Sunday, April 07, 2013 7:30:24 PM
Lucy Flores, Nevada Legislator, Receives Threats After Admitting She Had An Abortion
Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D-Las Vegas) received threatening messages after publicly admitting she didn't regret having an abortion as a teenager.
By Hunter Stuart
Posted: 04/05/2013 11:13 am EDT | Updated: 04/05/2013 7:58 pm EDT
A state lawmaker in Nevada received threats [ https://twitter.com/DanaGentryLV/status/319577866276843520 ] after giving an emotional testimony about an abortion [ http://blogs.rgj.com/politics/2013/04/02/assemblywoman-flores-makes-a-dramatic-unforgettable-point-in-sex-education-hearing/ ] she had as a teenager, according to sources familiar with the matter. She made the comments during a sex education bill hearing on Monday.
Nevada state Assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D-Las Vegas) [ http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Lucy_Flores ] canceled a TV appearance Wednesday because of the threatening messages she had received after her April 1 appearance, Las Vegas NBC affiliate KSNV producer Dana Gentry [ https://twitter.com/DanaGentryLV ] told The Huffington Post on Thursday.
Reno Gazette Journal reporter Ray Hagar told HuffPost that he confirmed with the assemblywoman's staff that Flores had received threats related to her abortion testimony.
Neither Hagar nor Gentry knew the nature of the threats or from whom they had come.
While Flores did not return a request for comment from HuffPost, she took to her Facebook page on Thursday [ https://www.facebook.com/LucyFloresNV/posts/353009838142889 ] to say that she canceled her TV appearance "in an abundance of caution." She went on to say that the past couple days had "been very trying."
In the Facebook message, Flores said she was "eternally grateful" for the support she had received this week and vowed not to be intimidated by her opponents.
"I remain dedicated to my beliefs and convictions, and no matter what comes my way, I will not be silenced -- on ANY topic," the politician wrote.
During a hearing on a state sex education bill on Monday, Flores told the story of how she had an abortion as a 16-year-old [ http://blogs.rgj.com/politics/2013/04/02/assemblywoman-flores-makes-a-dramatic-unforgettable-point-in-sex-education-hearing/ ], according to the Reno Gazette Journal. Flores said that each of her six sisters became a teenage mother, and that she "didn't want to be like that."
"I don't regret it," Flores said about her abortion, according to the report. "I don't regret it because I am here [at the Legislature] making a difference...for young ladies and letting them know their options."
In a press statement Thursday, Flores explained why she had made personal comments [ http://lucyflores.com/pressroom ] during the legislative hearing.
"I shared that story because I felt it was relevant to the importance of sex education in Nevada schools, and my belief that our children need to be armed with good information in order to make good choices," she said.
Flores' remarks provoked the wrath [ http://www.lifenews.com/2013/04/04/democrat-who-doesnt-regret-abortion-faces-death-threats/ ] of some conservative media outlets, as well as an outpouring of support on Twitter [ https://twitter.com/search?q=%23fierceflores&src=typd ] through the hashtag #FierceFlores.
Flores is a supporter of the sex education bill, AB 230 [ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Bills/AB/AB230.pdf ], which was introduced to the legislature in early March [ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Reports/history.cfm?billname=AB230 ]. It seeks to provide medically accurate information on contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and other sexual health issues.
Nevada has the fourth highest rate of teen pregnancy in the nation among women aged 15-19 [ http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrendsState08.pdf ], according to a Guttmacher Institute study from 2008, the most recent year for which data is available.
(h/t Think Progress [ http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/04/1823341/lucy-flores-abortion-story/ ])
Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/lucy-flores-abortion-threats_n_3017717.html [with embedded video report, and comments]
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Kansas set to enact life-starts-"at fertilization" abortion law
Sam Brownback speaks at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 4, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar
By Kevin Murphy
KANSAS CITY, Kansas | Sat Apr 6, 2013 5:13pm EDT
(Reuters) - Kansas is set to enact one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation which defines life as beginning "at fertilization" and imposes a host of new regulations.
The Kansas House of Representatives passed the bill 90-30 on Friday night, a few hours after the Senate backed it on a 28-10 vote. Strongly anti-abortion Republican Governor Sam Brownback is expected to sign it into law. Republicans hold strong majorities in both houses.
In addition to the provision specifying when life begins, the bill prevents employees of abortion clinics from providing sex education in schools, bans tax credits for abortion services and requires clinics to give details to women about fetal development and abortion health risks. It also bans abortions based solely on the gender of the fetus.
The Kansas bill comes on the heels of anti-abortion measures passing in states across the country, including one in Arkansas banning abortions in the 12th week of pregnancy and a law in North Dakota that sets the limit at six weeks.
The Kansas language stating that life begins "at fertilization" is modeled on a 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, said Kathy Ostrowski, legislative director of Kansans for Life, anti-abortion group.
Ostrowski said the language protects the rights of the unborn in probate and other legal matters.
If the bill is signed into law, Kansas will become the eighth state declaring that life begins at fertilization, said Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager of the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion-related laws nationwide.
While it would not supplant Kansas law banning most abortions after the 22nd week of pregnancy, it does set the state up to more swiftly outlaw all abortions should the U.S. Supreme Court revisit its 1973 ruling making abortion legal, Nash said.
"It's a statement of intent and it's a pretty strong statement," Nash said. "Should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade or should the court come to some different conclusion, the state legislature would be ready, willing and able to ban abortions."
States that already have such language are Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio, Nash said.
The Kansas bill prohibits use of public funds, tax preferences or tax credits for abortion services. It prevents state-provided public health-care services from being used in any manner to carry out abortions, according to a summary.
Taking away tax benefits would amount to 12 tax increases for abortion providers, women and their families, said Elise Higgins, Kansas coordinator for the National Organization for Women. Even abortions to save a mother's life would not be a deductible cost, she said.
Higgins also criticized the bill's requirement that women be told of possible connection between abortion and later risk of breast cancer. "It's an obvious intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship by making them get this inaccurate information," Higgins said.
Ostrowski said the bill merely requires that patients be referred to online and other material about abortion and breast cancer. It does not steer them to misinformation, she said.
The bill bars school districts from letting abortion providers offer, sponsor or furnish course materials or instruction on human sexuality or on sexually transmitted diseases. Higgins said that creates an unfair stigma for employees of abortion providers.
Another portion of the new law would prevent women from deciding on an abortion solely because of the gender of the fetus. It is unclear how many women terminate pregnancies for that reason.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Greg McCune, Doina Chiacu and Gunna Dickson)
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/06/us-usa-kansas-abortion-idUSBRE93501220130406 [with comments]
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The Plan B morning-after pill and the new war on abortion
A judge ruled that access to the Plan B contraceptive and other so-called morning-after pills must not be restricted.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / April 5, 2013)
By Robin Abcarian
April 6, 2013, 9:13 a.m.
North Dakota is trying to ban all abortions. Arkansas is trying to ban them after 12 weeks. Mississippi is down to its last abortion clinic.
If you think the abortion question in this country was settled after the Supreme Court made its historic Roe vs. Wade ruling in 1973, you haven’t been paying attention. Tossing Roe was not just a plank of the 2012 Republican Party platform, it was a reliable applause line in every 2012 Republican presidential candidate’s stump speech.
Friday's federal court ruling [ http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-plan-b-no-prescription-brooklyn-judge-20130405,0,7950239.story ] in New York that girls of all ages should have unrestricted access to the so-called morning-after pill [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/plan-b-%28drug%29-HEDAR00268.topic ] to prevent pregnancy is an unvarnished victory for reproductive freedom at a time when its opponents are pushing hard in the opposite direction.
U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman’s opinion [ https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/Tummino%20SJ%20memo.pdf ] was a vindication of sorts for folks who have been surprised, and angry, about how the Obama administration has rolled over [ http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/news/pr/2011/ConscienceObama.asp ] on a number of reproductive rights issues.
Korman slammed the administration for buckling to political pressure in 2011 when it overruled the Food and Drug Administration [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/food-drug-administration-ORGOV0000136161.topic ], which had recommended all girls be able to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription. But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/kathleen-sebelius-PEPLT007554.topic ], a former Kansas governor and veteran of the grotesque abortion wars in that state [ http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/26/nation/la-na-wichita-abortion-clinic-20130327 ], declared that anyone younger than 17 had to have a prescription, despite the fact that the FDA found no evidence of harm among younger users.
Corman accused Sebelius of forcing the FDA to “ride roughshod” over its own policies by insisting that girls younger than 17 have a prescription for the drug, often called Plan B.
And the president, about to face his difficult 2012 reelection campaign, took the weasely way out. During a December 2011 news conference [ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/08/statement-president ], Obama said he did not get involved in Sebelius’ decision, but supported it even though, as he acknowledged, no one was challenging the drug’s safety.
“As the father of two daughters, I think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/over-the-counter-medicines-HEDAR00000152.topic ],” Obama told reporters. “And as I understand it, the reason Kathleen made this decision was she could not be confident that a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old go into a drugstore, should be able -- alongside bubble gum or batteries -- be able to buy a medication that potentially, if not used properly, could end up having an adverse effect. And I think most parents would probably feel the same way.
“When it comes to 12-year-olds or 13-year-olds, the question is can we have confidence that they would potentially use Plan B [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/plan-b-%28drug%29-HEDAR00268.topic ] properly? And her judgment was that there was not enough evidence that this potentially could be used improperly in a way that had adverse health effects on those young people.”
That logic, the judge pointed out in his ruling, was hooey.
“This case is not about the potential misuse of Plan B by 11-year-olds,” Korman wrote. “These emergency contraceptives [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/birth-control-HETHT000011.topic ] would be among the safest drugs sold over-the-counter, the number of 11-year-olds using these drugs is likely to be miniscule .… The invocation of the adverse effect of Plan B on 11-year-olds is an excuse to deprive the overwhelming majority of women of their right to obtain contraceptives without unjustified and burdensome restrictions.”
Though it’s easy to get all twisted up in the abortion debate, it’s important to remember that Plan B prevents most pregnancies when taken within 72 hours of intercourse. Being able to get it over-the-counter is very good news for girls.
robin.abcarian@latimes.com
Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times (emphasis in original)
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-the-plan-b-morningafter-pill-and-the-new-war-on-abortion-20130406,0,5330346.story [with comments]
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Terri Proud, Arizona Official, Fired Over Comment About Menstrual Cycles In Combat
04/04/2013
The director of Arizona's Department of Veterans’ Services resigned on Wednesday after the woman he hired to coordinate a female veterans’ conference, former State Rep. Terri Proud (R), said that women may be less suited to serve in combat because of their menstrual cycles.
“Women have certain things during the month I’m not sure they should be out there dealing with," Proud told the Arizona Senora News Service [ http://arizonasonoranewsservice.com/stories/34-stories/299-proud-keep-women-off-battlefield-because-of-menstruation ] on Tuesday. "I don’t know how to address that topic in a very diplomatic manner.”
Proud was fired for the comment that led to director Joey Strickland's resignation. A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer (R) told the News Service that the governor's office had specifically told Strickland not to hire Proud in the first place.
[...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/terri-proud-fired-women-in-combat_n_3014428.html [with embedded video report, and comments]
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Cuccinelli Campaign Won't Say If He's Committed Any Crimes Against Nature
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli at the Values Voters Summit in 2011
Flickr/Gage Skidmore
By Adam Serwer
Thu Apr. 4, 2013 12:38 PM PDT
The campaign of Virginia state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli won't say if he's committed any crimes against nature.
Cuccinelli, who is running to be Virginia's next governor, recently petitioned a federal court to reverse its ruling [ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/cuccinelli-wants-rehearing-virginias-anti-sodomy-law ] that the state's archaic "Crimes Against Nature" law is unconstitutional. That statute outlaws oral and anal sex between consenting adults—gay or straight, married or single—making such "carnal" acts a felony. The law is unconstitutional because of the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated such "anti-sodomy laws" across the country.
As my colleague Kate Sheppard notes [ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/more-cuccinellis-defense-virginias-anti-sodomy-law ], Cuccinelli's office claims that it is appealing the decision because the state's regular statutory rape law doesn't allow it to pursue the harshest punishment against a 47-year-old man who solicited oral sex from teenagers (who were above the age of consent at the time). But as Josh Israel recounts at ThinkProgress [ http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/03/1816861/ken-cuccinellis-appeal-and-how-he-helped-undermine-virginias-protections-against-adult-sex-with-minors/ ], Cuccinelli helped kill an effort to reform the Crimes Against Nature law in order to make it comply with the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence, possibly because the proposed law didn't focus on homosexuality [ http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/steve-shannon-attorney-general ]. "My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong," Cuccinelli said in 2009 [id.]. "They're intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law-based country it's appropriate to have policies that reflect that…They don’t comport with natural law."
If Virginia's ban on "unnatural" sex acts applied nationwide, the Virginia law would make 90 percent of men and women in the United States between the age of 25 and 44 criminals. Here's a chart from the National Center on Health Statistics on sexual behavior in the US [ http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr036.pdf ]:
Violating Virginia's Crimes Against Nature statute was a class six felony in the state, and carried a penalty of between one and five years in prison [ http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-10 ]. The Virginia Department of Corrections only has a capacity of around 30,000 [ http://www.vadoc.state.va.us/about/facts/managementInformationSummaries/2012-mis-summary.pdf ]. Given that 64.6 percent of Virginia's 8 million residents [ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/51000.html ] are between the ages of 18 and 65, the state most likely lacks the prison capacity to house millions of Virginians who, in Cuccinelli's view, have committed crimes against nature.
But what about Cuccinelli and his aides? Mother Jones asked his campaign if Cuccinelli or anyone working for his campaign had ever engaged in any of the prohibited conduct and whether Cuccinelli would fire any campaign staff who had done so. We have received no response. But if Cuccinelli's campaign is being run by criminals against nature, don't the voters have a right to know?
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Related
Virginia Gov. Candidate Cuccinelli Defending Law That Forbids Oral Sex
Forget gay marriage. Cuccinelli is still stuck on gay sex.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/cuccinelli-wants-rehearing-virginias-anti-sodomy-law
Ken Cuccinelli's Slavery-Abortion Video Could Doom His Gubernatorial Bid
Dems say they'll promote the attorney general's incendiary comparison through Election Day.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/ken-cuccinelli-slavery-abortion-virginia-governor-susan-b-anthony
Virginia Gov. Candidate Ken Cuccinelli: Outlawing Slavery and Outlawing Abortion Are Part of the Same Fight
Add another entry to the long string of Cuccinelli controversies.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/03/ken-cuccinelli-slavery-abortion-virginia-governor-election
Virginia Supreme Court Ends Cuccinelli's Case Against Climate Scientist
Virginia Attorney General's attack on climate science hits a brick wall.
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/03/virginia-supreme-court-ends-cuccinellis-case-against-climate-scientist
Ken Cuccinelli's Messy Relationship With Mental Health
The Virginia attorney general says Obama should pay more attention to mental health—but wants to undo his biggest accomplishment.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/01/ken-cuccinelli-obama-mental-health-gun-control
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Copyright ©2013 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/ken-cuccinelli-crimes-against-nature-prison-capacity [with comments]
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Reagan’s Daughter Says He’d Have Backed Gay Marriage
Patti Davis in 2004.
April 3, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/us/politics/reagan-daughter-says-hed-have-backed-gay-marriage.html
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Mark Sanford On Marriage Equality: 'Who Are You To Deny Love?' Asks Jake Tapper
04/04/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/mark-sanford-marriage-equality_n_3011558.html [with embedded video, and comments]
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Meet Cleta Mitchell, the Conservative Movement's Anti-Gay Eminence Grise
Cleta Mitchell speaks at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
How did a liberal Democratic Oklahoma legislator come to be an influential activist and lawyer to the Republican firmament?
Apr 4 2013
[...]
..., her first husband was gay.
[...]
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/meet-cleta-mitchell-the-conservative-movements-anti-gay-eminence-grise/274629/ [with comments]
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Wisconsin Dad's Anti-Bullying Facebook Plea Goes Viral After Son Allegedly Tormented At School
04/04/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/dad-bullying-facebook-wisconsin_n_3012613.html [with embedded slide/video show "School Bullying Incidents", and comments]
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Christianity As State Religion Supported By One-Third Of Americans, Poll Finds
04/06/2013
Although the North Carolina House of Representatives killed a bill [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/state-religion-bill-north-carolina_n_3016154.html ] Thursday that would have paved the way for establishing an official state religion, a new national HuffPost/YouGov poll [ http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/toplines_churchstate_0403042013.pdf ] finds widespread support for doing so.
The new survey finds that 34 percent of adults would favor establishing Christianity as the official state religion in their own state, while 47 percent would oppose doing so. Thirty-two percent said that they would favor a constitutional amendment making Christianity the official religion of the United States, with 52 percent saying they were opposed.
Although a large percentage of Americans said they would favor establishing a state religion, only 11 percent said they thought the U.S. Constitution allowed states to do so. Fifty-eight percent said they didn't think it was constitutional, and 31 percent said they were not sure.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment, which (among other things) prohibits the government from establishing an official religion, also applies to the states.
Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independents to say that they would favor [ http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/tabs_churchstate_0403042013.pdf ] establishing Christianity as an official state religion, with 55 percent favoring it in their own state and 46 percent favoring a national constitutional amendment.
[...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/06/christianity-state-religion_n_3022255.html [with embedded video report (re the North Carolina bill), and (over 21,000) comments]
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Fla. State Senator: We Need to "Vaccinate" Against Shariah
By Tim Murphy
Fri Mar. 29, 2013 10:15 AM PDT
As I reported in a piece for the print magazine [ http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/allen-west-tea-party-congressman ] last summer, Florida has emerged as sort of the Thunderdome of the anti-Shariah movement, with a host of lawmakers at the municipal, state, and federal level working hand-in-hand with a dedicated group of activists to combat the invisble spectre of Islamic law. Shariah isn't coming to South Florida, but that hasn't stopped the state legislature from trying—again—to ban it from being used in state courts.
On Friday, the South Florida chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations blasted out this video, in which state Sen. Alan Hays, the bill's Republican sponsor, compares stopping Shariah to getting a polio vaccination [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Oc2lkIuxTk ]:
When you were a child, did your parents have you vaccinated against different diseases? That was a preemptive gesture on their part for which I would hope you're very thankful. And this is very similar to that. Your mom and dad would not want you to get sick from one of those dreadful diseases, and I don't want any American to be in a Florida courtroom and have their constitutional rights violated by any foreign law. That's it. It's not that complicated.
By all accounts, Hays considers the threat posed by Islamic law quite dire. The Miami Herald reported [ http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/03/anti-sharia-flyers-circulate-senate-hallways.html ] earlier in March that the senator had distributed anti-Shariah literature in the halls of the state capitol. Per the Herald, the fliers "present Islam as a threat to the United States," and invoke lawmakers to pass legislation to "save us from an internal attack" and "protect our freedom."
That is, if the pythons [ http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/02/floridas-python-hunt-didnt-kill-very-many-pythons/62228/ ] don't get us first.
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Related
Florida Tea Partiers Freak Out About Shariah, Vol. XXVIII
Things just keep getting messier in the Sunshine State.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/florida-tea-partiers-freak-out-about-shariah-vol-xxviii
After Right-to-Work, Michigan GOP Pivots to...Shariah?
Kneecapping unions, curtailing abortion rights, and dealing with the non-existent threat of Islamic law—all in a week's work for Michigan's Republican-controlled legislature.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/michigan-legislature-shariah-bill
Bostonians Freak Out About Mural Because..SHARIAHH!
From the Department of "Why We can't Have Nice Things."
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/bostonians-freak-out-about-suspiciously-muslim-looking-art-installation
Meet Larry Smith, Texas' Wannabe Anti-Shariah Sheriff
Muslim religious law isn't coming to the Lone Star State. But one Republican is on the lookout anyway.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/05/shariah-sheriff-larry-smith
Tennessee Congressional Race Gets 100 Percent More Anti-Shariah-y
Anti-mosque activist Lou Ann Zelenik is back!
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/tennessee-congressional-race-gets-50-percent-more-anti-shariah-y
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Copyright ©2013 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/03/florida-state-sen-we-need-vaccinate-against-shariah [with comments]
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Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D-Las Vegas) received threatening messages after publicly admitting she didn't regret having an abortion as a teenager.
By Hunter Stuart
Posted: 04/05/2013 11:13 am EDT | Updated: 04/05/2013 7:58 pm EDT
A state lawmaker in Nevada received threats [ https://twitter.com/DanaGentryLV/status/319577866276843520 ] after giving an emotional testimony about an abortion [ http://blogs.rgj.com/politics/2013/04/02/assemblywoman-flores-makes-a-dramatic-unforgettable-point-in-sex-education-hearing/ ] she had as a teenager, according to sources familiar with the matter. She made the comments during a sex education bill hearing on Monday.
Nevada state Assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D-Las Vegas) [ http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Lucy_Flores ] canceled a TV appearance Wednesday because of the threatening messages she had received after her April 1 appearance, Las Vegas NBC affiliate KSNV producer Dana Gentry [ https://twitter.com/DanaGentryLV ] told The Huffington Post on Thursday.
Reno Gazette Journal reporter Ray Hagar told HuffPost that he confirmed with the assemblywoman's staff that Flores had received threats related to her abortion testimony.
Neither Hagar nor Gentry knew the nature of the threats or from whom they had come.
While Flores did not return a request for comment from HuffPost, she took to her Facebook page on Thursday [ https://www.facebook.com/LucyFloresNV/posts/353009838142889 ] to say that she canceled her TV appearance "in an abundance of caution." She went on to say that the past couple days had "been very trying."
In the Facebook message, Flores said she was "eternally grateful" for the support she had received this week and vowed not to be intimidated by her opponents.
"I remain dedicated to my beliefs and convictions, and no matter what comes my way, I will not be silenced -- on ANY topic," the politician wrote.
During a hearing on a state sex education bill on Monday, Flores told the story of how she had an abortion as a 16-year-old [ http://blogs.rgj.com/politics/2013/04/02/assemblywoman-flores-makes-a-dramatic-unforgettable-point-in-sex-education-hearing/ ], according to the Reno Gazette Journal. Flores said that each of her six sisters became a teenage mother, and that she "didn't want to be like that."
"I don't regret it," Flores said about her abortion, according to the report. "I don't regret it because I am here [at the Legislature] making a difference...for young ladies and letting them know their options."
In a press statement Thursday, Flores explained why she had made personal comments [ http://lucyflores.com/pressroom ] during the legislative hearing.
"I shared that story because I felt it was relevant to the importance of sex education in Nevada schools, and my belief that our children need to be armed with good information in order to make good choices," she said.
Flores' remarks provoked the wrath [ http://www.lifenews.com/2013/04/04/democrat-who-doesnt-regret-abortion-faces-death-threats/ ] of some conservative media outlets, as well as an outpouring of support on Twitter [ https://twitter.com/search?q=%23fierceflores&src=typd ] through the hashtag #FierceFlores.
Flores is a supporter of the sex education bill, AB 230 [ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Bills/AB/AB230.pdf ], which was introduced to the legislature in early March [ http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Reports/history.cfm?billname=AB230 ]. It seeks to provide medically accurate information on contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and other sexual health issues.
Nevada has the fourth highest rate of teen pregnancy in the nation among women aged 15-19 [ http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrendsState08.pdf ], according to a Guttmacher Institute study from 2008, the most recent year for which data is available.
(h/t Think Progress [ http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/04/1823341/lucy-flores-abortion-story/ ])
Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/05/lucy-flores-abortion-threats_n_3017717.html [with embedded video report, and comments]
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Kansas set to enact life-starts-"at fertilization" abortion law
Sam Brownback speaks at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 4, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar
By Kevin Murphy
KANSAS CITY, Kansas | Sat Apr 6, 2013 5:13pm EDT
(Reuters) - Kansas is set to enact one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation which defines life as beginning "at fertilization" and imposes a host of new regulations.
The Kansas House of Representatives passed the bill 90-30 on Friday night, a few hours after the Senate backed it on a 28-10 vote. Strongly anti-abortion Republican Governor Sam Brownback is expected to sign it into law. Republicans hold strong majorities in both houses.
In addition to the provision specifying when life begins, the bill prevents employees of abortion clinics from providing sex education in schools, bans tax credits for abortion services and requires clinics to give details to women about fetal development and abortion health risks. It also bans abortions based solely on the gender of the fetus.
The Kansas bill comes on the heels of anti-abortion measures passing in states across the country, including one in Arkansas banning abortions in the 12th week of pregnancy and a law in North Dakota that sets the limit at six weeks.
The Kansas language stating that life begins "at fertilization" is modeled on a 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, said Kathy Ostrowski, legislative director of Kansans for Life, anti-abortion group.
Ostrowski said the language protects the rights of the unborn in probate and other legal matters.
If the bill is signed into law, Kansas will become the eighth state declaring that life begins at fertilization, said Elizabeth Nash, state issues manager of the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, which researches abortion-related laws nationwide.
While it would not supplant Kansas law banning most abortions after the 22nd week of pregnancy, it does set the state up to more swiftly outlaw all abortions should the U.S. Supreme Court revisit its 1973 ruling making abortion legal, Nash said.
"It's a statement of intent and it's a pretty strong statement," Nash said. "Should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade or should the court come to some different conclusion, the state legislature would be ready, willing and able to ban abortions."
States that already have such language are Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, North Dakota and Ohio, Nash said.
The Kansas bill prohibits use of public funds, tax preferences or tax credits for abortion services. It prevents state-provided public health-care services from being used in any manner to carry out abortions, according to a summary.
Taking away tax benefits would amount to 12 tax increases for abortion providers, women and their families, said Elise Higgins, Kansas coordinator for the National Organization for Women. Even abortions to save a mother's life would not be a deductible cost, she said.
Higgins also criticized the bill's requirement that women be told of possible connection between abortion and later risk of breast cancer. "It's an obvious intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship by making them get this inaccurate information," Higgins said.
Ostrowski said the bill merely requires that patients be referred to online and other material about abortion and breast cancer. It does not steer them to misinformation, she said.
The bill bars school districts from letting abortion providers offer, sponsor or furnish course materials or instruction on human sexuality or on sexually transmitted diseases. Higgins said that creates an unfair stigma for employees of abortion providers.
Another portion of the new law would prevent women from deciding on an abortion solely because of the gender of the fetus. It is unclear how many women terminate pregnancies for that reason.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Greg McCune, Doina Chiacu and Gunna Dickson)
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/06/us-usa-kansas-abortion-idUSBRE93501220130406 [with comments]
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The Plan B morning-after pill and the new war on abortion
A judge ruled that access to the Plan B contraceptive and other so-called morning-after pills must not be restricted.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / April 5, 2013)
By Robin Abcarian
April 6, 2013, 9:13 a.m.
North Dakota is trying to ban all abortions. Arkansas is trying to ban them after 12 weeks. Mississippi is down to its last abortion clinic.
If you think the abortion question in this country was settled after the Supreme Court made its historic Roe vs. Wade ruling in 1973, you haven’t been paying attention. Tossing Roe was not just a plank of the 2012 Republican Party platform, it was a reliable applause line in every 2012 Republican presidential candidate’s stump speech.
Friday's federal court ruling [ http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-plan-b-no-prescription-brooklyn-judge-20130405,0,7950239.story ] in New York that girls of all ages should have unrestricted access to the so-called morning-after pill [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/plan-b-%28drug%29-HEDAR00268.topic ] to prevent pregnancy is an unvarnished victory for reproductive freedom at a time when its opponents are pushing hard in the opposite direction.
U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman’s opinion [ https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/Tummino%20SJ%20memo.pdf ] was a vindication of sorts for folks who have been surprised, and angry, about how the Obama administration has rolled over [ http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/news/pr/2011/ConscienceObama.asp ] on a number of reproductive rights issues.
Korman slammed the administration for buckling to political pressure in 2011 when it overruled the Food and Drug Administration [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/food-drug-administration-ORGOV0000136161.topic ], which had recommended all girls be able to buy the morning-after pill without a prescription. But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/kathleen-sebelius-PEPLT007554.topic ], a former Kansas governor and veteran of the grotesque abortion wars in that state [ http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/26/nation/la-na-wichita-abortion-clinic-20130327 ], declared that anyone younger than 17 had to have a prescription, despite the fact that the FDA found no evidence of harm among younger users.
Corman accused Sebelius of forcing the FDA to “ride roughshod” over its own policies by insisting that girls younger than 17 have a prescription for the drug, often called Plan B.
And the president, about to face his difficult 2012 reelection campaign, took the weasely way out. During a December 2011 news conference [ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/08/statement-president ], Obama said he did not get involved in Sebelius’ decision, but supported it even though, as he acknowledged, no one was challenging the drug’s safety.
“As the father of two daughters, I think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over-the-counter medicine [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/over-the-counter-medicines-HEDAR00000152.topic ],” Obama told reporters. “And as I understand it, the reason Kathleen made this decision was she could not be confident that a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old go into a drugstore, should be able -- alongside bubble gum or batteries -- be able to buy a medication that potentially, if not used properly, could end up having an adverse effect. And I think most parents would probably feel the same way.
“When it comes to 12-year-olds or 13-year-olds, the question is can we have confidence that they would potentially use Plan B [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/drugs-medicines/plan-b-%28drug%29-HEDAR00268.topic ] properly? And her judgment was that there was not enough evidence that this potentially could be used improperly in a way that had adverse health effects on those young people.”
That logic, the judge pointed out in his ruling, was hooey.
“This case is not about the potential misuse of Plan B by 11-year-olds,” Korman wrote. “These emergency contraceptives [ http://www.latimes.com/topic/health/birth-control-HETHT000011.topic ] would be among the safest drugs sold over-the-counter, the number of 11-year-olds using these drugs is likely to be miniscule .… The invocation of the adverse effect of Plan B on 11-year-olds is an excuse to deprive the overwhelming majority of women of their right to obtain contraceptives without unjustified and burdensome restrictions.”
Though it’s easy to get all twisted up in the abortion debate, it’s important to remember that Plan B prevents most pregnancies when taken within 72 hours of intercourse. Being able to get it over-the-counter is very good news for girls.
robin.abcarian@latimes.com
Copyright © 2013, Los Angeles Times (emphasis in original)
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-the-plan-b-morningafter-pill-and-the-new-war-on-abortion-20130406,0,5330346.story [with comments]
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Terri Proud, Arizona Official, Fired Over Comment About Menstrual Cycles In Combat
04/04/2013
The director of Arizona's Department of Veterans’ Services resigned on Wednesday after the woman he hired to coordinate a female veterans’ conference, former State Rep. Terri Proud (R), said that women may be less suited to serve in combat because of their menstrual cycles.
“Women have certain things during the month I’m not sure they should be out there dealing with," Proud told the Arizona Senora News Service [ http://arizonasonoranewsservice.com/stories/34-stories/299-proud-keep-women-off-battlefield-because-of-menstruation ] on Tuesday. "I don’t know how to address that topic in a very diplomatic manner.”
Proud was fired for the comment that led to director Joey Strickland's resignation. A spokesman for Gov. Jan Brewer (R) told the News Service that the governor's office had specifically told Strickland not to hire Proud in the first place.
[...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/terri-proud-fired-women-in-combat_n_3014428.html [with embedded video report, and comments]
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Cuccinelli Campaign Won't Say If He's Committed Any Crimes Against Nature
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli at the Values Voters Summit in 2011
Flickr/Gage Skidmore
By Adam Serwer
Thu Apr. 4, 2013 12:38 PM PDT
The campaign of Virginia state attorney general Ken Cuccinelli won't say if he's committed any crimes against nature.
Cuccinelli, who is running to be Virginia's next governor, recently petitioned a federal court to reverse its ruling [ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/cuccinelli-wants-rehearing-virginias-anti-sodomy-law ] that the state's archaic "Crimes Against Nature" law is unconstitutional. That statute outlaws oral and anal sex between consenting adults—gay or straight, married or single—making such "carnal" acts a felony. The law is unconstitutional because of the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which invalidated such "anti-sodomy laws" across the country.
As my colleague Kate Sheppard notes [ http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/more-cuccinellis-defense-virginias-anti-sodomy-law ], Cuccinelli's office claims that it is appealing the decision because the state's regular statutory rape law doesn't allow it to pursue the harshest punishment against a 47-year-old man who solicited oral sex from teenagers (who were above the age of consent at the time). But as Josh Israel recounts at ThinkProgress [ http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/04/03/1816861/ken-cuccinellis-appeal-and-how-he-helped-undermine-virginias-protections-against-adult-sex-with-minors/ ], Cuccinelli helped kill an effort to reform the Crimes Against Nature law in order to make it comply with the Supreme Court's ruling in Lawrence, possibly because the proposed law didn't focus on homosexuality [ http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/steve-shannon-attorney-general ]. "My view is that homosexual acts, not homosexuality, but homosexual acts are wrong," Cuccinelli said in 2009 [id.]. "They're intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law-based country it's appropriate to have policies that reflect that…They don’t comport with natural law."
If Virginia's ban on "unnatural" sex acts applied nationwide, the Virginia law would make 90 percent of men and women in the United States between the age of 25 and 44 criminals. Here's a chart from the National Center on Health Statistics on sexual behavior in the US [ http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr036.pdf ]:
Violating Virginia's Crimes Against Nature statute was a class six felony in the state, and carried a penalty of between one and five years in prison [ http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-10 ]. The Virginia Department of Corrections only has a capacity of around 30,000 [ http://www.vadoc.state.va.us/about/facts/managementInformationSummaries/2012-mis-summary.pdf ]. Given that 64.6 percent of Virginia's 8 million residents [ http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/51000.html ] are between the ages of 18 and 65, the state most likely lacks the prison capacity to house millions of Virginians who, in Cuccinelli's view, have committed crimes against nature.
But what about Cuccinelli and his aides? Mother Jones asked his campaign if Cuccinelli or anyone working for his campaign had ever engaged in any of the prohibited conduct and whether Cuccinelli would fire any campaign staff who had done so. We have received no response. But if Cuccinelli's campaign is being run by criminals against nature, don't the voters have a right to know?
*
Related
Virginia Gov. Candidate Cuccinelli Defending Law That Forbids Oral Sex
Forget gay marriage. Cuccinelli is still stuck on gay sex.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/cuccinelli-wants-rehearing-virginias-anti-sodomy-law
Ken Cuccinelli's Slavery-Abortion Video Could Doom His Gubernatorial Bid
Dems say they'll promote the attorney general's incendiary comparison through Election Day.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/ken-cuccinelli-slavery-abortion-virginia-governor-susan-b-anthony
Virginia Gov. Candidate Ken Cuccinelli: Outlawing Slavery and Outlawing Abortion Are Part of the Same Fight
Add another entry to the long string of Cuccinelli controversies.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/03/ken-cuccinelli-slavery-abortion-virginia-governor-election
Virginia Supreme Court Ends Cuccinelli's Case Against Climate Scientist
Virginia Attorney General's attack on climate science hits a brick wall.
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/03/virginia-supreme-court-ends-cuccinellis-case-against-climate-scientist
Ken Cuccinelli's Messy Relationship With Mental Health
The Virginia attorney general says Obama should pay more attention to mental health—but wants to undo his biggest accomplishment.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/01/ken-cuccinelli-obama-mental-health-gun-control
*
Copyright ©2013 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/ken-cuccinelli-crimes-against-nature-prison-capacity [with comments]
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Reagan’s Daughter Says He’d Have Backed Gay Marriage
Patti Davis in 2004.
April 3, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/us/politics/reagan-daughter-says-hed-have-backed-gay-marriage.html
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Mark Sanford On Marriage Equality: 'Who Are You To Deny Love?' Asks Jake Tapper
04/04/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/mark-sanford-marriage-equality_n_3011558.html [with embedded video, and comments]
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Meet Cleta Mitchell, the Conservative Movement's Anti-Gay Eminence Grise
Cleta Mitchell speaks at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.
How did a liberal Democratic Oklahoma legislator come to be an influential activist and lawyer to the Republican firmament?
Apr 4 2013
[...]
..., her first husband was gay.
[...]
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/meet-cleta-mitchell-the-conservative-movements-anti-gay-eminence-grise/274629/ [with comments]
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Wisconsin Dad's Anti-Bullying Facebook Plea Goes Viral After Son Allegedly Tormented At School
04/04/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/dad-bullying-facebook-wisconsin_n_3012613.html [with embedded slide/video show "School Bullying Incidents", and comments]
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Christianity As State Religion Supported By One-Third Of Americans, Poll Finds
04/06/2013
Although the North Carolina House of Representatives killed a bill [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/state-religion-bill-north-carolina_n_3016154.html ] Thursday that would have paved the way for establishing an official state religion, a new national HuffPost/YouGov poll [ http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/toplines_churchstate_0403042013.pdf ] finds widespread support for doing so.
The new survey finds that 34 percent of adults would favor establishing Christianity as the official state religion in their own state, while 47 percent would oppose doing so. Thirty-two percent said that they would favor a constitutional amendment making Christianity the official religion of the United States, with 52 percent saying they were opposed.
Although a large percentage of Americans said they would favor establishing a state religion, only 11 percent said they thought the U.S. Constitution allowed states to do so. Fifty-eight percent said they didn't think it was constitutional, and 31 percent said they were not sure.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment, which (among other things) prohibits the government from establishing an official religion, also applies to the states.
Republicans were more likely than Democrats or independents to say that they would favor [ http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/tabs_churchstate_0403042013.pdf ] establishing Christianity as an official state religion, with 55 percent favoring it in their own state and 46 percent favoring a national constitutional amendment.
[...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/06/christianity-state-religion_n_3022255.html [with embedded video report (re the North Carolina bill), and (over 21,000) comments]
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Fla. State Senator: We Need to "Vaccinate" Against Shariah
By Tim Murphy
Fri Mar. 29, 2013 10:15 AM PDT
As I reported in a piece for the print magazine [ http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/allen-west-tea-party-congressman ] last summer, Florida has emerged as sort of the Thunderdome of the anti-Shariah movement, with a host of lawmakers at the municipal, state, and federal level working hand-in-hand with a dedicated group of activists to combat the invisble spectre of Islamic law. Shariah isn't coming to South Florida, but that hasn't stopped the state legislature from trying—again—to ban it from being used in state courts.
On Friday, the South Florida chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations blasted out this video, in which state Sen. Alan Hays, the bill's Republican sponsor, compares stopping Shariah to getting a polio vaccination [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Oc2lkIuxTk ]:
When you were a child, did your parents have you vaccinated against different diseases? That was a preemptive gesture on their part for which I would hope you're very thankful. And this is very similar to that. Your mom and dad would not want you to get sick from one of those dreadful diseases, and I don't want any American to be in a Florida courtroom and have their constitutional rights violated by any foreign law. That's it. It's not that complicated.
By all accounts, Hays considers the threat posed by Islamic law quite dire. The Miami Herald reported [ http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2012/03/anti-sharia-flyers-circulate-senate-hallways.html ] earlier in March that the senator had distributed anti-Shariah literature in the halls of the state capitol. Per the Herald, the fliers "present Islam as a threat to the United States," and invoke lawmakers to pass legislation to "save us from an internal attack" and "protect our freedom."
That is, if the pythons [ http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/02/floridas-python-hunt-didnt-kill-very-many-pythons/62228/ ] don't get us first.
*
Related
Florida Tea Partiers Freak Out About Shariah, Vol. XXVIII
Things just keep getting messier in the Sunshine State.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/florida-tea-partiers-freak-out-about-shariah-vol-xxviii
After Right-to-Work, Michigan GOP Pivots to...Shariah?
Kneecapping unions, curtailing abortion rights, and dealing with the non-existent threat of Islamic law—all in a week's work for Michigan's Republican-controlled legislature.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/12/michigan-legislature-shariah-bill
Bostonians Freak Out About Mural Because..SHARIAHH!
From the Department of "Why We can't Have Nice Things."
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/08/bostonians-freak-out-about-suspiciously-muslim-looking-art-installation
Meet Larry Smith, Texas' Wannabe Anti-Shariah Sheriff
Muslim religious law isn't coming to the Lone Star State. But one Republican is on the lookout anyway.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/05/shariah-sheriff-larry-smith
Tennessee Congressional Race Gets 100 Percent More Anti-Shariah-y
Anti-mosque activist Lou Ann Zelenik is back!
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/tennessee-congressional-race-gets-50-percent-more-anti-shariah-y
*
Copyright ©2013 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/03/florida-state-sen-we-need-vaccinate-against-shariah [with comments]
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"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
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