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This week, the Virginia House passed a particularly ugly bit of legislation that would require women seeking a first-trimester abortion in the state to undergo a vaginal ultrasound for no medical reason. Many women are upset because by most definitions, forcing a woman to have something put inside her vagina against her will and for no reason is, uh, rape. But Republicans state legislators don't see what the fuss is about. After all, those sluts already consented to be penetrated— when they got pregnant. Are you fucking kidding me? More »
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In yet another example of all the brilliant job creating the Republican-led Congress has been doing since regaining control of the House, Arizona Representative Trent Franks's "Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act" has made it out of committee— without its terrible name. But even without the absurd implication that women choose abortion because they're racist or hate women, the bill's incredibly dishonest and unnecessary. More »
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The state legislatures of Virginia and Oklahoma have continued to embarrass their reasonable constituents this week by passing legislation that defines fertilized eggs as "persons" eligible for the same rights as normal humans that aren't multicelled, consciousless globs. Framers of Personhood bills believe that their new laws would outlaw abortion, and they're right— but I don't think they realize just how complicated it would be if all constitutional rights were granted to prepeople. How messy could it get? Let's take a look at the Bill of Rights and find out. More »
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Virginia must really be desperate to distinguish itself as a place where nobody with a uterus wants to live, because yesterday their House of Delegates passed not one but two insanely restrictive anti-abortion bills, which are both heading pretty directly toward becoming law. You can choose which one you find more outrageous: the personhood bill or the bill that requires ladies to get an unnecessary vaginal probing before they're allowed to have an abortion. More »
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There's no better way for lawmakers to impress constituents nowadays than to pass draconian abortion restrictions, and no states are trying harder to enforce pregnancy than Kansas and Oklahoma. But which terrible, totalitarian abortion law is worse? Let's find out. More »
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Conservatives may believe that this country is full of wanton teens running around getting knocked up for fun, but they will be pleased to know that is actually not the case, According to new data from the Guttmacher Institute, teen pregnancies are on the downswing. In 2008, the year the most recent data is from, 7 percent of teen girls (ages 15 to 19) in the U.S. were pregnant. That's down from the high of 11 percent in 1990, and it's the lowest rate in nearly 40 years. As for abortions, about 1.8 percent of teens had one in 2008. That is down from more than 4 percent in 1988. More »
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"I was so delusional, I was like, 'I'm ready for a baby,'" Chelsea remembered as she chatted with Rosie O'Donnell on The Rosie Show. "(My parents) were like, 'You're getting an abortion.'" Chelsea tried to argue with them, but they informed her "this is not what our family's about." She added, "Obviously, you should do whatever you want with your body… It's your decision." Or, you know, your mom and dad's? But Chelsea also said, "I have no regret, at all." More »
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A judge has ruled that it's perfectly legal for the state of Texas to require women seeking abortions to first look at a sonogram, listen to the fetal heartbeat, and listen to a doctor's speil about possible dire consequences that could befall them for choosing to terminate their pregnancies. Don't Mess with Fetus! More »
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At a campaign appearance in Missouri, frontrunner for Miss American Bigot 2012 Rick Santorum waxed nostalgic about the days when abortion was shameful and in the shadows. You know, back alley. What lovely times, those. More »
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A Republican Congressman from Louisiana has become the laughingstock of the internet after posting a story from The Onion to his Facebook wall and then commenting on the sad, sad, evil state of the world. Congressmen: just like us! Or, rather, just like our elderly conservative great uncles who think that an "Abortionplex" is a real thing. More »
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Great news, rape victims! Ron Paul is willing to make an exception in his strict "no abortions ever!" rule for you, but only if you have one of those "honest rapes." In fact, he's got some great ideas on how rape victims should behave. More »
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Operation Rescue's Talking Sphincter-in-Charge Randall Terry is running for President as a Democrat, and he's using federal election law to force TV stations to air his graphic bloody fetus campaign ads during the Super Bowl. Will his propaganda be encouraging you to barf up your nachos on a TV near you this Sunday? Let's find out! More »
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A crafty state senator has done something so wonderful that we should all be cheering while simultaneously smacking our foreheads, because why didn't we think of this earlier? The hero in question is Virginia senator Janet Howell. The Democrat wasn't happy with a proposed bill that requires women to have an ultrasound before they can have an abortion, so she attached a very special amendment to the bill. More »
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Let's take a moment today to salute a brave American hero. A man who saw through the amoral haze of today's society and who had the courage to stand up for what's right, even in the face of an unstoppable tide of modernity and vice. That man is Oklahoma legislator Ralph Shortey. And that fearless act of bravery was his introduction of a bill that would ban adding aborted human fetuses to food. Your babyeating ways will no longer be tolerated, Sooners. Be warned. More »
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Monday marks the first full day of the 40th year of Roe v. Wade, but the 53rd year, 8th month, and 14th day that Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has existed on this planet without a uterus of his very own. With a public empathetic to poor Rick's plight, advanced medical science, and your generosity, we will turn the tide for Rick and give him the uterus he so desperately wants. More »
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A new research report has uncovered some great news for people who love making sure women have tons of abortions: make it illegal. And, while you're at it, if you go ahead and limit women's access to contraception, they'll end up pregnant and desperate enough to resort to unsafe measures more often, resulting in more unsafe procedures and more death. It'll be a Santorumtopia! Personhood paradise! Culture of life! More »
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The selective abortion of female fetuses is a problem around the world, and an ongoing symptom of sexism. Now a Canadian doctor has devised a foolproof method of ending the practice: just don't tell women the fetus's gender until it's too late! More »
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When a mentally ill woman showed up at a Massachusetts emergency room and doctors discovered she was pregnant, a judge recommended that she be forced to abort and then sterilized. Luckily, another judge disagreed. More »
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Fox News is commemorating this Martin Luther King, Jr day by inviting his niece, Dr. Alveda King, to come and speak about his legacy. He was a conservative, she explained, who hated abortion. Except that isn't even close to true, not even the tiniest bit. Leave it to Fox News to wrap a crap sandwich in a lie and call it history. More »
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Rick Santorum's wife Karen has long been an ardent ally of her husband's political career. She's given birth to seven children and home schooled the lot of them so he could go off and do his politicking. She's written about how important it is to be pro life, even in the case of rape and incest. But did you know that for most of her twenties, her live-in boyfriend was an abortion provider? And that he had helped deliver her when she was born? Who knew that it would be Rick Santorum, of all the political candidates, whose life's arc most resembled that of a Latin American telenovela? More »
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In the ongoing battle over reproductive rights, Ohio has set itself apart with the absurd props employed in its abortion debates. The state's anti-abortion movement is kind of like the Gallagher of oppressing ladies. This is the place where the legislature was subjected to live ultrasounds of pregnant women and testimony from fetuses, but now they've truly topped themselves. This week, an anti-abortion group sent children into the offices of state legislators by themselves to deliver a message on the rights of fetuses. More »
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Richard Retta is one of those shouty dickwads who stands outside of abortion clinics and tries to convince women not to go in. About a year ago, he tried to physically block a woman from entering a clinic in the DC area, which is a legal no-no. And today, a judge has denied his request that charges against him be dropped. More »
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The campaign in South Carolina is heating up, says everyone. That's apparently code for "the candidates are gathered in the roughly same geographic area, and they're emitting high pitched shrieks at each other." Yesterday, they were shrieking about Bain Capital. Today, they're still hollering about Bain, but they're also yelling about fetuses— specifically, which Republican Presidential hopeful deserves the title of Fetus's #1 fan. Let the anti-abortion rights pissing contest begin. More »
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The story of a Texas teenager who's suing her family to stop them pressuring her into an abortion is all over the anti-abortion media. But their coverage of it shows how poorly they understand what it means to be pro-choice. More »
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Earlier this year, a judge ruled against a Texas law that would force women seeing abortions to have a sonogram at least 24 hours before the procedure, listen to the fetal heartbeat, and hear a detailed description of the fetus' limbs and organs. U.S. district Judge Sam Sparks found that the law violates physicians' free speech rights by forcing them to "advance an ideological agenda with which they may not agree, regardless of any medical necessity, and irrespective of whether the pregnant women wish to listen." Now a three-judge panel has reversed Sparks' decision, allowing the law to go into effect while it continues to be disputed in court. More »
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In a column for Glamour magazine, Maggie Gyllenhaal reveals herself to be not only an actress and a mother but a veritable badass, voicing her ardent support for Planned Parenthood — as well as her anger and disappointment with politicians working to restrict women's health services: "I find it incredibly frustrating that we're being forced to spend so much time and energy (and, yes, money) defending something as basic as self-determination." Yep. More »
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Who do you think is going to win the Super Bowl this year? The Green Bay Packers? The Patriots? Tim Tebow cloned a bunch of times playing against an entire other team of Tim Tebows? Wrong, wrong and wrong. The winner of the Super Bowl this year is Randall Terry. The pro-life zealot has won the right to air graphic anti-abortion ads featuring images of fetal remains during this year's Big Game, and there's nothing you or I can do about it. More »
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After you elected traveling abortion provider Dr. X as Woman of the Year, she got in touch with us to share a message about her work. Here's what she had to say: More »
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Perhaps you've heard of this case called Roe v. Wade, which affirmed that women have the right to seek an abortion until a fetus is viable. Florida legislators are aware of the ruling, but since they don't agree with it, they've introduced a bill that blatantly violates the decision. The near-total ban on abortion in the state certainly won't stand, but lawmakers have packed it chock full of methods to take away a woman's right to choose, in the hope that some bit of it will wind up becoming a law. More »
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In the wee hours of the morning on New Year's Day, an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida was gutted in a fire. Naturally, authorities suspected that American Family Planning, which has been the target of violence and protests over the past three decades, didn't just happen to catch fire, and it turns out they were right. Police have charged a man with arson, and say he's admitted to trying to burn the clinic down because he opposes abortion. More »
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After we discussed helping a friend deal with a miscarriage, a reader asked us for tips on how to support a friend in the similarly sensitive situation of going through an abortion. From the decision process to the aftermath, abortion can bring up complicated emotions — but we have some advice on helping your friend deal with them. More »
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Let's get down to brass tacks: Presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Personhood Pledge-signing, Griswold vs. Connecticut-opposing, Mr. Ban Abortion in All Circumstances With No Exception for the Life of the Mother, believes that the actions of his own wife should be treated as criminal. Why? Because, back in 1996, his wife had a procedure that resulted in the deliberate death of her fetus, even though it was a matter of saving her own life. More »
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Immediately after voters in Mississippi, the most conservative state in the nation, rejected the proposed "personhood amendment," anti-abortion advocates vowed to continue their fight in other states across the country. It seemed like a fairly idiotic move, but then we're talking about people who insist the proposed laws would only ban abortion, but not potentially zygote-destroying birth control, fertility procedures, or necessary medical interventions, simply because they say so. Now personhood advocates are refusing to take "no" for an answer even from Mississippians, and are trying to push the measure through the state legislature. It's about as ridiculous as asking your girlfriend's father for permission to marry her after she's already turned down your proposal on national TV — and the most absurd part is that it might work. More »
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A coalition called the Silver Ribbon Campaign to Trust Women is advocating for a brighter 2012 for women's rights by flying a variety of pro-choice banners on San Francisco's Market Street. Above, one flies within view of SF's City Hall. Click through for more! More »
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Early on Sunday morning while people were still celebrating the new year, a fire spread through a Florida abortion clinic, entirely gutting the building. Authorities have yet to turn up evidence that the building was purposely set on fire, but the clinic has been the target of violence over the years, and it seems very likely that some nutjob decided to ring in 2012 with a little arson. More »
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An activist for the Dutch women's rights organization Women on Waves posted instructions for a home abortion as her profile picture on Facebook. The social networking site then took the picture down — is this censorship, or an understandable reaction to potentially dangerous advice? More »
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That's right, the votes are in — and in a close race, Jezebel's Woman of the Year for 2011 is Dr. X, the anonymous abortion doctor. More »
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Two abortion doctors have been charged with murder for performing illegal late-term abortions. The case highlights the need for safe, legal, accessible abortion — but many will probably take the opposite message from it. More »
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Yesterday, Rick Perry announced that he'd had a change of heart about what women should be allowed to do with their bodies, and now fully supports the bit of the Personhood USA pledge that says, "abortion and the innocent killing of life should always be prohibited." Today he clarified that he does find abortion acceptable when the procedure is medically necessary to save a woman's life. (Actually, Perry just said "that's correct," when asked if that's the only instance in which he'd allow the procedure.) Rape and incest victims will still be stuck with the consequences of their non-consensual actions in the very unlikely event that Perry is elected president. More »
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