Federal judge temporarily blocks restrictive new Mississippi abortion law: A preliminary ruling by U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III will prevent the law from taking effect at least until July 11, in what pro-abortion-rights activists label a victory. The law would likely lead to the closing of the state’s only abortion clinic. Read more here.
The law requires anyone performing abortions at the state’s only clinic to be an OB-GYN with privileges to admit patients to a local hospital. Such privileges can be difficult to obtain, and the clinic contends the mandate is designed to put it out of business. A clinic spokeswoman, Betty Thompson, has said the two physicians who do abortions there are OB-GYNs who travel from other states.
Michelle Movahed of the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights is one of the attorneys representing the Mississippi clinic in its federal lawsuit. She said in an interview Friday that several states — including Mississippi, Kansas and Oklahoma — have tried in the past two or three years to chip away at access to abortion.
“One of the things that has really been surprising about Mississippi is how open the legislators and elected officials have been about their intentions,” Movahed said. “They’re not even pretending it’s about public safety. They’re openly saying they’re using this law to try to shut down the last abortion provider in the state.”
The state’s governor, Republican Phil Bryant, says that this is the intended effect, as he wants the state to be “abortion-free.” There is only one abortion clinic in the entire state.
Congress hereby declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being.The Life at Conception Act, an amendment introduced by Sen. Rand Paul • Gumming up the works of an otherwise non-controversial bill about flood insurance. The amendment to the bill also “ensure[s] equal protection for right to life of each born and preborn human person.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated he would not allow a vote on the amendment, and asked other GOP senators — who, incidentally, are the major supporters of this bill, even without Paul’s amendment — to deal with their colleague “on their side of the aisle.” An incredible hail mary for pro-life policy. source (via • follow)
» For and against: The bill’s sponsor, Trent Franks, claims that America is “the only advanced country left in the world that still doesn’t restrict sex-selective abortion in any way.” But Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowski, voted against the bill, said that it ”includes a provision that would allow a women’s husband or parents, by merely alleging that an abortion is because of gender, to seek injunctive relief to prevent the doctor from performing abortion procedures.“
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This is a common-sense law that tightens existing state regulations and closes loopholes in order to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions, whether directly or indirectly. By signing this measure into law, I stand with the majority of Americans who oppose the use of taxpayer funds for abortion.Arizona Governor Jan Brewer • Commenting on her signing of the Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act, which is a lengthy way of saying that Planned Parenthood’s funding is on the outs in Arizona. The act is one of numerous GOP-backed, anti-abortion measures to move through state level legislatures. It’s not just directed at Planned Parenthood either, though that’s clearly the biggest target of the legislation – any health clinic that offers abortion services can no longer receive state funding, regardless of all other services they offer. source (via • follow)
How dare they go after 57,000 dedicated women whose median age is well over 70 and who work tirelessly for a more just world? How dare the very men who preside over a church in utter disgrace due to sexual misconduct and cover-ups by bishops try to distract from their own problems by creating new ones for women religious?Catholic theologian Mary E. Hunt, responding to a Papal directive that, as Nicholas Kristoff puts it, “accused the nuns of worrying too much about the poor and not enough about abortion and gay marriage.” (via ericmortensen)
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» Gov. McDonnell still liked, but less liked: The poll, taken by Quinnipiac University and released Wednesday, shows that Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is still popular, with a 53 percent approval rating, but that’s down a bit from the 58 percent approval he had in early February, suggesting that the ultrasound fight might have hurt him. It definitely hurt the Virginia legislature, though, which now has a net-negative rating and saw a 19-percent shift in their favorability rating. The law, which passed in late February, was toned down after a public outcry.
The police officers said that the break-in looked well planned, and it’s frightening that the personal and family information of our membership has been stolen. … There cannot be a good intent behind such a crime.Dr. David Byck • Discussing the break-in of the Suwanee, Ga. branch of the Georgia Obstetrical & Gynecological Society. The group, which opposes a new law which would criminalize abortions past the 20 week mark, had laptops stolen that included information on 1,000 OB/Gyn physicians and their families. Local police say that a jogger saw a man wearing black gloves and a black bag run out of the office building on Saturday and get into a passenger vehicle. (via John Ness)
When the woman answered the door, she looked at my daughter and said, ‘We don’t support Girl Scouts because they support abortion, which kills babies.’Girl Scout troop leader Kim Douglas • Discussing a recent situation her 10-year-old daughter faced when going door-to-door to sell cookies. Douglas’ daughter, by the way, didn’t know what abortion was. “It left my daughter very shocked, confused,” Douglas said. “She said, ‘Mommy, something creepy happened to me.’” By the way: The Girl Scouts, which have faced much culture war heat of late (including this guy we posted about Monday), take no position on abortion or contraception, so the woman was incorrect.
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Virginia Lawmakers Drop Invasive Ultrasound Requirement From Abortion Bill
After an understandable uproar over a mandatory procedure that federal law would consider rape, Virginia legislators have opted to forgo the invasive and most definitely uncomfortable procedure for women seeking abortions. On top of a big invasion of privacy for all women, the legislation could have re-traumatized women who sought abortions because of rapes. A meeting last night led legislators to reconsider the vagina wand provision, reaching a compromise that would make the procedure voluntary, but not mandatory, reports The Washington Post. We’re not sure what woman might choose to have an ultrasound used in this way, but, now they get a choice. And with that, the never-ending reproduction debates continue.
A victory for activists in the latest round of the culture wars.
Object sexual penetration is a serious sex crime in Virginia. It is very difficult to look at the bill and look at the OSP statute together and think that you are not asking doctors to commit a sex crime. …Consent is a key element in the criminal statute, and there is no consent required in the ultrasound statute.David Englin, Democratic delegate from Virginia • Explaining the new tactic taken by Democrats in Virginia, in their effort against a bill expected to pass the state legislature that could mandate unwanted, penetrative ultrasounds for women seeking abortions. That happening under any other circumstance would, as Englin suggested, be considered a sex crime in Virginia, carrying a prison sentence of five years. The ultrasound mandate in the eyes of its supporters bears no inherent medical relevance, exactly – the logic seems to be to try to dissuade women from having abortions by forcing them to look at their own ultrasounds. The bill is currently opposed by 55% of Virginians, according to recent polling, but is expected to pass the legislature and be signed into law by Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, one of the most conservative governors in the country. source (via • follow)
“Is abortion wrong?”: You typically might not think to ask such a heady question of your mobile phone, but if you happen to have Android’s “Iris” (is it good marketing to so obviously reverse the name “Siri?”) you’ll get a strong response. The issue seems to be that Iris is powered by an Ask Jeeves style search engine called ChaCha, which answers user questions with answers from paid freelancers. Meaning that in asking your phone whether abortion is wrong, you’re actually asking an unknown human being – one which might have a strong opinion on the subject. source
![thedailywhat:
Plan B6 of the Day: Officials at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania were asked to explain their decision to offer students access to the emergency contraception pill Plan B through a vending machine inside the school’s health center.
“We had some conversations with them and did a survey of the student body and we got an 85 percent response rate that the students supported Plan B in the House Center,” said Ship’s Vice president of Student Affairs, Dr. Roger Serr.
One dose of the so-called “morning-after pill,” which can legally be purchased over-the-counter by individuals 17 or older, will set students back $25. The university says it uses money made from sales to purchase more pills. Some 350 to 400 doses are sold each year.
“The vending machine is just a way to dispense it,” said Dr. Serr. “It’s provided, it’s not necessarily promoted on a large scale.”
[wtae / poo.]
What do you think? Should a university be selling emergency contraception from a vending machine?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz1b6lS8gr1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Plan B6 of the Day: Officials at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania were asked to explain their decision to offer students access to the emergency contraception pill Plan B through a vending machine inside the school’s health center.
“We had some conversations with them and did a survey of the student body and we got an 85 percent response rate that the students supported Plan B in the House Center,” said Ship’s Vice president of Student Affairs, Dr. Roger Serr.
One dose of the so-called “morning-after pill,” which can legally be purchased over-the-counter by individuals 17 or older, will set students back $25. The university says it uses money made from sales to purchase more pills. Some 350 to 400 doses are sold each year.
“The vending machine is just a way to dispense it,” said Dr. Serr. “It’s provided, it’s not necessarily promoted on a large scale.”
What do you think? Should a university be selling emergency contraception from a vending machine?
(Source: thedailywhat)
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