Pro-Choice Maryland

The battleground over abortion is shifting to Tennessee, where campaigns are heating up on a referendum that is a year away.

The referendum, pushed by anti-abortion groups for years, would add an amendment to the state constitution stating, "Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion." The amendment would apply to all abortions, including those stemming from "circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother."

( More )

Please let this referendum fail next year

From Planned Parenthood:

Peace Corps Volunteers are denied insurance coverage for abortion, even in cases of rape or incest, and even when their lives are in danger. They serve our country and communities around the world, and they deserve equal treatment from our government. Tell your senators to change this unjust policy.

You can say this is a sequel entry to the last entry

Texas' lieutenant governor late Tuesday suspended a senator's filibuster against wide-ranging abortion restrictions, but Democrats moved quickly to appeal the decision and set off a parliamentary fight over the rules.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst halted the filibuster after determining Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis had strayed off the topic when she talked about a sonogram bill passed in 2011 and how the new abortion restrictions only compounded the anti-abortion laws in Texas.

Democrats immediately appealed the decision and set off a heated debate over rules. Austin Democratic Sen. Kirk Watson appeared to be positioning himself to launch a new filibuster on Dewhurst's decision.

Wearing pink tennis shoes to prepare for nearly 13 consecutive hours of standing, Davis began the day with a one-woman filibuster to block a GOP-led effort to impose stringent new abortion restrictions across the nation's second-most populous state.

The filibuster began at 11:18 a.m. CDT Tuesday and continued until 10:03 p.m., less than two hours before the midnight deadline marking the end of the 30-day special session.

( More )

Senator Davis is fucking awesome. Btw, the last line of the article made me facepalm myself very hard. You'll see why when you read it.

Remember the bill in ND I mentioned last week? Yeah, it was signed into law by ND's governor.

From PP:
North Dakota just passed the most extreme abortion ban in the country. It's just one of some 300 bills across the country designed to take away women's rights and access to health care -- and ultimately to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Don't let lawmakers get away with it, take action today.

I got this from both Planned Parenthood and NOW, though I will share what NOW sent me:
There is a chance that the bipartisan, inclusive Senate-passed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (S. 47) could pass the House of Representatives tomorrow.

But, the completely unacceptable substitute VAWA, being pushed by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) as the sponsor, will be brought to the floor for a vote first. If the substitute fails, House members will then be able to vote yea or nay on the Senate-passed bill. We think we have the votes to defeat the substitute and pass the inclusive Senate bill, but we must have your help! We are so close now, with 201 co-sponsors and 19 House Republicans who signed a letter asking Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to allow the Senate bill to have a floor vote.

Please contact your House member, whether Democrat or Republican, and implore them to vote for the Senate-approved VAWA. The Senate version contains program improvements essential to bring protection and support to violence survivors who have not had access to services in the past.

Please make a call and send an email message right away, and don't forget to let them know that you are a voter in their district. Since we have only a few hours to reach House members, your calls and email messages must be sent today and early Thursday morning.

( More about the background of the subsitute and calling your house member )

To take action with Planned Parenthood on this issue, go here

I took this action through Planned Parenthood:
President Obama is holding the line on making no-cost birth control available to women no matter where they work. Now it's our turn. The administration has 60 days to collect public comments on the rule -- I made mine in support and I need you to add yours right now

I know this news is extremely belated (like over a week belated), but Congress included the Shaheen Amendment in the final National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment secures military women access to safe and legal abortion. I got the email about this from Planned Parenthood days before Christmas. Thought you all would like to know, especially if you haven't heard about it yet.