Pro-Choice Maryland

First, the Good News :)
Late Wednesday night, Republican Congressional leaders announced that they would be dropping the planned vote for today on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which, if implemented, would have instilled a nationwide ban on all abortions after week 20 of a pregnancy.

The Washington Post reports that the vote was abandoned largely because of the failure of many Republican women to support the proposed bill — led by Reps. Rene Ellmers (R-N.C.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who had raised concerns about public fallout with female and younger voters.

Since it was introduced during the first day of the new Congressional session, the bill has been the source of great controversy and public outcry, including from the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, had explained that the bill was necessary to prevent “defenseless children” from being “torturously killed without even basic anesthetic.” Research has shown, however, that a fetus is not able to sense pain until the beginning of the third trimester, or 28 weeks, at the earliest.

Late-term abortion is typically done only in instances such as the discovery of debilitating conditions in the fetus — many of which would make survival outside of the womb impossible — or when the life of the mother is at risk; in fact 99 percent of abortions are conducted before the 21st week of pregnancy.
Yes!!!

( Unfortunately.... )

*Heavily editted since I learned about the bill passing after I posted about asking your rep to say no to the H.R 7

There are plenty of reasons why a woman might not have children. For many, it’s a choice to be childfree. Some are waiting for the right partner. Others might want to be mothers, but have had difficulties starting a family.

But the one thing many women without kids share is an awareness of constant judgment on their non-mom status. In an interview in January’s Allure, Jennifer Aniston addressed the issue head on: “I don’t like [the pressure] that people put on me, on women—that you’ve failed yourself as a female because you haven’t procreated. I don’t think it’s fair,” she said. “You may not have a child come out of your vagina, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t mothering—dogs, friends, friends’ children.”

( Rest of the article )

This is the best statement in the article that articulate my personal feelings about this:
As for the “selfish” label, Notkin says it’s in the eye of the beholder. “One could be called selfish if they have more than four kids, too,” she says. “All decisions that we make about ourselves and our lives are selfish.”
She is absolutely correct on this. The sad reality is that regardless what kind of choice a woman makes, it's going to be seen as her being selfish by someone. If a woman choses to have a child, she's selfish. If she choses to have more than one or whatever magic number you want to use, she's selfish. If a woman aborts a pregnancy, she's selfish. If a woman choses not to have children ever, she's selfish. If a woman choses to give her kid up for adoption, she's selfish. If a woman choses to use contraception, she's selfish. If a woman choses to get sterilized, she's selfish. If a woman choses to have sex, she's selfish. If a woman choses to abstain, she's selfish (see where this is going).

This is a classic example of "You are damned if you do, and damned if you don't". This is why it's imperative that when women make decisions regarding their personal reproductive health that they decide what they want for themselves rather than basing it off of other people's opinions because she's not going to make anyone but herself happy (yes, and that's selfish in of itself which brings me to ask "When have humans ever been 100% not selfish)

Budding atheists wondering whether Richard Dawkins is in need of a little time away from Twitter to reflect on the past few weeks are about to have their (lack of) prayers answered.

The philosopher has managed to go one step further than his controversial comments on ‘date rape versus stranger rape’ to voice his opinions on what it would be ethical for a mother who is informed that her unborn child has Down Syndrome to do.

( More )

Ahem, let's go back to this one:
“Abort it and try again. It would be immoral to bring it into the world if you have the choice,” he tweeted back.
Yeah...tell that to women who tried to concieve for a long time before finally getting pregnant, Hawkins. Or women who are infertile that took a lot of IVF or other forms of fertility treatment to get pregnant. Or women who have fucking miscarried. It sucks a lot to tried to concieve for a long time only to get pregnant and lose it, whether to miscarriage or grudgingly resorting to abortion because there's something wrong with the fetus. And then, who knows how long it will take a woman to get pregnant again because despite popular belief...some of us don't get pregnant that easy just from having sex.

( More of my comment )

To me, I find it personally immoral to call someone immoral for chosing to carry ANY pregnancy to term just like I do when someone is called immoral for chosing to abort ANY pregnancy.

I saw and snagged this from ontd_political. By the way, this is going to piss you off.

In a town in western Ireland, where castle ruins pepper green landscapes, there's a six-foot stone wall that once surrounded a place called the Home. Between 1925 and 1961, thousands of "fallen women" and their "illegitimate" children passed through the Home, run by the Bon Secours nuns in Tuam.

Many of the women, after paying a penance of indentured servitude for their out-of-wedlock pregnancy, left the Home for work and lives in other parts of Ireland and beyond. Some of their children were not so fortunate.

More than five decades after the Home was closed and destroyed — where a housing development and children's playground now stands — what happened to nearly 800 of those abandoned children has now emerged: Their bodies were piled into a massive septic tank sitting in the back of the structure and forgotten, with neither gravestones nor coffins.

( More )

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the House of Representives passed H.R.7 (AKA the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act."). This bill would potentially eliminate abortion coverage in the private and public insurance markets. If that's not bad enough, the bill allows the IRS to decide whether a woman has been raped or if her pregnancy is dangerous to her health.

Here's more about the bill from NOW:
( A snippet from the bill )

In order to see how your representive voted, go here. Then, after you have seen how your representive voted, either thank them or "spank" them. Hopefully, this bill dies in the senate.

P.S-For us pro-choice Marylanders, our representive voted NO!!! Thank him for voting against this bill :)

From Ultraviolet:
The House Judiciary Committee is debating legislation that could force survivors of sexual violence to tell their horrifying stories to...wait for it...Internal Revenue Service agents.

That's because the bill sponsored by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) requires women who needed abortion care and are also survivors of sexual violence to prove to IRS auditors that the assault occurred. What?!

If we act now and collect enough signatures to show House leadership that this is not only offensive but also a huge waste of time, we can stop the legislation in its tracks--just like a grassroots outcry stopped efforts to redefine rape in 2011. If we speak out loudly now, we can send a message to politicians that bills like this won't win over women voters, and we can stop this outrageous law in its tracks.

Sign the petition

From Planned Parenthood:

Obamacare has already delivered benefits to millions, and when the law goes more fully into effect next year, it will be the biggest step forward for women's health in a generation.

So how does one stop something that will do so much good for so many people? First, you hold 40 separate votes to repeal the law (and counting!). Then, you do whatever it takes to convince the public that Obamacare won't help them — no matter how much it really does. And unfortunately, that includes misleading, hiding the truth, and even flat-out lying about what the law provides.

Don't fall for it. The more you know about what Obamacare means, the better off you'll be. Test your knowledge with our quick quiz — every correct answer will generate a 10 cent donation to help Planned Parenthood keep Obamacare working for women.

Texas Governor Rick Perry called the state legislature back into session July 1 to give lawmakers another chance to pass a measure that may close most of the state’s abortion clinics.

The legislation died in a special session that ended late June 25 after a Democratic senator filibustered. Republican backers forced a vote approving the measure that was later ruled invalid because it came after the midnight conclusion of the session.

“Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn,” Perry, a Republican, said in a statement yesterday.

The measure that failed would ban abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and require that they be performed in ambulatory surgical centers by doctors with admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (50 kilometers). Most clinics would have to alter facilities to meet the requirements, which abortion-rights advocates say they can’t afford. Doctors at other clinics may struggle to win privileges.

( more )

“Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn,” Perry, a Republican, said in a statement yesterday.
Want to protect women, my cream colored ass. Some lifers seem like they want to punish women for having sex. If they really want to protect women, they would support abortion when a woman's life is threatened