SCOTUS rules that many corporations are people with religious rights and that they can discriminate specifically against women's health care because Eve was a dirty, dirty slut

Did you expect anything else?

Hey Supreme Court: No Bosses in My Bedroom

This:

Siri pulls a HAL

Remember in 2001: A Space Odyssey when HAL refused to provide assistance? Looks like Siri has a similar problem when it comes to helping women who need emergency health services.

Via Think Progress:

“What may I help you with?” So begins Siri — the unique voice-activated assistant of the iPhone 4s that promises to deliver accurate and tailored answers for your every need. Unless you’re a woman in search of health services like birth control, emergency contraception, abortion, or even mammogram tests. Then the interactive search wizard draws a blank.

[snip]

More disturbingly, Siri would not respond to pleas for help for sexual assault or rape clinics, and services for emergency contraception.

Apparently, however, it's quite adept at locating escort services...

Progress!

Republican Policy: Keep Women Barefoot and Pregnant

... When Republicans say they want to reduce/stop abortions in this country what they seemingly want to do is to reduce the number of non-pregnant women. I don't know how you can conclude anything else when you take a look at their policies.

First Up: Paying, or rather, not paying for birth control

Surely one way to reduce the number of abortions is to increase access to birth control. (How many times have you heard a Rethuglican harp that women use abortion as birth control?) And yet we see that Republicans just can't stomach the idea that insurance companies would be required to cover birth control prescriptions. The most recent examples of this is Republican nominee for President, John McCain stumbling and bumbling over whether he believes insurance companies should cover birth control when they cover Viagra. Along with an excruciating eight-second pause, he remarks that he hasn't really considered the question and doesn't want to think about the question (despite already voting twice against any such protections.) Then, we have Bill O'Leilly insisting that while erectile dysfunction is a medical condition, pregnancy is not a medical condition -- it's a choice (whereas, of course wanting to get a boner is not a choice, it's a god given right).

Next Up: Limiting access to birth control

The current Republican administration now wants to enshrine in law the "right" for medical professionals to refuse to give information about/give prescriptions for/ fill prescriptions for birth control. So even if you can pay for it, someone can tell you: "No thank you, I don't feel like letting you have access to a legal substance." Yes, screw you if they're the only pharmacy in town, or if your secular hospital has been bought up by a religious hospital. And, while Republicans are quite clear that each state should be allowed to decide their own laws on access to abortion, they want to refuse the right for each state to mandate that medical professionals actually do their jobs As Feministe puts it:

"This proposal’s hiring section seems designed specifically to allow people to apply for jobs they don’t want to do per the job description, but which they don’t want others to do either. The goal then of this proposal is to help people and organizations deny patients their legal rights."

Last Up: Redefining abortion so that it includes pretty much everything except "Honest, honey, I promise I'll pull out"

A proposal that was circulated in the Department of Health and Human Services last week defines abortion as follows:

"...any of the various procedures — including the prescription, dispensing and administration of any drug or the performance of any procedure or any other action — that results in the termination of the life of a human being in utero between conception and natural birth, whether before or after implantation.”

Guess what folks, that means they want to reclassify oral contraceptives and emergency contraception, among other birth control methods, as abortions.

So, to recap...

Republicans, while decrying abortion, want to make it as difficult as possible for women to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place. These are the folks, after all, who want all women between the time they get their first period and the time they enter menopause to consider themselves pre-pregnant and to be treated by the health care system as pre-pregnant.

The Republican Party seems to be suffering from a mass case of Madonna-Whore Complex. On the one hand, their prominent members have no problem making jokes about women enjoying being battered and raped by gorillas, or spinning tales about bears being trained to rape little girls, or calling the wife a trollop and cunt in public, while on the other hand, they come up with uber creepy Purity Balls wherein girls as young as six pledge their virginity to their daddies until daddy transfers their purity over to their husbands (while simultaneously making sure they have no real Sex Ed to even know what human sexuality is).

Yes, women are scary creatures who will bang a gorilla and fuck everything else in sight because they know they can just abort!abort!abort! so you gotta wrest control of them as young as possible and make sure you keep them barefoot and pregnant by any means possible.

Or something like that.

[sigh]

If you actually want to cut down on the number of abortions, watch the video and sign the pledge

If you agree with Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray that:

"This is a gratuitous, unnecessary insult to the women of the United States of America. … It is an end-run around the rights of women to make choices about our own health, and we are not going to stand for it. … We will fight you every step of the way."

Then sign the petition to Secretary Michael O. Leavitt of the Department of Health and Human Services here.

Let the Pro Life Forced Birth Republican Party know that The Handmaid's Tale was a novel and not an owner's manual.


(Full transcript at Shakesville)
.

Panty Palooza

From Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania Action Fund:

PANTY PALOOZA

Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania Action Fund recognizes that politics can be an intimate subject — very intimate. Our signature fundraiser Panty Palooza honors that fact.

This is Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania Action Fund's (PPWPAF) eighth annual design-based fund- and friend-raiser. Stiff Competition, now Panty Palooza, was originally established to locally publicize the Planned Parenthood's reproductive rights and health messages in a new and humorous way, while appealing to a diverse target market. We've enjoyed all of the entries, and cheer all of our past winners, including the Rosie the Riverter condom: "We Can Do It If You Use It!" and our very first Award Winner, the still current PennDot Condom: "Make Sure your little Commuters can't get to the Golden Triangle" — just to name just a few.

On Thursday, June 19, 2008 from 6 to 9 p.m., PPWPAF's now (in)famous annual event will take place at Your Inner Vagabond. In celebration of this presidential election year artists, writers, and designers are encouraged to concoct political slogans for candidates that might not make it out of the focus group.

Stiff Competition accounts for 70% of PPWPAF's annual budget.

Panty Palooza
Date: TODAY! 06/19/08 06:00 PM
Location: Your Inner Vagabond
Address: 4130 Butler, Pittsburgh, PA 15201

RSVP HERE.
.

"Here's a quarter, call someone who cares," sincerely, Rep. Grucela

The most retarded amendment ever...and it's by a Democrat!

We've been blogging about PA House Bill 288 since June. The idea of the bill is very simple:

House Bill 288 requires all Pennsylvania hospitals to provide information and access to emergency contraception medication to rape victims if they request it.

It's so freaking simple and straightforward that some idiots in the Pennsylvania House can't keep their stupid hands off of it. Or rather, it has such widespread public support that the opposition is running scared and will try anything to water it down.

The latest amendment is by Rep. Grucela:

Grucela introduced an amendment which "allows" a victim to call an immediate family member about her assault, who would be expected to bring emergency contraception to the hospital, rather than have it provided by the medical professionals in charge of her care.

I'm sorry, but can you name any other circumstance in which a hospital lets family members give drugs to patients willy-nilly in an emergency room? Can you say LIABILITY?

Do you know of any other class of patients who are expected to have family members treat them in an emergency room?!?

Why is it if she's a victim of rape, she's subjected to a lesser standard of medical care!?

And, what if she's there because she was incested? What "immediate family member" is she supposed to call?

This is un-freaking-real.

Please call your House member and make sure they have the facts straight!

Support House Bill 288 with the Ross amendment.

Oppose the Grucela amendment, and any additional amendments to the bill.

If your legislator happens to be Rep. Grucela, let his office know you are appalled that he would even consider an amendment that puts the burden of care on the victim rather than medical providers.

Please take a moment to call today to get your legislator on record!

You can find your legislator at:
http://www.ppaction.org/planned_pa/leg-lookup/search.html

And then, let Planned Parenthood of Pennsylvania Advocates know you called here so they can track the support.
.

URGENT! Email Your Representative to Support EC Access for Rape Survivors

Emergency Contraception for Rape Victims:

VOTE HAPPENS TODAY!

House Bill 288, the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies (CARE) Act, will finally have a vote in the Pennsylvania House TODAY!

House Bill 288 requires all Pennsylvania hospitals to provide information about and access to emergency contraception (EC) medication to rape survivors if they request it - a critical tool to empower survivors by giving them a choice when it comes to preventing a pregnancy as a result of assault.

The opposition is flooding House members with emails, and now the women of Pennsylvania need YOU to stand up and do the same. This vote will be extremely close and adding your voice can make the difference.

You can email your rep via NARAL Pro-Choice Pennsylvania or via Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, but, you have to do it right NOW.

THANKS!

Cocktails for a Cause

WHAT: Cocktails for a Cause
WHEN: Tuesday, September 25, 2007, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
WHERE: Doublewide Grill, 2339 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh PA 15203

70% of all beer sales to benefit Planned Parenthood