Abortion & Contraception Rights Under Attack

[LFC]

Oh, look! A Republican hypocrite! I'm shocked, shocked I say!

Far-Right Anti-Abortion Lt. Guv Admits He Paid For An Abortion

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who went viral last October over a deranged rant about LBGTQ+ “filth,” confirmed on Wednesday that he had paid for an abortion in 1989 after WRAL and Axios discovered Facebook posts from 2012 in which he admitted to doing so.

• Robinson is a hardline abortion opponent who declared last year that once someone becomes pregnant, “it’s not your body anymore.”

• He’s said he’s “95 percent sure” he’s running for governor in 2024.

I guess you could say that he was for it before he was against it.

[pnwguy]

Mar 24, 2022 16:40:20 GMT LFC said:

The governor of Idaho bemoans the bill he just willingly signed. Pathetic.

“None of the rights we treasure are off limits,” he wrote.

Nothing is a "right" unless Republicans approve of it.  That's what they call Natural Law.  The top predator defines the laws of nature.

[goldenvalley]

Mar 24, 2022 16:43:31 GMT LFC said:

Oh, look! A Republican hypocrite! I'm shocked, shocked I say!

Far-Right Anti-Abortion Lt. Guv Admits He Paid For An Abortion

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who went viral last October over a deranged rant about LBGTQ+ “filth,” confirmed on Wednesday that he had paid for an abortion in 1989 after WRAL and Axios discovered Facebook posts from 2012 in which he admitted to doing so.

• Robinson is a hardline abortion opponent who declared last year that once someone becomes pregnant, “it’s not your body anymore.”

• He’s said he’s “95 percent sure” he’s running for governor in 2024.

I guess you could say that he was for it before he was against it.

Yeah but he has repented so it's okay.  

[LFC]

Sick, sick, sick.

Five fetuses found at home of anti-abortion activist, DC Police say
Lauren Handy and eight others were indicted this week on felony charges stemming from the 2020 invasion of an abortion clinic.

Police discovered five fetuses at the home of an anti-abortion activist in Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the department has confirmed to WUSA9.

Officers responded shortly after noon to a home on the 400 block of 6th Street SE to investigate a tip about potential bio-hazard material in the residence. Once inside, they located the fetuses. They were collected by the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The home was occupied by Lauren Handy, an anti-abortion activist who was indicted along with nine others Wednesday by a federal grand jury. Handy is accused of felony conspiracy against rights for a blockade inside a D.C. abortion clinic in October 2020.

WUSA9’s camera was outside as DC Police homicide and forensic services detectives took evidence out in red biohazard bags and coolers from the rowhouse's basement.

Handy declined to speak on camera Wednesday, but told WUSA9 she expected the raid to happen "sooner or later." She also declined at the time to say what was in the coolers, saying only that "people would freak out when they heard."

[goldenvalley]

Mar 31, 2022 18:12:58 GMT LFC said:

Sick, sick, sick.

Five fetuses found at home of anti-abortion activist, DC Police say
Lauren Handy and eight others were indicted this week on felony charges stemming from the 2020 invasion of an abortion clinic.

Police discovered five fetuses at the home of an anti-abortion activist in Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the department has confirmed to WUSA9.

Officers responded shortly after noon to a home on the 400 block of 6th Street SE to investigate a tip about potential bio-hazard material in the residence. Once inside, they located the fetuses. They were collected by the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The home was occupied by Lauren Handy, an anti-abortion activist who was indicted along with nine others Wednesday by a federal grand jury. Handy is accused of felony conspiracy against rights for a blockade inside a D.C. abortion clinic in October 2020.

WUSA9’s camera was outside as DC Police homicide and forensic services detectives took evidence out in red biohazard bags and coolers from the rowhouse's basement.

Handy declined to speak on camera Wednesday, but told WUSA9 she expected the raid to happen "sooner or later." She also declined at the time to say what was in the coolers, saying only that "people would freak out when they heard."

Wow. Just wow.

[LFC]

Colorado has moved ahead to protect abortion rights.

Colorado Enshrines Abortion Rights In State Law

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Monday signed legislation by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature that guarantees access to abortion even if the conservative Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade.

• The new law marks another move by blue/blue-leaning states to protect against Republicans’ full-fledged war on abortion rights, especially with SCOTUS seemingly poised to gut Roe soon through the Mississippi abortion case.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 5, 2022 15:35:03 GMT LFC said:

Colorado has moved ahead to protect abortion rights.

Colorado Enshrines Abortion Rights In State Law

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Monday signed legislation by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature that guarantees access to abortion even if the conservative Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade.

• The new law marks another move by blue/blue-leaning states to protect against Republicans’ full-fledged war on abortion rights, especially with SCOTUS seemingly poised to gut Roe soon through the Mississippi abortion case.

This will be fought out state by state, just the way the Republicans want everything to be.  They are confident they can prevail in a lot of states and to hell with individual rights that they choose to abrogate.

[pnwguy]

Apr 5, 2022 15:50:41 GMT goldenvalley said:

Apr 5, 2022 15:35:03 GMT LFC said:

Colorado has moved ahead to protect abortion rights.

This will be fought out state by state, just the way the Republicans want everything to be.  They are confident they can prevail in a lot of states and to hell with individual rights that they choose to abrogate.

Soon to be followed up by laws that make it a crime to take an “unborn baby” across state lines into any state that allows abortion. “We must protect these ‘citizens’ from potential harm”

[LFC]

Oklahoma goes for a near full out ban of abortion. There's an exception for life of the mother but you know how that will play out. The crazy Christianists will start screeching that it's being abused right out of the gate and push for a 100% ban. There appears to be no exception for rape or incest.

Oklahoma has completely tossed the “weeks” component of the abortion debate.

A bill that would make it illegal to perform an abortion in Oklahoma quietly passed the state House today by a 70-14 vote. The same Republican-backed bill passed the Oklahoma Senate last year, according to the Washington Post, meaning the bill is now headed to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk.

If passed, it will become the most restrictive abortion ban in the country.

Stitt has signaled he’s down to sign it into law, but there’s a bit of a catch — if/when he signs it, it won’t officially become law until this summer when the state legislature adjourns, giving abortion advocates a brief window to put together legal challenges to the measure. But if it is not blocked by the courts, it’ll become law conveniently around the same time that the Supreme Court is set to rule on Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.

While that case is framed around the 15-week cutoff that challenges federal precedent, abortion advocates who followed oral arguments in December warned that there’s no world in which the high Court upholds the Mississippi 15-week ban and allows Roe to stay intact. The Court’s conservative justices signaled a willingness to overturn the precedent, cementing fears that the landmark 1973 ruling was the uber-conservative Court’s true target in deciding to take up the Mississippi case.

And so, states like Oklahoma and others around the nation are preparing for the impending death of Roe, passing increasingly egregious, dangerous and restrictive abortion bans into law at the state level to get ahead of the curve, preparing for the time when the right to have an abortion is tossed back to the states.

If Oklahoma’s outright ban on the procedure isn’t blocked by the courts, it’ll become law this summer, making performing an abortion entirely illegal, whether a person is one week, six weeks or 15 weeks pregnant — any procedure under the timeframe of fetal viability will be illegal for providers. Punishments will include a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison. The only exception for performing an abortion in Oklahoma: if the mother’s life is in danger.

[LFC]

FFS, the story about Fetus Girl gets weirder, if that's possible. TPM has 5 points on the story. Number 5 is absolutely out of left field sadly about what I'd expect from America's right-wing.

5 Conspiracy Theories Abound

The activists accused the D.C. Metropolitan Police of being “actively involved in a cover-up” of “crimes” allegedly being committed by a doctor who performs abortions at the clinic. The activists didn’t detail what exactly the crimes were, and local outlet WUSA9 found no disciplinary issues on the doctor’s official records. Additionally, D.C. Department of Health’s inspection reports on the clinic over the past five years show no compliance issues, per WUSA9.

The activists also claimed that Curtis Bay “burns” fetuses to power Baltimore’s electricity supply.

I swear the world feels like a movie directed by Quentin Tarantino ... on acid.

[pnwguy]

Apr 7, 2022 21:52:19 GMT LFC said:

FFS, the story about Fetus Girl gets weirder, if that's possible. TPM has 5 points on the story. Number 5 is absolutely out of left field sadly about what I'd expect from America's right-wing.

5 Conspiracy Theories Abound

The activists accused the D.C. Metropolitan Police of being “actively involved in a cover-up” of “crimes” allegedly being committed by a doctor who performs abortions at the clinic. The activists didn’t detail what exactly the crimes were, and local outlet WUSA9 found no disciplinary issues on the doctor’s official records. Additionally, D.C. Department of Health’s inspection reports on the clinic over the past five years show no compliance issues, per WUSA9.

The activists also claimed that Curtis Bay “burns” fetuses to power Baltimore’s electricity supply.

I swear the world feels like a movie directed by Quentin Tarantino ... on acid bath salts.

Bill Maher FIFY

[LFC]

Many red states are all set up for right-wing SCOTUS's killing of Roe v Wade.

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the dominoes will fall fast.

In 18 states, abortion will become almost immediately illegal. Those states already have either an abortion ban that predates Roe on the books or a trigger law specifically written to ban or nearly ban abortion as soon as Roe falls, or both, according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute and subsequent legislature actions.

They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The Supreme Court decision that would trigger this mass blackout could come as soon as this summer.

Another four states have six-week abortion bans ready to put into place, which prohibit virtually all abortions since most women don’t yet know that they’re pregnant at that early stage. Some of those bans were blocked by courts in accordance with Roe, and could be revived.

They are Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and South Carolina.

Four more states have toyed with less draconian bans or attempted to curtail abortion in other ways, demonstrating a willingness to go further in Roe’s absence.

They are Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska. Nebraska in particular tried to pass its own trigger law in early April, but the legislation failed in the state Senate.

That’s 26 total states poised to ban or severely restrict abortion access the moment the court overturns Roe, 18 of them to act almost immediately. It’s a picture of a bifurcated America, where legal abortions become a feature of blue states only.

It’s a future less fantastical than it seemed before the Supreme Court oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

[pnwguy]

Apr 12, 2022 13:47:44 GMT LFC said:

Many red states are all set up for right-wing SCOTUS's killing of Roe v Wade.

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the dominoes will fall fast.

In 18 states, abortion will become almost immediately illegal. Those states already have either an abortion ban that predates Roe on the books or a trigger law specifically written to ban or nearly ban abortion as soon as Roe falls, or both, according to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute and subsequent legislature actions.

They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The Supreme Court decision that would trigger this mass blackout could come as soon as this summer.

Another four states have six-week abortion bans ready to put into place, which prohibit virtually all abortions since most women don’t yet know that they’re pregnant at that early stage. Some of those bans were blocked by courts in accordance with Roe, and could be revived.

They are Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and South Carolina.

Four more states have toyed with less draconian bans or attempted to curtail abortion in other ways, demonstrating a willingness to go further in Roe’s absence.

They are Florida, Indiana, Montana and Nebraska. Nebraska in particular tried to pass its own trigger law in early April, but the legislation failed in the state Senate.

That’s 26 total states poised to ban or severely restrict abortion access the moment the court overturns Roe, 18 of them to act almost immediately. It’s a picture of a bifurcated America, where legal abortions become a feature of blue states only.

It’s a future less fantastical than it seemed before the Supreme Court oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Blue states like Oregon are preparing for what that means in terms of neighboring state anti-choice "refugees" seeking care.

[LFC]

Kentucky overrides the governor's veto and passes an outright ban on abortion. It is sick beyond belief with no exclusion for rape or incest. As one a-hole Republican said years ago, a rape victim should just view her rapist's baby as a gift from God(tm). And the requirement for burial or cremation of fetal remains is the demented fevered beliefs of twisted Christianists.

Kentucky Republicans overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s (D) veto Wednesday night on an abortion law so restrictive that the state’s few remaining clinics will no longer be able to operate. It’s effective immediately.

Abortion rights groups plan to challenge the law in court.

Planned Parenthood’s Kentucky state director Tamarra Wieder said that provisions in the law forcing providers to be certified by the state Board of Pharmacy before they dispense abortion medication and requiring the burial or cremation of fetal remains make it impossible for clinics to continue providing services, according to Reuters.

In his veto, Beshear made the practical effects of the draconian law clear.

“House Bill 3 contains no exceptions or exclusions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest,” he wrote. “Under House Bill 3, a 12-year-old child that is raped and impregnated by her father would not have the option of a procedure without both the consent of her mother and without also notifying her rapist — her father — at least 48 hours prior to obtaining a procedure or by petitioning a circuit or district court for a hearing…”

“Furthermore,” he added, “House Bill 3 is likely unconstitutional.”

[LFC]

The anti-abortion right already has plans in place to make it illegal everywhere.

What’s next? The hardcore anti-abortion segment of the Republican base doesn’t want a country bifurcated by abortion access in blue states and prohibition in the red ones. Those activists consider abortion to be murder, and will certainly keep pushing for it to be outlawed nationwide.

And even for GOP lawmakers who lack that fire, Roe has served as an incredibly effective electoral carrot for years. Think back to stories of Republicans who held their noses and voted reluctantly for Trump, motivated solely by his (relatively new) anti-abortion stance and promise to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe.

So the question is less whether Republicans will find a new boogeyman to fill the Roe void, and more what it’ll be. With abortion rights on the cusp of being rolled back, which individual right will be in the crosshairs next? There’s a chance that it won’t be abortion at all — Republican lawmakers have already started expressing hostility towards same-sex marriage and contraception access, and the anti-LBGTQ activism on the state level has become vicious.

But if it is abortion, there are clues indicating under what banner the next battle will be fought.

The Personhood Bait-And-Switch

“I definitely think outlawing abortion nationwide is round two,” Jessie Hill, associate dean and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told TPM. “Folks have already been laying the academic groundwork for this.”

Most of that energy has been channeled into the idea of fetal personhood, the theory that a fetus is a person imbued with rights under the 14th Amendment. It’s not a new argument from the right, though it experienced a resurgence last fall with an article published by Notre Dame professor John Finnis in the Catholic journal First Things. It also turned up in some amici briefs supporting Mississippi in the 15-week abortion ban case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

“It used to be an absolutely fringe view, but we’re starting to see it gain wider and wider acceptance,” Hill added. “If fetuses are persons under the 14th Amendment, not only is abortion not constitutionally protected, but it is forbidden by the Constitution.”

This argument is a bait and switch from the conventional right-wing line on abortion: that the Constitution is silent about it, so it should be left to the states to decide. Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to endorse that view during oral arguments in the Dobbs case.

But the work to make the transition has been underway for years. Anti-abortion activists favor language of elision like referring to fetuses as “unborn children,” and some hold funerals and “naming ceremonies” after terminated pregnancies.

Women have already long been criminalized for even unintentional pregnancy loss, and several states’ laws banning fetal homicide — most applied to protect pregnant women from violence — do not include maternal exemptions for current pregnancies.

Right-wing SCOTUS will abandon originalism in a fetal heartbeat on this one if given the chance. Why? Because they're partisan hacks, no matter how much they whine that they aren't.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 25, 2022 21:05:28 GMT LFC said:

The anti-abortion right already has plans in place to make it illegal everywhere.

What’s next? The hardcore anti-abortion segment of the Republican base doesn’t want a country bifurcated by abortion access in blue states and prohibition in the red ones. Those activists consider abortion to be murder, and will certainly keep pushing for it to be outlawed nationwide.

And even for GOP lawmakers who lack that fire, Roe has served as an incredibly effective electoral carrot for years. Think back to stories of Republicans who held their noses and voted reluctantly for Trump, motivated solely by his (relatively new) anti-abortion stance and promise to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe.

So the question is less whether Republicans will find a new boogeyman to fill the Roe void, and more what it’ll be. With abortion rights on the cusp of being rolled back, which individual right will be in the crosshairs next? There’s a chance that it won’t be abortion at all — Republican lawmakers have already started expressing hostility towards same-sex marriage and contraception access, and the anti-LBGTQ activism on the state level has become vicious.

But if it is abortion, there are clues indicating under what banner the next battle will be fought.

The Personhood Bait-And-Switch

“I definitely think outlawing abortion nationwide is round two,” Jessie Hill, associate dean and professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, told TPM. “Folks have already been laying the academic groundwork for this.”

Most of that energy has been channeled into the idea of fetal personhood, the theory that a fetus is a person imbued with rights under the 14th Amendment. It’s not a new argument from the right, though it experienced a resurgence last fall with an article published by Notre Dame professor John Finnis in the Catholic journal First Things. It also turned up in some amici briefs supporting Mississippi in the 15-week abortion ban case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

“It used to be an absolutely fringe view, but we’re starting to see it gain wider and wider acceptance,” Hill added. “If fetuses are persons under the 14th Amendment, not only is abortion not constitutionally protected, but it is forbidden by the Constitution.”

This argument is a bait and switch from the conventional right-wing line on abortion: that the Constitution is silent about it, so it should be left to the states to decide. Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to endorse that view during oral arguments in the Dobbs case.

But the work to make the transition has been underway for years. Anti-abortion activists favor language of elision like referring to fetuses as “unborn children,” and some hold funerals and “naming ceremonies” after terminated pregnancies.

Women have already long been criminalized for even unintentional pregnancy loss, and several states’ laws banning fetal homicide — most applied to protect pregnant women from violence — do not include maternal exemptions for current pregnancies.

Right-wing SCOTUS will abandon originalism in a fetal heartbeat on this one if given the chance. Why? Because they're partisan hacks, no matter how much they whine that they aren't.

So if the fetus is a person do you get to take the child tax deduction off income tax when pregnant?  What if there is a miscarriage, no live birth?  Still get the tax deduction?  Would this impact SNAP and WIC benefits?

[Bact PhD]

Apr 25, 2022 22:17:16 GMT goldenvalley said:

So if the fetus is a person do you get to take the child tax deduction off income tax when pregnant?  What if there is a miscarriage, no live birth?  Still get the tax deduction?  Would this impact SNAP and WIC benefits?

Silly GV! It’s only a “person” when they want it to be, just like “corporations are people” when it comes to political $$$$, but not when it comes to objecting to pet laws supported by the Party In Charge.

[LFC]

Apr 25, 2022 22:17:16 GMT goldenvalley said:

So if the fetus is a person do you get to take the child tax deduction off income tax when pregnant?  What if there is a miscarriage, no live birth?  Still get the tax deduction?  Would this impact SNAP and WIC benefits?

Of course not. I recently read an opinion that this is why abortion is such a popular stance among American "Christians" rather than helping the poor, feeding the hungry, administering to the sick, and other things actually mentioned in the Bible(tm). You can be as righteous and bug-eyed as you want and it doesn't cost you a nickel. All those other things, plus taking care of the babies you "save", hits your wallet and God(tm) doesn't want that to happen because he loves you.

[LFC]

Sure, Incubator, it's a shame you're pregnant by your rapist but look at the bright side!

During a legislative hearing about the state’s proposed abortion ban, Ohio state Republican lawmaker Jean Schmidt suggested that pregnancy could be an “opportunity” for women and girls who are raped. When Democratic Rep. Richard Brown pointed out that, under the proposed bill, a 13-year-old girl would have to give birth to her rapist’s baby, Schmidt said, “It is a shame that it happens,” with the “it” being rape. “But there’s an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being.” She then bizarrely suggested that the mom could easily choose to give the baby away, and the baby may go on to cure cancer. The bill, HB 598, would make abortions a felony unless the pregnancy poses a risk of injury or death to the mother. It makes no exemption for rape victims. Insider reports that HB 598 hasn’t passed either legislative chamber and would only go into effect if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

These people are SO f***ed up.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 28, 2022 19:42:13 GMT LFC said:

Sure, Incubator, it's a shame you're pregnant by your rapist but look at the bright side!

During a legislative hearing about the state’s proposed abortion ban, Ohio state Republican lawmaker Jean Schmidt suggested that pregnancy could be an “opportunity” for women and girls who are raped. When Democratic Rep. Richard Brown pointed out that, under the proposed bill, a 13-year-old girl would have to give birth to her rapist’s baby, Schmidt said, “It is a shame that it happens,” with the “it” being rape. “But there’s an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being.” She then bizarrely suggested that the mom could easily choose to give the baby away, and the baby may go on to cure cancer. The bill, HB 598, would make abortions a felony unless the pregnancy poses a risk of injury or death to the mother. It makes no exemption for rape victims. Insider reports that HB 598 hasn’t passed either legislative chamber and would only go into effect if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

These people are SO f***ed up.

This line of thinking comes from the past when there was no safe way to abort.  People had to talk themselves into "seeing the bright side of rape" because it was the only way to survive mentally. I'm not sure how successful it was for the women who had to bear the baby but it made society feel better.

[AnBr]

But what if it is legitimate rape?

[pnwguy]

Apr 28, 2022 19:42:13 GMT LFC said:

 She then bizarrely suggested that the mom could easily choose to give the baby away, and the baby may go on to cure cancer. 

By the same logic, any woman should remain constantly pregnant, so she can possibly have the baby who will cure cancer!  "Why are you NOT pregnant?  You are preventing the solution to all the problems on earth"

[LFC]

Apr 28, 2022 22:05:11 GMT AnBr said:

But what if it is legitimate rape?

Like when a girl or woman dresses too provocatively, just like Satan wants them to, forcing the man to lose control.

[jackd]

It's all irrelevant; Alito says Roe is dead!

[goldenvalley]

May 3, 2022 2:53:42 GMT jackd said:

It's all irrelevant; Alito says Roe is dead!

Not unexpected.  Now I wonder how many other cases on things like contraception and single sex marriage are working their way up through the system.  The words contraception and single sex marriage don't appear in the Constitution, nor does privacy.  Let's all run back to the 1800s when everyone knew their places and landowners ruled the country.