Alabama Legislature Passes Total Abortion Ban

In case you were wondering why conservatives/Republicans continue to support Donald Trump.

Because he's appointing judges that will uphold laws like Alabama's new near-total-ban on abortion.

From The New York Times:

The Alabama Senate approved a measure on Tuesday that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state, setting up a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the case that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to end a pregnancy.

The legislation bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and criminalizes the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison. It includes an exception for cases when the mother’s life is at serious risk, but not for cases of rape or incest — a subject of fierce debate among lawmakers in recent days.

The House approved the measure — the most far-reaching effort in the nation this year to curb abortion rights — last month. It now moves to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican. Although the governor has not publicly committed to signing the legislation, many Republican lawmakers expect her support.

Democrats tried to add amendments to the bill like providing women forced to have children with prenatal and medical care until the child reached the age of 13. But, apparently, Alabama Republicans only care about life before the child is born.

The law will be struck down by a lower court. That ruling will be appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where Trump's two justices will side against women's rights, and overturn Roe v. Wade.

Republicans are getting what they want from Trump.

And, by the way, everyone has said, "Roe v Wade is settled law - it won't be overturned."

Now look.

So, for all those who say marriage equality can't be reversed, I suggest you look around.

Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio & now Alabama - these anti-abortion bills aren't a coincidence, it's a concerted effort by the GOP to overturn Roe v. Wade.

I'm sick and tired of this outright assault on women's bodily autonomy - we will fight this with everything we've got.

— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) May 15, 2019

To be clear—before a bunch of ding dongs tweet “but HRC wasn’t running for Governor of Alabama”—

Hillary Clinton would not have nominated Gorsuch or Kavanaugh for SCOTUS seats and she wouldn’t have allowed the Federalist society to pick her lower court judge nominees.

— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) May 15, 2019

#Alabama
1) "We're not going to teach kids about sex."
2) "We're going to take away contraception access."
3) "If you get pregnant, we're going to force you to have the baby."
4) "After you have the baby, you're on your own."

It's no wonder Alabama is ranked last in education.

— Craig Rozniecki (@CraigRozniecki) May 15, 2019

Poll: Vast Majority Of Americans Support Roe v. Wade

Judge Brett Kavanaugh

 A new poll by Axios/SurveyMonkey shows the vast majority of Americans want Roe v. Wade to be left alone.

The results of the new survey come as the U.S. Senate is weighing the nomination of conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Legal eagles are concerned Kavanaugh could flip the high court to a solid conservative bent that might overturn the groundbreaking abortion ruling.

According to the survey, 71% of respondents say they would NOT like to see SCOTUS make abortions illegal, while 23% do support a change in the law.

Axios points out that even rural voters, who skew conservative, want Roe v. Wade to remain the law of the land.

Additionally, the poll found a plurality of Americans disapprove of the choice of Kavanaugh, 48% - 44%.

Walgreens Pharmacist Refuses Medication For Woman With Unviable Pregnancy

Nicole Arteaga

Nicole Arteaga, a first-grade teacher in Arizona, recently got the sad news that her nine week-old pregnancy had stopped developing.

With no heartbeat, the pregnancy would end in a miscarriage.

Instead of going through a surgical procedure to remove the fetal tissue, Arteaga opted to use a medication to provide what would basically be a medical abortion.

The FDA has approved misoprostol to end a pregnancy within the first ten weeks.

But when she went to pick up the prescription at her local Walgreens, the pharmacist inquired as to whether she was pregnant. When she shared that she was, the pharmacist refused to fill the prescription based on "his ethical beliefs."

Arteaga shared her experience with the Walgreens pharmacist on Facebook and the post has gone viral having been shared almost 40,000 times.

I stood at the mercy of this pharmacist explaining my situation in front of my 7 year old, and five customers standing behind only to be denied because of his ethical beliefs.

I get it we all have our beliefs. But what he failed to understand is this isn’t the situation I had hoped for, this isn’t something I wanted. This is something I have zero control over. He has no idea what its like to want nothing more than to carry a child to full term and be unable to do so.

If you have gone thru a miscarriage you know the pain and emotional roller it can be. I left Walgreens in tears, ashamed and feeling humiliated by a man who knows nothing of my struggles but feels it is his right to deny medication prescribed to me by my doctor.

Walgreens eventually contacted Ms. Arteaga “and apologized for how the situation was handled,” but said company policy allows their pharmacists to decline to fill prescriptions in such situations.

“To respect the sincerely held beliefs of our pharmacists while at the same time meeting the needs of our patients, our policy allows pharmacists to step away from filling a prescription for which they have a moral objection,” the company said in a statement.

(source)

Anti-Abortion Congressman Tim Murphy Resigns After Urging Mistress To Abort During Pregnancy Scare

Virulently anti-abortion, anti-LGBT and hypocritical pro-family values Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania has resigned after text messages revealed he had an extramarital affair.

Further, when his mistress believed she was pregnant with his child, he apparently urged her to seek an abortion.

Text messages revealed earlier this week showed the woman with whom Murphy is having an extra-marital affair told Murphy, "you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options," according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Responding to the message, Rep. Murphy said: "I get what you say about my March for life messages. I've never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more. I will."

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued a statement today which read, in part, "This afternoon I received a letter of resignation from Congressman Tim Murphy, effective October 21. It was Dr. Murphy's decision to move on to the next chapter of his life, and I support it."

Murphy will leave office on October 21.

The governor of Pennsylvania cannot appoint a replacement, and so a special election will have to be called.

While possible, it's highly unlikely a Democrat would win the seat since the district is considered solidly red.

Embattled GOP Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania will resign from his position https://t.co/ipBIzWN4t0 https://t.co/NIcXvcCYR7

— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2017

Rep. Tim Murphy's resignation moves #PA18 from Solid Republican to Likely Republican @CookPolitical. R+11, but specials = more uncertainty.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 5, 2017

Tim Murphy = a pro-life icon Rep who bullied his mistress into an abortion bc an out-of-wedlock child can harm a pro-life icon rep.

— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) October 5, 2017

Here's @tperkins giving the @FRCAction "True Blue Award" To Rep. Tim Murphy for voting "100% in defense of family values."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL pic.twitter.com/YI9r940HrG

— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) October 5, 2017

Pro-Life Congressman Asked His Mistress To Get An Abortion

Rep. Tim Murphy

Well, well, well. It's always so interesting when we come across hypocritical "pro-life" politicians who vote against pro-choice rights but seek remedies like abortion for their own life events.

In newly obtained documents, anti-abortion (and anti-LGBT) Rep. Tim Murphy asked his mistress to terminate a pregnancy this year even as he was putting out anti-abortion political positions.

From Slate:

According to documents obtained by the Post-Gazette, Shannon Edwards—a Pittsburgh woman exactly half Murphy’s age with whom he recently admitted to having an extramarital affair—texted Murphy in January about a possible pregnancy that turned out to be just a scare. “You have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options,” she said, referring to a post from Murphy’s professional Facebook account that accused America of “discarding and disregarding the most vulnerable” for allowing abortions past 20 weeks’ gestation.

“I get what you say about my March for life messages,” Murphy responded. “I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don't write any more. I will.”

Such a paragon of virtue.

In addition to opposing any pro-choice positions, Murphy voted against LGBT legislation like the the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

And what did he vote for? A constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

With  a 100% rating from the Family Research Council it's not surprising to know he has a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign.

News Round-Up: December 14, 2016

Some news items you might have missed:

• The brilliant indie film Moonlight received 6 Golden Globe nominations which means even more of the world will be exposed to one of the best movies I've ever seen. If you haven't seen it yet, GO!

• Scientists are downloading and copying government climate data as quickly as possible out of fears a Trump administration might destroy any info showing the reality of climate change.

• Politico is reporting that upwards of 20 GOP Electoral College members are considering not casting their votes for Donald Trump on December 19th. The most EC members to change their votes in one year was 6 in 1808.

• More from the Electoral College - 40 members have asked for an intelligence briefing before December 19th regarding information that Russia actively moved to help elect Donald Trump.

• Oklahoma lawmakers have approved a bill that would require businesses to post anti-abortion signs in their bathrooms.

• Following an acclaimed 4 night concert production at City Center this past October, Jake Gyllenhaal heads back to Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George for ten weeks at the Hudson Theater.

Trump: Marriage Equality Is 'Settled Law,' Roe V. Wade Is Not

President-elect Donald Trump continues to send mixed signals about his policy positions.

During the campaign, he said he would appoint judges to the Supreme Court who would overrule the Obergefell v. Hodges decision last year which brought marriage equality to the entire nation. “I would strongly consider that, yes,” he said in a January Fox News interview.

In his 60 Minutes interview last night, he told Lesley Stahl he's "fine" with same-sex marriage.

“It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.”

“These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m – I’m fine with that,” he added.

The Republican Party’s official platform, ratified by the party in July, opposes same-sex marriage, condemns the Supreme Court’s rulings in Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor, and supports proposed “religious freedom” legislation that critics say would allow businesses to deny services to gay people.

During the very same interview, when asked if he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade, Trump said his judges will be "pro-life," and suggested that decision could be overturned.

"If it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states," Trump said.

Women seeking abortions would have to go "go to another state" for the procedure.

So, Obergefell is "settled law" but Roe v. Wade isn't?

Nancy Pelosi Crushes Abortion Question From Conservative Reporter

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will not suffer fools well when pushed.

CNS News’ Sam Dorman tried to question Pelosi for her past defense of Planned Parenthood by asking, “is an unborn baby with a human heart and a human liver a human being?”

Pelosi was quick to slap the question down, saying that it was ideologically-baited, and has, “no basis in what public policy is."

Dorman attempted to push farther but Pelosi would not stand for it. She paused, then addressed the reporter: “I want to say something to you. I don’t know who you are… but I am a devout, practicing Catholic. A mother of five children."

Pelosi continued, “I think I know more about this subject than you, with all due respect, and I do not intend to respond to your questions”.

Tweet Of The Day: Republicans Protest Taxes & Abortion

The person who shared this on Twitter says this is NOT parody. These are real protesters.

Oh my god. Republican protests are NEXT LEVEL. I can't stop laughing. pic.twitter.com/AJQMQbFsmw

— Calvin (@aurosan) August 11, 2015

House Of Representatives Votes To Tighten Abortion Restrictions

BREAKING: House OKs GOP bill tightening federal abortion restrictions as abortion foes march outside.
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 22, 2015

On the anniversary of Roe V. Wade...

News Round-Up: December 18, 2014

• Channing Tatum covers Esquire Magazine

• Seth Rogen really doesn't have ANYTHING to say about Sony Pictures cancelling release of his film "The Interview" due to terrorist threat

• GOP lawmaker introduces bill requiring women to get permission from male partner for abortion unless "legitimate rape"

• Denmark says it owns the North Pole

• The ACLU of Florida to SCOTUS: “Every day that the couples we represent and the thousands of families across Florida who are also denied the protections of marriage go without those protections, they are suffering real harm."

• Sweet coming out story - High school soccer player comes out by dancing with Homecoming King boyfriend

Michael Martin (L) with his Homecoming King boyfriend, Jem

US Supreme Court Blocks Key Component of Restrictive Texas Abortion Law

The Supreme Court has blocked Texas from enforcing major components of a 2013 law that would close all but eight of the state's abortion facilities.

The justices largely granted the request of abortion providers Tuesday. With three dissenting votes, the court suspended a ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed Texas to enforce a rule making abortion clinics statewide spend millions of dollars on hospital-level upgrades.

Voting 6-3, the US Supreme Court sided with abortion providers by suspending a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which would have allowed Texas to require abortion clinics to spend millions on upgraded facilities in order to stay open.

The legislation was famously filibustered by current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court just ruled to protect access to safe, legal abortion in Texas by vacating the 5th Circuit's stay. Amazing news!
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) October 14, 2014

(source)

For the folks who like to picket abortion clinics

Via Blue Nation Review

Since they are so interested in saving innocent lives...

Texas: The Wendy Davis filibuster saga in 6 minutes

Thrilling to watch. At the time I was glued to my computer watching the crowds roar for over 15 minutes creating their own "people's filibuster."

Wendy Davis is a hero.

Texas state Senator Wendy Davis begins 13 hour filibuster for pro-choice rights

The Texas state senator who represents my hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, is attempting a one-woman 13 hour filibuster today to stand up for pro-choice rights today:

Wearing pink tennis shoes to prepare for nearly 13 consecutive hours of standing, a Democratic Texas state senator on Tuesday began her one-woman filibuster to block a GOP-led effort that would effectively close most abortion clinics across the nation’s second-most populous state.

Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth began the filibuster at 11:18 a.m. CDT Tuesday. To derail a vote in the GOP-dominated Senate, she must keep speaking on the bill until midnight — the deadline for the end of the 30-day special session.

Before Davis began speaking, her chair was removed. Rules stipulate she remain standing, not lean on her desk or take any breaks — even for meals or to use the bathroom.

In her opening remarks, Davis said she was “rising on the floor today to humbly give voice to thousands of Texans” and called Republican efforts to pass the bill a “raw abuse of power.”

Davis was greeted by loud applause and cheers of “Go Wendy!” from hundreds of abortion-rights activists who packed the Senate. Davis motioned for them to be quiet and Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides over the chamber, warned the spectators against making loud outbursts.

Watch Sen. Wendy Davis' progress in the livestream above.

Read more at Talking Points Memo.

Cartoon of the day: If households budgeted like the GOP

From Political Loudmouth... LOL

Wisconsin Senate approves bill to force women to undergo ultra-sound before abortion

Chilling behavior in the Wisconsin state Senate

By a party line vote of 17-15 yesterday the Wisconsin state Senate approved a bill requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion so that "they know they are killing a live baby."

Democrats demanded further debate but GOP Senate President Mike Ellis (above) screamed, "The vote is non-debatable!" as he broke his gavel.

According the Associated Press, the microphone for the Democratic Minority Leader was then turned off.

As a result of the anti-woman Senate Bill 206:

-a woman who wants to receive an abortion in Wisconsin must first get information from a doctor 24 hours before that abortion

-she must receive an ultrasound. Earlier the requirement was for a transvaginal ultrasound, but an amendment was adopted by voice vote June 11th to allow the ulstrasound of the the woman’s choosing. Link to amendment

-if the ultrasound occurs at a location other than the abortion clinic then the doctor performing it must fill out a form which must be presented to the physician at the abortion clinic

-if the professionals aiding the woman do not properly give information and implement this informed consent procedure they risk a fine of $1,000 to $10,000

-the bill adds new punitive fines if a person successfully sues for liability against the clinic professionals for not exercising the informed consent process properly

If the GOP wanted to actually reduce abortions then improving Sex Ed & making birth control options more readily available would be a better approach.

(via Blue Cheddar)

Mitt Romney's son, Tagg Romney, signed surrogacy agreement allowing for right to abort "abnormal fetus"

TMZ has the scoop:

TMZ has learned Mitt Romney's son Tagg -- who had twins this year through a surrogate -- signed an agreement that gave the surrogate, as well as Tagg and his wife, the right to abort the fetuses in non-life threatening situations ... and Mitt Romney covered some of the expenses connected with the arrangement."

From Paragraph 13 of the agreement:

"In the event the child is determined to be physiologically, genetically or chromosomally abnormal, the decision to abort or not to abort is to be made by the intended parents.  In such a case the surrogate agrees to abort, or not to abort, in accordance with the intended parents' decision."

And there's another relevant provision in Paragraph 13:

"Any decision to abort because of potential harm to the child, or to reduce the number of fetuses, is to be made by the intended parents."

Tagg Romney chose the same surrogate in 2009, and apparently that agreement did not have this clause.

Tagg Romney's lawyer says it was a careless mistake.