You want to cherry pick FROM YOUR OWN SOURCE...
FACT: the 2005 version of the state bill, which passed, was a compromise bill free of any other measures Obama had previously opposed. Had he been there to vote for it, he may well have done so. Specifically addressing his onetime concern over the impact of a re-definition of what "born alive" could be interpreted to mean, the 2005 measure that passed after Obama left Springfield included
three new clauses that read:
(c) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to affirm, deny, expand, or contract any legal status or legal right
applicable to any member of the species homo sapiens at any point prior to being born alive, as defined in this Section.
(d) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to affect existing federal or State law regarding abortion.
(e) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to alter generally accepted medical standards.
In sum, comparing the federal bill passed by Congress in 2002 with the various Illinois measures proposed during Obama's tenure in the state legislature is a bogus enterprise meant to confuse people who lack the time and resources required to tease out the differences between them.
I can understand how embarrassed you are at supporting the murder of innocent new borns.....
...but you are disgustingly guilty.
Comparison of the Federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act and Illinois SB1082
ā August 28, 2008 ā
OBAMABAIPA
On March 12-13, 2003, the Illinois state senate committee chaired by Senator Barack Obama amended the proposed state Born-Alive Infants Protection bill (SB 1082) to exactly track the language of the already-enacted federal BAIPA, by adopting Senate Amendment No. 1, 10-0. The committee then voted to kill the amended bill, 6-4, with Obama and the other Democrats on the committee voting against it. The bill that Obama and his colleges voted to kill, as amended, was virtually identical to the federal law. The entirely non-substantive points at which the state bill language still differed from the federal law are shown in brackets below (except we have ignored differences in capitalizing).
Comparison of the Federal Born-Alive Infants Protection Act and Illinois SB1082 National Right to Life
Why try to hide...you Liberals have supported and enabled all sorts of disreputable Democrats.
PLEASE explain the need for SB1082 if it identical to the federal law PC? Did Illinois secede from the union??
PLEASE explain the need for SB1082 in Illinois when Illinois law already provided that physicians must protect the life of a fetus when there is "a reasonable likelihood of sustained survival of the fetus outside the womb, with or without artificial support." ???
Try as you may....the import will not change.
Barack Obama...and you....refuse to save the life of a human being born as a result of a botched abortion.
infanticide
(ÉŖnĖfƦntÉŖĖsaÉŖd)
n
1. the killing of an infant
2. the practice of killing newborn infants, still prevalent in some primitive tribes
3. a person who kills an infant
inĖfantiĖcidaladj
infanticide - definition of infanticide by The Free Dictionary
Perhaps you should argue that Obama merely facilitated the murder.
Try as you may, the TRUTH is Obama merely supports reproductive rights of women and is opposed to legislation INTENDED to undermine those LAWFUL rights.
WHY don't you be truthful PC and admit that the right has launched an attack on the reproductive rights of women, and every piece of legislation the right concocts has NOTHING to do with embryos.
If you right wing statists had your way, a woman's uterus would become property of the STATE.
Proof of the GOP War on Women
o A recent
report from the Guttmacher Institute details the extent of 2011ās war on Womenās Reproductive Rights. The report states,
- By almost any measure, issues related to reproductive health and rights at the state level received unprecedented attention in 2011. In the 50 states combined, legislators introduced more than 1,100 reproductive health and rights-related provisions, a sharp increase from the 950 introduced in 2010. By yearās end, 135 of these provisions had been enacted in 36 states, an increase from the 89 enacted in 2010 and the 77 enacted in 2009. (Note: This analysis refers to reproductive health and rights-related āprovisions,ā rather than bills or laws, since bills introduced and eventually enacted in the states contain multiple relevant provisions.)
- Fully 68% of these new provisionsā92 in 24 statesā-restrict access to abortion services, a striking increase from last year, when 26% of new provisions restricted abortion. The 92 new abortion restrictions enacted in 2011 shattered the previous record of 34 adopted in 2005.
- Abortion restrictions took many forms: bans (6 states), waiting periods (3 states), ultrasound 5 states), insurance coverage (3 states joined the existing 5 with such restrictions), clinic regulations (4 states), medication abortion (7 states).
o Anti-abortion Laws
Republican legislators have introduced a wide array of laws designed to either outlaw abortion outright or to discourage it by making ridiculous and sometimes humiliating requirements of women who might consider having a pregnancy terminated. These include so-called TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) regulations.
- Republicans in the House proposed a bill (HR 1179) called āRespect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011.ā The bill, introduced by Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb), allows health care providers and pharmacists to deny birth control to women if it conflicts with their religious or moral convictions. The Senate is expected to vote on its version of HR 1179 during the week of February 27 where it is known as S. 1467, whose primary sponsor is Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and has become an amendment to Transportation Authorization Bill S. 1813. The Blunt Amendment was defeated in the Senate on a narrow vote of 51 to 48 on March 1, 2012.
- In Texas, Rep. George Lavender, R-Texarkana, has proposed a bill (House Bill 2988) that would prevent any abortion except in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother.
- In Georgia, a bill, the āPain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Actā (SB 209) sponsored by Sen. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, would close all abortion clinics in the state and require abortions to be performed in hospitals. This bill was tabled by the rules committee on March 11, 2011.
- South Dakota wants to require āspiritualā counseling (House Bill 1217) at religious centers before allowing an abortion to take place. The bill was signed into law in March 2011 and challenged in court by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU in May. We still havenāt heard what the courts will decide in this case (though a federal judge has suspended most of the law in the interim) and Republicans arenāt waiting to find out. The South Dakota House of Representatives approved a bill on February 13 sponsored by Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon that changes counseling requirements. Women seeking abortions will still have to wait 72 hours and endure spiritual counseling but now requires those counselors be licensed. The consulting doctor will now have to decide if it is likely the woman will develop mental health problems as a result of the abortion. As a side note, in both 2006 and 2008 voters rejected attempts to outlaw most abortions.
- Also in South Dakota, H.B. 1166, which was enacted in 2005, was, says RHRealityCheck.org, billed as an āinformed consent law,ā but what it really mandated was misinformation, requiring doctors āto tell a woman seeking an abortion that she faces an āincreased risk of suicide ideation and suicide,ā a claim for which there is absolutely no scientific or medical evidence.ā On September 2, 2011, āEighth Circuit Court of Appeals threw out important provisions of a South Dakota law that literally forced doctors to lie to their patients.ā
- The Texas State House of Representatives has passed the Sonogram Bill (HB 15), a measure requiring women to get a sonogram before ending a pregnancy, forcing even victims of rape to have a sonogram at least 24 hours before the procedure. Gov. Rick Perry has signed the bill into law, which takes effect September 1, 2011. There are exceptions in cases of rape and incest. As Planned Parenthood reports: āWhile a woman can opt-out of seeing the sonogram image and hearing the heart tone, she cannot opt-out of a medically unnecessary sonogram, nor can she opt-out of the fetal description except within very narrow parameters for situations of rape, incest, judicial bypasses, and fetal anomalies.ā
- Also from Texas, the passage of SB 257, passed by House and Senate on May 5, 2011 and signed by the governor on May 17, 2011 provides for āChoose Lifeā license plates. As explained by Planned Parenthood: āThe state will now produce āChoose Lifeā license plates and distribute revenue from the sale of the plates to anti-choice groups such as crisis pregnancy centers (CPC). The āAlternative to Abortionā program currently receives $4 million dollars a year in taxpayer money through the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) that is distributed to CPCs. CPC are unregulated anti-choice organizations that do not provide any medical services and are known to spend nearly half of the tax dollars they receive on advertising and administrative costs, not client services.ā
- Georgia State Representative Bobby Franklin has introduced a bill that would not only make abortion illegal but would make miscarriages illegal.
- Indiana (House Bill 1210) wants to force doctors to lie to women about abortion causing breast cancer despite medical evidence to the contrary in order to discourage women from having abortions
- Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, the āNo Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,ā (HR 3) that would limit the rape exemption for abortion to āforcible rapeā which would have defined many rapes, for example, statutory rape of a minor, as non-forcible and therefore not covered by federal assistance. Mother Jones has reported another aspect of this legislation, that the IRS would be turned into abortion-cops: āWere this to become law, people could end up in an audit, the subject of which could be abortion, rape, and incest,ā says Christopher Bergin, the head of Tax Analysts, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit tax policy group. āIf you pass the law like this, the IRS would be required to enforce it.ā
- Representative Joe Pitts (R-PA) introduced a bill (HR 358 ā the āProtect Life Actā) would allow states to deny insurance coverage for birth control meaning hospitals could deny abortion procedures and transport to a facility that would provide a woman with an abortion even if failure to provide an abortion would mean the death of the woman. The āLet Women Die Actā passed the House on 10/13/11.
- Louisiana State Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, in what he calls a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, wants to make both women and doctors who have and perform abortions guilty of the crime of āfeticideā. This āpersonhood amendmentā (House Bill 587)would make no exceptions for cases of danger to the health of the mother, incest or rape but would for āmedically necessaryā abortions. Feticide is currently punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison. LaBruzzo once wanted to pay poor women $1,000 to have their tubes tied because he was afraid they were āreproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated people who presumably pay more tax revenue to the government,ā says Nola.com. Update: HB 587 became HB 645 on May 25, 2011 and to the relief of sane people everywhere eventually derailed in the state House.
- The U.S. House of Representatives passed (by a 234-182 vote) an amendment sponsored by Virginia Foxx (R-NC) prohibiting teaching hospitals from receiving federal funding if they teach doctors how to perform abortions. Unfortunately, as a result of this legislation new physicians will not receive the training needed to save womenās lives. As Correntewire.com puts it, ā234 members of the House voted to ban the teaching of medical procedures that are vital in saving the lives of women who have miscarried, or have complications that endanger their health, or who arenāt even pregnant.ā
- In Ohio, Janet Porterās āHeartbeat Billā criminalizing abortion and which was backed by Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann, passed the Ohio State House on June 28, 2011. āIt prohibits abortions after only about six weeks, a time when many women do not yet even know they are pregnant,ā said Armond Budish, leader of the Democratic caucus in the House. The bill is currently being held up in the Senate. See the latest update on Porterās antics at Right Wing Watch.
- Also in Ohio, The state budget, approved June 28, 2011 by the Senate, bars state hospitals from performing abortions.
- Mother Jones reports that āEvery abortion provider in the state of Kansas has been denied a license to continue operating as of July 1 [2011].ā This is the result, according to Mother Jones, of passage in April of a law ādirecting the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to author new facility standards for abortion clinics, which the staunchly anti-abortion GOP governor, Sam Brownback, signed into law on May 16.ā It turns out that if you want to know how these new rules were developed, you canāt, because the Republicans donāt want to tell you, and wonāt.
- On July 1, 2011 a budget impasse shut down the government of the state of Minnesota. The Republican majorities in the house and senate refuse to negotiate in good faith, insisting that a list of social issues be included in the budget, including abortion restrictions.
- In Arizona, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 2443 sponsored by Republican Rep. Steve Montenegro, on February 21, 2011. The bill, if passed into law, would criminalize abortions being performed because of the race or sex of the fetus. Montenegro claims that āthere are targeted communities that the abortion industry targets.ā If made law, HB 2443 would require that āwomen seeking abortions in Arizona will have to sign a statement declaring that race or sex was not the reason they sought the procedure.ā
- Also from Arizona, there is House Bill 2036 which would ban abortions after 20 weeks. It was passed by the Senate on March 29, 2012 and will now go before the House for consideration. As Mother Jones reports, the legislation āis modeled on the āPain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Actā designed by the National Right to Life Committeeā and the ACLU has called it the āmost extreme bill of its kind.ā Update: Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2036 on April 12, 2012, which as Raw Story points out, ātakes Nebraskaās 20-week abortion ban one step further by starting the clock on pregnancies at the womanās last last menstrual period, which could be two weeks before fertilization.ā In other words, your pregnancy legally begins before conception! Take that, science!
- And another gem from Arizona is House Bill 2800, introduced in February and now referred to the Senate Rules Committee, which would deprive Planned Parenthood of public funds, depriving women of healthcare unrelated to abortion. Update [4.24.12]: the Arizona State Senate approved the bill on Tuesday, April 24; the House has previously approved it. Planned Parenthood says the ban would affect some 19,000 women in the state.
- Oh, and we canāt forget Arizonaās House Bill 2625, which as azcentral.com reports, āwould allow companies to opt out of covering contraception in their health-care plans for religious reasons,ā proving once and for all that Arizona Republicans are legislating religion in violation of the Constitution, and that their religion trumps your beliefs.
- In Illinois Rep. Darlene Senger, R-Naperville in March 2011 submitted a bill ā anti-abortion legislation mind, which would require clinics that perform more than 50 abortions a year to meet the same regulatory requirements as other medical outpatient surgery clinics ā to the House Agriculture and Conservation Committee. Why, you ask? Because the agriculture committee is dominated by conservative downstate Democrats and Republicans. And guess what? They passed it: unanimously.
- In Florida, during a debate about a bill āthat would prohibit governments from deducting union dues from a workerās paycheck,ā Rep. Scott Randolph (D-Orlando) said āif my wifeās uterus was incorporateā the legislature āwould be talking about deregulating.ā Rep. Randolph was then taken to task for using the word āuterusā by the House leadership, which said that the word was ālanguage that would be considered inappropriate for children and other guests.ā
- In Florida Republicans passed House Bill 501 redistributes funds from āChoose Lifeā license plates to the Ocala-based Choose Life, Inc, which the Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates says will āresult in more funds being given to ācrisis pregnancy centers,ā anti-abortion organizations that falsely market themselves as professional health facilities.ā
- In Virginia, RH Reality Check reports that āGovernor Bob McDonnell found time to issue regulations for first trimester abortion providers that go well beyond any existing regulations seen in other states, including South Carolina, according to the Virginia Coalition to Protect Womenās Health.ā Apparently, these ādraftā regulations ā (SB 924) were formulated under an emergency process that bypasses public review and comment periods and standard economic assessments for new regulations and is undemocratic on its face.ā They will be put into effect up to 18 months to 2 years in advance of any permanent regulations. In a blatant attempt to eliminate first trimester abortions, reports RH Reality Check, the regulations ācontain what can only be called ridiculous mandates for abortion providers, such as requiring specific sizes of rooms and lengths of hallways which have nothing to do with either patient care or safety.ā See also the article in Mother Jones about how these new rules would affect the Falls Church Planned Parenthood Clinic.
- In the U.S. House the Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) otherwise known as HR 3541, is being called a ācivil rightsā bill by its Republican sponsors. Under this bill, physicians would be banned from performing abortions based on the race of the fetus, something that does not happen anyway, apparently, since nobody could offer any evidence that it did.
- WRAL.com reports that āA Cabarrus County lawmaker wants to bring back public hangings in North Carolina as a deterrent to crime, and he says doctors who perform abortions should be in the line to the gallows.ā According to WRAL, āRepublican Rep. Larry Pittman, who was appointed to the District 82 House seat in October, expressed his views in an email sent Wednesday to every member of the General Assembly.ā Pittman said in his email: āIf murderers (and I would include abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers, as well) are actually executed, it will at least have the deterrent effect upon them. For my money, we should go back to public hangings, which would be more of a deterrent to others, as well.ā Pittman calls himself a pastor and says he didnāt mean to send the email to everybody, only to Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland. Republicans need to learn to be careful around demon-technology.
- In Iowa, House File 2298, introduced by Rep. Kim Pearson, R-Pleasant Hill, would criminalize all abortions, including those resulting from rape and incest and would make no exceptions for the life of the mother when put at risk by her pregnancy. The punishment for ending a life (excepting of course the life of a mother) would be life in prison and women who miscarry will face criminal investigation.
- In Georgia, Senate Bill 434, sponsored by Sen. Judson Hill, R-Marietta, (he proposed calling it the āFederal Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Actā) would ban healthcare providers from covering abortion except in cases where the motherās life is endangered.
- Also in Georgia, Senate Bill 438, sponsored by Sen. Mike Crane (R-Newman), would āprovide that no health insurance plan for employees of the state shall offer coverage for abortion services.ā
- Again in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on February 15, 2012, āA bill to limit abortions is also being considered in the House. House Bill 954, sponsored by Rep. Doug McKillip, R-Athens, was filed last week and is what is commonly referred to as a āfetal painā bill. It says that a fetus can react to pain at 20 weeks, and it seeks to outlaw abortions at or past 20 weeks of pregnancy.ā
- Kansas Republicans have unleashed a blitzkrieg on womenās reproductive rights. A Kansas house subcommittee will began considering a bill Wednesday that draws inspiration from anti-abortion laws in Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Reports HuffPo: āThe bill includes provisions similar to those found in other state laws now facing federal lawsuits, including Texasā requirement that the mother hear the fetal heartbeat, and Oklahomaās mandate that mothers be told about a potential risk of breast cancer with an abortion. It also would replicate Arizonaās provision prohibiting tax deductions for abortion-related groups.ā Women would also have to undergo a sonogram before having an abortion. The billās sponsor is Kansasā House Federal and State Affairs Committee. The Kansas City Star reports that āThe bill is one of four abortion-related measures pending in the Legislature.ā
- Think Progress reports that āIn the escalating war on womenās rights in statehouse across the country, Iowa state Rep. Kim Pearson (R) may have just dropped the biggest bomb yet.ā House File 2298 introduces the crime of āFetacideā: āAny person who intentionally terminates a human pregnancy, with the knowledge and voluntary onsent of the pregnant person, after the end of the second trimester of the pregnancy where death of the fetus results, commits feticide. Feticide is a class āCā āAā felony. Any person who attempts to intentionally terminate a human pregnancy, with the knowledge and voluntary consent of the pregnant person, after the end of the second trimester of the pregnancy where death of the fetus does not result, commits attempted feticide. Attempted feticide is a class āDā āBā felony.ā A class A felony is punishable by life in prison, class B by 25 years. Keep in mind abortion is legal in the United States (see Roe v. Wade).
- Louisiana seems intent on following the general Republican practice of taking extreme stances against abortion. Case in point: a new piece of legislation (SB 330), filed March 1, 2012 by Sen. Rick Ward III, D-Maringouin, would outlaw abortion by anyone but a licensed physician and label any abortion performed āby any individual who is not a physician licensed by the state of Louisianaā would be deemed a brand new crime: ādismembermentā (āaggravated criminal abortion by dismembermentā to be precise). Violators, reports Nola.com, āwould face a prison term of one to five years, a fine of $5,000 to $50,000 or a jail sentence and a fine.ā The bill ādefines a physician as someone who holds a medical or an osteopathic degree from a medical college in āgood standing with the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examinersā and has a license, permit, certification or registration issued by the board to practice medicine in the state.ā
- Also in Louisiana, reports Planned Parenthood, āHouse Concurrent Resolution 54, by Rep. Frank Hoffman (West Monroe ā R), aimed to encourage Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, but was tied up in Senate Finance at the close of the [2011 legislative] sessionā which ended June 23, 2011. Hoffman claims, reports Nola.com, that āthat giving the organization federal funding for services such as screenings for breast and cervical cancer indirectly helps Planned Parenthood provide abortions.ā
- A last item from Louisiana: On July 6, 2011, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law Rep. Frank Hoffmanās HB 636. As Planned Parenthood reports: āHB 636 requires Abortion providers to post coercion prevention/abortion alternative signs and gives DHH the authority to develop a new abortion alternatives website. Visitors to the website will not receive comprehensive information about pregnancy options; agencies that provide comprehensive pregnancy options education or provide abortion care will not be allowed to post information on the site.ā
- A New York Times editorial calls into question a recent Republican brainstorm on Capitol Hill: āThe Judiciary Committee in the Republican-controlled House held a hearing to promote a mean-spirited and constitutionally suspect bill called the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act.ā This bill would create āa mandatory parental notification requirement and 24-hour waiting period on women under 18 who travel outside their home stateā to get an abortion and punish anyone who helps the minor with ācriminal and civil penalties that include up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.ā As the editorial points out, āIt is both an attack on womenās rights and on the basic principles of federalism.ā And of course, it wonāt create one single job.
- In what can only be seen as a punitive and hateful punishment of women who have abortions, Georgia Republican Rep. Terry England, in support of a bill which would ban abortions after 20 weeks (HR 954), says (video here) that women should be forced to carry dead fetuses to term. Why? Because cows and pigs have to do it and thatās apparently how his god wants it. Never mind the health risk to mothers being forced to carry dead fetuses to term. Republicans hate mothers and want them to die early and often.
- In Tennessee, in yet another attempt to shame and punish women and doctorās who have the audacity to disagree with fundamentalist religious views, the Life Defense Act of 2012 (H.B. 3808) would reveal the names not only of doctors who perform abortions but would also identify women who have abortions, posting that information on the Internet. According to HuffPo, the information revealed would include the womanās āage, race, county, marital status, education level, number of children, the location of the procedure and how many times she has been pregnant.ā The legislation is sponsored by state Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesboro) after it was suggested by Tennessee Right To Life. Since Republicans control both House and Senate, the bill will in all likelihood pass, despite the ruling of the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2000 that abortion is a right protected by the state constitution.
- From Alaska comes HB 363, which, as Planned Parenthood tells us, āforbids full disclosure of pregnancy options and referrals for abortions, in flagrant violation of requirements made by federal funding laws,ā further pointing out that ā[a]bortion is a fundamental right in Alaska, as protected by two State Supreme Court rulings in 1997 and 2001. Any law limiting access, particularly one such as HB363 that targets poor women, is an attack on our Alaskan values: individual freedom from government interference, privacy and fair treatment under the law.ā
- In the TRAP department, Minnesota Republicans want to prove to America theyāre as hateful as any GOP misogynist when, says MPR, āThe Senate Health and Human Services Committee [on February 27, 2012] advanced two bills that would place restrictions on clinics that provide abortions.ā S.F. 1912 (H.F. 2341), authored by Sen. Paul Gazelka, R-Brainerd, would ban doctors from administering RU486 without being present in the room (currently it can be done by webcam) on the grounds that it is deadly, yet as the StarTribune reports, āOpponents countered that the death rate from medication abortions is approximately one out of every 100,000 women who take RU-486. The death rate for Viagra, by contrast, is approximately 5 for every 100,000.ā An attempt by āRep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, offered an amendment to the bill that would have put menās sexual activity under the same scrutiny as womenās. Her amendment would require medical supervision when men take Viagra.ā The Republican dominated House voted down the amendment 95-28, showing the true punitive purpose behind the bill. Governor Mark Dayton (D) vetoed the bill, pointing out that it targets āonly facilities which provide abortions.ā
- The other bill, S.F. 1921 (H.F. 2340), authored by Sen. Claire Robling, R-Jordan,would require facilities that perform 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed and subject to random inspections. On April 18, 2012, the bills passed the Minnesota House and Senate. yet Minnesota does not require licensing of clinics providing outpatient surgery. As MRP reminds us, āGov. Mark Dayton vetoed several abortion bills during last yearās legislative session.ā The good news is that the state legislature lacks the votes to overturn a veto. Currently, at least six states, including North Dakota and South Dakota, have bans on so-called āwebcam abortions.ā
- Wisconsin Republicans are convinced that women are being coerced into having abortions and they are determined to put a stop to it. Their answer is SB 306, āVoluntary and informed consent and information on domestic abuse servicesā, authored by Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) and Rep. Michelle Litjens (R-Oshkosh). The bill also āprotectsā women from RU-486 (but not men from Viagra). SB 306 was signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker on April 6, 2012. As a result, Planned Parenthood has done exactly what Wisconsin Republicans desire and suspended non-surgical abortions in Wisconsin. The lesson is: TRAP laws work. Rose v. Wade says abortion is legal; TRAP laws make it impossible in practice.
- Also in Wisconsin on April 6, 2012: Gov. Scott Walker signed into law SB 92 ārelating to
rohibiting coverage of 2abortions through health plans sold through exchanges.ā This is an anti-Obamacare bill, pure and simple, and it states āThis bill prohibits a qualified health plan offered through any exchange operating in this state from covering any abortion the performance of which is ineligible for funding from the state, a local government, or a long-term care district or from federal funds passing through the state treasury.ā
- In Mississippi Republicans think they have found a way to eliminate abortion in their state without directly challenging Roe v. Wade: Having said that he plans to make his state abortion-free (the state already has only one abortion clinic), Gov. Phil Bryant signed Mississippi House Bill 1390 on April 16, 2012, which requires all physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and board certification in obstetrics and gynecology. Bryant said: āI believe that all human life is precious, and as governor, I will work to ensure that the lives of the born and unborn are protected in Mississippi,ā Apparently, the lives of mothers arenāt important in Mississippi. State Rep. Adrienne Wooten (D-Jackson) told the men in the House:āNow, if youāre that concerned about unplanned pregnancies, go get snipped,ā The bill takes effect July 1, 2012.
- Thatās not all from Mississippi. Planned Parenthood tells us that āIn addition to the abortion law signed by Bryant today, on Tuesday the House passed a backdoor āpersonhoodā amendment to a bill intended to protect Mississippi children. If enacted, the amended bill could outlaw birth control, infertility treatments and all abortions ā no exceptions. After passing the House, Senate Bill 2771 is now in the Senate for a concurrence vote.ā
- In Ohio, Republicans are about defund Planned Parenthood, having made certain that Gov. John Kasichās (R) mid-budget review bill contains language that prevents the organization from receiving federal funding worth $1.7 million because the funding is administered by the state Department of Health (blame and shame for the language should attach itself to Rep. Kristina Roegner of Hudson, Rep. Cliff Rosenberger of Clinton County and House Finance Chairman Rep. Ron Amstutz of Wooster). This is supposed to be a move to stop abortions but the money canāt be used for abortions (and only 3 of the stateās 37 clinics actually provide abortion services) so in fact it is a blatant attack on Planned Parenthood itself and therefore against Ohio women. Cleveland.com reports that āThe budget bill is on a fast track, with majority-party GOP lawmakers expected to pass the legislation before Memorial Day.ā
o Arguing that it is āmorally wrong to take the tax dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use them to fund organizations that provide and promote abortions,ā Rep.
Mike Pence, R-Ind, introduced a bill (
HR 217) in the U.S. House of Representatives to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding, despite the many other services Planned Parenthood provides to both men and women, including contraception and STD testing
o Legalizing the Murder of Abortion Doctors
- South Dakota flirted with a law to make the murder of an abortion doctor legal as self-defense
- When South Dakota was forced to drop the idea of murdering abortion doctors, Nebraska and Iowa picked up the idea
- See also HB 3308 Life Defense Act of 2012 above, which has implications in this regard.
o Abstinence Education
A total of 37 states mandate abstinence education while contraception falls increasingly under attack by Republican legislatures.
- According to the Guttmacher Report, āMississippi, which had long mandated abstinence education, adopted provisions that make it more difficult for a school district to include other subjects, such as contraception, in order to offer a more comprehensive curriculum. A district will now need to get specific permission to do so from the state department of education.ā
- According to the Guttmacher Report, āA new requirement enacted in North Dakota mandates that the health education provided in the state include information on the benefits of abstinence āuntil and within marriage.ā
- Utah, unsurprisingly, has opted for abstinence-only sex ed, which really is kind of the antithesis of sex-ed, isnāt it? But that is precisely what the state legislature has done ā it has voted that the birds and the bees are X-rated and have no role in schools. If HB 363, sponsored by Rep. Bill Wright, is signed into law, schools wonāt be able to teach children about contraception. It is unknown if Gov. Gary Herbert will sign the bill.
- The Taliban has taken over Tennessee. From ThinkProgress: āSenate passedSB 3310 (HB 3621), a bill to update the stateās abstinence-based sex education curriculum to define holding hands and kissing as āgateway sexual activities.ā Just one senator votedagainst the legislation; 28 voted in favor.ā This is Tennesseeās answer to increased Teenage pregnancy: not promotion of contraception; just donāt hold hands. Welcome to Afghanistan, Tennessee. The law takes effect July 1, 2012, otherwise and henceforth and forever known as Talibanesseee Day.
o āPersonhood Lawsā and Fetal Rights and Mandatory Ultrasounds
In 2011 the trend in anti-abortion legislation was passage of laws that would give fertilized eggs the rights of āpersonhoodā ā in other words, fertilized eggs would have the same rights as you or me ā a blatant ploy to attack womenās reproductive rights. Florida, Montana and Ohio will have āpersonhoodā on the ballot in 2012 and
according to CNN āefforts in at least five other states are in the planning stages.ā Mississippi has just rejected one such extremist measure and Colorado and South Dakota have also rejected them.
Robin Marty at RH Reality Check examines 20-week bans and points to the flaw at the heart of this type of legislation. In 2012, mandatory ultrasounds have become the rage. However, Republican legislators
seem to be realizing that voters arenāt exactly jumping on the bandwagon.
- In Iowa a pregnant woman was arrested for falling down a flight of stairs. Yes, for falling down a flight of stairs. You see, following a fight on the phone with her husband, Christine Taylor fell down a flight of. Like any responsible pregnant woman would, she went to the hospital to check on the fetus ā and was arrested thanks to one of the many state laws that grant fetuses rights separate from the mother. Iowa has a āfeticideā law that pertains to the second trimester and beyond, and since Taylor confessed that she had contemplated abortion but had chosen to have the baby, the nurse and doctor at the hospital decided to phone the police and accuse her of trying to terminate her pregnancy illegally. She was fortunate not to be charged with a crime ā for falling down the stairs.
- Nebraska banned abortions after 20 weeks on the unscientific grounds that fetuses feel pain at that gestational age. Shortly thereafter, Danielle Deaver discovered at 22 weeks she had a pregnancy that could not result in a living baby. Yet Nebraska law denied her an abortion. Nebraska is not alone, and Deaver will not be alone. Legislators in 12 other states ā Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oregon ā are considering similar laws. But banning abortion could not save Deaverās fetus: With undeveloped lungs, the baby likely would never survive outside the womb, and because all the amniotic fluid had drained, the tiny growing fetus slowly would be crushed by the uterus walls. On Dec. 8, Deaver delivered 1-pound, 10-ounce Elizabeth, who, as doctors had predicted, lived for only 15 minutes outside the womb.
- Idaho is the latest state, inspired by Nebraskaās example, to put such a law on the books. Senate Bill 1165 bans abortion after 20 weeks but leaves no loophole even for cases of rape. Their justification? The billās House sponsor, state Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, told legislators that the āhand of the Almightyā was at work. āHis ways are higher than our ways,ā Crane said. āHe has the ability to take difficult, tragic, horrific circumstances and then turn them into wonderful examples. And Rep. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton says, āIs not the child of that rape or incest also a victim?ā asked āIt didnāt ask to be here. It was here under violent circumstances perhaps, but that was through no fault of its own.ā[ā¦]
- On February 11, 2011, the North Dakota House of Representatives passed House Bill 1450; a bill which seeking to define a fertilized egg as a human being. As Planned Parenthood reports, āHB 1450 is backed by a national activist group, Personhood USA, working to make North Dakota the epicenter of a heated national debate.ā
- The Oklahoma House of Representatives voted 94 to 2 to a ban on abortionās later than 20 weeks of gestation similar to Nebraskaās in what it called the āPain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.ā Bill 1888 was signed into law in April 2011 by Republican governor Mary Fallin, who signed every anti-abortion bill that came to her desk in 2011. Oklahoma became the third state āto restrict abortions on the basis of fetal painā (joining Kansas and Nebraska) reported the Oklahoman at the time.
- A personhood bill in Louisiana sponsored by Republican State Rep. John LaBruzzo that would have banned all abortions in the state was defeated when a House vote sent it to the House Appropriations Committee, which shelved the measure. This is not the end, however, as this fall a referendum on a personhood amendment.
- Ohio has joined the personhood amendment sweepstakes. Personhood Ohio is gathering signatures to add an abortion ban to the stateās constitution in 2012, defining as a person even fertilization of an egg. Even a fertilized egg apparently as inalienable rights. The measure would not only ban abortion, but contraception. Personhood Ohio hasnāt announced any plans to see to the caring of all the resultant births.
- In Virginia, State Del. C Todd Gilbert (R-Woodstock) described abortion as nothing more than a ālifestyle convenienceā for women during a debate in support of a bill (SB 484) that would require women to receive trans-vaginal ultrasounds before obtaining an abortion. The patient will be shown not only an image of the fetus but the audio of its heartbeat. The Virginia House of Delegates passed the bill, making Virginia the seventh state to require such ultrasounds. Texas and Iowa are also considering such measures. A recent development is the sudden oppositionby Governor Bob McDonnell to the trans-vaginal ultrasound provision. The bill now mandates external ultrasound. The bill will now go back to the Senate.
- In Arizona, Republican social conservatism has reached new heights in the āpunish women for even thinking about itā frenzy. This bill almost requires its own category. State Rep. Terri Proud (R-Tucson), in an email to Arizona legislators, said that wants women to be forced to watch an abortion before having one. āPersonally Iād like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a āsurgical procedureā. If itās not a life it shouldnāt matter, if it doesnāt harm a woman then she shouldnāt care, and donāt we want more transparency and education in the medical profession anyway? We demand it everywhere else. Until the dead child can tell me that she/he does not feel any pain ā I have no intentions of clearing the conscience of the living ā I will be voting YES.ā
- Of great interest to most liberals are the way in which many anti-abortion bills target victims of rape and incest. This is bad enough, but an Idaho Republican has taken things to a whole new level: Senator Chuck Winder (R-Boise), sponsor of S. 1387, which would force mandatory ultrasounds on women seeking abortion, which passed the Idaho senate, wants to be certain women were really, really raped. From the Spokesman Review: In his closing debate in favor of SB 1387, Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, said, āThis bill does not require a trans-vaginal exam. ā¦ It leaves that up to the patient and the physician to make that determination.ā He said, āRape and incest was used as a reason to oppose this. I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume thatās part of the counseling that goes on.ā In other words, we have to assume they are lying.
- For Washington D.C. the GOP has the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, or H.R. 3803, introduced in the House on January 23, 2012, by Congressman Trent Franks (R-Az.) It was introduced in the Senate on February 13 by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), as S. 2103. This legislation would ban abortion after 20 weeks on the basis of fetal pain and as National Right to Life News Today admits without appropriate shame, āis based on an NRLC model bill that has already been enacted in five statesāNebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Alabama.ā Nothing like exporting Bible Belt religious extremism to the innocent citizens of the nationās capital.
- In Nebraska, the Republican Party attempted to put limits on āpersonhoodā after birth and struggled with their pro-life stance on the one hand and hatred of immigrants on the other ā LB599 reports the Journal Democrat, āwill provide prenatal medical assistance for women not covered under Medicaid, including illegal immigrants and women in prison. According to the billās fiscal note, 1,162 unborn babies will be covered annually.ā Republican Gov. Dave Heineman vetoed the bill. āIn a letter explaining his veto, Gov. Dave Heineman said he opposed the bill because it gave taxpayersā benefits to illegal immigrants.ā Heineman said it was āmisguided, misplaced and inappropriate.āBut the legislature overrode his veto and Mike Flood (R), speaker of the chamber (and abortion opponent) pointed out that the babies will be U.S. citizens and said, āIf Iām going to stand up in the Legislature and protect babies at 20 weeks from abortion, and hordes of senators and citizens are going to stand behind me, and thatās pro-life, then Iām going to be pro-life when itās tough, too.ā
- O Oklahoma: an Oklahoma House committee (Republican, of course) has passed a personhood bill (of course), SB-1433, introduced on January 18, 2012. The bill, co-authored by Rep. Lisa Billy (R-Lindsay) would grant āpersonhoodā status to human embryos, asserting: āThe life of each human being begins at conceptionā and that āunborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being.ā On April 19, 2012, Speaker Kris Steeleās office announced that the bill will not come up for a vote. According to Sarah Morice-Brubaker at ReligionDispatches, SB 1433 died under the weight of amendments even āpro-lifersā couldnāt live with. According to the speakerās office, Oklahoma has already āpassed at least 30 various pro-life measures in the past eight years alone.ā
- Tennessee Republicans also want to criminalize miscarriages: the state House of Representatives has approved on a vote of 80-18, a bill (House Bill 3517) that would allow homicide and assault charges to be filed in case of the death of an embryo to the first eight weeks of pregnancy. This is problematic. As the Tennessean reports: āAccording to the National Institutes of Health, roughly half of all fertilized eggs die before reaching full term, with the rate highest during the embryonic stage. As a result, it will be difficult for prosecutors to prove that an embryo miscarried because of someone elseās action and not from natural causes, predicted Rep. Jeanne Richardson, D-Memphis.ā In other words, if a woman miscarried or even had a period, she could be prosecuted.
- In Mississippi, a ballot initiative, Measure 26 (The Personhood Amendment), would have, if passed (it fortunately did not) defined zygotes, embryosāeven a fertilized eggāas a person. Women would have been unable to have an abortion even in the case of rape or incest ā even if her life is in danger, and IUDs, birth control pills and other forms of contraception would have become illegal. Update: Mississippi tried it again: House Concurrent Resolution 61 aka āThe Right to Life Amendment of 2012,ā (HC 61) would āprovide that the right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person; to provide that the world āpersonā applies to all human beings from conception to natural death.ā TPM reports that the bill āwas co-authored by three Republicans and one Democrat.ā Fortunately, this bill died in committee on March 6, 2012; for the time being, womenās reproductive rights will enjoy a reprieve in Mississippi.
- In California, conservatives are peddling the āCalifornia Human Rights Amendmentā. It is okay to condemn people after theyāre born but you must let them be born first. This latest personhood gimmick claims the āinherent human rights, dignity and worth of all human beings from the beginning of their biological development as human beingsā but its real goal is to make abortion illegal ā even in cases of rape or incest (āregardless of the means by which they were procreatedā), or fetal anomaly. In other words, taking away womenās reproductive rights is a promotion of human rights.
- In the U.S. House of Representatives, the Sanctity of Human Life Act (HR 212) proposed by Rep. Paul Brounās (R-Ga.) āincludesā reports Mother Jones, ālanguage that directly parallels that of the Mississippi personhood amendment.ā According to HR 212, āthe life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalentā¦at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.ā
- In Florida, Personhood Florida, with support from Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC), is moving forward with a petition to put a personhood amendment on the 2014 general election ballot.
- In Oklahoma, eggs are about to become people. The bill (HJR- 1067) introduced on January 12, 2012, bears a resemblance to the recently rejected Mississippi law (see Measure 26 above, this category). Republican Rep. Mike Reynolds, the author of the bill, says it wonāt apply to miscarriages or to cases where the motherās life is threatened, but no exceptions are made for rape or incest (though he claims there are), and it would ban birth control and in vitro that ākills a person.ā If approved by the legislature, the bill will appear on the ballot in November. The legislature convenes on February 6. Oklahoma requires only a simple majority in both House and Senate. Update: The Oklahoma Supreme Court has said āOh no you donātā by ruling that the proposed amendment violates a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision and āis clearly unconstitutional.ā
- In Virginia, a bill to establish Personhood (HB-1) was introduced on January 18, 2012 stating that āThe life of each human being begins at conception.ā Introduced by Robert Marshall (R-Prince William), a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates, HB-1 is also based on Mississippiās failed Measure 26. The bill passed out of committee on February 10 and went to the House for a vote on February 14, 2012 passing on a vote of 66 to 32.
- In Wisconsin, AJR-77, which would legally define āpersonhoodā from the moment of fertilization and outlaw all abortion in Wisconsin, was introduced on November 16, 2011. Itās chief sponsor is Republican Andre Jacque. A Planned Parenthood press release dated January 26 states: āAJR 77 a Constitutional Amendment to outlaw abortion, IVF services, stem cell research, and birth control which was so extreme it failed to pass in the most conservative state in the nation- Mississippi. ā
- Kansas has also gotten into the Personhood Act by way of HCR5029, which states that, āthe state of Kansas shall hereby guarantee the inalienable rights, equal protection and due process of law of every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being, including fertilization.ā The bill was introduced by 25 state House members. Including one Democrat. The bill requires a two-third majority vote in both House and Senate to appear on the ballot in August.
- In Alabama, State Sen. Phil Williams (R-Madison) pre-filed a personhood bill for the Feb. 2012 legislative back in December of 2011. SB-5, yet another bill taking after Mississippiās Measure 26, would define humans as persons āfrom the moment of fertilization and implantation into the womb.ā
- In Pennsylvania, The āWomenās Right to Know Actā House Bill 1077, which was authored by state Rep. Kathy Rapp (R), is being called even more restrictive than Virginiaās transvaginal ultrasound bill. Raw Story reports: āThe bill faces a vote in the full Pennsylvania state house in mid-March, when the legislature is back in session. A petition at SignOn.org has collected nearly 15,000 signatures opposing the legislation.ā In keeping with the Republican practice of trying to slip legislation past the public, no public hearing was held. The bill does offer exceptions for victims of rape and incest.
- Utah was all set to jump on board the vaginal ultrasound bandwagon but as the Spokesman reports, āIdaho Senate Assistant Majority Leader Chuck Winder, R-Meridian, said the original version of his [mandatory ultrasound] bill specifically mentioned that procedure, but he removed it. āIt didnāt require it, but in my opinion it was confusing ā¦ so we took it out,ā Winder said.ā However, the Idaho Statesman reports: āBut Sara Kiesler, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest, said the measure would still require transvaginal exams, though the explicit reference to the procedure has been excised.ā The revised draft will leave it up to the patient and doctor āwhether to employ an abdominal or transvaginal sonogram to the patient and her provider.ā Says Winder: āThatāll be up to the physician and the patient as to what they want to do,ā admitting the invasive procedure āwent too far.ā
- In Alabama, Republican Clay Scofield (R-Huntsville) has introduced a mandatory ultrasound proposal for women seeking abortions. According to the Montgomery Advertiser: āPhysicians who failed to administer the ultrasound prior to an abortion or an attempted abortion could face up to 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. In addition, the law would allow the woman, the father of the fetus or the grandparents to sue the physician for āactual and punitive damages.ā Scofield stated that the whole point of the procedure was to make the woman uncomfortable, essentially, to punish her for her decision to have an abortion. The unsurprising backlash over his words has caused him, publically, at least, to rethink his position: āI want to offer legislation that will simultaneously protect life and show respect and compassion towards women.ā Given his lie that the ultrasound would not be a vaginal probe, his words should be taken with a grain of salt. The Alabama bill allows no exceptions in case of rape or incest.
- Alaska has joined the state-sponsored rape lollapalooza with its SB 191, which as Planned Parenthood points out, āmandates that the physician perform an ultrasound regardless of its medical necessity prior to performing an abortionāeven though the Alaska Supreme Court has stated repeatedly that Alaska laws may not place unnecessary burdens on a womanās right to an abortion.ā
o War on Birth Control/Contraception
Republicans have tried to define contraception not as a health but as a religious issue, claiming that the availability of contraception is a violation of their religious beliefs.
- The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is attacking the Department of Health and Human Services new guidelines that require insurance companies to cover contraceptive services free of charge. Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) claims the new rules do not protect religious groups who object to contraception. He claims the government is taking, ācoercive actions to force people to abandon their religious principles.ā As part of the Republican War on Women, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) has introduced a bill, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act of 2011, which would allow providers to throw women under the bus on religious grounds.
- In Utah, 45 Republicans voted for state Rep. Bill Wrightās (R) HB363 which, as Raw Story reports, āwould effectively ban comprehensive education about human sexuality, forcing schools to teach abstinence or nothing at all.ā Eleven Republicans and 17 Democrats opposed the bill, in defense of which Wright stated, āWeāve been culturally watered down to think we have to teach about sex, about having sex and how to get away with it, which is intellectually dishonest. Why donāt we just be honest with them upfront that sex outside marriage is devastating?ā
- From Arizona comes the āTell Your Boss Why Youāre on he Pillā Bill. House Bill 2625 authored by Majority Whip Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, reports StatePress.com, āwould permit employers to ask their employees for proof of medical prescription if they seek contraceptives for non-reproductive purposes, such as hormone control or acne treatment.ā Lesko says this is about freedom of religion ā the GOPās so-called ārights of conscienceā ā but itās really about Lesko legislating not only his misogyny but his religious views, mandating that the rest of us set aside our own beliefs and abide by his instead.
- In late February, seven states (Nebraska, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas) went to court over the Obama administrationās birth control mandate and asked a federal judge to block it, telling the U.S. District Court of Nebraska that the rule violates the First Amendment Rights of those who, for religious reasons, object to the use of contraceptives. Nebraska attorney general Jon Bruning (of course heās a Republican!) said, āWe will not stand idly by while out constitutionally guaranteed liberties are discarded by an administration that has sworn to uphold them.ā Apparently, their right to oppose contraceptive use trumps our right to use it ā what about our First Amendment rights? Not to be outdone, Alabama joined up with this unholy cause, Attorney General Luther Strange filed a motion March 22, 2012 to join that federal lawsuit.
o Taxing Abortions
The newest rage, direct from 13th Century Kansas, seeks to squeeze profit from abortions by taxing them.
- In Kansas, H.B. 2598 would levy a sales tax of 6.5% on all abortion procedures, reports RawStory: āāWhy not slap a $100, $200, $300 tax on an abortion?ā Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, the largest anti-abortion advocacy group in Kansas, asked Raw Story on Friday. āIām completely against most forms of taxation, but abortion is such an abhorrent procedure, I would like to see it wiped out with a $2,000 or $3,000 tax on every abortion that happens in Kansas.ā HB 2598, punitive in nature like all GOP anti-choice legislation, would give doctors immunity from malpractice, do away with tax credits, and like Indianaās law, force doctors to lie to patients about non-existent risks of breast cancer. It would also force women to listen to the heartbeat of the fetus before undergoing an abortion. RawStory underscores the financial burdeon created by this monstrous (68 page) bill, saying that it ācould also make late term abortions to save the life of a mother, which can run up to $20,000, wholly cost prohibitive, even for middle class women.ā This would effectively make this bill a ākill the motherā bill, a theme that runs through much of the GOPās anti-choice legislation. Rick Perry crony Governor Brownback plans to sign the bill into law if passed.
The War on Human Fetuses in Food
Yes, you read that correctly. And no, there are no human fetuses in food. But that doesnāt mean we shouldnāt have laws against them being there ā if youāre a Republican, that is. The Associated Press
reports that Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey, infamous for authoring failed bills, has proposed a bill āthat would ban the use of aborted human fetuses in food, despite conceding that heās unaware of any company using such a practice,ā and even Republican Sen. Brian Crain, a self-professed āpro-liferā and the chairman of the Senate Human Services Committee says, āIād hate to think weāre going to spend our time coming up with possibilities of things we need to stop.ā The FDA, of course, says it is ānot aware of this particular concern.ā Ridiculous as it sounds, the bill does also outlaw stem cell research.
The War on the Girl Scouts
This war is unsurprising when you consider its McCarthyian antecedents. The Republican-Christian authoritarian mindset does not like empowering women and it is absolutely horrified by the idea that impressionable young girls should get uppity notions which can only turn them into anti-religion, baby-killing feminazis. A 1955 article in The Atlantic, speaking of the effect these 1954 attacks had on the organization puts it this way: āHave the Girl Scouts themselves changed? Have they altered their basic ideas about international friendship and the United Nations?
āNothing of the sort. The Girl Scouts of America was and is a fine organization which still encourages idealism, good citizenship, and international friendship. What happened in 1954 was that the Girl Scouts in the forty-second year of their existence decided it was no longer safe to say so too plainly.ā
- From Indiana: While not taking the form of actual legislation, the actions of Rep. Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne), who became opposed to the idea of honoring the Girl Scouts because of something he read on the Internet, were hateful. He refused to honor the Girl Scouts because, he as he told fellow lawmakers, they ā promote homosexual lifestylesā and study āfeminists, lesbians, or Communistsā as role models while ignoring those with a religious background.ā And on the basis of some very poor research he warned against āextend[ing] legitimacy to a radicalized organization.ā Raw Story reports [5.1.12] that āAn Indiana lawmaker has only received a single donation in the months since he accused the Girl Scouts of becoming a āradicalized organizationā that promotes the āhomosexual lifestyle.'ā
- From Alaska: Also taking up this cry was Rep. Wess Keller of Wasilla, who seems to prove the old Biblical cry, āCan anything good come out of Wasilla? Keller, like Morris, was predisposed to dislike the Girl Scouts and for the same reasons. It was not difficult for him to also find affirmation of his prejudices so he pulled a Morris and blocked what should have been a routine resolution in the state legislature to honor the Girl Scoutās 100th anniversary, saying in an admission of ignorance, āIām sure you are aware of the information thatās floating around the internet, and Iād like to give you the opportunity to respond to your connection, the Girl Scout connection, with Planned Parenthood and the activist role in that ā is there a connection? Is there not? Frankly, I havenāt looked into it but I see itās out there.ā
The War on Divorce
o From Wisconsin comes Rep. Don Pridemore is co-sponsor of Senator Glenn Grothmanās (R-West Bend) bill (SB 507) that would list ānonmarital parenthoodā as a cause of abuse. The bill states āIn promoting those campaigns and materials, the [Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board] shall emphasize ānonmarital parenthoodā as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.ā The bill is bad enough ā TodaysTMJ4 tells us that āSenator Grothman claims thereās an epidemic of single parenthood, and heās pointing a finger at women for it.ā But whatās worse is Pridemoreās defense of it; he says that women in abusive relationships ā the reason so many of them are single parents in the first place ā ought to just take a beating and stay married: āIf they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help,ā
Why are AZN's so obsessed w/ supporting Authoritarian/thuggish gov'ts 
