Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

11 Apr 2011 23:07

tags

Politics: Stupak’s back: Pro-life Democrat makes surprising career move

  • then Remember Bart Stupak? During the health care debate, he was the pro-life Michigan Democrat who almost derailed the entire legislation over concerns that it would allow federal funds to be spent on abortions. He eventually buckled, of course, and the legislation passed.
  • now Stupak, who retired from Congress last year, has found a new job at Venable LLP, one of “America’s top 100 law firms,” according to it’s website. Why is this notable? Because Venable represents, amongst others, the Maryland chapter of Planned Parenthood. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Apr 2011 13:25

tags

Politics: GRAPHIC: People split on potential Planned Parenthood cuts

  • And this, friends, is why Chartwell is awesome and just earned our $40. We were able to make this graphic in less than 20 minutes. And fortunately, our timing couldn’t be better. See, our boy Harry Reid says that the budget crisis is basically down to Planned Parenthood’s federal funding at this point. Here’s a poll from last week explaining how most people feel about the funding issue. When you break it down to likely voters, though, it starts to get messier — with 39 percent supporting the cuts, 29 percent opposed and a whopping 32 percent uncertain. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Apr 2011 13:50

tags

Politics: Non-fiscal issues make government shutdown harder to avert

  • fiscal As we mentioned yesterday, there’s a big gap between what Democrats are willing to cut in spending and what Republicans want — in fact, they can’t even agree on how many spending cuts are actually in yesterday’s offered compromise.
  • not fiscal Sen. Harry Reid, though, claims the spending cut jockeying isn’t the only hold-up, so are the policy issues pertaining to things like abortion. The GOP has spent a lot of time since their big win in 2010 pushing for these social aims. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Apr 2011 16:12

tags

Politics: Democrats pledge to filibuster anti-Planned Parenthood amendment

  • 41 Senators want to retain public funds for Planned Parenthood source
  • » Why this number matters: Forty-one is the magic number of senators needed to mount a filibuster and, in doing so, block a bill’s passage. Harry Reid has already stated that the anti-Planned Parenthood amendment passed by the House of Representatives won’t be included in the final legislation; however, with this group this size backing him up, Reid’s words now carry much more weight. Interestingly, while the Gang of 41, as someone will undoubtedly refer to them sooner or later, is composed entirely of Democratic-aligned senators, three Republicans have also voiced opposition to stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funds. This will undoubtedly complicated budget negotiations going forward, but we’re nonetheless heartened to see this many senators stepping up to defend such a vital national service. Here’s to hoping they remain intact.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2011 18:05

tags

U.S.: Ohio House passes anti-union bill, abortion next big fight

  • labor war The Republican-led Ohio House approved their much publicized anti-public union bill, adding payments for health care and pensions, and restricting collective bargaining for 360,000 or so people. The bill will now head to the Senate.
  • culture war The Ohio “heartbeat” bill heads to the House. It would make abortion illegal if a fetal heartbeat is detected (normally about six weeks into pregnancy). The doctor would be guilty of a felony and could be sentenced to a year in prison. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2011 14:45

tags

Politics: Sen. Scott Brown splits with GOP on Planned Parenthood

  • unsurprising The GOP’s big win in the midterm elections was, most would agree, secured by economic strife. Despite this, they’ve has spent a lot of effort pushing hard on left/right wedge issues, abortion being one.
  • surprising! GOP Senator Scott Brown, who’s garnered a reputation lately as an independent mind, said the party’s plan to cut funding to Planned Parenthood “goes too far.” Scott Brown, walking the walk! source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Mar 2011 14:36

tags

U.S.: Backers of Ohio’s “heartbeat bill” will bring pregnant woman to legislature

  • legislation The “Heartbeat Bill” in Ohio, which would designate abortion as being illegal at such a time as the fetus has a recognizable heartbeat. While the amount of time this takes can vary, such heartbeats can exist just eighteen days after conception.
  • testimony Supporters of the bill will be bringing a pregnant woman before the legislature, and will project her ultrasound images to the assemblage in color, which causes the fetus’ heartbeat to be more prominently visible. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Feb 2011 15:12

tags

Politics: Six anti-abortion activists protest at Speaker Boehner’s office

  • Our pro-life constituencies are weary of campaign promises and empty rhetoric… We don’t want another symbolic victory.
  • “Operation Rescue” founder Randall Terry • On the topic of anti-abortion politicians following through with policy. This came after the arrest of a group of six Terry supporters outside the office of John Boehner (who wasn’t even inside at the time), where they were demanding that the Speaker stand firm on defunding Planned Parenthood, no matter the Senate’s reaction. Not that Speaker Boehner can force the Senate to do anything, but procedural nuance isn’t always the strong suit of hyper-zealous, single-issue political groups. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Feb 2011 15:50

tags

U.S.: Another paper tiger? House pushes to strip Planned Parenthood funding

  • 240-185 to strip the org of funding source
  • » This has nothing to do with abortions: This bill, which only passed in the GOP-controlled house, affects preventative-health services like cancer screenings or contraception – not abortions, which are maybe 3% of Planned Parenthood’s entire array of services and are already not supported through federal funding – at the grand cost of $330 million. Now, the likelihood that this would actually affect Planned Parenthood as-is? That’s very low, because this is part of that whole Republican-pushed spending plan that will likely not get through the Senate or Obama in its current form, but the fact that it’s even on the table is getting a lot of people worked up.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 13:05

tags

U.S.: South Dakota’s controversial fetal protection proposal shelved

  • NO South Dakota won’t vote on “justifiable homicide” issue source
  • » The controversy is, for now, dead: State Rep. Phil Jensen’s bill would have added the protection of an unborn fetus to the qualifications for “justifiable homicide.” Jensen insisted it had “nothing to do with abortion,” which frankly renders him either phenomenally disingenuous, or utterly politically tone-deaf. If he wants his legal tweak to go through, all he needs to do is add, “but you can’t murder medical practitioners who perform abortions” and he’s be set. And yet, apparently adding such an amendment was bother enough that he’d rather the whole bill, which he claims is about protecting women from domestic violence, be shelved. Seems like a morally dubious decision if you’re really out to protect battered women, doesn’t it? If that is, as he says, what this is all about.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
<< newer 
top tags
older >>