Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood.  This is the first abortion-related case to go before the Court in five years. If the Court rules in favor of the state the ruling will assault women's reproductive freedoms and undermine guarantees written into law for the protection of women's health. This bill is often spoken of as being a "parental notification" bill. It's so much more than that.

 

Here's this week's reproductive rights news brought to you by the women of Our Word (and at least one of the guys!). If you see something you find relevant please email it to me, bayprairie at gmail dot com

::::more below the fold::::
<!--break-->

 

This weekend on Meet the Press, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas stated the following:

Mr. Russert: How many deaths have been the result of this hurricane?

Gov. Perry: Well, from the direct impact of the hurricane, it appears at this particular point in time that it's zero.I know that's a miraculous number, I mean, the idea that you had a storm of that size come in with that power. Now, I can't speak over in Louisiana 'cause I haven't been in contact with their officials. But in the state of Texas, we have not had a death directly associated. Obviously, we had a tragedy up in--just north of Dallas with the mass evacuation that was going on and that freak accident with the truck--or excuse me, the bus that caught fire and those individuals there lost their lives. But it's been from the standpoint of loss of life--and that's what you got to look at. We'll rebuild. We have truly dodged a major bullet here.

We are a group of writers who are passionately committed to supporting women’s basic freedom as citizens of the United States. We are appealing to you as free citizens dedicated to political growth, fairness and the spirit of Liberty guaranteed in the US Constitution. We are not paid pundits or political operatives. We are concerned citizens who represent the diversity of the United States: women and men, straight and gay, single and married, religious and atheist, of different races, religions and ethnicities. Some of us are even parents even after having abortions. And we all blog because we have to. We are dissatisfied with the leadership of the Pro-Choice movement and with some of the current political strategies of the Democratic party. Divisive TV ads, the botched approval of Plan B and 'negotiable' limits on abortion show how disconnected the pro-choice leadership is from the grassroots. For a woman, there is no negotiation when it comes to her own reproductive organs.

Welcome to the DomeBlog

As the number of people sheltered there increases, Chronicle reporters will be offering dispatches from the Astrodome in this blog.

The DomeBlog will have several authors, and of course you can leave your comments and questions below each entry.

Check back here frequently for the latest happenings and color from the site...home to thousands of evacuees from New Orleans...

A Navy man's wife who had an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed as brain-damaged with no hope of survival, must repay the government $3,000 because federal law bars funding of such abortions in the military, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

The law, which pays for abortions only if the woman's life would be endangered by childbirth, does not violate the constitutional rights of military personnel or their spouses, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The 3-0 ruling was sympathetic in its tone but certain in its conclusion.

Cross posted from Our Word

Navy wins appeal in abortion case

hope?

how do you spell hope?

ABORTION groups are launching a campaign to name doctors who refuse to help women seeking terminations. Marie Stopes International, Britain's largest chain of abortion clinics outside the National Health Service, wants lists displayed in GP surgeries stating whether individual doctors are prepared to refer women for the procedure, writes Sarah-Kate Templeton.

Well, thats a novel idea.

Roe isn't the only thing the patriarchy wants. They want Griswold too.

crossposted from ourword.org

This is a new element in the Minutemen's definition of the border. The distance from Houston to Brownsville, Texas (on the United States, Mexico border) by automobile is 356 miles. The distance from Houston to Laredo Texas (also on the border) is 350 miles. Long-time Houston area activists plan on observing the Minutemen.

:::more below the fold::

The rise of single issue identity group behavoir in reaction to trauma and the positive aspects thereof