice that has made drug-induced abortions more easily available in Iowa. Senators voted 38-9 to pass a bill blocking the use of telemedicine for such abortions. They also advanced a separate bill that would require parental consent for a teenage girl to get abortions.
From AP, by way of NECN.com, LOUISIANA HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES ABORTION BAN:
A House committee has approved legislation to outlaw abortion in Louisiana, despite concerns that the bill would knock the state out of compliance with federal law and risk the loss of federal funding for Medicaid. Abortion opponents at the hearing Tuesday applauded the committee's decision to send the bill to the House floor, where it will force lawmakers during an election year to take a stance on abortion. Republican John LaBruzzo, of Metairie, told lawmakers he hopes his bill will prompt lawsuits from abortion-rights groups, suits that could undermine the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 ruling establishing a women's right to an abortion. The court ruled in Roe v. Wade that states cannot outlaw abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, but LaBruzzo's law would do just that. Louisiana already has a crime of feticide, but the bill would repeal the exception for consensual abortion, in direct contrast to the Supreme Court's ruling.
From CNBC, ALABAMA SENATE PASSES ABORTION RESTRICTIONS:
The new Republican-controlled Alabama Senate rushed through a package of bills Tuesday designed to make it tougher to get an abortion in the state and to define that life begins with fertilization and implantation in the womb. The lopsided votes on the five bills were a dramatic departure from the old Democrat-controlled Senate, when abortion bills usually died in committee. The votes came after Republicans cut off stalling tactics by some Democrats. "Today was historic," Republican Sen. Phil Williams of Rainbow City said.
From InForum, CATHOLIC CHAPEL OPENING NEAR ND'S ONLY ABORTION CLINIC:
A Catholic chapel focused on prayers to end abortion will open in an office building neighboring North Dakota's only abortion clinic. The Catholic Diocese of Fargo will open the Visitation Chapel at 502 1st Ave. N. on June 1. The chapel will offer Mass at 8 a.m. Wednesdays, followed by Eucharistic adoration and recited prayers until 3:45 p.m. It will be locked the rest of the week. The Red River Women's Clinic is at 512 1st Ave. N., and sees patients on Wednesdays.
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The right really seems to be overreaching - on a federal and state level. Hopefully, it will come back to bite them in 2012 (a la New York 26th), so the left can regain control and undo some the harm the right is doing now.
Here's hoping . . .
Overreach makes more of a difference in the Legislature than in the courts. With the recent trend of appointing young Justices, it's going to be a long time before the balance of the Court changes to anything that could be counted on to respect the stare decisis of Roe v Wade.
If the Dems play this right, they should be able to portray current Republicans for what they are - Anti-Women/Union/Gay/Poor/Elderly - There are some good guys in the GOP, a few, but the majority seem more worried about giving their buddies and themselves a tax cut than about how poor people are going to eat. I hope 2012 tilts the tables in favor of progress.
The repubs are anti American unless it fills their pockets. Repubs have very very deep pockets. POWER & GREED. That is all it is about. Repubs don't give a shimtz about starving kids, educating kids, FAMILY VAlues or MOrals. ETC. It is all about the power and greed...
the harm is the killing of unborn babies!!
Why am I reminded of McCaffery's Horse from a Different Sea?
@Damskippy- Don't put too much faith on NY26. I am not sure what early elections mean, if anything. Democrats won lots of the early elections prior to 2010, but lost the 2010 primaries. I just dunno that it means anything. It certainly means that for NY26 medicare was at the forefront and that may foreshadow what the rest of the country is thinking. But whether or not it will transcend into voter outrage all the way out in 2012 I don't know. Americans have the attention span of a gnat. I highly doubt anyone will remember the Paul Ryan budget come Nov. 2012. You also have to remember that Americans vote on a reactionary basis. If they are outraged over something (say the unemployment rate) then that will more than likely play the biggest factor. Americans see Democrats as being in charge and see that things haven't gotten better. That's more apt to follow to the polls than any other one factor. This is why all the 2010 crazies were allowed to be voted in, in the first place. Unless unemployment starts dropping I highly doubt it's going to get better for Democrats. Having said all of that I should point out that no one truly knows why any one individual votes. It could be as likely that people will vote Republican in 2012 just because they think the candidate is handsome as it will be any other reason. Politics is sometimes a disgusting venture into the idiocy of the human brain.
I guess we're regressing to the Puritan era? Women start popping out them chillin' and men get to work in them exposed factories. Oy vey. Just to be clear here there is a secondary issue attached to the abortion one which is the issue of birth control. If anti-abortionists are successful in overturning Roe v. Wade their next focus will be on outlawing birth control. The only exception to that will likely be the condom, but the pill would be something they'd target. Which makes me want to ask why men who are so anti-abortion insist on porn, masturbation, and sex?
Mickey...I think NY26 is huge (okay wishful thinking maybe) and I am ready for the W A V E !
I don't believe Roe will be turned either...
I don't either. In order to overturn Roe all of our privacy rights will have to be overturned. What I'm saying is if their intended goal of overturning Roe were to happen (as the man says he is hoping will happen above in Tricia's post) then the next focus would be on illegalizing the pill and other forms of contraception like the IUC.
I'm more inclined to err on the side of caution, and hesitate to count my chicks before they're hatched. People do have short memories politically speaking, therefore I believe the vital issues should be kept alive by the Dems, so that when 2012 comes, voters won't have to be reminded 'who's their daddy'.
Another thought - I remember in the last Pres. campaign, the Repubs sent dirty bombs in the form of bad-ads maligning the Dems and Obama, and it seemed quite a long time before the volley was returned in kind by Obama.
I know I keep repeating this mantra, but I think it bears repetition: Fight fire with fire.
@ Mickey Mouser:
Hmm, makes me think women would do well to go back to the birth control methods of earlier times and be sure to tell their menfolk they are using them. I can hear the cries of protest now. "You've got what up your —???"
No, they think all they have to do is have fertilized eggs classified as "people". Check out PersonhoodUSA. They're the ones LaBruzzo in Louisiana is in league with.
They can think that all they want scub, constitutionally speaking it still boils down to privacy rights (meaning Roe v. Wade was argued that since we have the right to privacy we must also have the right to medical privacy). Personhoodusa doesn't realize that if you overturn Roe v. Wade you are opening a can of worms in which all of your personal history (finances, medical, etc) will become subject to public rulings. Part of why I think they want to overturn Roe V. Wade is because it will then reinstate the RW's right to tell people who can and can't get married, live together, where they can and can't live, etc. I just don't think most anti-abortion activists realize this is what the agenda is.
While I fully support the right of a female to choose, I don't understand why the abortion industry isn't fighting these imposing, Republican laws in federal court. The industry either believes in it's cause, or not. If they believe in it, they should fight for it where it counts, the federal court system. The abortion industry will never get anywhere with congress, because of the hoary attitudes of the Republican party.
"Abortion industry"? No...such...thing. Period. Just sayin'.
I concur... Let us please eliminate "abortion industry" from our vocabulary. Such terminology presents itself as some serious Republican fodder. Using a term like that does not help us much...
I'm in Louisiana, and was at the Committee meeting where the Louisiana bill passed yesterday, and there were several abortion PROVIDERS (Industry? What the hell) there to oppose this bill.
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@ replies, please excuse my use of the word abortion industry, but why won't planned parenthood challenge these crazy laws in federal court?
Planned Parenthood IS challenging those crazy laws. Why else do you think GOP fantasies to defund them at the federal level failed so spectacularly? But their PRIMARY function consists of providing health care, and sadly, there are no other groups with resources comparable to that of the anti-choice lobby. So there you have it.
The Republicans are losing the culture war on gay rights so that leaves abortion as the only major issue. But the culture wars are merely a diversion from other issues. Abortion laws may play well in the Bible Belt but they are a non-issue in a lot of the large states, the West coast states and most of the New England states. This is why abortion issues stall in the Congress. All these laws that are trying to restrict abortions do not accomplish what is intended. If a woman wants an abortion they can travel to other states where abortion laws are less restrictive. The Religious Right cannot get the legislation for a constitutional amendment or laws that impose restrictions on abortions on a national level. Only the rubes believe that these abortion laws are saving a life.
On the contrary. The culture wars are how the plutocrats get enough votes to elect a dogcatcher. How far do you really think they could get on a platform of "Free John Galt!!" after all? Most Americans aren't kidding themselves into believing that but for the crushing hand of capital gains taxes they would be lounging on their own private yachts.
The culture wars are precisely the means that the neofeudalists have been using for more than a century to keep people voting against their own interests. Have a read of Walter H. Page -- it was ever thus.
Republicans have a one track mind--tax cuts for the rich, not abortion. The abortion issue is just an election tool. If abortions were outlawed tomorrow, the Republicans would be using prayer in the public schools as an election tool. They need the culture wars for elections because they want to define our society as the "real" Americans versus the liberal elite. This imagery plays well with people in small towns. But all of these culture wars are meaningless except as they relate to getting elected.
I agree that the republicans' focus on culture war is intended to help them get elected (and re-elected). However, I cannot agree that culture wars are meaningless. Every time some right-wing culture warriors shout about their pet issues and denigrate those who do not agree, real people are affected. Women are affected, LGBTQ people are affected, people of color are affected, union members are affected... And should the rhetoric become actual legislation, as we are seeing so much of late, the effects are even more egregious. For those adversely affected by culture war legislation, the culture wars are anything but meaningless.
Don't forget about us down here in Texas. Our idiot governor Rick Perry wants the government to keep out of everything except for women's bodies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/rick-perry-sonogram-bill-center-for-reproductive-rights-retaliates_n_866811.html
I love how Perry states that women couldn't possibly understand the devastating impact of an abortion without the government's [his] assistance.
What?!?! Pregnant women are aware that they are carrying a fetus? How can that be? Did they ask Gov. Perry? Or perhaps the people out in front of the clinic with all the pretty signs....yeah that's it...that must be who they asked.
I know, right?! Until I saw my ultrasounds each time, I thought I had a clutch of turtle eggs up in there!!
I know right! All of us women when we get preggers we drink and smoke and purposely throw ourselves down stairs! We're such negligence beyatches! Thank God Rick Perry has the foresight to put us women in our place. We need a man to think for us and protect us. We're just too damn vulnerable on our own.
ROFLMFAO!!! Whoo...*wipes tears from eyes*....turtle eggs...omg. That was simply the ultimate. ;) I'm gonna be giggling over that for days, scubie....thanks for that. ;)
Mouser, I'll have you know that I.... *affect nose in air attitude and sniff reflectively*....avoid stairs at all costs. Ya know...just in case I get pregnant and don't realize it. Even tho, it's not likely cuz women haven't figured out how to get other women pregnant. But hey...it could happen and I wanna be careful....cuz I wouldn't know, would I?
Well just remember that if you do get pregnant, before you've had your ultrasound, and you happen to throw yourself down a flight of stairs you'll be prosecuted for murder. Because you shouldn't have sex unless you're going to get pregnant. Now all the men out there can have sex however much they want. They can also masturbate and watch porn however much they want. But you- you're a female. Your body is the...oh how does the RW put it? Your body is the "vessel" through which all life comes through. So you better not do anything that could harm the baby. As a matter of fact you better stay at home and lie down in bed all day because you might hurt that fetus. And that would be murder.
And no you wouldn't know. You're a woman. You're too stupid to figure anything out on your own. That's why you need a man. And don't worry if you're dating another chick- a dude can fit right in w/o any problems. Ack! Okay even my lesbianness shuddered at that thought. Nevermind =P
LOL Mouser...too right.
Double ACK!!!! Ewwwwww....... ;) I think my lesbianism is offended...
;)
Y'all are killing me!
Shanno took the letters right offa my keyboard. Too funny!
There is no such thing as "the abortion industry." You use that erroneous phrase 3 times in your statement. There are small clinics and providers who are struggling to survive, and there is Planned Parenthood, who offers abortion as 3% of their services. There's no organized team of lawyers instigating federal lawsuits because these providers are too busy offering health care services to those who need it.
hope i dont see anyone going back to the the do it yourself kits for home and garages!!
There's no such thing as an "abortion industry". There are individual clinics and medical personnel that perform these procedures. Please stay away from generalisms.
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The sheer hypocricy here is that the party that is so vehemently against "big government" putting its nose into the private lives of citizens is the one that is most vehement about having the government put its nose into the most personal and intimate areas of people's lives.
The decision to carry a pregnancy to term is one that can only be made by the pregnant woman, her doctor, and her maker, if she believes in one.
That's a nice sentiment but patently contrary to fact in practice. Well-off women will always be able to get abortions if only by travelling to places where they're legal. That applies to the families of all those prominent anti-abortion politicians, don't forget -- whether it's legal or not in their home states (or countries) isn't a major issue for them. There are always "exceptional circumstances" when it's someone they know.
And FYI (yesterday being Dylan's birthday) I knew Sherri Finkbine. In fact, I was on her show as a kid and Bob was one of my teachers in high school. Figure out for yourselves how all of that connects together.
John LaBruzzo, the Rep. who authored the LA bill, is absolutely dangerous. He said several things during the hearing that were absolutely unconscionable. I have video of it, and will be posting it on www.housebill587.com as soon as I get it up on YouTube.
He said during the hearing that this bill is meant just to serve as a challenge to Roe v. Wade, and that its not his concern if women have dangerous back-alley abortions once his bill has passed. I can't think of anyone in politics who is as hateful towards women and underprivileged families as this guy.
Hey. I don't want to pay for murder, be it abortion or death by electrocution.
Murder is murder.
Period.
Oh..... well...that's ok then....because you don't pay for abortions. So it's all good with you, right?
I can nail my underage girlfriend all I want now. In fact, I can nail (and do) all six of them. Nothing like it. And if they get pregnant. Big deal. They just stroll over to the murder clinic and Hoover the sucker.
Man, life it good.
Actually by you having sex w/ them you are the one causing the murder. You are the murderer in this instance. Just so ya know
*liberal use of edit
Mouser,
You're too dumb to recognize sarcasm???? Holy crap.
Stick with cartoons.
Ahhh sarcasm fail. I wasn't sure at first when you said it. I was like he is either kidding or is ridiculously stupid. I went w/ the latter because of the double-post. #fail on my part. Good job ;-)
Given what is frequently posted here...I fell for it too.
Hmmmmmm....how do we know he's not reeeaally serious? I only say that cuz I fell for it too. ;)
Hoping the courts will deal with these over-reaching laws has a number of problems.
First, there has to be a test case for each one of them, which somebody some where has to get screwed out of services or forced to NOT get an abortion.
Second, it's going to cost NARAL or NOW or ACLU or a private provider or someone a lot of money to follow the case all the way from first court to the USSC.
Third, a lot of taxpayer money is going to be spent defending these laws, which must be defended by law by some attorney general, even if that person personally feels the law is garbage.
Forth, it takes a lot of time, perhaps years while it bubbles up through the court systems, and unless it's specifically enjoined, it remains the law until overturned, meaning lots of people get screwed waiting for the final decision.
Fifth, with the current make-up of the USSC, there is no certainty these will get overturned, and if that happens, a new basis for over-turning must be found, and the whole process starts again form the beginning.
It's so much easier to just NOT vote for these buttholes in the first place, and for those already there, just vote 'em out in 2012 or the first available opportunity.
One to add: House refuses to vote on abortion coverage for military rape victims
To my way of thinking, the more offensive part of this is that it is necessary. Republican attacks on the constitutional rights of women to control their own bodies make my skin crawl. But I lack words to properly express my outrage over the grotesquely high number women in our armed services who are raped while wearing the uniform.
Another addition for you: MN governor Mark Dayton vetoed two anti-abortion laws today. http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/122612454.html
Glad Mark Dayton is in Minnesota to temper at least some of the crazy legislature moves.
Wow....that's all I can say. Wow..
Refugee...too right. It's beyond embarassing the number of women raped by the very people that she is trained to "trust" and trained to believe that they've got her back in a fight. It's criminal. And then to be told that she doesn't have the same rights as the rest of us??? I don't even know what to say to that.
The only repubs I can stomach listening to for more than a minute are David Brooks, David Frum, and Michael Steele. Mostly Steele bc it's fun to watch him squirm. Very glad y'all brought him on board for the 2012 campaign. It's gonna be a great year. Providing, of course, that Dems don't once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The chapel right next to the clinic where you can go and be part of the passive-aggressive arm of the anti-constitutional crowd: creepy.
I usually try and make some joke, but this is too much!
Mandatory sonogram?
Banning abortion completely?
Life begins with fertilization?
Stopping organization that distributes morning-after pill?
Parental consent for abortion if you're underage?
No funding for abortion training?
What's next? Re-instituting sodomy laws? No sex outside of marriage?
Making any pregnancy endpoint other than a healthy baby probable cause for suspicion of pre-term infanticide (Georgia).
Once that's established, we can start to investigate suspicious cases of infertility.
DC: Ya know...you're right...there are an alarming number of infertile couples. Why hasn't this been brought to the governments attention? Where is the legislation?
Why haven't they started penalizing women for that? Even when it's due to low sperm count....oh wait...I didn't say that...of course it's always the womans fault...what was I thinking....we don't even have to check sperm count. Obviously, this strapping, virile man is fine......it must be her doing.
She must be doing witchcraft to keep from getting pregnant. No...she is a really bad sinner and god is punishing her for not being the proper subservient wife.....
Damn.....I could go on and on... ;)
Wasn't there some king who killed a bunch of his wives because they wouldn't bear him a child? Isn't that when we found out that fertility is almost always due to the sperm count and that the gender of the child is chosen by the sperm. Ahhh that's just what America needs- the Dark Ages. Good ol' times.
King Henry VIII of England. His poor wives got the axe because they couldn't produce a live baby boy, and it was actually old Hal himself who was to blame!
Life was just as unfair then as it is now. Except way back then, the science of gender and sperm wasn't known. Now that it is, not much has actually changed, the ignorant have inherited the earth - ie: Conservative RW fringies and their insistence that life begins at inception and to abort is to murder. It's remarkable that they are such experts in a moot subject.
If they truly believe that, then they should never consider having an abortion themselves. However, since it's a matter of opinion, they have no right to foist their beliefs on others. But they think their words are straight from the Deity to them personally.
Yeah...the days when women were blamed for everything from lack o' chitlins to bad crops to bad weather to unfaithful husbands. I can actually remember my mother not doing any canning when it was her time of the month because it was believed that it would spoil the food. Ahhhhh...Good times.
And I would really like the religious right to point out where exactly in the bible it says "no abortion". Granted, I haven't read the entire thing but I'm pretty sure it ain't in there. So where is their justification? Oh, right....sanctity of life....uh huh...that the same part that says it's OK to kill doctors?
No Joy see this is how it works. When I tell you you can't have an abortion or get married that's me protecting my rights. But when you tell me you can have an abortion or get married that's you stealing my rights. Remember that the RWNJ's are an oppressed minority. They are victims of us cruel common folk.
Holy crap, really? I'm using that at home from now on.
"It's my time of the month. I can't open the refrigerator or the food will spoil so someone's going to have to go pick up dinner for the next four days! Does Red Lobster do takeout?"
ALL RIIIIGHT!!!
In some cultures women are sent away from the home when they are on their period because they fear her period will make the household "unclean." I have a question- why are men so terrified of periods? As far as I've ever read female dominated societies have never had problems dealing w/ periods. It's always been male dominated ones. So why is that?
Most Native American tribes were/are matrileneal and/or matriarchal. And many women of these tribes moved just outside edge of camp and washed downstream from everyone else during "that time" of their cycle. This does not mean those cultures viewed women negatively because of it. (Practically, during menstruation, most women I know don't go camping, and certainly don't get in a hot tub.)
With the biological power to bring new life, women were thought to have unique spiritual and emotional energies. It mostly was out of respect that women did not do certain things (such as hunt), not necessarily because they were viewed as inferior or weaker, or that certain times in her cycle were considered "bad". That interpretation was brought by Europeans.
At least, that's my general understanding.
I'd be okay with a spear or whatever during "that" week. It's the one before where you really wouldn't want me armed.
Really? I always just get crazy horny right before. Wait maybe that was TMI...er sorry
The week before....I used to tell my friends...be nice to mommy now...it's mental illness week for me....whew...glad that dog left town.
LOL! I know what you mean. Makes things a bit tricky.
"Sorry I tried to stab you in the forehead with a bread-maker earlier, honey. Can we play sweaty snugglebunnies now?"
LOL yeah that's about it!
lawd... I have no problem with an abundance of passion either way, there's a place for everything. And many times it's what helps to push life forward. But one would think you all could find the middle ground.
We were pretty much exaggerating for the sake of finding the humor in it. Or at least *I* was!
Or were you talking about something else..?
Oh. Guess I didn't get the spear and the forehead thingy. Perhaps I misinterpreted.
Mine was meant as a nonpersonal post.
It was a bread-maker. And it only happened in my imagination. :-D
Okay, I'll stop being a goofus now...
Shanno...I so prefer goofus to so much else that one can be exposed to here. :)
Hahahahahahaha...now you guys are killing me! Glad I could help ya out scubie with the food in the fridge. ;) Now you can have a week off with no cooking :)
But yes, the canning thing is a true story.
lock: how the heck did you confuse a bread-maker with a spear? ;) Hmmmm.....methinks that some may consider us menstruating women so maniacal that houshold appliances instantaneously become deadly weapons. ;)
Ooooohhh.....think of it...you're at Sears or Penney's...... 'DING!' "2nd floor housewares: toasters, blenders, espresso, WMD's........"
I think lock was operating off the fact that you said "stab." Also she is a woman too ;-)
Hmm....I don't know that I'd want to get between several brides-to-be shopping at a place that also had WMD's (feminist outrage in 5...4...3...)
Haha...ha. *hampered exaggerated laughter... putting shield away* =/ That had to have been funnier in the moment.
Oh god...lock, I am so sorry. Really. I really didn't know. One of these days I'll learn to keep my big mouth shut........Ummmmm, Nah.....
;)
MM, somehow I don't see many feminists being the type of brides-to-be one would need to worry about having access to WMDs...
When I was shopping for my wedding dress at the tender, incredibly stupid age of 21, my own DAD struggled to convince me to choose something I didn't feel like I had to wear on just the one occasion. AND he insisted on paying for it. Silly man.
And how much more off topic could we get unless we started talking about raising moths from the caterpillar stage?
=) No worries. If reactions were based on thinking I was a man, (excluding the one consumed by sex; to which there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong), I'm probably lucky to get out of that alive.
When it gets down to it, nice to know that we still value life...
Republicans are rationing health care.
Republicans, WHERE ARE THE BLEEPING JOBS?!!
"Personhood" bill. Yep, Republicans are organizing by states in their revamped religious war. They so love religious wars; it's just so convenient and easy to hide your cowardice behind a theology. And easier to pressure it's subjects for support by subjectively questioning people's morality and faith.
What did one test tube baby (cells, zygote, whatever) say to the other test tube baby? [.] <---- [.] "It's time to break the glass ceiling, and fight for our equal rights!"
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This really does not have to be difficult. Here is a solution. Require Planned Parenthood, or, ANY Abortion provider to hand an affidavit to the woman requesting an abortion. On the affidavit, the woman has to swear that she is a Democrat in order to get the abortion. if she is a Republican, she should be denied an abortion for ANY reason. THIS proceedure would make the abortion issue evaporate.