Hi everyone!

I have found information on abortion laws that are in progress and that is law in different states.

National Conference of State Legislation (This includes laws on parental consent for different states)

Guttmacher Institute

A wonderful woman who's looked up all the prospective legislation that has not quite been passed yet as of April 4th

This just gives everyone an idea of what's been going on.

Spread the links and the information

I saw this in the Daily Illini Buzz. I had to share because it makes me laugh and then it made me sad. What a horrible though if this should come true.

(Note: All quotations are taken from the February 17, 2011 New York Times Op-Ed piece, "Mrs. Bush, Abstinence, and Texas" by Gail Collins.)

Ah, Texas. A land of big churches, big oil, and big problems.

Let me preface by saying that Texas ranks 47th out of 50 states for literacy, 49th in verbal SAT scores, and 46th in math. It ranks #3 in teen pregnancies and #1 in repeat teen pregnancies.

In light of a lagging state economy, the Texas State Legislature wishes to cut roughly "$4.8 billion over the next two years from the schools."

Governor Rick Perry (who you may remember from his secessionist rhetoric from a couple of years ago) has refused to raise taxes to benefit the school system despite that fact that nearly one-tenth of all American children are educated within the state.

This same one-tenth are also faced with impossible birth control options. In the state of Texas, minors cannot obtains contraceptives without parental consent. Texas also spends more money than any other state on abstinence-only sex education programs.

"Abstinence works," said Governor Perry during a televised interview with Evan Smith of The Texas Tribune.
"But we have the third highest teen pregnancy rate among all the states in the country," Smith responded.
"It works," insisted Perry.
"Can you give me a statistic suggesting it works?" asked Smith.
"I'm just going to tell you from my own personal life. Abstinence works." said Perry, doggedly.

Texas also remains a fierce battleground for partisan debates over evolution and the information that goes into much of history and social studies textbooks across the country. The Texas Board of Education is notorious for their attempts to give advocates of intelligent design the opportunity to raise doubts concerning the validity of evolution in science textbooks. The right-wing faction of the board also managed to push through new social studies standards that skews popular (read: correct) notions of history. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute recently released a report on their findings of the new history curriculum—they gave it a D. According to the TBOE, Joe McCarthy, apparently, wasn't so bad of a guy. Small government is hailed as a key factor in the commercial boom of the early 19th century (never mind the numerous government-funded projects that improved the nation's infrastructure so that transport of said goods was even possible). Their worst crime, though, is their frankly racist and unforgivable lack of fair acknowledgment of slavery and its legacy. Slavery in the territories prior to the civil war is not mentioned (Kansas-Nebraska Act! Missouri Compromise!). Reconstruction attitudes toward freedmen are also nonexistent. Sharecropping, Black Codes, and the term "Jim Crow" do not make appearances. The KKK, too, is absent.

Few things are as dangerous as the overt politicization of history. Though our nation may not be completely innocent regarding that particular sin (American Indians, American excellency/superiority), we live in a country where history is something that ought to be left untouched by the political right or left. To do otherwise is is to be put on the same level as Stalin and Zedong.

Until now, Texas has shown that they are willing to tolerate such behavior. Similarly, they have shown their desire for their children's ignorance of sex, contraception, STDs/STIs, and HIV/AIDS.

It's time to take a stand, Texas. For all of our sakes.

-Anna

Wow South Dakota, wow...

In an article from Mother Jones and shared through the Huffington Post, people in South Dakota want to change their defintion of "justifiable homicide" so that it includes "killings to prevent harm to a fetus". That means doctors that perform abortions would be threatened.
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The bill would alter "the state's legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person "while resisting an attempt to harm" that person's unborn child or the unborn child of that person's spouse, partner, parent, or child. If the bill passes, it could in theory allow a woman's father, mother, son, daughter, or husband to kill anyone who tried to provide that woman an abortion—even if she wanted one. "

How can you make a bill that allows someone to kill someone while they are not breaking any laws. How can a bill allow anyone to kill anyone else. Isn't murder illegal in South Dakota?

In another article from the Huffington Post where the person who suggested the bill says that "the bill is being misinterpreted". The wording has been changed to self defense.

"When I asked Jensen what the purpose of the law was, if its target isn't abortion providers, he provided the following example:

"Say an ex-boyfriend who happens to be father of a baby doesn't want to pay child support for the next 18 years, and he beats on his ex-girfriend's abdomen in trying to abort her baby. If she did kill him, it would be justified. She is resisting an effort to murder her unborn child."

Is there a localized outbreak of women having their abdomens beaten by people who want to avoid paying child support? Is it not already a crime in South Dakota to beat on your ex-girlfriend's abdomen? And is it not yet permissible in South Dakota to defend oneself, with deadly force if necessary, against the threat of immediate harm to your person? (Maybe South Dakota is simply lagging behind on legal protections for ex-girlfriends.)"

~Ashley

Simply sharing the love. :)

"Born this Way"

-Anna

Concerns about the roles of women in Italy have come to light in the wake of yet another sex scandal for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Feminists in the country have grown increasingly intolerant of popular images of women in the nation's media. Editor-in-chief of the Italian edition of Elle says, "It Italy, women are suffering because they see themselves caught between two images, that of the happy housewife or the 'velina' [showgirl]. Little else is represented on television."

Italy ranks low in comparison with their fellow EU members in areas concerning gender equality, and it currently ranks 74th out of 134 countries in the Gender Gap Index.

Alisa Del Re, a professor at the University of Padua says, "It Italy, you either work or have children, because so far legislation hasn't placed women in a condition where they can work."

Worse yet, Berlusconi has "blurred the line between show business and politics, choosing women from his television shows as candidates for the Italian and European Parliaments."

From what research I've done, the only reason Berlusconi is still in power is because his net worth, according to Forbes, is $9 billion. His administrations (he was in power in the 90s and has been in power the better part the the 2000s) have been fraught with scandal and controversy. This latest investigation is just another embarrassment for the nation. However, it may give Italian women a wonderful opportunity to make their voices plainly heard.

("Sex Scandals in Italy Fuels Discontent," New York Times)

-Anna

Facebook is a marvelous tool. I found this article and couldn't help but read it. A woman named Anna Thorpe wrote this blog post on the Ladies Monthly in October. It is called "Setting Your Gay Daughter Straight" and it gives an easy how to when it comes to manipulating your lesbian daughter into a lovely straight girl.

Article!

I would like to say before you read this, is that I believe this is a satirical paper that is not so different from the Onion

Step one: Moral Pressure.

"Remind your daughter of the moral atrocity she is committing, as well as the ramifications of her decisions to her God. Explain how gay sex cannot produce children, and how gay marriage still remains illegal. If she is not far gone, simply mentioning her family commitments may be enough to snap her out of it."

Although she is not advocating to "Pray away the Gay" she is saying that you need to pressure your daughter until she is so guilty that she decides it's better to not live with who she is for the sake of her family.

Step two: Doll Her Up

"In middle stages it can be more work to influence your daughter’s lifestyle choices. Shower her with gifts like makeup and new girls’ clothes to replace her baggy blue jeans and hockey jerseys. Redecorate her room and transform it into an inviting boudoir for any potential male suitors, but keep it girly to deter any homosexual use. Buy her movies like Snow White, The Princess Bride, and Cinderella, along with music by artists like Dolly Parton, Neil Young, and Britney Spears. Avoid new artists like Lady Gaga or you may have a prissy glamor lesbian on your hands before you can say “Alejandro.”"

Of course this all will make her stop lovin' the ladies. But the last and most horrendous step is...

Step three: The Bait and Switch

"Our last, but most effective strategy. The Bait and Switch should be your last resort. However, it is a very powerful tool, and you are not likely to be disappointed. Wait until an important event, like Homecoming or Prom. Knowing your daughter, she won’t have a date, so it’s your job to set her up with a nice boy. Since at this late stage she will surely refuse, you’ll need to outwit her. Set her up with an attractive young lady. She’ll see your actions as a motion of respect and acceptance of who she is, and she will most surely agree. What she won’t know is that her elegant suitor is actually a transvestite. He will use his skills to seduce her as a woman, maybe even making her fall in love. After the dresses come off, she’ll be given the surprise of a lifetime, a night she will not soon forget."

Yes... the surprise of her life, a lifetime she'll have to commit to therapy because her mother couldn't accept her for who she was. Thanks Mom, you've been a big help.

What I truly wanted to do was to draw attention to the comments.

"I’m only trying to help women who don’t want to have do deal with all the hassle and aggravation of having a homosexual daughter. Its not just that an opportunity for legitimate grandchildren is lost, imagine what your friends would think if your daughter started eating from the other side of the buffet? Is she even going to be able to get a job living like that? Not here she won’t."

"I once traded an entire Tommy Bahama bedroom set for just 3 hours of service to two fine gentlemen/ladies. It was worth it, after that point my daughter totally stopped watching Sailor Moon with her bedroom door closed."

Even if this is satirical, is this something that should be joked about? It's there to make you upset, which is successfully did to me.

~Ashley