I really appreciate your reporting on the VA legislation. you were great at being strong but politically correct. but let's call it what it will be: RAPE--forceable penetration against one's will-and with no legal recourse? and they want "small gov't".

a fertilized egg is indeed life, just not a "person". to be a person with the same legal rights as I have, it will have to pay taxes...til that fertilized egg does that, it isn't the same as me.

Now that Virginia is forcefully legislating their religious beliefs into women's reproductive lives, I would be surprised if re-introduction of legislation for mandating public (school) prayer doesn't become a legislation football again.

Well, I think that Virginia is goiing to be a terrific example to the rest of the citizens of this country as to what will happen if we are stupid enough to vote a Republican into any position of power.

I guess I should feel sorry for them, but they voted for it. It will be interesting to see how they like the banning of contraception, abortion, the lack of union representation, repression of voting rights, orphanages for the poor children, the loss of child protection laws, their wonderful adoption law, and probably the same as Michigan, taking over communities of so they can sell the property off to any one who wants to buy it.

I hope the rest of the country is watching Virginia closely. It may be a great lesson about sending our rights and our lives down the river.

Debunktion actually did not go far enough tonight. It is one thing for people to say "I'm conservative", but yet another to actually hold "conservative" views. 1) Two thirds of Americans think that the tax code favours the wealthy and should be more progressive. 2) Americans support at least gay civil unions by a 30% margin, and more support outright marriage than oppose legal recognition outright 3) Two thirds of Americans think it's a good time to rebuild infrastructure. And so on.

Thought of something last night ...

Couldn't this mandatory ultrasound dictated by the Virginia bill be construed as violating the Constitutional ban on "cruel and unusual" punishments?

It's certainly unusual, and since it serves no medical purpose, one gets to ask, what IS its purpose? And the answer to that seems to be "punishment"!

would the bumper sticker perhaps read: ONO, UTU!

That growth in your womb is a person, but you are not???

What about arresting the entire Virginia Legislator for Mass Sexual Perversion and Sexual Abuse?

It would seem that the VA legislature needs forced internal rectal ultrasounds since that is obviously where their heads are.

Maybe I'm missing something (and please correct me if I'm wrong) but the procedure the VA legislature just passed sounds dangerously close to falling under the FBI's revised definition of rape. The FBI defines rape as “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

Rapepublicans = the party that requires pregnant women to undergo and pay for state mandated Rape.

Now that the Republicans have put their ideas out there in an effort to set women's rights and health care back, not for decades, but for centuries, they have shown their true colors. The women of America can never again trust this party again. Even if they said that they changed their minds about women's issues, we should be very afraid of what would happen if they ever got control of the presidency, the House, and the Senate. There are more women in this country than men and there are more female voters than male voters. It's up to the women of America, and the men who care about us, to stand up to the GOP by always voting a straight Democratic ticket.

sometimes I don't find a relevant story to comment on, this is the case now.

I hear all these right wingers whining about "freedom of religion". Do they want to allow Mormons to do polygamy now?

I'd just like to add: Is the GOP trying to destroy their party? Everything they come up with is against what the majority of Americans want. Women have very good memories. We will never forget what they are trying to do to us.

I wanted to chime in on a totally unrelated topic to this post or the discussion but I couldn't figure out where else to put it - it relates to Rachel's deserved anger at Politifact for their giving Marco Rubio's speech at CPAC - where he claimed "a majority of Americans are conservative" - a "mostly true"

PPP just released a presidential preference poll where they also asked the question: "Would you describe yourself as very liberal, somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat conservative, or very conservative?" (and also polled Roseanne Barr as the Green Party candidate for President! if that's not enough of a reason to check it out, I don't know what would be!?!). Now, note that this is ever so slightly different from the way Gallup asks the question (and this is the poll Politifact looked at when judging Rubio's statement): "How would you describe your political views - very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal?" (Gallup). The question is pretty much the same BUT the choices are different enough to be interesting - PPP allows for people to pick "somewhat liberal/conservative" where Gallup does not and let's face it, "somewhat" is a much lower bar than regular ol' "conservative/liberal," no?

Okay, so what does this slight difference in framing do to the numbers - well, it doesn't do much for Sen. Rubio's argument and Politifact's reputation and it should make Rachel and those who are on her side of the ideological divide (which I fall on as well) happy:

PPP Gallup
Very liberal 11% 6%
Somewhat liberal 20% 15% (just "liberal")
Moderate 28% 35%
Somewhat conservative 25% 30% (just "conservative")
Very conservative 17% 10%

So, this would make:
Generally to very liberal 31% 21%
Moderate 28% 35%
Generally to very conservative 42% 40%

Sources:

Gallup poll: http://www.gallup.com/poll/152021/Conservatives-Remain-Largest-Ideological-Group.aspx
PPP poll: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2011/PPP_Release_US_021412.pdf

My spaces didn't work out on the last post, so here are the numbers again, hopefully easier to read:

PPP vs Gallup

Very liberal - 11% vs 6%
Somewhat liberal - 20% vs 15% (just "liberal" in Gallup)
Moderate - 28% vs 35%
Somewhat conservative - 25% vs 30% (just "conservative")
Very conservative - 17% vs 10%

So, this would make: (PPP vs Gallup)

Generally to very liberal - 31% vs 21%
Moderate - 28% vs 35%
Generally to very conservative - 42% vs 40%

THANK YOU for the piece on the VA legislation. Something tells me that doing the story was a tough call. Let me tell you why you did a good service here: I'm 63, have given birth and am hardly a naif in the sex department. But THAT TEST was as traumatizing as having a baseball bat inserted into one's nether regions. Even at my age and experience, I refused to allow the tech to complete the procedure. And I am not a scared young woman having made the tough moral choice to abort a fetus. This "test" is a tool of gross intimidation - nothing more, nothing less. So, what's next for the Right Wing Intimidation Machine: public flogging, or cast iron chastity belts, or both?

Thank you Rachel for covering Virginia. I kept wondering, with all the extreme legislation passing in Richmond, why we were not on your radar. To the above poster who said we were stupid enough to vote Republican and get what we deserve - please do not cast every resident with the same net. The government in Richmond is as close as can be to being divided, meaning there are a significant number of us here who do NOT agree with what is happening. It is extremely frustrating to live among an electorate who vote for these extreme representatives. But we won't wait for your pity - we'll continue to stand up and organize and hopefully achieve a different outcome next election.

I'd been swearing about AZ SB1467 (no foulmouthed teachers, even if swearing on their own time) on the internet since it first appeared (apparently trying to get myself preemptively fired from my University teaching position by using the f-word on twitter), but I told my students about it today, as an example of a "current controversial issue" so we could brainstorm who would be stakeholders in the issue, and what sides different constituencies would argue. Amusingly, none of my students could figure out who would argue FOR such a piece of ridiculous legislation.

Way to go, students. As long as my college freshmen are smarter than the state legislature, I think Arizona will turn out just fine.*

We've had 100 years as a state, and not all of them have been horrible! Sometimes it even rains!

*and they'll turn out just fine even though they heard me utter a profanity when the fire alarm went off during class on Monday. It's a very loud fire alarm.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-61

Virginia state statute "18.2-61. Rape. A. If any person has sexual intercourse with a complaining witness, whether or not his or her spouse, or causes a complaining witness, whether or not his or her spouse, to engage in sexual intercourse with any other person and such act is accomplished (i) against the complaining witness's will, by force, threat or intimidation of or against the complaining witness or another person; or (ii) through the use of the complaining witness's mental incapacity or physical helplessness; "

Rachel, do you know if the definition of "Sexual Intercourse" in this statute includes penetration by an object. If so, that abortion law has the effect of requiring doctors to have "Intercourse" and this make the state of Virginia a rapist, punishable under Virginia state statute.