MetaFilter posts tagged with abortion and us

Stag Party

Artw — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 10:01:53 -0800

The GOP’s woman problem is that it has a serious problem with women. Frank Rich on George Stephanopoulos's unanswered question, how the Republicans have shifted to being the party of misogyny since the 70s, and why Mitt Romney would be just as bad as Rick Santorum.

"On Behalf Of Governor Rick Perry, May I Welome You To Your Compulsory Transvaginal Exam..."

zarq — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:26:37 -0800

“For some reason, the GOP has chosen 2012 to relitigate reproductive freedom, an issue that was resolved decades ago. Why [Rick] Santorum, [Rush] Limbaugh et al. thought this would be a good time to declare war on half the electorate, I cannot say. But to ignore it would have been comedy malpractice.” -- Gary Trudeau
"Only once in the long history of "Doonesbury" has Garry Trudeau’s syndicate ever intensely objected to one of his story arcs. It was 1985, a documentary purporting to show the reactions of a fetus had been released, and Trudeau satirized the film "The Silent Scream" with his own “prequel" strips featuring “little Timmy,” a 12-minute-old embryo. Those strips never saw wide release in newspapers. Now, Trudeau has decided to take on the abortion wars head-on for the first time in "Doonesbury’s" four decades in a series of strips depicting mandatory vaginal ultrasounds as rape." Slate has yesterday's and today's strips in color. Reader responses on Trudeau's Blowback Blog at Slate have been mixed. Romanesko has a description / transcript of the strips. Catherine Frazier, press secretary for Texas governor Rick Perry: "The decision to end a life isn’t funny,” Frazier said. “There is nothing comic about this tasteless interpretation of legislation we have passed in Texas to ensure that women have all the facts when making a life-ending decision."
Reuters: Author defends "Doonesbury" abortion strip. Doonesbury strip on Texas abortion law dropped by some US newspapers. More. Reasons being given. The CT Journal Register: Of course we're running Doonesbury next week. NY Daily News: Doonesbury’ abortion comic strips have newspapers, partisans divided

Abortion Not OK in OK

zarq — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:42:28 -0800

Provoking pro-choice advocates, Oklahoma passed two highly restrictive abortion laws on Tuesday. One (rtf file) requires doctors to show women an ultrasound of their fetus and point out its physical characteristics — even if the patient was impregnated through rape or incest. The second (rtf file) stipulates that doctors cannot be sued if they decide to lie to an expectant mother regarding her baby's birth defects. A third requires clinics to post signs telling patients they cannot be forced to have an abortion. The first law prompted an immediate lawsuit from Tulsa's only abortion clinic. Reactions: Oklahoma Patients. National Institutes of Reproductive Health The Week: America's Five Strictest Abortion Laws Alternet: Shocking Law and Women Seeking Abortions Must Have Ultrasounds Against Their Will Mary Spaulding Balch, Director of the Department of State Legislation at the National Right to Life Committee (This quote only addresses the first law): "This is a victory for the women of Oklahoma and their unborn children. Abortion is a business, the least time spent with a woman, the least information given to her, the more sales made. This law protects a mother's right to know something about her developing unborn child. It gives her a window to her womb. It help to prevent her from making a decision she may regret for the rest of her life and it empowers her with the most accurate information about her pregnancy so that she can make a truly informed 'choice'."

"Black Genocide"

zarq — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:52:42 -0800

In the US, the conservative movement’s latest rallying cry against abortion claims pro-choice groups are conducting a systematic eugenics campaign to turn African Americans into an "endangered species." The idea is finding renewed traction and condemnation in Black communities. Several bloggers at RHRealityCheck are offering counter-arguments. From the ABC link: To the surprise of many, the anti-abortionists behind the billboards are black themselves and say they were motivated by a record number of abortions among black women. Of the 36,094 women in Georgia who had abortions in 2008, nearly 21,000 were African-American, more than twice the number of white women. Nationally, the CDC says black women are still three times more likely than white women to get an abortion.
YouTube version of the ABC World News segment is here.

Cloture for Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005

airguitar — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 19:09:21 -0800

A Senate bill to overhaul federal bankruptcy laws, a top priority of retailers, auto lenders and banks, cleared a key hurdle Tuesday afternoon. Sixty-nine senators -- nine more than needed -- voted for "cloture," a procedural move that limits debate. Republican leaders hope to push the bill to a final vote by the end of the week. Earlier, the Senate turned back a controversial, abortion-related amendment that has scuttled p r e v i o u s efforts to pass bankruptcy legislation. The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was first introduced in 1998 as The Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act.

Turning the tables on Anti-Choice Protesters

zarq — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 04:20:10 -0800

Turning Pickets Into Pledges Planned Parenthood has launched a new program that "creates a no-win situation for anti-choice protesters — the more picketers who demonstrate outside a Planned Parenthood clinic, the more donations that clinic receives." This campaign allows supporters to pledge between 25 cents and one dollar per protester -- not a lot of money, but it adds up to thousands over time.