Tag: abortion

Tribute to Dr. William Harrison 20100804

I read with sorrow this evening that Dr. Harrison is closing his practice.  He is an excellent physician, and skilfully delivered my firstborn son in 1985.

Dr. Harrison has been in a bit of controversy, since he is the only OB to provide abortions in the northwest Arkansas area.  This man has guts.  The fundies are rejoicing.  I am mourning.

When the former Mrs. Translator and I visited his office in late 1984 and early 1985, he also practiced OB-GYN and delivered babies.  The costs of that became large afterwards, so he limited his practice to abortions.

Conscience Clauses, Civil Disobedience, and Uncivil Discourse

In this country, a long tradition exists of individuals who have refused to perform a particular duty or task, citing their religious beliefs as justification.  The very definition of Civil Disobedience, of course, depends on the person, the situation, and how it is applied.  The latest incident has opened up a discussion which has never really subsided, only dipped underneath the radar from time to time.  In this circumstance, a Texas bus driver, who is also an ordained conservative Christian minister, claims that he was fired for not taking a women to Planned Parenthood.  His decision is in the same vein as those of pharmacists who, stating moral reasons, will not dispense the morning-after pill to women who request it.

And then there were none

… now that [healthcare reform is] the law, they’re using it to limit coverage by private insurers.

An obscure part of the law allows states to restrict abortion coverage by private plans operating in new insurance markets.  Capitalizing on that language, abortion foes have succeeded in passing bans that, in some cases, go beyond federal statutes.

… Before the overhaul became law, five states had limits on private insurance coverage of abortion — Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Abortion rights supporters are concerned that the list is growing as a result of the new federal law.

Associated Press 05/16/10

Great bait-and-switch #1 of the past year was the healthcare reform debacle.  Public option, public option, yay!  Yes, the Stupak/Nelson abortion restrictions were bad, but a public option bill was so important that it was worth Stupak/Nelson.  Oh whoops, no public option?  Bummer, but what’s a poor liberal to do?

Screw rent! Ask Stupak if we should KILL our gays now or wait till later

    Crossposted at Daily Kos

Brought to you by PeanutButterPAC

I wonder if Fox News will pick up this diary?

   While I am very interested in the question of “Who paid Bart Stupak’s rent? ” I would also like to know who was paying the rent of his roommates. Some of those roommates were . . .

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Senator John Ensign (R-NV)

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)

Rep Zach Wamp (R-TN)

Rep Mike Doyle (D-PA)

    Who wants to bet Fox asks Doyle about this but not DeMint, who is the front man for their Tea Party astroturfed Corporatist movement.

    But that is not the BIG QUESTION I want to ask Stupak and his Christian Mafia cult members. No, my question to them is . . .

    “Should we kill our gays now, or wait until later?”

More below the fold . . .  

Health Care and Abortion

originally posted by Will Urquhart at Sum of Change

I really hate having to come back to this over and over again. Let’s get our abortion-and-health-care basics down folks. The Senate bill does nothing to change the standard we have lived by that no federal funding shall be used for abortion.

Abortion is murder!

It’s just been discovered that more abortions happened in 2009 than were previously known. This is a shocking revelation, compounded by the fact that there is no outrage over this. Nobody in the so-called pro-life movement is bothering to discuss this revelation.

I’m sickened.

I would think that pro-life organizations would want to stop these people from doing this to our country. Abortion is murder, right? These people are being allowed to do this because of an erroneously decided Supreme Court decision! I mean, the judges were clearly being activist when they decided it. This decision supposedly allowed more “freedom” to people but what it really does is allow more people to commit abhorrent acts under the guise of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This is obviously not what the people who wrote that amendment intended.

And it’s not even for the stupid “health” of the mother.

Just look at some of these people who are doing this:

By the end of Dec. 2008 as announced Circuit City Filed Bankruptcy, they promised to keep all

stores open for the holiday season, but afterwards, they plan on closing 155 stores nationwide.

Aborted. Just like that.  

March for Life: Health Care and Abortion

originally posted by Will Urquhart at Sum of Change

Operation Rescue’s President Cannot Explain How Health Care Bill Funds Abortion

(Footage purchased from Sam Sumner, originally posted by Will Urquhart at Sum of Change)

As you may be aware, this weekend (tomorrow to be exact) marks the 37th anniversary of the passage of Roe v Wade, the supreme court decision that effectively legalized abortion nationwide. We have been working on a documentary about clinic escorts for some time now (tomorrow we will be making a big announcement about the film, sign up for our emails and you will be one of first to hear about it), so this weekend is a big chance for us to get some footage.

When I got back home from volunteering at the clinic, I saw an email from Operation Rescue announcing a press conference at the White House today. Luckily, I was able to track down a freelance videographer who sold us some great exclusive footage of Operation Rescue’s President, Troy Newman, failing several times to name a single part of the current health care bills that allows for federal funding of abortion (although he knows for a fact it does, he just cannot tell you how):

Some good ways to start ‘The Year of Resistance’

I have recently been calling for a large social movement (or, more realistically, an expansion of the social movements for justice already in existence) and here are a few ways we can all get started on being part of this movement.

(Included:  Cindy Sheehan’s thoughts on recent events and a list of upcoming action events you can get involved with.)

(Lots of PICS+VIDS) Stop Stupak Rally/Lobby Day

Coverage originally posted by Will Urquhart at Sum of Change

Last week, we joined pro-choice activists from all across the country on Capitol Hill. They came to support health care reform and the public option, and they came to fight against the Stupak amendment and any bans on women’s reproductive health coverage. The program began with rally, after which, the groups headed to scheduled meetings with their legislators. We tagged along with a group from Sister Song in New Orleans and joined them for the visit with Senator Mary Landrieu’s office.

We have extensive coverage of the day’s events, with plenty of full speeches.

Abortion: IOKIYAR

Abortion is funded by the RNC and Focus on the Family’s health insurance plans. How’s that for hypocrisy?

I read this earlier today at Atrios’s site that links to the Politico article. Abortion is available to RNC employees through their Cigna policy.

Stupak: Lip stick on a Democrat

PhotobucketInstead of real health care reform (Medicare for all, everyone in and everyone pays), the health care bills in the House and the Senate are just expanded Medicaid with a public option that isn’t an option to the public at all.  Thanks to Stupak, the taxpayers will pay for prayer therapy and Viagra while restricting payments for abortions.  Apparently Stupak has no problem with killing 45,000 born babies and their parents each year.

Like the bank bailouts and Medicare Part D, Democratic health care reform is just another corporate rip off of the middle class; and for this privilege, they cut Medicare benefits and raised Medicare’s monthly premiums.  So much for no increases to people who make fewer than 250K a year.  

With Democrats like Stupak in Washington, it really doesn’t matter which party wins election because Republicans and religious zealots like Stupak win either way.  The Democratic health care reform bills are “like putting whip cream on a turd”, to quote a local official in the newspaper on a totally different subject,.  

The do nothing Democrats will pass anything, declare victory, and expect applause.   Maybe if we clap hard enough, we can make them all disappear.  

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