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Missouri Supports Lies and Deception in Family Planning
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The Missouri House passed a bill last week that bars the government from interfering in the workings of crisis pregnancy centers. The sponsor, GOP House Member Chuck Gatschenberger, admits that this is a preemptive move, to free up the money raised by crisis pregnancy centers to fight in course against suits brought by pro-choice organizations.
These are the organizations that, pretending to offer family counseling, instead spew a religious agenda and use outright lies to convince women not to have abortions.
Crisis pregnancy centers routinely lie about the long term physical and psychological effects of abortion, claiming that they lead to cancer, to mental illness, and to infertility. None of these claims are true.
They also specialize in lying about the realities of life when unprepared for a child- they tell frightened women who are vulnerable and alone that there are services to care for them and assist them when it may be that none exist.
In short, they exist only to bully women and girls into a choice they don’t necessarily want to make.
The state of Missouri is, in short, throwing its weight behind these organizations so that they can continue to defraud the women of the state.
The War on Women continues, aided and abetted by the GOP.
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May 29, 2012
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Routine Rape at Alabama Prison
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Let’s state the facts- rape is rape. It doesn’t matter who a person is, what they’ve done, how they’re dressed, or the position in society. Taking sexual advantage of another human being is a crime. And a heinous crime, at that.
Sadly, there always seems to be a steady supply of victims with little or no recourse.
Take the inmates at Alabama’s Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. This facility, built to house 400 but now holding 956, is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice. Why? Last year, the Equal Justice Initiative filed a complaint on behalf of dozens of women who have been raped and assaulted by the prison staff.
So far, six employees have been convicted of these crimes.
However, the majority of sexual offenders never see a day behind bars. Only five percent of rapists are ever convicted of their crimes, and only sixty percent of those convicted ever serve time.
So if six men have been convicted of committing rape at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, how many more are complicit? How many more have spent their days, allegedly working for the public, abusing the women behind bars?
How many other prisoners across this country have yet to come forward?
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May 25, 2012
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The Constitution- It Means Whatever You Want It To Mean
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Many in the GOP claim to be Constitutionalists. Believers in what the American Constitution says, in protecting it, in protecting all of its ideals. They also tend to believe in state’s rights- that the federal government should keep its nose out of the business of the individual states.
Unless, of course, they want the exact opposite of those things.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has an interesting idea. According to him, what GOP should be focusing on is finding a way to ban abortion- which is completely legal and protected by the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade. And the way to do that is by using the 14th amendment.
His idea is that a law could be passed that defined an embryo as a person. Then, the 14th amendment would apply to the “unborn persons” on the United States, and the Fed could mandate that states MUST recognize the rights of those “citizens.”
Of course, this would contradict the 14th amendment, which provides equal protection to all citizens. And if the equal protections of women and embryos are considered, than any embryo could be considered a hostile criminal, guilty of attempted assault, or even attempted murder. And the federal government would mandate that states MUST recognize the rights of their female citizens and allow them to defend themselves from those potentially hostile and dangerous other persons.
It’s a whole new can of worms, Senator Paul. I’m not sure you really want to crack it open.
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May 24, 2012
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GOP- Your Sexism is Showing
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As the battle for Wisconsin rages on, some interesting developments have come to light. For example, the Wisconsin state senate leader, Scott Fiztgerald, is up for what looks more and more like a real contest with a newcomer- Lori Compas. Nobody thought that Compas had much of a chance. But recently, her poll numbers have been rising.
So what explanation can Fitzgerald come up with for why he is losing ground to this political newcomer? Could it be his support of blatantly anti-woman policies over the last few years? Could it be his support of a governor who is more concerned with his own interests than the needs of the people of Wisconsin? Could it be that his opponent is a charismatic and savvy up-and-comer who is in touch with the interests of the people of Wisconsin?
No. Just ask Fitzgerald. The only reason that she is doing so well is that her husband must be in charge of her campaign.
That’s right, a woman can’t run her own political organization. She can’t come up with her own ideas. She can only be, as Fitzgerald described her, a “Pollyanna.”
Good job, establishment GOP. You have firmly placed yourself and your ideologies where they belong. In the past.
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May 23, 2012
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The Double Standard for Pregnant Women’s Rights
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Last week, Bei Bei Shuai was finally released on bail. She has spent well over a year in jail for fetal homicide. Her crime, in reality, was attempted suicide while pregnant.
After being brought to the hospital and revived, she agreed to every measure suggested to save the life of the baby- who was delivered prematurely. However, her daughter died. And Bei Bei Shuai has been in jail ever since.
This has taken place in Indiana, where attempted suicide is not a crime.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, police officers are getting away with assaulting pregnant women. That’s right. A cop in Georgia named Jarod Wheeler responded to a domestic violence call. In the course of his response, he tazed a man. When that man’s sister, nine month pregnant Raven Dozier, shouted to stop, he kicked her full on in the stomach. Her son was born prematurely thereafter, but had no health complications as a result.
So why are the courts punishing women with mental illnesses who commit no crimes by incarcerating them for a year, but not lifting a finger to stop police officers from assaulting pregnant women?
Because there is a double standard in this country. Because a pregnant woman is a second class citizen.
Because all women are becoming second class citizens.
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May 22, 2012
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Missouri’s Takes the War on Women to… the Government?
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As more and more women are becoming enraged and motivated by attempts by the GOP to curtail their rights, more and more women are getting involved in politics. They are running for office all over the country, in the hopes that by being part of the solution they can stop the spread of the problem.
The GOP are on to us, ladies.
This month in Missouri, the state legislature passed a bill that is aimed to shut down the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life at the University of St. Louis. This program trains women to enter the public sector, and it is decidedly non-partisan. However, politics being what they are, the women who go through the program are quite simply more likely to support Democratic policies and agendas. You know, policies that protect them.
Or, as the local Republicans put it, the Sue Shear Institute, “churns out liberal trainees for Democrats.”
Even if that were true, shutting down an academic program simply because you disagree with the majority of its graduates is… well… un-American.
So in present day America, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. But if you’re in Missouri, if they try to join you… cut off their education access.
That won’t backfire at all.
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May 21, 2012
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In Kansas, Your Fetus Gets Better Healthcare than You
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Last week, Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas signed into law a bill that severely limits women’s access to reproductive care.
Now, pharmacists can legally refuse to fill any prescription they think might be used to induce abortion. That includes the morning after pill, birth control, and any number of other drugs that theoretically could be bad for an embryo.
But it gets worse.
Doctors don’t have to hep you get your medication, and they can refuse you treatment if it might risk the “life” of the embryo or fetus. Including chemotherapy.
That’s right. If you’re pregnant and have cancer, and you make the choice that your survival at that time is more important than the survival of your unborn child, you might be out of luck. Doctors in Kansas are making that choice for you. You just go ahead and let those tumors grow and spread, and of course once the baby is out- possibly nine months later- if there’s still a chance that you could make it… THEN maybe you should start up that chemo.
This is particularly insidious because early detection and treatment of cancer is frequently the difference between life and death.
So in the attempt to protect “life,” Kansas lawmakers are blatantly disregarding the lives of the women in their state.
Good job, Kansas. I’m sure everyone in the state feels much better about their healthcare now.
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May 18, 2012
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Welcome to the End of National Women’s Health Week
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Did you know that this week was National Women’s Health Week?
Well, it was.
President Obama made the declaration designating it so, and May 13th until tomorrow… here we are.
The president is doing his best to make it very clear where he differs from his presumptive opponent in the next election. In his statement declaring this week a time to focus on women and their health, he said, “As President, I have made advancing gender equality in health care a top priority. Through the historic Affordable Care Act, we are reversing many of the worst abuses of the health insurance industry. Beginning in 2014, many insurers will no longer be allowed to charge women higher premiums simply because of their gender, and it will be illegal for most insurance companies to deny coverage to women because they have a pre-existing condition, including cancer or pregnancy. Health plans will also be required to cover maternity care. The law already enables women in new insurance plans to see any primary care provider or OB-GYN, or bring their children to any pediatrician in their health plan’s network without a referral, and it prevents most insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.”
A stark contrast to Mitt Romney’s promise to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood and the progress of the Affordable Care Act.
Happy National Women’s Health Week!
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May 17, 2012
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Arizona Law Permits Firing Women for Using Contraceptives
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It’s happened. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has signed this bill into law. It had seemed that the bill was shelved to committee forever, but back it came, and before we knew it…
In Arizona, now any employer can register themselves as “religiously affiliated.” That means that they can interrogate their female employees about whether or not they use birth control, and why. They can refuse to cover contraceptive care. And they can fire those women for their medical choices regarding birth control.
This is a battle we had fought and won. We won the right to control our own reproduction, our own bodies. And now these hard won protections are being stripped one by one.
This isn’t about religious freedom. This is about putting women in their “place.” This is about men on the far right who believe that the problem with this country is that women are allowed to vote. This is about states eliminating funding for projects that support women in government. This is about shaming women for daring to expect the same freedoms and rights as men.
I have no idea how Jan Brewer, as a woman, could justify signing this piece of garbage.
But I do know how every woman in the state of Arizona will justify voting her our of office at their very first opportunity.
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May 16, 2012
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The Courts are on Our Side
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On Monday, a major decision came from the state courts of Oklahoma.
A judge permanently blocked Oklahoma’s ban on medical abortions.
The ruling was not unique- over the last few years, as state after state introduces legislation to curtail the reproductive rights of women, court after court has ruled those new laws unconstitutional. Just two weeks ago, a Montana judge struck down a new law that kept teenaged girls from access to birth control- if they wanted it to prevent pregnancy.
This new ruling in Oklahoma is clear in its interpretation of Oklahoma’s new medical abortion restrictions. In the ruling, the judge made it clear that this was never a law about protecting women, about their health or medical options. It was always about restricting abortion access- access that is constitutionally and legally protected in this country.
This particular anti-choice law has been blocked since October, but now it’s gone for good.
It’s good to know that while the radical right has been reaching low after low in its effort to keep women from exercising control over their own bodies, the American justice system is doing its job in protecting our rights.
The battle isn’t won, but we have the law and decades of legal precedent on our side. We can win this fight
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