tagged w/ Reproductive Rights
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Earlier this year Palin used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.
Earlier today the Associated Press reported that McCain opposed funding to prevent teen pregnancies, a position that Palin also took as governor. "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support," she wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates.Earlier this year Palin used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program... more
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In the news release, the McCain campaign made sure to state that:
Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.
While it's obvious why they made this statement to assure the public that Bristol was not coerced into keeping the baby (after all, she does have a parent who is a staunch opponent of the right to choose and is currently on the Republican presidential ticket), as my significant other pointed out, there's some serious hypocrisy at play here. I mean, John McCain and Sarah Palin don't believe women have a right to choose. It's absolutely absurd for the campaign to emphasize the fact that Bristol "made this decision," and then push for policies that take away that choice.
In reality, Bristol's actual "choice" was probably not whether to terminate the pregnancy or carry it to term, but whether raise the child herself or put it up for adoption. But the reason that the McCain campaign chose to emphasize Bristol's agency in this decision was to reassure the public that this pregnancy is not coercive. They know the public wants to feel secure in the knowledge that it was Bristol's choice to keep the pregnancy. And coming from the McCain campaign, which opposes a woman's right to choose, that statement is disgusting. As Kate Sheppard wrote in In These Times recently, during the 2000 primary McCain said that if his daughter got pregnant it would be a "family decision":
"The final decision would be made by Meghan with our advice and counsel," McCain said, referring to himself and his wife, Cindy. When reporters suggested that this view made him, in fact, pro-choice, McCain became irritated. "I don't think it is the pro-choice position to say that my daughter and my wife and I will discuss something that is a family matter that we have to decide."
In other words: My family and my daughter deserve a choice, but no other woman can be trusted with this decision. This fits nicely with the narrative on both Palin's decision to carry her Down's syndrome child to term and her daughter's decision to carry her own pregnancy to term. Their decisions are seen by the antichoice Republican base as affirmation that Palin shares their values. But the underlying message that each woman had a choice is a validation of pro-choice values.In the news release, the McCain campaign made sure to state that:
Bristol Palin... more
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This video contains graphic footage of human rights abuses
The documentary is about Tatielle’s suffering, a young woman from Morrinhos, a town in Goiás state’s rural area. She was five months pregnant of a fetus that wouldn’t survive the delivery, when a judge authorized her to perform an abortion (abortions are generally illegal in Brazil). However, a habeas corpus presented by a priest who didn’t know Tatielle stopped the medical procedure that was going to interrupt the pregnancy. Tatielle was already feeling birth contractions when she was released from the hospital. Back to her city, Tatielle agonized for five days feeling the pains of a delivery that was prohibited by Religion, as well as the Justice system. This video contains graphic footage of human rights abuses... more
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This is a petition regarding the health of women in the USA. With the assault on birth control and other women's health issues by Bush, insurance companies, and with cuts in family planning clinics which provide women with medical help this petition is important.This is a petition regarding the health of women in the USA. With the assault on... more
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Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt attempted to ease concerns Thursday that the Bush administration is planning to issue new rules that would limit women's access to birth control.
Under federal law, institutions may not discriminate against individuals who refuse to perform abortions or provide a referral for one. The Health and Human Services Department is considering requiring health care providers and organizations to certify their compliance with the law, but in doing so, lawmakers and several interest groups worried that the administration was attempting to lump contraceptives into its definition of abortion.
Leavitt said that was not his intent.
"An early draft of the regulation found its way into public circulation before it had reached my review," Leavitt said on a personal blog posted on the department's Web site. "It contained words that lead some to conclude my intent is to deal with the subject of contraceptives, somehow defining them as abortion. Not true."
Leavitt said he wanted the regulation to address the legal right that doctors, nurses and others have to practice according to their conscience.
"The department is still contemplating if it will issue a regulation or not," Leavitt said. "If it does, it will be directly focused on the protection of practitioner conscience."
In a letter sent to Leavitt two weeks ago, Planned Parenthood and 56 other organizations urged him to abandon efforts to issue such a rule. The groups said the draft regulation permits people to refuse to provide women with access to contraceptive services and information. Meanwhile, institutions hiring those workers would be unable to do anything to curb those actions.
"This rule permits health care providers to refuse to perform any service they deem morally objectionable, which raises critical questions about access to all health care services," the groups wrote.
Lawmakers also have been active in urging Leavitt to drop the regulation. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Patty Murray, both Democrats, told Leavitt in a letter the regulation would disrupt state laws securing women's access to birth control and could even undermine laws that ensure rape victims get emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms.Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt attempted to ease concerns Thursday... more
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The Bush Administration has been stripping away women's right to chose since he got in office.The Bush Administration has been stripping away women's right to chose since he... more
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When asked why he voted against forcing insurance companies to cover birth control costs - especially when those companies already cover things like Viagra - McCain was at a loss for words.When asked why he voted against forcing insurance companies to cover birth control... more
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In a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right, the Department of Health and Human Services Monday released a proposal that allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman's access to contraception. In order to do this, the Department is attempting to redefine many forms of contraception, the birth control 40% of Americans use, as abortion.In a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right, the Department of Health... more
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Media's talking heads, especially those on cable news shows, will repeat just about any talking point over and over. They're very careful not to let facts get in the way. In last Sunday's NYT, Frank Rich investigated claims that female Clinton supporters are flocking to McCain in droves because they're upset over the misogyny spouted by - gee - that exact same media. The thing is, there's zero evidence to support that claim.Media's talking heads, especially those on cable news shows, will repeat just... more
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Richmond, VA Libertarian Supper Club, October 2, 2007
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Manishkumar M. Patel decided he didn't want to have a child with his mistress - who already has a child by him - so he slipped the abortion pill RU-486 into a smoothie he gave her. He is being charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide of an unborn child and eight other charges. I don't condone his deceitful and despicable act in anyway, but i find it very interesting that he can be charged with intentional homicide of an unborn child, but abortion is legal.
If he wanted the baby, but his mistress didn't, and she willingly took RU-486 he would have no legal recourse for her intentional homicide of his unborn child. The case of Manishkumar M. Patel has a lot of aggravating factors, like the fact that his mistress - a family physician - bought the house he and his wife live in and purchased him cars , eventhough he has a net worth around $400,000. His is a case of control, deceit, and maintaining a comfortable lifestyle. That being said, what are the reproductive rights of men? Are there any, and if not should there be?Manishkumar M. Patel decided he didn't want to have a child with his mistress -... more
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Reproductive rights need to be on the forefront of the election discissions today.
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