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Personhood
Dem Lt. Gov. Hopeful Voted for Abortion Ban So White Dems Don't Go Extinct
Hit with a wave of anger from his own party after he voted for a bill that essentially bans abortions after six weeks, Mississippi House Rep. Jay Hughes offered a …
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[Sawyer] What 'Pro Life' Really Means
As of last month, the Gallup Poll indicated that 23 percent of Americans wish to keep abortion legal, 53 percent indicated legal but with restrictions, and 22 percent support the …
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Editor's Note
Beware the GOP's (Un)Scientific Sexism
The majority of Mississippians who voted last fall to block the passage of the "personhood" initiative should be very nervous about the Nov. 6 election.
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Personhood
Seven Hospitals Deny Jackson Abortion Clinic
The last clinic where Mississippi women can get an abortion is once again in peril.
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End Dangerous Rhetoric That Threatens Lives
The Nov. 27 shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood is a case study in the anatomy of political rhetoric and the real-life danger of spreading inciteful rhetoric.
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Reps. Akin, Ryan, et al, worked together to try to redefine rape
By Donna LaddAs if it's not bad enough that Rep. Todd Akin believes that women who are legitimately raped (I cringe to put those two words together), he was also part of a House Republican effort to redefine rape. The point, Mother Jones reports, was to keep federal funding for abortion away from teenagers, arguing that they might pretend they were raped by an older man (statutory rape, which is very common) in order to get the money because the right didn't want to "federally fund the abortion of tens of thousands of healthy babies of healthy moms, based solely on the age of their mothers."
More from that piece:
The implication of his position is that if you were raped and became pregnant, you must have actually wanted it—it wasn't really rape.
This isn't the first time Akin has expressed fringe views about rape in the context of the abortion debate. Last year, Akin, vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and most of the House GOP co-sponsored a bill that would have narrowed the already-narrow exceptions to the laws banning federal funding for abortion—from all cases of rape to cases of "forcible rape."
Drugged, raped, and pregnant? Too bad, says the House GOP. After I reported on the "forcible rape" language in January 2011, a wave of outcry from abortion-rights, progressive, and women's groups led the Republicans to remove it. But a few months later, in a congressional committee report, Republicans wrote that they believed the bill would continue to have the same effect despite the absence of the "forcible" language.
So, what we have here, are a bunch of dudes in Congress once again trying to decide what happens to women and what to do about it. Anyone else OK with that?
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JPD Under Fire In Abortion Clash
Jackson police stood with full riot gear in Smith Park downtown on July 15, ready to take on protesters in the country's abortion battle. Both sides were poised for battle …
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Health Care
Abortion Clinic's Fate Unknown
Betty Thompson doesn't know what will happen to her employer, the Jackson Women's Health Organization, on July 1.
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Harriett Miers Supported Ban on Most Abortions
AP is reporting:
Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers pledged support in 1989 for a constitutional amendment banning abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, according to material given to …
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Sen. Paul: Senate Will Vote on Fed Aid to Planned Parenthood
The Senate will vote before its August recess on an effort to block federal aid to Planned Parenthood, presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday.
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City & County
City Agrees to Stop Interfering with Anti-abortion Protesters in Fondren
The City of Jackson recently entered into its second consent decree with a group of these protesters over interactions with the Jackson Police Department, alleging that police officers have consistently …
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Justice
Women Still Under Assault
With Mississippi's only abortion facility facing permanent closure due to a law passed during the 2012 legislative session, other women's reproductive rights may be fairly safe during this year's session.
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Pa. Abortion Trial: Assistant Gave Anesthesia
A woman trained only as a medical assistant told jurors Wednesday that she gave anesthesia, set dosing amounts and performed ultrasounds when she worked at a now-shuttered abortion clinic whose …
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Politics
Analysis: New Laws Could Mean New Lawsuits in Mississippi
Mississippi legislators are on track to produce dozens of new state laws. And, as in years past, they're probably creating plenty of work for attorneys.
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Abortion Law Fight to Federal Appeals Court
A federal appeals court is expected to hear oral arguments in late April or early May in a lawsuit challenging a 2012 law that threatens to close Mississippi's only abortion …
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Wasting Resources on Lies
The state's leaders prioritize their conservative politicking above all else despite costs to the taxpayer that a federal lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood after Senate Bill 2238 took effect July …
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Texas Senator Filibusters Against Abortion Bill
Wearing pink tennis shoes to prepare for nearly 13 consecutive hours of standing, a Democratic Texas state senator on Tuesday began a one-woman filibuster to block a GOP-led effort that …
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Abortion Clinic Stays Open, For Now
A law that some Mississippi lawmakers hope will close the state's only abortion clinic goes into effect in less than two weeks, but that doesn't mean the clinic will close …
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City & County
JWHO Guard Pepper-Sprayed Protesters over Sprinkler
A Jackson Women's Health Organization security guard sprayed two anti-abortion protesters in the face with pepper spray this morning.
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Health Care
Abortion Clinic to Offer Contraception, ‘Better Care’
Mississippi's only abortion clinic will become an official health provider for insurance companies within weeks.
