WASHINGTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has vetoed a bill meant to prevent wage discrimination against women.
An aide to state Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D), who authored the equal pay bill, HB 950, said Perry’s office called on Friday to say he had vetoed it. State Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who introduced the Senate version of the legislation, told the Texas Tribune that she had received the same call.
In a statement, Thompson said she was “deeply disappointed” and “heartbroken.”
“Women will still have to struggle to receive their equal pay for their equal work,” she said.
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Faux News and Ingraham lie again about Plan B
These folks have told one lie after the other. As a matter of fact, many of the women’s reproductive rights groups were hotting mad at Kathleen Sebelius and President Obama because girls under 15 had to have parental permission to get the morning after pill.
According to mediaite.com:
The Fox News watchdogs over at Media Matters have flagged another clip of conservative commentator Laura Ingraham saying something “outrageous,” which is a bit like flagging a clip of the sky being blue, but in the process, they missed the big, fat lie that Fox and Friends‘ Steve Doocy told about President Obama‘s policy on Plan B emergency contraception. The Justice Department has dropped its appeal of a judge’s ruling that the drug be made available over-the-counter, without age restrictions, which Ingraham called a “good deal for pedophiles” and statutory rapists.
Female Midshipman alledgely attacked by 3 USNA football players
The U.S. Naval Academy is investigating allegations that three of the school’s football players sexually assaulted a female midshipman at a party last year — an explosive allegation that surfaced Friday as the military faces increased scrutiny over whether it pursues such cases aggressively enough.
The investigation, led by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, has not yielded any arrests, an academy spokesman said. Susan Burke, an attorney for the woman, said the incident occurred at an off-campus “football house” in Annapolis.
The female midshipman got drunk and passed out, Burke said, and woke up remembering little from the party. “She learned from friends and social media that three football players were claiming to have had sexual intercourse with her while she was incapacitated,” Burke said in a statement.
Burke has taken on similar cases and is urging Congress to change the law so that military prosecutors, instead of commanders who lack legal training, have the power to decide whether sexual assault cases should go to trial. The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on that proposal and related bills. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other senior military officers are scheduled to testify.
Kermit Gosnell to spend remainder of his life in prison
Make no mistake about it. Kermit Gosnell is a back alley abortionist and was performing illegal abortions. In fact, this blog put out a message about him at the time of his arrest. There is nothing redeeming about this man or his practice.
All the regulation in the world wouldn’t stop this criminal. Sean Carney is simply wrong about increased regulation. His smug look sickened me since I doubt he has ever sat up with a friend who agonized over the possibility of unwanted pregnancy or the possibility of an abortion.
It makes as much sense to act like over-regulation would have stopped Gosnell as it does to suggest that we should ask a thug with a stolen .38 special to show us his concealed weapon permit. Criminals don’t follow the rules.
Desperate women do not need to be put in the position of feeling like they need to go to places that practice bad medicine. Reproductive services should be available, safe, and affordable. That drives the Kermit Gosnells out of business. Restrictions and lack of available services guarantee that another Kermit Gosnell will pop up to prey on more desperate women.
Unfortunately, Karnamaya Mongar paid with her life. That is unacceptable in a country where legal, safe abortion is the law of the land.
Emergency Plan B Contraception: no age restrictions?
The Washington Post has posted its opinion. Here is the background part for your consideration:
WHEN U.S. District Judge Edward Korman ruled last month that the government had to allow unrestricted, over-the-counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B, it seemed as though the Obama administration had stumbled its way out of a political quandary. Scientists say that the drug is safe for over-the-counter sale; in fact, the judge noted, it would be among the safest of over-the-counter drugs. But many parents — President Obama included, by his own account — are queasy about children being allowed to buy emergency contraceptives without oversight. The court forced the government to act on evidence, not queasiness.
When your heritage bites you in the butt….
Two sets of parents, one little girl. One set of parents in South Carolina, the other in Oklahoma. Both want the child. The birth mother chose the South Carolina couple, the Capobiancos. The Oklahoma couple is comprised of the biological father, aka sperm donor and his wife. The biological father had texted earlier that he gave up any claim to the child.
The Capobiancos, chosen by the birth mother, took care of baby Veronica from the moment of her birth until she was 27 months old. It was then that the courts. basing their decision on tribal law, gave Baby Veronica to her birth father. The Supreme Court hears the case this week.
Virginia TRAP laws whittle away at abortion rights
RICHMOND — The Virginia Board of Health voted Friday to require clinics that perform abortions to meet strict, hospital-style building codes that operators say could put many of them out of business.
The 11 to 2 vote represented the board’s final say on the matter, which has taken unexpected twists and turns since the General Assembly voted in 2011 to regulate abortion clinics like outpatient surgical centers. The regulations went straight to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), who quickly certified them. They now go to two state agencies and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R), who is expected to sign off on them.
Make no mistake, these TRAP laws do not make abortion safer nor do they protect women. TRAP laws simply make it more difficult and expensive to provide safe, legal abortion. Anyone who thinks differently has been misled by political opponents who want to end legal abortion.
Women worshippers arrested at Western Wall in Israel
JERUSALEM —A long-running battle over worship at the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest shrine, was rejoined Thursday as Israeli police arrested five Jewish women who wore prayer shawls at a morning service, contrary to Orthodox practice enforced at the site.
The arrests came two days after disclosure of a potentially groundbreaking plan that could allow for non-Orthodox services to be held in the area on an equal footing with those conducted according to Orthodox tradition.
Govenor Ultrasound McDonnell Hires Bullies to Answer the Phones
So I called the Govenors office, not the first I have done this mind you, and spoke with the most obnoxious young man. He wanted to bully me into a debate. I will add, every other time I have called the Govenor’s office, I have spoken with a perfectly lovely black woman. She is always polite. Well, what a difference this experience was for me.
I wish I had asked his name now. He answered the phone and I told him I was calling about the amendment that would inhibit women buying abortion coverage with their own money in the insurance exchange. I asked him, rhetorically of course, why republicans always seemed to rally around the premise of small government, but when it comes to a womans vagina/i.e. reproductive system, they were more than happy to use government power to justify their means.
He then proceeded to interupt me and instead of asking me for my name etc, he wanted to debate me on the subject. I told him I had no interest in debating him, that I simply called to register my disgust. Well, he proceeded to tell me that I had “called a non partisan office”. Can someone please tell me how Govenor McDonnell’s office is non partisan. Isn’t he a republican? Am I in the some twighlight zone episode?
Violence Against Women Act Renewed
The Violence Against Women Act was renewed today. The original bill was passed in 1994 but had expired in 2011.
Some details from Foxnews.com:
The bill renews a 1994 law that has set the standard for how to protect women, and some men, from domestic abuse and prosecute abusers. Thursday’s 286-138 vote came after House lawmakers rejected a more limited approach offered by Republicans.
It was the third time this year that House Speaker John Boehner has allowed Democrats and moderates in his own party prevail over the GOP’s much larger conservative wing. As with a Jan. 1 vote to avoid the fiscal cliff and legislation to extend Superstorm Sandy aid, a majority of House Republicans voted against the final anti-violence bill.
The law has been renewed twice before without controversy, but it lapsed in 2011 as it was caught up in the partisan battles that now divide Congress. Last year, the House refused to go along with a Senate-passed bill that would have made clear that lesbians, gays, immigrants and Native American women should have equal access to Violence Against Women Act programs.
Makers: Women Who Made America (Tues. Feb. 26 @8 PM)
Tonight on PBS @8:00-11:00
Watch MAKERS: Women Who Make America Trailer on PBS. See more from Makers: Women Who Make America.
Many folks won’t believe some of what they are going to see.
SOME GOP delegates promote easy access to birth control
The key word here is SOME. Not one delegate from Prince William County was a signatory on the letter written to Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. Granted, the GOP delegates who sent the letter appear to be the more modern of the Republicans in the Delegate Assembly but I still smell a rat…actually, I smell a Trojan Horse.
From the Virginia Pilot:
Several Republicans in the House of Delegates have urged federal health officials to allow birth control to be sold without a prescription to adults.
More than two dozen legislators wrote U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius seeking a policy change they called “a reform that makes sense and is something the Obama administration could quickly move on with bipartisan support.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reject latest compromise on contraception
Catholic bishops on Thursday rejected the White House’s latest attempt at compromise on contraception, saying it did not adequately accommodate religious organizations that object to covering free contraception in employee health plans.
“Throughout the past year, we have been assured by the administration that we will not have to refer, pay for, or negotiate for the mandated coverage,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. “We remain eager for the administration to fulfill that pledge.”
Contraception Compromises Continue
Sandra Fluke weighs to this lastest leg of the controversy:
What else has happened? How could the President compromise any more? Its hard to imagine.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Friday proposed yet another compromise to address strenuous objections from religious organizations about a policy requiring health insurance plans to provide free contraceptives, but the change did not end the political furor or legal fight over the issue.
The proposal could expand the number of groups that do not need to pay directly for birth control coverage, encompassing not only churches and other religious organizations, but also some religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and social service agencies. Health insurance companies would pay for the coverage.
Roe turns 40…pretty beaten up–January 22
Most Americans remain opposed to overturning the controversial Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion at least in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The poll by the Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans believe that Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned, compared to 29 percent who believe it should be. These opinions have changed little from surveys conducted in 2003 and 1992, Pew reported.
While many of the social issues have changed over the years, American opinions really haven’t changed all that much. Accessibility to abortion has certainly gotten tighter. 4 states are down to having one clinic left and if anti-choice activists have their way, there will be no abortion services in Mississippi, South Dakota, Arkansas, or North Dakota. Clinic directors and doctors are often stalked. In no other business would this kind of behavior be legally allowed.
