The bad and the ugly:
- Another day, another bogus study about the "risks" of abortion.
- Remember, ladies, this is for your own good:
South Dakota can require doctors to tell women who seek abortions that they have an "existing relationship" with their fetus that is protected by law and that they can't be forced to undergo the procedure, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
But at least there's an upside:
The court upheld Schreier's decision to overturn another aspect of the law that would have required doctors to tell patients that people who have abortions are more likely to commit suicide.
So the state can force doctors to guilt-trip their patients before having a legal medical procedure, but at least the state can't force doctors to outright lie to their patients about the debunked "risks" of that procedure.
- Kansas is going ahead with its war on women's health care providers:
Kansas health officials moved ahead Tuesday with work designed to preserve new regulations for abortion providers despite a legal challenge in federal court that so far has blocked their enforcement.
The state Department of Health and Environment was still taking written comments on its rules, which tell abortion providers what drugs and equipment they must stock and set minimum size and temperature requirements for procedure and patient recovery rooms. Spokeswoman Miranda Myrick said the agency will consider changes proposed by Wednesday. [...]
Among other things, the new regulations said abortion providers' procedure rooms must have at least 150 square feet of space, excluding fixed cabinets, each with its own janitor's closet of 50 square feet. Recovery rooms must have at least 80 square feet of space for each patient.
Because, see, it's really important to make sure that a women's health clinic is shut down if they don't have the thermostat set just right. And if those janitors' closets are only 49 square feet, why, it jeopardizes women's health! And these forced birthers are all about protecting women. Really.
- Oh joy. Mitt Romney promises to be as anti-woman as President Dubya.
- This is totally fair:
Anti-abortion lawmakers in North Carolina have passed a bill allowing the state to issue license plates with a pro-life slogan. Drivers can buy the "Choose Life" plate for a $25 fee, and $15 of that will go to so-called "crisis pregnancy centers" that seek to deter women from having an abortion. Now the state chapter of the ACLU has filed suit, arguing that the state is violating the First Amendment by not offering plates that include a message in support of abortion rights.
There were attempts to get an alternative plate during the legislative debate, with options like "Respect Choice" or "Trust Women. Respect Choice" offered. But lawmakers rejected those, and while House Bill 289 included a bunch of new license plate options, there wasn't a pro-choice option among them.
- About that mancession ...
- Bwahahahahaha:
If I could just say a couple of words about Phyllis Schafly, she is my heroine and my example as a forerunner. As a young bride and a young mother, I read faithfully "The Phyllis Schlafly Report;" she was my lifeline to what was happening in the world.
She truly is the mother of the modern conservative movement ... I think she is the most important woman in the United States in the last one hundred years.
Whatever Phyllis Schlafly says, it's important that we listen because she's there on every issue, on every front. She is our hero, our heroine, our stalwart and I absolutely adore her. So God bless you, my dear mentor and the person that I hope to be some day. So thank you very much, Phyllis.
That would be Michele Bachmann, praising the mother of the conservative movement All Women Suck movement. Michele might have read all of Schlafly's words, but she sure didn't understand them. Because Schlafly was the one who ran around the country saying women should work; they should just stay home, barefoot and pregnant. Which is funny, 'cause Michele sure seems to be proud of having worked as a tax attorney secret ninja mole at the IRS while she was raising her five children and eleventy billion foster children. But you go ahead, Michele. Pander away to the very same people who think women shouldn't work. I'm sure they'll be happy to put a woman in the White House. Not.
But it wasn't all bad:
This year alone, 16 states introduced bills that would restrict the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners at varying points perinatally. Of those states, Hawaii, Idaho, Rhode Island, and Nevada passed bills to join the ranks of 10 others that, at the very least, ban shackling during labor (a ban already exists in federal prisons). And, most recently, a woman in Tennessee was awarded $200,000 after she sued the state for being shackled when she went into labor shortly after she was arrested for driving without a license.
- The Washington Post editorial board took on the forced birthers in Virginia:
IF SOMETHING about anti-abortion advocates pressing for “safer” abortion clinics rings false to you, trust your instincts. [...]
“[I]t is hard to imagine why groups that say they are concerned about women’s health would oppose these standards,” the Virginia Catholic Conference said in a statement.
Actually, it’s not hard to imagine at all, because the standards are not really about safety. They are unjustifiably stringent and could force abortion facilities to shut their doors. [...]
The 15-member Board of Health is expected to vote on the proposed regulations Sept. 15. Some of the provisions are sensible, including those governing the maintenance of health records and requiring a physician to be on the premises when a woman is put under general anesthesia — a rarity with first-trimester abortions. But it should reject the new building requirements. Regulatory shenanigans and legal sleight of hand should not be used to undermine Virginia women’s constitutionally protected rights by shuttering facilities that have been safely providing such services for decades.