the elephant knows what’s best!

 

brought to you by the 2012 GOP …
”Because we know what’s best for women …
Like only old, rich, fat, white men can!” 

…

trudeau hits one outta the park

the following cartoon has now been pulled from a pile of newspapers due to a lot of whining and complaining from the right …
i guess the truth hurts eh guys? …
all the more reason to get this out there …
share it, spread it around …
exercise that old free speech …
and BRAVO! gary trudeau! … ENCORE! sir …

 

Texas’ War on Women Includes Those Transvaginal Ultrasounds

Texas Director of Health and Human Services Tom Suehs signed into law yesterday a state ban on giving Medicaid funds to any doctor or clinic affiliated with organizations that provide abortion (government funds are already barred from directly funding abortion). The law may shut down the state Women’s Health Program, which funds basic health services such as mammograms and Pap smears for over 130,000 low-income Texas women–44 percent of which are provided by Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood responded:

Texas women and Texas taxpayers need this program. The Medicaid Women’s Health Program saves lives, prevents unintended pregnancies and saves taxpayer dollars. For many women, Medicaid WHP is their only source of health care.
The Obama Administration has warned Texas that the decision violates federal law, which states that Medicaid and Medicare cannot exclude qualified providers. But the Texas Health and Human Services Commission argues that states are legally allowed to establish their own provider criteria. If Texas does not budge, the Women’s Health Program will be dissolved when the new law goes into effect on March 14.
Texas was already on the front lines of the nationwide conservative war on women’s health. A sonogram bill–similar to the proposed Virginia law that was withdrawn after outcry last week–was enacted in Texas in 2011. Women seeking abortions in Texas must receive a sonogram and detailed description of the development of the fetus at least 24 hours before the scheduled procedure. Doctors also must offer to play sounds of the fetus’ heartbeat. The need for appointments with the same doctor on two different days has caused massive scheduling problems for Texas clinics.
Like the failed Virginia law, the 2011 Texas bill forces women to receive the medically unnecessary and intrusive “transvaginal ultrasound.” This is because the majority of women get abortions during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus is too small to be picked up on in an abdominal ultrasound, so a transvaginal probe must be used. In other words, Texan women in need of abortion services are forced to be vaginally penetrated without a choice of whether to consent. Notably, Texas Penal Code defines sexual assault as “intentionally or knowingly caus[ing] the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person’s consent.”
In sum, Texas last year made abortion as difficult as possible for women and now has cut off 130,000 low-income women from affordable birth control and other health services. The war on women marches on.                    from: alternet

and it’s coming to a state near you …

As Maya Dusenbery noted a few days ago, Virginia’s new law requiring every woman to undergo an ultrasound before she can get an abortion is still terrible, even if women can opt-out of the transvaginal probe portion.
Most abortions take place within 12 weeks after a woman becomes pregnant. And if the woman has been pregnant for eight weeks or less, conducting an ultrasound generally requires the doctor to insert a probe in a woman’s vagina in order to actually see or hear anything. Virginia is not alone in its desire to subject women to invasive probes before they are allowed to get an abortion, a legally protected medical procedure. Twenty states already have laws dictating rules for ultrasounds, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Here are seven other states that have advanced similar measures in the last year:

Alabama: State Sen. Clay Scofield offered his own ultrasound measure a few weeks ago, which included a penalty of up to 10 years in jail and a $15,000 fine if doctors don’t carry out the procedure. But Schofield backed off component of the bill that would have required doctors to stick a probe in women’s vaginas, instead offering that a woman could undergo the "method of ultrasound that she would be more comfortable with."

Idaho: State Sen. Chuck Winder (R-Boise) has introduced yet another bill requiring an ultrasound before an abortion, expanding upon a law already in place in the state that requires doctors to offer an ultrasound by forcing them to do it and to show the woman the image. As one anti-abortion advocate in the state described it to the local press, the idea behind the law is to make women undergo the procedure because it "gives her a window into her womb."

Illinois: The House Agriculture Committee advanced a bill on February 22 that would require doctors to carry out an ultrasound and show it to the woman, unless she declines to view it in writing. And yes, you read that correctly: the "Ultrasound Opportunity Act" came from the agriculture committee. This prompted opponents to show up at the hearing wearing "Women are not livestock" T-shirts.

Kentucky: The state Senate approved a new bill requiring that a woman undergo an ultrasound before she can get an abortion, and instituting criminal penalties if the ultrasound isn’t carried out. The bill is is not expected to advance in the House.

North Carolina: This law passed in 2011 was pretty much exactly like Virginia’s, but as the local press pointed out, it didn’t get nearly as much attention because people weren’t talking about the "transvaginal" aspect. A federal judge ruled last October that doctors don’t have to show women the ultrasound image, at least.

Pennsylvania: A pair of Republican state representatives introduced the "Women’s Right to Know Act," which passed out of committee last month before the uproar in Virginia prompted the majority leader to shelve it.

Texas: The Lone Star State was ahead of the curve on transvaginal ultrasounds, passing its bill in May 2011 under "emergency" status. A legal challenge to the law failed last month, and it became effective immediately.                                                     from: mother jones

Sign here to protest the transvaginal ultrasound law!

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the conservative’s war on women intensifies

even as the transvaginal ultrasound bill in Virginia was causing national outrage, pennsylvania conservatives were quietly pushing a even more restrictive abortion bill … the legislation is designed with so many difficult and differing restrictions that long-time abortion policy analyst elizabeth nash from the guttmacher institute told raw story, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

the bill would mandate that:
– transvaginal ultrasounds be undertaken even though medically unnecessary (requirements since rejected by the state of Virginia),
– doctors and staff must strongly encourage women to view and listen to ultrasounds,
-  technicians would be forced to give the women personalized copies of the results,
-  the state would mandate how long before any abortion the ultrasound must be performed,
– so many requirements packed into the 22-page bill that it would make it logistically difficult if not impossible for abortion providers to comply with them,
– women who get an ultrasound (more than 14 days before her abortion) must view a state-approved video on fetal gestation,
– the state would be required to compile a list of ultrasound providers, which is likely to include anti-choice crisis pregnancy centers (henry waxman’s staff on the house government reform committee documented [PDF] that federally-funded crisis pregnancy centers were often distributing medically inaccurate and intentionally misleading health information to women)

the FDA already recommends that medically unnecessary ultrasounds should be discouraged, since the long-term effects of radiation from the ultrasound machines are unknown … 
the pennsylvania chapter of the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists and the pennsylvania medical society both oppose the legislation …

the bill faces a vote in the full pennsylvania state house in mid-march, when the legislature is back in session …
a petition at signon.org has collected nearly 15,000 signatures opposing the legislation …

the erroneously and condescendingly named “Women’s Right to Know Act”, House Bill 1077 [PDF], was authored by state rep. kathy rapp (R) …

even though the republicans are spinning this as an opportunity to “gather more information before making a choice”, it is nothing more than one more way to shame and intimidate women into NOT having abortions …
and it’s just one more way to force women to give up their constitutionally given right to do with their bodies as THEY see fit …
that this bill is being spearheaded and shepherded by a woman makes this whole episode, in my humble opinion, even more ludicrous and onerous …
more mandates from the same party that rails against the affordable health care act’s mandate …
and more intrusive BIG government control over women from the supposed party of “lesser and smaller government” …
the gop war on women continues full speed ahead …

sign the petition at signon.org opposing the legislation

on the 2012 anniversary of roe versus wade, rep. kathy rapp (R-warren/forest/mckean) hosted a state capitol press conference to build momentum for passage of her insane bill…
click here to watch the full press conference …

contact her to let her know how you feel here …
please, be polite and NO spamming …

District Offices
404 Market Street
Warren, PA 16365
Tel: 814-723-5203
Fax: 814-728-3564
*Toll-free 866-854-5294

8 Field Street
Kane, PA 16735
Tel: 814-837-0880
Fax: 814 837-2257

Capitol Office
161B East Wing
PO Box 202065
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2065
Tel: 717-787-1367
Fax: 717-787-5854
Staff: Annette Mioff

Email:
klrapp@pahousegop.com

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