A full-scale attack on reproductive rights

[OhioChick]

Sunday, March 06, 2011, 5:50 AM

Dear daughters of America:

This is the backlash we feared, born of the complacency we warned against.

A recent sampling:

• In Ohio, House Republican Rep. Lynn R. Wachtmann welcomed two fetuses to "testify" at a committee hearing via in vitro ultrasound images flashed on an overhead screen.

• In Texas, the Republican House majority approved a bill requiring doctors to perform a sonogram on most women seeking an abortion. The women could refuse to look at the screen, but they would be forced to listen to descriptions.

• The Texas Senate passed similar legislation. That bill's author declared, "This is God's time to pass this bill."

• In Georgia, House Republican Bobby Franklin introduced a bill that would nullify Roe v. Wade and require authorities to investigate some miscarriages as suspected acts of "prenatal murder."

• In Washington, D.C., the Republican majority in the House of Representatives voted to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding, which would jeopardize the health of low-income women and teenage girls by taking away access to services such as family planning and cancer screening.

More: http://www.cleveland.com/schultz/index.ssf/2011/03/a_full-scale_attack_on_reprodu.html

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[Ohio Joe]

2. K&R - nt

[williesgirl]

3. These pricks must be stopped - somehow sanity must prevail. Vote them all out! rec'd

[originalpckelly]

4. Personally, they should have had a microscope in there...

and allowed some fertilized eggs to testify!

Let's get this shit right when they think it's a human being!

[TheMadMonk]

10. They NEVER think of it as a human being. Just a convenient handle. /nt

[ProfessionalLeftist]

5. "God" should have nothing to do with the government n/t

[ThomCat]

7. I Agree. Wholeheartedly!

You would think that this would be such a simple concept for anyone to understand, especially for law-makers who are supposedly smart enough to understand laws and legal documents, and should have read the Bill Of Rights at some point.

It isn't as if the first amendment is ambiguous, and if they think it is, All the historical commentary about it certainly clears up any misconceptions.

Any law-maker who insist on pushing any bill that has God in it, despite the first amendment is deliberately trying to violate a whole lot of people's lives, and really doesn't care about their rights. But will he come out and honestly say so?

[ejpoeta]

11. they are supposed to represent ALL citizens not just the friggin religious nuts.

THey can say this is a 'christian nation' but it isn't. church should have no business making laws or shaping laws. we are not ALL like you. and we should ALL be represented.

[DURHAM D]

9. Are you sure - Obama said during the campaign that "God was in the mix".

Possible correction - not sure if he said that about choice or gay marriage.

I do know he said that women need to consult with their "families". I took that to mean the mother had to ask her children, in addition to her husband and perhaps her parents.

[ThomCat]

14. Obama's habit of bringing God into policy was one of the

big warnings from the very beginning. :(

The controversies about his inauguration should have warned a lot more people than it did, but people rationalized it away and refused to believe that there was a problem. A lot of people are still rationalizing. So choice is under attack like never before, and the person in the most powerful office in the world Isn't helping to mount a defense. He's totally silent on the issue, waiting to see what will happen. x(

If Obama really represented the real base of Democrats, traditional Democratic policy, and women's rights, he would be out here LOUDLY rallying public support. He would be reminding everyone constantly that Abortion is Legal, and must remain Legal in order to remain safe. He would be defending funding for Planned Parenthood, and he would be promising to veto any bill that cuts off funding.

He has the Bully Pulpit, the Veto, a high public approval rating, and a huge ability to rally public support whenever he actually bothers to act like a Populist. It's really horrible that he's not willing to use any of these tools to protect Women's right to make their own choices about their own bodies.

:(

[riderinthestorm]

6. I hope enough younger women understand how perilous their reproductive rights are at this point.

The Rethugs have been slowly working to undermine women's reproductive rights for several decades now and their patient work is finally paying off with some big time legislative wins. It's been alarming those of us who do care about the slow erosion of our rights for a long time now but hopefully some of these more outrageous bills will finally wake the next generation to take action. Anytime people say that voting doesn't matter because its all about money needs to also think about womens rights because there are greedy kooks that get elected that also have a terrible agenda in mind on social issues (as well as making a few million along the way).....

[DURHAM D]

13. I don't think they have a clue -

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with three women in their 20s. I was trying to explain that their reproductive rights are in jeopardy. They became exasperated with me because they thought I was just being an alarmist and they were absolutely completely confident that they would always have the right to an abortion.

Finally, I asked them "What if that right is taken away and your only choice is an illegal abortion?" This was the response from one of the women and immediately seconded by another "I can always just go to Planned Parenthood".

IOWs - they completely one hundred percent missed the point. I gave up. They were willfully stupid.

[Scottybeamer70]

8. I'm not sure.......

what it will take to get people in the streets protesting these fundamentalist wackos,
but this ol' man will gladly lead the parade..............these people need to be voted
out and put back into their caves........

[spanone]

12. the republican theocracy is upon us

[felix_numinous]

15. Heads up

this issue touches everyone, it is a litmus for modern civilization.

[AmandaRuth]

16. It needs to be pointed out

that this is just the start.

[Bozita]

17. Auburn Hills, MI latest site for attacks on Planned Parenthood, women's reproductive rights

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/03/aub...

Auburn Hills latest site for attacks on Planned Parenthood, women's reproductive rights
Published: Monday, March 07, 2011, 9:15 AM
By Darrell Dawsey


Auburn Hills residents opposed to abortion rights are expected to pack a City Council meeting in the suburb tonight to inveigh against a proposed Planned Parenthood clinic. A petition that activists claims contains 10,000 signatures will be presented to the Auburn Hills mayor.

Protesters have picketed the proposed facility, said to be opening in May or June, since Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan purchased the office building late last year.

March 6, Oakland Tribune: Since early December, Citizens for a Pro-life Society has held two strategy meetings in local churches and three large demonstrations in front of the building purchased by Planned Parenthood on Opdyke. Over 70 demonstrators attended the most recent picket on Feb. 14.

For one hour every day, protesters may be found outside of the building, sending a message against the clinic’s opening.

On the far right, Planned Parenthood has always been anathema, the source of all kinds of wacky conspiracy theories and fever dreams of the sexually repressed. But recently wingnuts have stepped up their attacks on the organization as part of an on-going campaign to undermine not only a woman's right to choose but liberal politics as a whole.

Republicans in Congress are currently attempting to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, in New York City, other opponents erected a billboard, a half-mile from Planned Parenthood offices, that drew harsh criticism for attempting to equate abortion rights with black genocide. (After galled black activists protested, the billboard came down in late February.)

Now, Auburn Hills becomes site of yet another skirmish in this intensifying battle.

Of course, lost amid the furor over reproductive rights is the simple fact that Planned Parenthood, despite demonization from the right, is one of the most trusted and effective health-care providers in the nation.

Moreover, the overwhelming majority of the group's work has nothing to do with providing abortions. As Lori Lamerand, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan, explained: “Ninety-eight percent of what we do prevents the other 2 percent of what we do."

more...