Thursday, March 08, 2012

This Will Continue

As long as Republicans have control of the House of Representatives and have filibuster power in the Senate, they will continue to set the agenda.  The Republicans under the leadership of Boehner, Cantor, Issa, and Tea Partiers, have spent an incredible amount of time talking about birth control, abortion, reproductive rights, ultrasounds, health care for women, etc., etc., etc.  Are you tired of it yet?

There is a solution.  We can change the agenda from the uterus to job creation, if we elect more Democrats.  Our country can rebuild roads, highways, and bridges, if we stop having congressional hearings on reproductive rights without one female witness being allowed to testify.

Personally, as a woman, I am sick, sick, sick, of these Republicans talking about our reproductive rights!  Across the country, state legislatures have taken up 1,100 pieces of legislation that have to do with a woman's reproductive rights!

Huffington Post:

...In the first part of 2012, the GOP has only accelerated its attacks on abortion and family planning. Virginia Republicans introduced a bill whose original language would have required women to undergo an invasive transvaginal ultrasound procedure 24 hours prior to having an abortion; a modified version of the bill, which requires women to receive transabdominal ultrasounds instead, was signed into law on Wednesday. Congress shocked women's rights groups by pivoting from abortion access to birth control, attempting to overturn President Barack Obama's contraception coverage rule with Sen. Roy Blunt's (R-Mo.) amendment, which would have allowed employers to deny women any kind of health coverage for vague "moral reasons."

And the fight has leaked into the private sector. Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the nation's largest breast cancer charity, tried to pull cancer-screening grants from Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics provide abortions. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee, convened a hearing on religious liberty and the contraception rule and refused to allow the Democrats' one female witness, Sandra Fluke, to speak at it. And most recently, prominent conservatives Rush Limbaugh and Foster Friess publicly equated birth control use to sexual promiscuity.

Now, despite the fact that Komen faced a public backlash for its decision to defund Planned Parenthood, the Senate rejected the controversial Blunt amendment and dozens of advertisers have peeled off of Limbaugh's show to protest his comments, the GOP remains focused on legislating women's reproductive choices.....

(Do a Google search for the following words: transvaginal ultrasound governor and see what Republican vice presidential hopeful's face pops up.)

Raw Story is reporting that every Democratic female state senator in Georgia walked out in protest:

...the female Democratic state senators walked out of the Georgia Senate on Wednesday to protest bills put forward by the Republican male majority. 

The demonstration took place after Republicans passed two bills that opponents have said are part of the GOP’s “war on women.” The only female Republican senator did not take part in the protest.

State Senate Bill 438, passed by a vote of 33-18, prevents state health plans from paying for abortions. The measure makes no exception even in cases of rape and incest....

The Salt Lake Tribune has news from the Utah state legislature:

...-> Utah could soon have the longest abortion wait time in the nation, after a bill breezed through the Senate with little debate that would increase the waiting period from 24 to 72 hours. [Trib] [DNews]....

Blog for Arizona has news about the latest insanity in that Republican-controlled state government:

Arizona Republicans are hitting women's rights and workers' wages hard. First is the bill proposing to let secular companies refuse to provide contraception as part of their health insurance packages. The Star has an editorial blasting the bill.....

......Next is the proposed initiative to roll back the minimum wage Arizonans voted into law in 2006 by an almost 2-1 margin. The 2006 initiative assured that minimum wage would keep pace with inflation. The new initiative isn't targeted at unions like so many of the Republican anti-worker bills. It goes after workers who are getting the lowest wage the law allows, most of whom have no representation whatever....

This is what happens when Republicans are in control.  Here in Ohio, Republicans sponsored a heartbeat bill in an effort to end abortions.  If you vote for Republicans, this is what you get----- a war on women, a war on your reproductive freedom, forced transvaginal ultrasound, and oppression of women.

Finally, one elected official is fighting back. State Sen. Nina Turner has introduced a bill into the Ohio legislature that protect men from the harmful side effects of male enhancement drugs.

Plunderbund:

An important piece of legislation was introduced in the Ohio State Senate yesterday. It seems that in all the fuss to protect women from making poor decisions about their bodies, we forgot about the men. But Senator Nina Turner didn’t forget.....

Senate Bill 307 protects men by requiring the following prior to receiving a prescription to treatment for erectile dysfunction:
  • a signed affadavit from at least one sex partner confirming the man has indeed experienced the symptoms of impotence in the past 90 days
  • a psychological screening to ensure the condition is, in fact, medical in nature
  • ongoing cardiac stress tests and outpatient counseling about potential side effects
  • information from the prescribing physician about risks, complications as well as non-medical options including counseling and celibacy
  • copy of medical rationale for treatment filed in patient’s medical record....
Thank you, Sen. Turner!

Think about this----- If a Republican had been in the White House, and the Blunt Amendment would have passed in the Senate, the Blunt Amendment would have become law.


Yes, this "war on women" with help from Limbaugh will continue, unless we vote the Republican bullies out of office. Vote for jobs.  Vote for Democrats.