abortionrights - Jezebel

posts about #abortionrights more →
Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Blood On The Senate Floor: Majority Leader Drops Stupak-Pitts
Report: Stupak Amendment Will Be End Of Abortion Coverage For All
Nation to Women: You're On Your Own With This Abortion Fight
Berlusconi Urged To Apologize For Sexist Remarks • Catholic Bishops Weigh In On Health Care
Dramatic Readings
Obvious Child: The First Abortion Rom-Com
Read My Lips
And The Health Care Band Played On
Memorial Day

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linnyt is a walking cliché
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
When I'm Head Cheese of the World I'm going to abolish religion in government. I don't know how yet but I'll figure it out after I figure out how to become Head Cheese.
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winner
11/23/09

@linnyt is a walking cliché: I will vote for you to become head cheese.

When you become head cheese, just create a constitution that says religion can't influence policy. And put it in your constitution that when a policymaker allows religion to influence policy, he is to be F-I-R-E-D.
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linnyt is a walking cliché promoted this comment winner was starred winner was unstarred

linnyt is a walking cliché
11/23/09

@winner: Sounds like a plan. You can have a position in my Cheese Cabinet if you would like.

#tips
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Lymed
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Perhaps if the Bishops called out all Catholic politicians for any legislation that leads to murder it wouldn't be so bad. But do they call out the politicians who support the death penalty? How about the politicians that prevent changes to policy to reduce wrongful convictions? How about the politicians that support war? How about the politicians that don't provide adequate support for our troops who are facing death? Or don't support adequate medical care to those who return? How about the politicians that allow our veterans to go untreated for brain injury and PTSD so they put their own lives and the lives of their families at risk? How about the politicians that vote in favor of the tobacco industry? How about the politicians that are preventing health reform that would save and improve lives of so many Americans?
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ItchykooParker
11/23/09

@Lymed: Brilliant, you are.
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Lymed
11/23/09

@ItchykooParker: So I tell myself every morning.
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ItchykooParker
11/23/09

@Lymed: As you should!

#tips
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winner
11/23/09

@Lymed: Lymed 2012!
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Lymed
11/23/09

@winner: Well, I'll be old enough.
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Hooplehead
11/23/09

@Lymed: Unless it is a policy that penalizes slutty, slutty women, it seems that the bishops just can't be bothered to disapprove. Dirty old men!
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morninggloria
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Catholicism is quickly becoming the religious equivalent of your super embarrassing aunt who gets drunk and says racist stuff to your friends.
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bluebears
11/23/09

@morninggloria: I feel like they're actively TRYING to drive younger people away at this point.
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ItchykooParker
11/23/09

@bluebears: True. My teenaged son (I am more of a Unitarian myself) recently converted to Catholicism. After being in the church for about a year, he converted right back out! Good man!
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morninggloria
11/23/09

@bluebears: If that's what they're trying to do, then they're doing an awesome job.
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Lymed
11/23/09

@morninggloria: I find it sad that these incidences overshadow Catholicism's social justice work. Both in the media attention and, I fear, in the actual commitment by the church, bishops and priests. There are some Catholic churches that are safe havens to undocumented immigrants. There are some that stand next to community organizers and unions fighting for the poor.
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bluebears
11/23/09

@Lymed: unfortunately though, it's a top down organization and the upper management (if you will) seems way less interested in social justice then your kind hearted parish priest or kick ass nun (I have a fondness for nuns). So I don't think its surprising that the social justice work gets overshadowed.
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Lymed
11/23/09

@bluebears: But the Catholic Church used to be known as a social justice organization in America. It is the change that saddens me...as a non-Catholic social justice activist.
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bluebears
11/23/09

@morninggloria: they have a lot of resources at their disposal.
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bluebears
11/23/09

@Lymed: They did some really admirable things during the civil rights era particularly. I've never felt though, that they did much for women.
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morninggloria
11/23/09

@Lymed: I'm with you, sister.

I was pretty into being Catholic for a long time because I loved that part of the faith was service. I went to a Catholic university and did service work all through college (I also sang in the liturgical choir) and due to my Catholic faith, I joined Americorps after I graduated.

I realized one day, though, that you can believe in serving others and social justice without the icky parts of the Church clinging to you. You can be pro-social justice and also pro-women's rights. You can be a moral person without the institution telling you that your body isn't really yours.
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BearDownCBears
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
But...Wasserman Schultz was politicizing breast cancer. I mean, obviously the GOP is throwing this out primarily as a hurdle. But I watched that yesterday, and the point was that the council had a great deal of regulatory power over Medicare or the public option or whatever. Stephanopolis read the line in the bill, and the congresswoman said no, it's just a suggestion. She was ignoring the issue.

I don't really know who's technically correct, but this whole affair begs the question: when the government is responsible for more health spending, it will be responsible for budgeting. Maybe that will require hard choices. Maybe in order to pay for one thing that will save or better a large group of people, a minority of others might be shorted for treatment funds. Or maybe in order to save a diminishing margin of people for one disease you would need to spend money on an expensive screening process that could be used more efficiently to save a larger group of people for something else. Health care is utilitarian in that respect.

Under a private system, squawking over rationing won't due any good because you're nobody's boss. Public officials are (in thoery) our minions, though. The Democrats' jumpy reaction to the reports this week makes me worry that in the future lawmakers will quixotically pursue 100% treatment under the threat of interest groups. If we have to make Medicare cuts and reduce fee-for-service and the like in order for this thing to work on a cost basis, we're in deep shit.
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BearDownCBears
11/23/09

@BearDownCBears: proofreading is hard
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WashingMyHair
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." - Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi
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NefariousNewt
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
It's time for everyone to stand up, including myself. I'm trying to draft a letter I can send to all the members of the Senate, imploring them to consider carefully the implications of killing health care reform. I don't expect the Republicans to listen, but at least I will have had my say.
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telecomic the thoughtful red panda
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
I believe the Catholic Church made a definitive choice years ago to go out of their way to alienate young members of the faith. They're holding up heath care legislation over abortion rights, they're protesting D.C.'s gay marriage proposal, and, lest we forget, they tried to cover up a nearly-century-long scandal of pedophile and homosexual priests through dishonest means. Bullying victims, shifting problem priests from one parish to another, and then denying the scandal from the highest offices.

What they don't seem to get is that *nobody* is really pro-abortion, but they're pro-abortion *RIGHTS*, which is a much different thing indeed. This story from the Boston Globe should be mandatory reading for anybody who wants to place a vote on curbing abortion rights.

[www.boston.com]
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NefariousNewt
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
"Don't ask me to make everybody live by it because they are not members of the church," Cuomo said. "If that were the operative rule, how could you get any Catholic politician in office? And would that be better for the Catholic church?"

Exactly. The Catholic church is great at the holier-than-thou stuff, but all they ever end up doing is shooting themselves in the foot. They have a lot of nerve whining about abortion funding, while their church is having to fight off lawsuit after lawsuit because their celibate male priests can't keep their hands of young boys.
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WashingMyHair
11/23/09

@NefariousNewt: Remember history. Weren't many folks afraid that President JFK was going to take his orders from the Pope. Shit like this makes what was once thought of as an irrational fear as quite legit. Well, this and Judge Scallia, who probably does make all of his decisions based on Catholic doctrine.
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NefariousNewt
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Bishop Tobin needs to go back to ministering his flock and staying out of politics. If he's so worried about his parishioners getting abortions, then perhaps he should spend his time inveighing from the pulpit, instead of wasting time in the halls of Congress.
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morninggloria
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
The legislative branch is my third favorite branch of government.
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TheGuvnah
11/23/09

@morninggloria: the Catholic Church is my fourth favorite branch!
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LilSpitfire
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Yea, how can a religious organization that has tax exempt status act as a PAC with social agenda?

All the while the issues holding up healthcare all relate to women.

Separate of what now?

I have a feeling that if we lifted the tax exempt status from all religious institutions in this country we might very well be able to pay for this damn bill from the revenue.
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Bubblies-The-Amazing
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Let's play a game of "What Would Jesus Do?"

Obviously, He would demand proof of citizenship, co-pay, and proof of insurance (or entire bill paid in cash) at time of all miracle workings.
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hortense promoted this comment

stacyinbean
11/23/09

In reply to Miles To Go Before They Sleep: Saturday Vote Is Just The Start
Dear Bishop Tobin,

Start denying communion to your average Catholic church-goer who supports abortion and I guarantee you'll be seeing even less people in church each Sunday.

Good luck with that. Jesus loves you but hates gays and ladies who abort their fetuses!

stacyinbean
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veronykah
11/19/09

In reply to Blood On The Senate Floor: Majority Leader Drops Stupak-Pitts
I keep seeing "it would expand coverage to all but 6% of Americans" can someone tell me who those 6% of Americans would be and why they wouldn't be eligible?
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BearDownCBears
11/19/09

@veronykah: Probably above the threshold for Medicaid but would rather take the penalty than buy insurance. If you let people opt out of programs (even if they incur a fee), you'll have these folks.
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Maritsa
11/19/09

In reply to Blood On The Senate Floor: Majority Leader Drops Stupak-Pitts
I just read on the NYT that part of the funding is coming from a 5% tax on elective cosmetic surgery.

[www.nytimes.com]
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WashingMyHair
11/19/09

@Maritsa: Interesting bit of news. Haven't read the article yet, but I wonder if that means major surgery like face lifts, or does it also include minor procedures like IPL laser treatments to get red of those pesky sun spots?
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la.donna.pietra
11/19/09

@Maritsa: I'd say that's smart, given that one of the most common objections I hear regarding health insurance is that "money is wasted on cosmetic surgery!" (Never mind that I've never seen a plan that covers elective cosmetic surgery.)
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Maritsa
11/19/09

@la.donna.pietra: I'm LOLing at the idea of my insurance company, which just fought me on a benefit whose coverage is (1) clearly in my plan and (2) mandated by state law, paying for a boob job or face lift.

#tips
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angryyoungwoman
11/19/09

@la.donna.pietra: My roommate used to work in Hollywood. She said that a lot of actor's health plans covered elective plastic surgery as a necessity for their careers. Women would marry actors specifically for the insurance so they could get some plastic surgery done. Weird.
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la.donna.pietra
11/19/09

@angryyoungwoman: I have serious difficulty believing that. I've worked for a number of companies managing their insurance plans and reviewing possible new plans, and I've never seen a plan that covered elective plastic surgery. While the Screen Actors Guild does have health insurance, it's notoriously bare-bones. Your roommate sounds a mite naive.
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angryyoungwoman
11/19/09

@la.donna.pietra: Well, it's been a long time since she was an actress (or auditioning for shows and dating actors, more accurately), so I could see that a lot of things have probably changed. She's also crazy, so there is that . . .

#tips
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