The Republicans in the North Carolina congress have instituted yet another sneak attack on women's rights. This time they have attached draconian anti-abortion measures to a motorcycle safety law. Yep, a motorcycle safety law! They did this without notifying either the public or the Democrats.
Bastards.
They wanted to bring the legislation to a vote yesterday, but ended up with the vote coming today (Thursday).
Governor Pat McCrory, who made a campaign promise not to sign any new restrictions on abortion in the state, threatened to veto such legislation, but members of his staff said they had no problems with the bill as it stands.
Anyone who is a public service employee or who would have health insurance via the Affordable Care Act exchanges would not have access to a plan that would include abortion coverage, which is clearly unconstitutional. In addition, abortion providers would face restrictions that would effectively shut down most, if not all, of the abortion clinics in the state.
In the meantime, the anti-abortion legislation that was previously put forth in the NC congress (attached to a bill outlawing sharia law) was dubbed the Family, FAITH and Freedom Protection Act after Rick Santorum's "tour" of the same name. Any legislation that has the word "Faith" in it is an obvious violation of the Constitutionally-guaranteed separation of church and state. And make no mistake, it's our rights to have our laws free from a group imposing their religion on others that's at stake here. The evangelical Christian right is determined to insinuate the Bible into our legislation so as to control every aspect of a woman's life, especially control over her own body, future, medical and economic health.
Maybe they think women have been getting a little too uppity or something, what with these birth control pills and working outside of the home and all. But maybe it's time us ladies see to it that their Viagra is outlawed, and they have to drive out of state to get Trojans.
Even Jewish groups have been outspoken about the fact that this kind of anti-abortion legislation is in violation of their religious views. In the Jewish faith, for instance, a futile pregnancy -- one in which the fetus has no chance of survival outside of the womb -- is not considered a "life" at any stage, even past 20 weeks. It is what it is... a horrible circumstance that can and does happen (I've known someone it happened to myself), for which a late-term abortion should be an option.
That's just one example of why we have to keep abortion legal and safe.
The Secretary of Commerce for the state says she is getting calls daily asking her what the hell is going on in the state. Since the Republicans took over and jerry-mandered the voting districts to make them red-friendly they have been a on a legislative tear to enact as many extreme right-wing policies as is humanly possible, completely ignoring things like, oh, jobs. She says it's making it very hard to market the state to prospective businesses. (Under Democratic control the state was a magnet to businesses looking to relocate.)
Ladies -- and you men who love them -- stand up for your rights! Vote the Neanderthals out as soon as you can. No state in this country should become a place where women are not treated as equals and where extreme evangelical religious views are allowed to become law. It's unconstitutional, it's undemocratic, it's dangerous, and it's just wrong.
While you're at it, send a donation to Planned Parenthood.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
WTF, NORTH CAROLINA???
Republicans clearly have decided to double-down on their war on women's health care and rights, as well as their slimy, sneaky attacks on voting rights.
I guess I missed the news that North Carolina now has full employment, and no other important business that needs to be done. Apparently the legislators there now have nothing else better to do than deal with this crap.
Just the latest attempt at government intrusion into every woman's vagina comes via a set of amendments to legislation that states North Carolina would not recognize sharia law (yeah, that's something we've really been worrying about). A late-night sneak attack, obviously not something the Democrats were prepared for, involved the GOP legislators adding these amendments to the sharia law legislation: 1) abortion clinics would have to meet the same standards as surgery centers (only one abortion clinic in NC now does, effectively shutting down the others, including all four Planned Parenthood clinics); 2) limits on health care coverage for abortions would be implemented; 3) clinics would be required to have "transfer agreements" to local hospitals; and 4) doctors would have to be present when the abortion medication RU486 is taken.
Rachel Maddow is right, North Carolina is like "Conservatives Gone Wild." Or maybe Conservatives Gone Crazy would be more like it.
Ever since the Republicans took over the governorship and the state congress they've been laser-focused on passing extreme right-wing legislation, including a ridiculous voter ID law clearly meant to make voting harder for minorities (read: blacks) and young people (who tend to vote in larger numbers for Democrats than Republicans). This includes a provision to severely limit early voting, outlaw voting on Sunday -- when black churches have traditionally gotten their folks in buses to go vote -- and to effectively make the parents of college kids pay $2,500 if their kids vote where they go to school. I'm not kidding.
North Carolinians, you know what you have to do. When primaries come up pay attention, find your voting place, and go vote. When it's time to go to the polls on election day, get out and let these Republicans know we're not going to stand for their extremist views in our state. Vote them out!
I guess I missed the news that North Carolina now has full employment, and no other important business that needs to be done. Apparently the legislators there now have nothing else better to do than deal with this crap.
Just the latest attempt at government intrusion into every woman's vagina comes via a set of amendments to legislation that states North Carolina would not recognize sharia law (yeah, that's something we've really been worrying about). A late-night sneak attack, obviously not something the Democrats were prepared for, involved the GOP legislators adding these amendments to the sharia law legislation: 1) abortion clinics would have to meet the same standards as surgery centers (only one abortion clinic in NC now does, effectively shutting down the others, including all four Planned Parenthood clinics); 2) limits on health care coverage for abortions would be implemented; 3) clinics would be required to have "transfer agreements" to local hospitals; and 4) doctors would have to be present when the abortion medication RU486 is taken.
Rachel Maddow is right, North Carolina is like "Conservatives Gone Wild." Or maybe Conservatives Gone Crazy would be more like it.
Ever since the Republicans took over the governorship and the state congress they've been laser-focused on passing extreme right-wing legislation, including a ridiculous voter ID law clearly meant to make voting harder for minorities (read: blacks) and young people (who tend to vote in larger numbers for Democrats than Republicans). This includes a provision to severely limit early voting, outlaw voting on Sunday -- when black churches have traditionally gotten their folks in buses to go vote -- and to effectively make the parents of college kids pay $2,500 if their kids vote where they go to school. I'm not kidding.
North Carolinians, you know what you have to do. When primaries come up pay attention, find your voting place, and go vote. When it's time to go to the polls on election day, get out and let these Republicans know we're not going to stand for their extremist views in our state. Vote them out!
Monday, July 1, 2013
Shame on Ohio
Texas may be getting a lot of publicity for State Sen. Wendy Davis' filibuster of an anti-abortion bill, but the women of Ohio were not so lucky. Unfortunately, the Ohio state legislature just managed to pass into law an extreme anti-abortion measure of their own, which was signed by conservative Republican Governor John Kasich. This was passed as part of the new state budget.
The right-wing's war on women continues.
The bill requires women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and to have the anatomical development of the fetus described to them. Abortion clinics must give information to the woman about adoption and other alternatives to abortion.
Rape crisis clinics will lose their funding if they counsel rape victims about the option of abortion. This is just unconscionable to me. What if the rape victim is a 10-year old who was raped by her father, or her uncle? Is Governor Kasich going to be the one to tell that little girl that she has to carry that fetus to term? If he wants to sign such a restrictive law, he should have to.
The bill provides funding for pregnancy crisis centers, but most of those are run by religious organizations, do not give referrals for abortion services, and quite often give inaccurate health information. The bill effectively cuts $1.4 million of funding to Planned Parenthood.
In addition, there will be cuts to low-cost birth control and family planning, which seems counterintuitive to me, if they want to cut the number of abortions.
Yes, this is happening in the United States in 2013.
It's very interesting to me that these extreme anti-abortion bills don't include any provisions for state-funded orphanages, yet budgets like this always cut benefits for low-income women and children. The right always wants to see women have more babies, but they don't want to give them any assistance in caring for them, forcing many women into deeper and deeper poverty.
Please donate to Planned Parenthood, and pay attention to the laws your state senators, congressmen and governors are passing. Anyone not representing the needs of women should be voted out of office at the earliest opportunity.
The right-wing's war on women continues.
The bill requires women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound and to have the anatomical development of the fetus described to them. Abortion clinics must give information to the woman about adoption and other alternatives to abortion.
Rape crisis clinics will lose their funding if they counsel rape victims about the option of abortion. This is just unconscionable to me. What if the rape victim is a 10-year old who was raped by her father, or her uncle? Is Governor Kasich going to be the one to tell that little girl that she has to carry that fetus to term? If he wants to sign such a restrictive law, he should have to.
The bill provides funding for pregnancy crisis centers, but most of those are run by religious organizations, do not give referrals for abortion services, and quite often give inaccurate health information. The bill effectively cuts $1.4 million of funding to Planned Parenthood.
In addition, there will be cuts to low-cost birth control and family planning, which seems counterintuitive to me, if they want to cut the number of abortions.
Yes, this is happening in the United States in 2013.
It's very interesting to me that these extreme anti-abortion bills don't include any provisions for state-funded orphanages, yet budgets like this always cut benefits for low-income women and children. The right always wants to see women have more babies, but they don't want to give them any assistance in caring for them, forcing many women into deeper and deeper poverty.
Please donate to Planned Parenthood, and pay attention to the laws your state senators, congressmen and governors are passing. Anyone not representing the needs of women should be voted out of office at the earliest opportunity.
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