via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post In a historic bipartisan vote on Tuesday, the Senate passed Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-N.H.) amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that would extend abortion insurance coverage to victims of rape in the military. If the House of Representatives decides to include the measure in its version of … Continue reading
via Gregory J. Krieg, ABC News Mitt Romney says he has no plans to push new anti-abortion laws if elected, a position that could put him at odds with parts of his core constituency and his own running mate, Paul Ryan. “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become … Continue reading
via Philip Elliot and Alan Fram, The Huffington Post Republicans emphatically approved a toughly worded party platform at their national convention Tuesday that would ban all abortions and gay marriages, reshape Medicare into a voucher-like program and cut taxes to energize the economy and create jobs. The document opens by warning that while the American … Continue reading
via David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist announced he is endorsing Barack Obama for President noting his former party’s “extreme” positions have made the GOP “incapable of governing.” Citing “the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise,” Crist, 56, withdrew from the GOP in his 2009-2010 … Continue reading
via The Associated Press, The Washington Post Voters in this presidential election may face the starkest choice ever on the hot-button social issues of same-sex marriage, abortion rights and access to birth control. Even as most voters tell pollsters the economy is their chief concern, advocacy groups on the left and right are in high … Continue reading
via Evan McMorris-Santoro, Talking Points Memo Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of “legitimate rape” have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy. “First of all, from what I … Continue reading
via Bob Egelko, Politics Blog, The San Francisco Chronicle Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate cements Romney’s own 180-degree turnabout on abortion. Ten years ago, as a candidate for governor, Romney promised to “protect the right of a woman to choose,” and pledged not to change “our pro-choice laws in Massachusetts.” … Continue reading
via Chad Livengood, Detroit News House Republicans tried to silence two female Democratic lawmakers Thursday for floor outbursts a day earlier referencing male sterilization and a female sex organ. The majority party prohibited state Rep. Lisa Brown from speaking on the floor Thursday after she ended a speech the day before against a bill restricting … Continue reading
via Guy Adams, The Independent Declaring that “life must always be protected”, a senior Vatican cleric has defended the Catholic Church’s decision to excommunicate the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old rape victim who had a life-saving abortion in Brazil. Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re, who heads the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, told reporters that … Continue reading
via Anita Kumar, The Washington Post The Virginia Senate voted Tuesday for a scaled-back version of a contentious proposal that would require women to undergo external ultrasounds before abortions, but not the transvaginal ones. The 21-19 vote in the Republican-controlled Senate — mostly along party lines — came after Gov. Robert F. McDonnell asked legislators … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post In the competition for the toughest anti-abortion stance in Iowa, GOP candidates this week have adopted more extreme positions on abortion than they have previously ever held. But their shift toward extremity for the sake of Iowa’s evangelical base could come back to haunt the eventual nominee in the … Continue reading
Note to women in the South Park Slope and surrounding Brooklyn: You might want to think twice before wearing shorts or skirts when you walk home alone at night. That’s the message some women say police officers are spreading as they step up patrols in the area in response to at least 10 unsolved sexual … Continue reading