Kermit Gosnell, and the opportunists that followed. For Shame, Pennsylvania. You’ll come to regret this day.

Over at Daily Kos, Kaili Joy Gray makes some hay with Romney’s health care hypocrisy, noting that if he’s such a pro-life conservative, why does Romneycare cover abortion?

It’s a nice try, and it certainly undermines Mitt Romney’s pro-life credentials.

But to me, a person who cares deeply about reproductive rights, it just reminds me (again) that the Democrats threw women under the bus to pass a health insurance reform (remember when it was going to be health CARE reform?) in place of single payer, which was off the menu before the table was even set. It reminds me of people like Bart Stupak and his Catholic Bishops.

It reminds me that now a number of states are using similar insurance-based strategies to prevent women from obtaining necessary abortions and medical services.

So yeah, Mitt’s a hypocrite because his health care plan allowed families to cover abortion, which he claims to oppose.

What does that make OUR party?

The Democrats have already caved, by agreeing to $78 billion in cuts:

“The numbers have been agreed to, but it’s an opportunity for the right wing in the House to really sock it to women,”Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said. “I don’t usually use this language, but I really believe this is true.”

Emphasis mine. You’ll also note that noted republican voices are saying Planned Parenthood isn’t enough to shut down the government: they know they’ve already won, and besides, there’s the debt ceiling coming up, an excellent opportunity to defund all sorts of programs. This is part of the plan.

if we had a real president and a real party, there would be much more significant pushback. This is all for show.

To my readers: in 2008, I did you a disservice by writing a few posts that suggested you vote for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. I continue to hold no doubt that I would be angry as hell over her policies, but I hold no doubt at all that she would be publicly fighting the right wingers tooth and nail, in a way that Mr. Obama has refused to do. I apologize for my error, and if my posts were the deciding factor in your choosing Obama over Clinton in the primary, I am deeply, deeply regretful.

This isn’t to excuse Mrs. Clinton’s own gaffes on the trail, and it’s certainly not to excuse the core evil of the Republicans (who quite frankly could die en masse in a fire and even their own children wouldn’t cry). It’s just pointing out that we need a President who fights for the working people, and Mr. Obama ain’t it. And yeah, Hillary’s in bed with the banks etc too: but like her husband, she understands the old maxim my Grandmother taught me, handed down from my great-Grandfather who immigrated here from Russia/Poland:

Both parties steal, but the Democrats… they leave a little for you to steal too.

Obama doesn’t get this. And so we engage in kabuki over “saving Planned Parenthood”, while $78 billion in money that the unemployed, the poor, the working poor, and the middle class desperately need.

It’s a war, and we need a warrior.

For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.

With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to “forcible rape.” This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion. (Smith’s spokesman did not respond to a call and an email requesting comment.)

I know, because I called up and asked. “So say I have sex with my little sister and knock her up. I know if I punch her in the head while doing this, she can get an abortion. BUT I WANT HER TO KEEP THAT BABY: can I slip her some roofies?”

“Sir,” the fuckwad who works in a pro-rape office told me, “that is a HIGHLY inappropriate comment and I will NOT pass it along.”

You know what’s really inappropriate? MAKING IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR RAPE VICTIMS TO GET ABORTIONS.

So now I will add my special prayer to Jesus: Jesus, make it so Chris Smith’s daughter gets raped “unforcibly”. Make it so she gets pregnant with a rapist’s baby, and make it so everyone in America knows. Jesus, put Chris Smith in the public position of either defending his daughter’s abortion, or put him in the public position of defending the circumstances of her pregnancy. I don’t make this request out of any hostility to his daughter (who has probably suffered enough with an asshole like Chris for a father): I make this request to expose the disgusting hypocrisy that hides behind every “pro-life” politician, and to destroy his chances for re-election moving forward.

Do this for me Jesus, and I will become a devout Christian, the real kind that stands up for the hungry, the sick, the weak, and the poor. And if a walking piece of shit like Chris Smith, the rapist’s friend, gets to go to Heaven, I’d rather burn in Hell.

PS: Sign the petition.

“We will never put ideology above women’s health.” (p. 15)

“The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.” (p. 50)

Get it? HAHAHAHAHA, isn’t that FUNNY?? Isn’t that just the funniest thing you’ve ever read in your entire miserable fucking worthless life?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I’m laughing so hard the tears are rolling. down. my. face.

The price of health care has been women’s reproductive rights:

Stupak wants to outlaw abortion coverage in the new health insurance Exchange, where individuals and small businesses will purchase their coverage. Instead, women would only be able to purchase abortion coverage in a “abortion rider” plan – a single-service plan that covers abortion only. Such an “abortion rider” is discriminatory and illogical. Women do not plan to have unintended pregnancies (or pregnancies in which a complication will arise that will require ending the pregnancy). In fact, about half of all pregnancies are unintended. Abortion is simply not something that women plan to insure against.

Put simply, the Stupak amendment is a dramatic departure from current law which would restrict a women’s right to choose. What’s more, it would put an unprecedented restriction on people who pay for their own health insurance.

I already thought the health care rform bill was going to be shitty: now I think it’s hateful and loathesome. 64 Democrats voted for this piece of shit amendment that undermines women’s rights and reproductive health. They deserve not only your scorn and hatred, but primary challengers. Here are their names:

AL-2 Bright, Bobby; AL- 5 Griffith, Parker; AL-7 Davis, Artur; AR-1 Berry, Robert; AR-2 Snyder, Victor; AR-4 AR-4 Ross, Mike; CA-18 Cardoza, Dennis; CA-20 Costa, Jim; CA-43 Baca, Joe; CO-3 Salazar, John.

GA-2 Bishop, Sanford; GA-8 Marshall, James; GA-12 Barrow, John; KY-6 Chandler, Ben; IL-3 Lipinski, Daniel; IL-12 Costello, Jerry; IN-2 Donnelly, Joe; IN-8 Ellsworth, Brad; IN-9 Hill, Baron; LA-3 Melancon, Charles; ME-2 Michaud, Michael.

MA-2 Neal, Richard; MA-9 Lynch, Stephen; MI-5 Kildee, Dale; MI-1 Stupak, Bart; MN-7 Peterson, Collin; MN-8 Oberstar, James; MS-1 Childers, Travis; MS-4 Taylor, Gene; MO-4 Skelton, Ike; NM-2 Teague, Harry

NC-2 Etheridge, Bob; NC-7 McIntyre, Mike; NC-11 Shuler, Heath; ND Pomeroy, Earl; OH-1 Driehaus, Steve; OH-6 Wilson, Charles; OH-9 Kaptur, Marcy; OH-16 Boccieri, John; OH-17 Ryan, Timothy; OH-18 Space, Zachary.

OK-2 Boren, Dan; PA-3 Dahlkemper, Kathleen; PA-4 Altmire, Jason; PA-10 Carney, Christopher; PA-11 Kanjorski, Paul; PA-12 Murtha, John; PA-14 Doyle, Michael; PA-17 Holden, Tim; RI-2 Langevin, James

SC-5 Spratt, John; TN-4 Davis, Lincoln; TN-5 Cooper, Jim; TN-6 Gordon, Barton; TN-8 Tanner, John; TX-16 Reyes, Silvestre; TX-23 Rodriguez, Ciro; TX-27 Ortiz, Solomon; TX-28 Cuellar, Henry.

UT-2 Matheson, Jim; VA-5 Perriello, Thomas; WV-1 Mollohan, Alan; WV-3 Rahall, Nick; WI-7 Obey, David.

Here is the list of 26 Democrats who voted “Aye” on Stupak but “Nay” on the final bill:

Altmire, Barrow, Boccieri, Boren, Bright, Chandler, Childers, Davis (AL), Davis (TN), Gordon (TN), Griffith, Holden, Marshall, Matheson, McIntyre, Melancon, Peterson, Ross, Shuler, Skelton, Tanner, Taylor, Teague

Despite my deep anger over this unconscionable anti-woman amendment, I’m proud of my local representatives today. You don’t see one sinlge Philadelphia-area representative on that list. Whatever problems I have with Bob Brady, Chaka Fattah, Pat Murphy, Joe Sestak, and Allyson Schwartz, they voted NO on Stupid Stupak’s anti-abortion demagoguery.

Remember that in 2010. The entire Philadelphia delegation voted FOR women’s rights.
As for me, I plan to help undermine re-election for the rest, and hope you will as well.

“I said, ‘I don’t want children,’ ” Allie says. “He didn’t either. It never came into my head that I was put on this Earth to be a mother.”

Young men like Mitch – childless, and looking to stay that way – make up a small but growing minority of vasectomy patients, according to doctors who perform the procedure. They also present a problem for urologists (specialists in the male reproductive system): How young is too young? Can a man who’s 23 really be sure he won’t want to start a family when he’s 39? Some doctors decline to perform the procedure on men younger than 30 or those who don’t already have children. Others try to talk them into postponing the decision.

“If he’s single, in his 20s, that’s the group I try to convince it’s not the best time for it,” said Abington Memorial Hospital’s chief of urology, Robert Charles, who says he has seen a small but discernible rise in the number of young men seeking vasectomies.

With all due respect doctors, who the fuck died, transformed a bunch of adult patients into children, and made you their dad? You’re like those pharmacists who have moral objections to birth control and emergency contraception, and my advice for you is the same: if you can’t carry out the responsibilities of your job go into a different line of work

Once an individual has reached the age of 18, the decision to undergo a vasectomy or a tubal ligation is the choice of the patient and the patient alone. Both procedures are common and safe; both are, in many cases, reversible. You can find info on reversing your vasectomy here and info on reversing your tubal ligation here: really, it’s not like amputating your arm for cosmetic reasons.

A woman who’s a very close friend of mine, who decided probably 20 years ago not to have children and made that decision a precondition to marrying her husband, told me a horrifying story of the time she tried to get a tubal ligation performed when she was either in her 30s or quite close. The doctor refused, telling her “you might change your mind later.” As you may imagine, she was furious. It makes me mad too: never mind the hubris it takes to make an adult’s medical decisions for her, this doctor seems to think he’s clairvoyant.

The article features doctors throwing all sorts of red herrings and straw men up in defense of the indefensible:

“I tell patients the reversal’s going to cost them at least five figures, and what happens if they meet the woman of their dreams who tells them the only reason she’s with him is to have kids?” Axilrod says. “Those guys are screwed.”

No Dr. Axelrod: those guys are screwed if their birth control fails and they end up making a baby they are ill-prepared, financially, emotionally, temperamentally, to father. And believe me, I know what I’m talking about because I never wanted kids. EVER. In fact, I used to joke that I’d better get a vasectomy, because one day one of my little wrigglers was gonna make it all the way up the vaginal canal, and surprise! Look what happened! I think my experience is illustrative of what happens when a baby is made by accident, in a situation when neither partner is on the same page, and the relationship isn’t strong enough to adapt to the new reality. It’s not the guy who got the vasectomy: it’s both parents and the baby who are screwed.

My career as a musician has been destroyed forever. The farthest I’m going is the local bluegrass festival. No more national tours. No more regional tours (at least not for another few years). Instrument repairs put off for years, sometimes forever. I’ve had to enter therapy to deal with the loss of my professional life. Does ANYONE think I’m satisfied with the life I live now? Does ANYONE think I truly live to put on the monkey suit at 8:30 AM and trot out the door to spend my day sitting on my ass in front of a computer tickety-tapping away looking for grants? Sure, it beats ditch-digging by a long shot, but compared to rock-n-roll, it might as well be… well, ditch digging.

Sam’s mom has been negatively affected as well: this is a person with a bachelor’s from UPenn, a prestigious ivy-league college, who was about to embark on her masters. Today, she waits tables. According to our Dr. Axelrod, it’s the guy who got the vasectomy who’s screwed, not the woman with the student loans and the baby, who works two different jobs to make ends meet.

And that doesn’t even touch on the ramifications of the baby himself, who incidentally may have all sorts of problems of his own later in life. Those of you without kids don’t understand 100%, but when you watch your child crown, and held his still wet tiny little body in your hands, you go through a remarkable hormonal change that bonds like Krazy Glue you to your child. Now you have a baby you never wanted, but you love more than anything.

Some relationships are very strong and can deal with all sorts of changes. But many relationships are less so, and when something as overwhelming and permanently life-changing as a baby comes along, that relationship can collapse like a pile of blocks. Our relationship, like 1000s of others, fell apart due to the stress, the disagreements, distrust, and a whole host of other issues. Now we’re tied to each other forever, the anvil and the albatross, but it’s the guy who got the vasectomy who’s screwed.

Did I mention I was in therapy to deal with my lost career? Well I’m also in therapy to deal with the lost of my son, $20.00 each week, more than $1,000 a year, to get my head and heart back on track. It’s taking a long time. I wonder what happens when he starts elementary school in 2009, and I get to see him even less than I do now? Any guesses? But it’s the guy who got the vasectomy who’s screwed.

Anyone who reads my blog knows I love my son more than just about anything in the world. But everyone also knows that I’ve had more than my share of long dark nights of the soul as well, with plenty more to come. As Frank Sinatra once sang, “Regrets? I’ve had a few…”

“I tell patients the reversal’s going to cost them at least five figures, and what happens if they meet the woman of their dreams who tells them the only reason she’s with him is to have kids?” Axilrod says. “Those guys are screwed.”

Hey Dr. Axelrod: either do your job or get out of the urology business. Oh and one more thing: SCREW YOU.

This is what we get if John McKKKain wins the election and then dies.
Sarah Palin really IS Serena Joy.

Soon after the book controversy, Bess found himself again at odds with Palin and her fellow evangelicals. In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital’s community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.

At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that local antiabortion activists organized a boisterous picket line outside Dr. Lemagie’s office, in an unassuming professional building across from Palmer’s Little League field. According to Bess and another community activist, among the protesters trying to disrupt the physician’s practice that day was Sarah Palin.

A reader writes and asks an interesting question. Sarah Palin’s town of Wasilla, Alaska, was the only – or at the very least, one of the very few – towns in Alaska to charge rape victims for their own rape kits. Now, rape kits are the medical equipment that the police use to examine rape victims for forensic evidence. During that exam, women are sometimes given drugs to stop the implantation of a possibly fertilized egg in the uterus. (As an aside, the reader asked if sometimes during these exams a fertilized egg is collected as evidence – does anybody have the facts on this?)

Now, Sarah Palin’s policy on rape is the following – rapist gets your pregnant, too bad, you’re going to carry your rapist’s child for 9 months whether you like it or not. Palin wants to outlaw all abortion, unless the mother is going to die. You get raped? You don’t get an abortion. And extreme conservatives like Sarah Palin consider stopping a fertilized egg from implanting “abortion.” (And if a fertilized egg is collected, they certainly consider that abortion, and murder.) Is this why Sarah Palin was quite possibly the only mayor in Alaska to charge for “rape kits”? She considered treating rape victims a form of abortion?

And as a matter of fact, your typical rape kit DOES include emergency contraception. It’s not too hard to connect the dots on THIS little mystery: someone needs to ask Palin if she considers emergency contraception to be abortion. After all, the Bush Administration does.

Palin talks a lot about her daughter’s “choice” to follow carry her teenaged pregnancy to term (so much for the effectiveness of “abstinence education”), but I have a question. When you’d deny that choice to every other woman in America, and your daughte’s choice is -SURPRISE- exactly the choice you’d have her make, followed by the cha-chunk of a shotgun wedding, I’m wondering if Sarah Palin actually knows what the word “choice” means.

Sarah Palin: she’s not a MILF. She’s Bush in a dress, and given the opportunity she’ll do away with your reproductive rights faster than you can say “Roe”.