Friday, November 9, 2012

Ohio 'Heartbeat Bill' Is Revived In State Legislature

Here's a rant for you:  Are your FREAKING KIDDING ME?  Who/what/why were these people elected or re-elected in Ohio?  

Someone forgot that NO MEANS NO.  I'm guessing it was the male constituency of the Ohio state legislature, but I've seen some whoppers come from female politicians as well...
Just two days after a majority of Ohio voters indicated at the polls that they support abortion rights, the GOP-controlled Ohio state legislature announced plans to reconsider a controversial bill that would ban all abortions after the fetal heartbeat is detected, without exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother. Read Laura Basset on Huffington Post

Calling All Feminists: Stop being grateful that we have elected Democrats

Ladies:

We need to be quite a bit more vigilant as to who gets elected to office.  The most current example, but unfortunately not the only example, is the Indiana Senate race between Mourdock and Connelly.  Let me quote an article by Ann Friedman:
Mourdock’s opponent, Democrat Joe Donnelly, also believes “life begins at conception” and opposes abortion except for cases of rape and incest or to save the life of the mother. Last year, he co-sponsored HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, that would have banned abortion coverage in state health-insurance exchanges. Maybe he didn’t make a stupid comment about divinely inspired pregnancies as a result of rape, but he does cite his faith as a reason he opposes women’s right to choose. NARAL gives him a score of only 20 percent. He voted twice to block Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funding. (http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/10/mourdocks-opponent-just-the-lesser-of-two-evils.html).
Call them Conservadems, call them Blue Dogs, it all reads the same:  These democrats are socially conservative, and just like their Republican counterparts, are putting PRIVATE morality above PUBLIC morality.  Women, and likewise men, do not need government to tell them what they can and cannot do with their bodies--regardless of whether we are talking about abortion or birth control.  But ladies WE ARE AT FAULT FOR BEING LOW INFORMATION VOTERS if we allow someone like Connelly to win (which is the case in Indianna, unfortunately).  I can understand voting for the "lesser of two evils," but consider this--when he writes, sponsors, and votes for legislation that restricts our right to legal medical care, how can we be shocked if we allowed this person to be elected to office?  

My plea is simply this:  We allowed our vigilance to fail, hence why we are fighting this fight again after 40+ years.  We did not find a candidate to run against him in the Democratic Primary to defeat him.  We will also pay the price for this lack of vigilance for the next 6 years, because he will not soften his position. He will not compromise.  We have for far too long.  

I suggest we mount a grassroots campaign in all states, starting with Indiana, making transparent exactly how our newly elected officials have voted.  Let's circulate a PETITION TO DENOUNCE ALL DEMOCRATS THAT DO NOT SUPPORT A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE.  We can, and should thereafter, submit a petition to both chambers to DEMAND THE FOCUS OF CONGRESS BE ON THE PUBLIC MORALITY (i.e regulating Wall Street, removing the payroll cap on Social Security, campaign finance reform, ending the Bush Tax Cuts, etc.). We owe it to ourselves, and to future generations (whether they will appreciate it or not) to make highly informed choices.