- North Dakota passed the nation’s most restrictive ban on abortion today: the ND House of Representatives advanced a “fetal personhood” measure which declares a fertilized egg a human, thereby criminalizing all abortion. The bill now heads to the Republican governor’s desk. [Huffington Post]
- Smith College, a well-regarded women’s college which graduated the likes of Gloria Steinem, has rejected a trans woman as a student because Calliope Wong was born a male. (It’s actually the second time Smith has rejected Wong as a student for this very reason.) [Newser]
- But in some good news, on her blog, Callio mentions a friend of hers, who is also a trans woman, has been admitted to Simmons College, another women’s college. Simmons even gave her friend a $20,000 scholarship! [CallioWong.Tumblr.com]
- On Adria Richards, “Donglegate” and the ethics of public shaming. [Feminist Philosophers]
- Speaking of Donglegate, Men’s rights activists (MRAs), AKA the scum of the universe, are raising money for the man who got fired. [BuzzFeed] Keep reading »
Tag Archives: fetal personhood
North Dakota Passes Anti-Abortion Law Saying Life Begins At Conception
North Dakota Advances Anti-Abortion “Fetal Personhood” Ballot Measure
- North Dakota’s state Senate has approved a “fetal personhood” voter initiative which would allow citizens to vote on whether to amend the state constitution to read that life begins at conception, thereby criminalizing all abortion. It now must pass North Dakota’s House of Representatives before it ends up on the 2014 ballot. [Feminist.org, Huffington Post]
- Also: aborted babies go to Hell, says some politician. Glad we cleared that one up. [Raw Story]
- On invisible women and the real history of domestic workers in America. [Mother Jones]
- The U.S. has one of the worst gender gaps in math skills in the developed world. [Slate] Keep reading »
Paul Ryan: 12 Things To Know About Mitt Romney’s VP Pick
Happy Saturday, folks! Did you hear? Mitt Romney has announced his running mate for the presidential election — Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI). Let’s get to know him, shall we? Keep reading »
The Soapbox: In America, We Treat Our Moms Like Second-Class Citizens
Are you a mother? Do you know someone who is? You probably do, and that’s why you should be very concerned about Alabama’s chemical endangerment clause, which aims to protect fetuses from mothers who abuse drugs. Alabama’s law — and others like it — signify a wave of legislation aimed at granting fetuses more rights and women less, effectively treating mothers as second class citizens.
Dude Lawmaker: How Dare Government Try To Control Men’s Bodies!
Nothing is quite so entertaining as people who don’t recognize their own hypocrisy, huh? Recently, our hero, Oklahoma State Sen. Constance Johnson (D), introduced an “Every Sperm Is Sacred” law to try to outlaw male masturbation. Legislators in OK have been concerned with banning abortion rights, including a “fetal personhood” amendment which would define a fertilized egg as a person, thereby criminalizing all abortion and IVF treatment. So, Sen. Johnson thought politicians should turn their attention to all the poor little spermies being spanked out in the shower. ”If we’re taking about protecting life, then let’s talk about life at it’s very basic beginning,” she told “The Daily Show” last night. Keep reading »
Ohio State Senator Nina Turner Says She Is “Serious” About Viagra Bill
Words cannot express how much I want to thank and then high-five Ohio State Senator Nina Turner. She’s the politician who’s introduced a bill that says men looking for a prescription for Viagra would first need to get a sex therapist’s permission, a cardiac stress test, and confirmation that “the patient’s symptoms are not solely attributable to one or more psychological conditions.” The bill is, of course, meant to underscore the inherent inequality in anti-abortion bills that require women to get medically unnecessary ultrasounds and other procedures. But is she really serious?
“I’m just as serious as the men policymakers across the nation who introduced bills to regulate a woman’s reproductive health,” Turner said in the above interview with MSNBC. She continued, tongue placed firmly in cheek, “For far too long elected officials, especially women … have abdicated our responsibility to show men [as] much love in the reproductive health arena as they have shown us over the years. So my Senate bill 307 is all about the love and making sure we look out for men’s sexual health.” Keep reading »
Hero Of The Week: City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh Proposes Bill Forbidding Men From Destroying Semen
VA's Abortion Bills
Virgina's transvaginal ultrasound anti-abortion bill is super-scary. Read More »
Wilmington City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh was fed up with the recent spate of fetal personhood bills, which aim to declare that a woman’s fertilized egg is somehow the same as a “person.” So she decided to challenge those bills by introducing one of her own — a resolution to recognize the sacred life present in each sperm. Walsh drafted a resolution aimed at making it illegal for men to waste sperm. According to the language of the resolution:
[E]ach ‘egg person’ and each ‘sperm person’ should be deemed equal in the eyes of the government and be subject to the same laws and regulations as any other dependent minor and be protected against abuse, neglect or abandonment by the parent or guardian.
Hero Of The Week: Oklahoma Senator Judy Eason McIntyre And Her Rad Sign
On Tuesday, nearly 1000 people gathered in Oklahoma City to protest the state’s fetal personhood amendment, which seeks to legally declare that life begins at conception and would thus render abortion illegal. Among the protestors was this awesome lady, Senator Judy Eason McIntyre, whose [UPDATE] who borrowed this bawdy sign from a fellow protestor. It basically sums up my feelings on the anti-choice/anti-women legislation currently being debated around the country. [Tulsa World]
Today’s Lady News: Virginia Kills “Fetal Personhood” Bill
- Virginia’s state Senate killed a “fetal personhood bill” which would have criminalized all abortions by declaring a fetus to be a human being at the moment of conception. Yesterday, Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell rescinded his intent to sign a “transvaginal ultrasound” bill, which would have required a woman seeking an abortion to be vaginally probed with an ultrasound, after it attracted nationwide and worldwide attention. [WSLS]
- Texas is now officially banning Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving federal women’s health funds because they are “an affiliate of an abortion provider.” At least 130,000 low-income women will lose their access to contraception and cancer screenings as a result of this decision. Frisky contributor Andrea Grimes has the story. [Hay Ladies]
- Please read New York Times op-ed columnist Gail Collins’ thoughts on gender in the 2012 election. Just trust me on this. [New York Times] Keep reading »
Virginia Advances Anti-Abortion “Fetal Personhood” And “Transvaginal Ultrasound” Bills
Virginia politicians advanced two extreme and extremely disturbing anti-abortion bills yesterday — Valentine’s Day, for God’s sake! One is a so-called “fetal personhood” amendment, which would criminalize all abortions by declaring that a fertilized egg is a person.
The state’s Republican-controlled House of Delegates overwhelmingly passed the “fetal personhood” bill, which now heads to the state Senate. If the bill passes the state Senate and is signed into law by Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, it would be the most sweeping criminalization of abortion in the United States. Keep reading »
