Romney tells Reporter: No Questions about Abortion or Akin - WATCH

GOP Platform calls for a Constitutional Ban on Abortion

The GOP Platform draft language is causing more drama. This time, they are supporting a constitutional ban on abortion without specifying exclusions in the cases of rape or incest.

It says:

"Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."

Really? After the Akin mess... Really? Somebody needs to get this group together.

source

View From Under the Bus

Excellent discussion at Netroots Nation on reproductive justice.

In Memoriam - Susan Hill

From RH Reality Check:

Sadly, the women's health and rights community lost a courageous, loving advocate. Susan Hill, a women's clinic owner and reproductive rights advocate, died today. Hill was the President and CEO of the National Women's Health Organization in North Carolina.



...at one time, Susan Hill owned five health centers around the country, including the now famous Jackson Women's Health Center - the last remaining health center providing abortions in Mississippi. For this, she was targeted mercilessly and violently by anti-choice activists. In fact, in October 2009 RH Reality Check contributor Carol Joffe wrote about Hill's mission to share the anti-choice movement's latest strategies against women's health centers: suing the cities in which the centers reside, along with the police chiefs in these regions often times. Hill was particularly afraid, Joffe wrote, because simultaneously, violence against clinics and staff at clinics seemed to be escalating in the wake of Dr. Tiller's murder:

“In the old days, at least we knew what they were up to. If they were blockading us or firebombing us, we knew it. This is more insidious, more like a stealth strategy. And it is making life a living hell for the providers.”

Hill was close friends with Dr. Tiller and remained extremely active working on behalf of clinic owners continually harrassed by anti-choice protestors:

Hill served as plaintiff in over 30 federal and state lawsuits concerning abortion rights, and was a key plaintiff in the NOW v. Scheidler case that charged abortion opponents with using violence, intimidation and extortion to put women's clinics out of business.

Rest in peace Susan. Your spririt and activism will be missed.

Senate Health Care "Reform" Throws Women Under the Bus

It looks like Senate Majority Leader Reid had successfully thrown women under the bus to achieve his "non" reform health care package.

Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in the new insurance exchanges the bill would set up, to serve individuals who lack coverage through their jobs. Plus, enrollees in plans that do cover abortion procedures would pay for the coverage with separate checks -- one for abortion, one for the rest of any health-care services.

Nelson secured full federal funding for his state to expand Medicaid coverage to all individuals below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Other states must pay a small portion of the additional cost.

So it wasn't enough to cave on abortion coverage, Reid had to bribe him with funding not available to the other 49 states. It's time for Nelson and Reid to go!

These guys don't seem to realize they can't win elections without women.

If the restrictions on abortion remain in the final bill, and the president signs the bill into law, women should do one of two things: Just stay home in 2010 ... OR, run for office against sitting Democrats who take us for granted.

As you complete your holiday shopping consider one more gift for yourself ... give to the National Organization for Women. The ONLY national organization standing up for ALL women.

Catholic Hierarchy Needs to Take a Hike Regarding Issues of Morality

My blood is still boiling over the fact that the Catholic Bishops were invited into Speaker Pelosi's office to craft language that would take away women's access to abortion in what should now be called the health care NON-REFORM bill.

The call came in from Rome, just as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top lieutenants were scrambling to round up scarce votes to pass their sweeping health overhaul.

Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, was on the line for Pelosi, calling to discuss adding strict abortion restrictions to the House bill. [...]

It was Stupak who told Pelosi last Friday that if she wanted a deal on the health bill, she'd be well advised to invite the bishops' staff, who were already in his office, to her table. "I said, 'Well, they're here, and they're one of the key groups you want to have on your side, so why don't we just bring them in and work this out," Stupak said.

Pelosi did, and the result was a final measure that — much to the outrage of abortion rights supporters — bars a new government-run insurance plan from covering abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother being in danger, and prohibits any health plan that receives federal subsidies in a new insurance marketplace from offering abortion coverage. If women wanted to purchase abortion coverage through such plans, they'd have to buy it separately, as a so-called rider on their insurance policies.

This is completely outrageous. No ONE religious group should have this much power in shaping public policy.

Who could have predicted that progressives would have more to fear under Democrat leadership, than we did when Republicans were in power. This is just unconscionable.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a prominent abortion rights supporter who spearheaded the call for talks with Obama and has gathered the signatures of more than 40 representatives who refuse to back a health bill that contains the restrictions, said the bishops had been allowed to overstep their bounds.

"No one group should get to dictate the outcome of legislation in Congress," DeGette said. "Every group should be listened to, but I don't think one group should be given veto authority over what we do."

As if that weren't enough, the Catholic Church has given Washington, DC an ultimatum:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

File this under WTF?

I say let them quit! AND, the government should take away all the funding IT provides to Catholic Charities.

Catholic Charities, the church's social services arm, is one of dozens of nonprofit organizations that partner with the District. It serves 68,000 people in the city, including the one-third of Washington's homeless people who go to city-owned shelters managed by the church. City leaders said the church is not the dominant provider of any particular social service, but the church pointed out that it supplements funding for city programs with $10 million from its own coffers.

Let them pay for the buildings and provide the service on their own. Isn't that part of their mission anyway?

It's time our elected officials get a spine and tell the Catholic Hierarchy to take a hike! They lost their moral authority years ago with the disclosure of pedophile priests who were protected by the Church.

House Passes Health Care Non-Reform for Women

I am simply furious about this, and EVERYONE needs to be calling their Senators to DEMAND that no "Stupak-type" amendment is included in the Senate version of so-called health care reform.

And don't think for a second that we can count on the president to help with this.

CALL NOW!!

NOW Stands with Dr. Carhart in Nebraska

If you live in, or near, Omaha, Nebraska, you might want to head over to Dr. LeRoy Carhart's clinic today or tomorrow and lend support. NOW President Terry O'Neill is in Nebraska today to send a strong message to the anti-abortion crazies that "The clinics will stay open!"

In the wake of Dr. George Tiller's assassination, Dr. Carhart has announced that he will step up his provision of late term abortion serviced for women in Nebraska and Kansas. In response, Randall Terry, of Operation Rescue, has vowed to close Carhart's clinic the same way his group closed Dr. Tiller's!

If the Department of Homeland Security isn't all over this guy for his direct threat to Carhart, then there is something wrong with our protection from known "terrorists."

Here is the full statement of NOW President Terry O'Neill:

NOW Stands with Dr. Carhart in Nebraska,
Calls for Protection for Clinics Across U.S.

I am proud to stand here today with the heroic Dr. LeRoy Carhart and his brave staff at the Abortion & Contraception Clinic of Nebraska, as well as the other fine feminist leaders who join me in saying: This clinic will stay open!

Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller on May 31, anti-abortion forces have set their sights on Dr. Carhart. Operation Rescue and other opponents of women's reproductive autonomy are descending on this clinic in an attempt to terrorize the workers and their patients, with the ultimate goal of closing down the facility. Because NOW believes that it is every woman's right to have access to the full range of reproductive health care, we are committed to helping defend these courageous providers.

Clinic violence and harassment are domestic terrorism, plain and simple. The hateful rhetoric and attacks have grown bolder this year. As we stand in peaceful support of women's rights in Nebraska, we know that every clinic in the United States is a potential target. I call on the Obama administration to respond to this threat using the strongest means possible, to prosecute the criminals, their funders and their co-conspirators, and to protect every provider, worker and patient across this nation.

Women are counting on us. They must not be denied access to safe, legal abortion — not by harassment or intimidation, not by bullets or bombs. Say it with me: The clinics will stay open!

UPDATE:
Nebraska Attorney General Lambasts Carhart, Supports Aim of Extremist Anti-choicers
This is truly unacceptable behavior by a government official.

.

Full of Hate and No Place To Go

Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, has a problem. Seven years ago he moved his family and his entire hate-filled movement to Wichita for the express purpose of harassing Dr. George Tiller. Newman did such a good job inciting people to violence that one of his terrorists took a gun into a church to kill Dr. Tiller. Now the group is all full of hate, with no place to go.

For the first time in years, only a Wichita police car has been waiting outside the abortion clinic of Dr. George R. Tiller, who was shot to death a week ago. Gone are the trucks bearing enormous images of bloody fetuses, the signs offering the home addresses of clinic workers, the crowd of protesters yelling to women as they enter.

Over almost 20 years, a vocal, diverse constellation of anti-abortion forces has grown up in this conservative city with an intensity rarely seen elsewhere, converging around Dr. Tiller’s practice. With his death, its future suddenly seems uncertain, too.

This city of 358,000 people, once the focal point of protests because of four abortion clinics — most significantly Dr. Tiller’s, which provided rare late-term abortions — last week had no abortion facility open for business, no target in chief, no immediate reason for this network of anti-abortion forces to be based here.

“I don’t know what the future holds,” said Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, one of the most well-known anti-abortion organizations. Seven years ago, Mr. Newman moved his organization’s national headquarters, its leaders and his family from Southern California to Wichita to focus a national spotlight on Dr. Tiller, whom he described as “the flagship” of the country’s abortion business.

“I think it’s too early to say what comes next,” he said.

If your community has a physician who provides abortion services be on the lookout. Operation Rescue extremists might be heading your way.

The only question left to ask is how long Justice and the Department of Homeland Security is going to allow this domestic terrorist ring to exist?

Dr. George Tiller Murdered

I am deeply sadden by news of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who was one of the few physicians to perform late-term abortion procedures. Dr. Tiller was shot and killed as he attended church.

Dr. Tiller has provided abortion services since the 1970s, has long been a target of anti-abortion violence. In 1993 he was shot in both arms by an anti-abortion fanatic, but recovered. Dr. Tiller has also come under legal attack, with the most recent being a citizen-initiated grand jury investigation. Dr. Tiller was acquitted in March of charges that he had performed late-term abortions in violation of state law.

This tragedy illustrates the extreme measures anti-abortion fanatics will take in their attempt to control women's reproductive choices -- and it must be treated as domestic terrorism. This is the first murder to take place since the Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2002 and Yikes calls on them to investigate this. The person (or persons) responsible for this tragedy must be captured and brought to justice.

We have lost a brave and compassionate man who placed the well-being of his patients above his own personal safety. In memory of Dr. Tiller we must all rededicate ourselves to insuring women have access to safe and legal abortion.

My heart goes out to his family, friends, coworkers and patients.

How Concerned Are You?

A recent Gallup Poll indicates that more people call themselves "pro-life" than "pro-choice." Should abortion rights activists be concerned?

A Gallup Poll released Friday found that 51 percent of Americans now call themselves pro-life rather than pro-choice on the issue of abortion, the first time a majority gave that answer in the 15 years that Gallup has asked the question.

The findings, obtained in an annual survey on values and beliefs conducted May 7-10, marked a significant shift from a year ago. A year ago, 50 percent said they were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life _ in the new poll, 42 percent said they were pro-choice.

The new survey showed that Americans remained deeply divided on the legality of abortion _ with 23 percent saying it should be illegal in all circumstances, 22 percent saying it should be legal under any circumstances, and 53 percent saying it should be legal only under certain circumstances.

The findings echoed a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center, which reported a sharp decline since last August in those saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases _ from 54 percent to 46 percent.

Taken together, the two polls have elated anti-abortion activists, who had been stung by the November election results that placed President Barack Obama and other abortion-rights supporters in power in Washington.

Do we really want to return to a time when abortion was illegal? Do we want women dying from botched back-alley abortions? We know that women facing and unplanned, unwanted pregnancy will seek an abortion.

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards questioned the terminology in the Gallup questions, and had this to say:

"The terms pro-choice and pro-life no longer define the parameters of the debate, witnessed by the fact that in the Gallup Poll, a majority of people say they are both pro-life and that abortion should be legal," Richards said.

She added that most Americans share Obama's stated goal of reducing the number of unintended pregnancies.

Planned Parenthood also noted that another recent national survey, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp., poll in April, reported 49 percent of respondents identifying as pro-choice and 45 percent as pro-life.

And what does this say about the women's movement?

In the new poll, men identify as pro-life, 54 percent to 39 percent, while women also tilt pro-life 49 percent to 44 percent. A year ago, Gallup found more women calling themselves pro-choice than pro-life, by 50 percent to 43 percent, while men were more closely divided: 49 percent pro-choice, 46 percent pro-life.

Are we doing enough to educate young women about what it was like BEFORE Roe v. Wade?

You will find the polling data here. Take a look and let me know what you think.

The Great License Plate Debate

The last time the Supremes debated license plates it was to decide if New Hampshire could force George Maynard to drive around with plates containing the state's "Live Free or Die" motto.

Usually when we think of courts and license plates it's about the Court deciding whether someone will have to MAKE license plates, so I guess this was a good thing ... or was it?

Proponents of "Choose Life" license plates, often accused of making everything a 'federal case', are taking their case to the Supreme Court.

No one is forced to use the plates, which are available in 19 states and seem intended to appeal to those who oppose abortion rights. They are so-called specialty plates, which are available for an extra fee to people who want to express themselves through their license plates.

Florida started the trend in 1987, when it sold a specialty plate to honor the astronauts who had died in the Challenger space shuttle disaster the year before. It raised millions of dollars for a memorial, and these days the Web site of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles offers many other options, including license plates celebrating Nascar, various sports (“Play Tennis!”) and parents who “make a difference.”

It also sells, for $20 extra, a bright yellow plate with the cartoonish faces of two smiling children and the words “Choose Life.” The state says it raised more than $33 million from specialty plates in the 2007 fiscal year and turned most of the money over to private groups.

The “Choose Life” plate generated about $800,000 that year. A state law requires that the money raised from those plates, after administrative expenses are deducted, be given to adoption agencies. The law forbids sharing the money with groups offering “counseling for or referrals to abortion clinics.”

Now this is where I have a problem with these plates. If a state wants to offer speciality plates as a way to increase revenue, then so be it. I'm not crazy about it, but I could maybe live with it if the money were being used to pay for school books or computers, feed or shelter the homeless, or for the general well being of a community -- you know, for things like roads and stuff.

But I draw the line at making a state agency -- in this case the Department of Motor Vehicles -- merely a funding stream for causes I don't necessarily agree with. I think domestic terrorist groups like the "right to life" organizations proposing these plates need to find some other way to fund their fake agencies/clinics -- or close their doors.

It has been a long trip from “Live Free or Die” to “Choose Life.” The old case involved the question of what the government may force people to say. The new one asks what it must allow people to say.

I think it's more than just about what people are allowed to say. I think it's also about using the government as a funding vehicle (all puns intended) for organizations that would like nothing more than to drive some women over a cliff.

'Pro-Choice' Palin Would Deny Choice to Others

Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking to an antiabortion group in Evansville, IN, revealed that for a moment she considered having an abortion.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told an antiabortion audience in Indiana on Thursday night that, "for a fleeting moment," she considered having an abortion after learning that her son Trig would have Down syndrome.

The experience, she added, "now lets me understand a woman's, a girl's temptation to maybe try to make it all go away."

Ultimately, Palin said, she decided she had to "walk the walk" concerning her long-standing antiabortion views. She avoided using the word "abortion" in her speech, preferring the phrase "change the circumstances." [...]

Palin revealed more Thursday night, saying she was traveling when she got the result of the amniocentesis that revealed the chromosomal abnormality.

"There, just for a fleeting moment, I thought, I knew, 'Nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever know.' "

Palin has long been a staunch supporter of abortion restrictions, and she pointed to her own "moment of doubt" to illustrate her support for carrying pregnancies to term, regardless of the circumstances.

In other words, Sarah Palin wants the right to decide whether or not to continue a pregnancy, but she doesn't think other women should be allowed that same consideration.

And the PUMA's wonder why NOW and other women's rights groups didn't support Sarah Palin. Good grief.

Vatican Official Defends Abortion

Don't look now, but I think hell just froze over -- or there is a crack in the Vatican's armor.

The Vatican's top bioethics official said the two Brazilian doctors who performed an abortion on a 9-year-old rape victim do not merit excommunication, because they acted to save her life.

The statement, by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, appeared as the lead article in last Sunday's issue of the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano.

"There are others who deserve excommunication and our forgiveness," Fisichella wrote, addressing the unidentified rape victim, "not those who permitted you to live and who will help you to regain hope and faith."

The case drew international attention earlier this month after the local Catholic archbishop excommunicated the doctors who aborted the girl's twin fetuses, as well as the girl's mother.

The child was 15 weeks pregnant, allegedly after being raped by her stepfather. Weighing only 80 pounds, she might have died if forced to carry the pregnancy to term, the doctors said.

What I liked about this report is the acknowledgement that 1) abortion CAN be the best decision for women and girls; and 2) decisions about reproductive health should be left to the woman (or in this case girl) and her physician.

Even when doing the right thing, the Vatican couldn't resist taking a swipe at women having the right to safe and legal abortion.

While reiterating Catholic teaching that abortion is an "intrinsically wicked act," Fisichella suggested that under the circumstances, it might have been the lesser evil.

There are a myriad of reasons why women choose abortion. This report indicates why it's so important that women, in consultation with their physicians, be allowed to make this decision for themselves.

It's surprising to me that the Vatican would allow this pubic discussion.

Vatican officials rarely air their differences in public, let alone on the front page of the pope's newspaper.

According to respected Vatican journalist Sandro Magister, Fisichella's article was probably approved in advance by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who as secretary of state is considered the Vatican's No. 2 official, after Pope Benedict XVI.

After nearly two months of international controversy over the pope's decision to readmit a Holocaust-denying bishop to the church in late January, Magister called this case of crossed signals the latest indication of confusion at the highest levels of the Holy See.

"It is yet another sign of the disorder that reigns in the Curia," Magister said, referring to the church's international governing bureaucracy. "It shows that Benedict XVI is paying the price for refusing to reform the Curia."

My good friend Fran at FranIAm is going to have to explain this to me. One good thing that I've learned from my day job is that there are some pretty terrific people of faith out there -- and Fran is definitely one of them.

Pastor Wiley Drake on a Rampage Once Again!

You have just watched Pastor Wiley Drake make a fool of himself in action at the Orange County (CA) Board of Supervisors meeting on March 10. Orange County Supervisors want to pull education money from Planned Parenthood and instead fund an anti-abortion abstinence only group. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me, or to Yvette Cabrera at The Orange County Register.

It was the spring of 1965, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that married women had the right to use contraceptives.

That spring a committee of physicians and community volunteers organized themselves with the hope of opening a family planning clinic. Not only did they achieve their goal on May 29, 1965 when they opened this clinic in the outpatient department of the county's hospital, but they received $30,000 in government funds to support the clinic.

Who exactly approved this funding? The Orange County's board of supervisors, according to historical documents from Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties' archives, which outline how this same committee applied for affiliate status with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America that year as well.

This particular clinic did not provide medical services at the time, but it offered educational services about birth control from 1965 to 1968, according to Stephanie Kight, Planned Parenthood's vice president of community affairs.

"So back in 1965 our county supervisors understood the need for these services because they allowed us to operate our first clinic at the county hospital," says Kight.

Let's flash forward to 2009. Last week, the county board of supervisors unanimously voted to suspend a $300,000 contract with Planned Parenthood – money that pays for five certified health educators who provide comprehensive reproductive education throughout the county. They give live presentations at schools and after-school programs, and they help run toll-free and online hotlines.

None of this funding, which is allocated from tobacco settlement revenue, is used to provide abortion services, a fact well documented in data submitted to the county, according to Planned Parenthood. The nonprofit is part of the Orange County Coalition of Community Clinics, which shares this funding with other member clinics.

Still, abortions was the reason given when county supervisors explained why they cut the funding. They don't believe the county should fund abortions, and they are morally opposed to abortions.

It was a move that shocked, among others, Dr. Thomas C. Bent, medical director and chief operating officer of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, which is also a member of the coalition and receives tobacco settlement funds.

"Focusing their energy on punishing somebody who offers a legal service to women in need, as Planned Parenthood does, is so wrong," says Bent. "The irony is that the money that's going specifically to (Planned Parenthood's) program is educational so that women won't get themselves in a situation where they need an abortion..."

Nut cases like Wiley Drake want to impose their beliefs on everyone -- but Drake seems to forget we have separation of church and state in this country.

As Bent put it, part of his job as a doctor is to avoid making judgments. Instead, he's supposed to make sure his patients understand the full scope of the medical options available to them. He believes the same should apply to politicians.

"There has to be a separation of church and state," says Bent. "I don't proselytize in my exam room. (The board of supervisors) shouldn't proselytize with the power of their office."

Well said, Dr. Bent!

Obama Lifts Global Abortion 'Gag Rule'

How fitting that one day following the annual anti-abortion march in DC, President Obama signs an executive order lifting the 'gag rule' on abortion.

President Barack Obama today signed an executive order lifting a ban on U.S. funding for international family planning groups that perform abortions or provide counseling about the procedure.

The order rescinds the Mexico City Policy, also known as the "gag rule," which President Ronald Reagan originally instituted in 1984 and President Bill Clinton rescinded and President George W. Bush revived in 2001.

The decision had been eagerly expected by family planning groups, women's health advocates and others, who hoped it would restore millions of dollars of funding to programs providing health care, contraceptive services, HIV prevention and other care around the world.

"For eight long years the global gag rule has been used by the Bush administration to play politics with the lives of poor women across the world," said Gill Greer of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in London. "In rescinding this disastrous and unjust policy, President Obama has returned the United States to the international consensus on women's health. [...]

[A]bortion rights advocates hoped the decision would be the first in a series of moves by the new administration to reverse Bush administration policies related to abortion. They are pushing to increase funding for reproductive health programs, cut funding for sex education programs that focus on abstinence, and reverse a recently implemented Health and Human Services regulation that protects health-care workers who object to providing any care they consider objectionable, including abortion.

"We look forward to working with President Obama on common-sense policies such as reversing Bush's midnight HHS rule, funding comprehensive sex education to keep our teens healthy, and increasing access to affordable family planning that help prevent unintended and teen pregnancies and lead to healthy outcomes for women," said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

January 20, 2009 truly was the end of an error!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

THE GOOD NEWS:

It's good news for reproductive rights advocates as ballot measures in California, Colorado, and South Dakota were defeated. With 98% of the vote counted California voters defeated Prop 2, a teen endangerment measure, by 52% to 48%. Colorado voters rejected by a margin of nearly three to one an amendment to the state Constitution that would have defined human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization. And South Dakota defeated an initiative that would ban abortion in most cases. Two years ago South Dakotans rejected a similar measure and they did so again on Tuesday, with 55 percent of the voters opposing the provision.



THE BAD NEWS:

Voters in California, Florida and Arizona all passed measures which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In California it cast into limbo some 18,000 same-sex marriages performed since June, when a state Supreme Court decision opened the way to such unions. Attorney General Jerry Brown has said the marriages will stand, but legal experts predict court challenges. The Florida ballot initiative was simply mean-spirited, as same-sex unions were already illegal in the state. This new measure threatens ALL domestic partner unions -- even those of heterosexual couples. Arizona, who rejected a similar measure in 2006, passed a ban on same sex marriage. In all, it was a very bad day for equality.



THE UGLY:

All of these mean-spirited ballot measures point to a new reality -- that religious right extremists who are now feeling the sting of defeat nationally will concentrate more of there efforts in the states. We MUST remain vigilant to counter what is surely to come.

.

STOP the War on Women NOW

This election isn't just significant for the fact that we will select the next president. There are serious ballot initiatives in a number of states, and while same-sex marriage has received much of the focus, there are other equally important measures to consider. We must STOP the war against women and girls.

CA - VOTE NO on 4

California may be ground zero on the same sex marriage debate, but CA residents also have an opportunity to vote down a proposition that endangers young girls.

Karen, at Beautiful Day Rule, has some great posts that explain why Prop 4 in California must be defeated:

Vote NO on California's Prop 4

This is how bad it would be if Prop 4 passes

Beethoven says, "Vote No on Prop 4"

CO - VOTE NO on 48

Colorado voters will decide the fate of an amendment that would give a fertilized egg the same rights as a living person. Amendment 48 is designed to not only prevent almost all abortions, but it could even threaten access to some forms of birth control.





SD - VOTE NO on 11

South Dakota voters will consider Measure 11, the most radical abortion ban in the country. SD residents have voted similar measures down in the past, but anti-abortion extremists aren't giving up.



This war on women MUST STOP! If you live in any of these states please VOTE NO on election day! And encourage all your friends and family to do the same.

CA and SD Vote on Choice

Obama: "When Jim Wallis Calls, Don't Pick Up the Phone"

One would think Sen. Obama might have learned his lesson when it comes to listening to clergy. Let's hope he has, so that when Jim Wallis comes knocking Obama will simply tell him to "go away."



Jim Wallis, who is NOT a progressive but is called one by an uninformed MSM, has signaled his intention to talk with his "good friend" Barack Obama about an abortion reduction plank. Salon reports:

Suddenly, almost unexpectedly, with many Democratic women restless and anxious, the concerns of women are once again important. So far the party's strategy in dealing with disaffected Clinton supporters, in particular, involves focusing on women's understandable fears that a John McCain administration would limit abortion rights and even overturn Roe v. Wade, and promising that Democrats will clearly do better.



That's why it's so remarkable that in recent weeks, Democrats, including Sojourners founder Jim Wallis, have suggested that the party may need to take another crack at tempering its strong platform support for abortion rights by making "abortion reduction ... a central Democratic Party plank in this election." In a recent interview with ABC News, Wallis said he planned to talk to his "good friend" Barack Obama about an abortion reduction plank, and said he had discussed the idea with party chairman Howard Dean and had the support of at least one member of the Platform Committee, the Rev. Tony Campolo. "Abortion reduction should be a central Democratic Party plank in this election," Wallis told ABC News. "I'll just say that flat out."

Then hear this "flat out" Wallis ... you convince Obama to support this and women will bolt from the Democratic party in droves. And this Democratic woman will lead the charge.



Obama is already on shaky ground with his recent comment about late-term abortion. If he waffles any further why should any liberal/progress support him? And what's up with Howard Dean? When did you become such a wimp? We don't need "Republican lite!"



The reason Democrats keep losing is because the leadership is not playing to the base. Choosing instead to take us all for granted, in an attempt to win over "independent" voters who don't give a shit about them ANYWAY. Wake up Barack Obama, Howard Dean, and all the others in Democratic Party leadership. It's time for you guys to come home.