Kentucky senate president, a Republican, says women have two choices: "Conceive or not." After that it is up to the politicians.

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stiyers.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Justifying his support for a 20-week ban on abortions, the Republican president of the Kentucky Senate asserted that women had the "choice" of whether to conceive a child and "the legislature has its ability to determine" the course of a pregnancy after that. 

According to a report from the Lexington Herald Leader, Senate President Robert Stivers (R) said Tuesday afternoon that he would have preferred a ban on abortions even earlier than 20 weeks. 

“This is my belief: there are two viable beings involved,” he said, as quoted by the Herald Leader. “One had a choice early on to make a decision to conceive or not. Once conception starts, another life is involved, and the legislature has the ability to determine how that life proceeds.”

Holy shit! This is what happens when you sleep through biology class.

Until a fetus can live outside of a mother's womb it is simply NOT yet a person. And I don't care what the Bible says differently. (Spoiler Alert: It says nothing about this.)

The chances of a fetus surviving outside of the mother at 23 weeks are 20 to 35%. At 24 to 25 weeks that increases to 50 or 70%. But it is not until well around 26 to 27 weeks that a baby has a 90% chance of making it out of the hospital.

So suggesting that a baby is a person before 20 weeks is simply scientifically ignorant.

And until men can get pregnant, no man should ever even think about telling a woman what to do with her own reproductive organs.

Also keep in mind that if these knuckle draggers had their way women would also be denied access to birth control.

In their eyes a woman's only contribution to society is to make babies, and if they engage in sex they should be willing to accept the consequences and give birth to any baby that may result from that "sinful" activity.

(Of course it's not sinful when men do it because.....well because they're men.)

Supreme Court to hear most consequential abortion case in over a decade.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could further narrow a woman's right to obtain an abortion. 

The dispute, which the justices added to their docket on Friday, is the first abortion challenge the court will hear since 2007. But at stake is a far more consequential precedent, established in 1992 -- the last time the court reaffirmed the landmark Roe v. Wade. 

The case, Whole Woman's Health v. Cole, arises from a lawsuit filed in Texas seeking to block a law that, if fully implemented, would shut down at least nine of the 19 remaining abortion clinics in the state. 

Among other provisions, the law -- called HB2 -- requires doctors at all abortion clinics to possess admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and for the clinics to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers. The cost of meeting the building and equipment requirements can run from a hundred thousand to several million dollars, which many clinics cannot afford.

Every time I see an abortion case come before the Supreme Court I start to get nervous. Very, very nervous.

And this time is no different.

The conservatives have been chipping away at the protections afforded by Roe vs Wade for decades now with the intention of getting a case before SCOTUS that would nullify the decision and once again turn women back into the baby factories that they believe is their god given destiny.

It is no coincidence that this case is coming before the Supreme Court before this election.

That is because the conservatives know that once President Hillary takes office she will nominate justices that will laugh this kind of shit right out of court.

John McCain says there is NO war on women. While ignoring his own devastating attack on that front.

John McCain said this today on the Senate floor:

 "My friends, this supposed 'War on Women' or the use of similarly outlandish rhetoric by partisan operatives has two purposes, and both are purely political in their purpose and effect: The first is to distract citizens from real issues that really matter and the second is to give talking heads something to sputter about when they appear on cable television," he said. "Neither purpose does anything to advance the well-being of any American." 

"To suggest that one group of us or one party speaks for all women or that one group has an agenda to harm women and another to help them is ridiculous," he continued. 

"Women and men are no different in their rights and responsibilities," he said. "I believe this legislation recognizes that. I don’t believe the ludicrous, partisan posturing that has conjured up this imaginary war does."

"Women and men are no different in their rights and responsibilities?" Did this old fossil ACTUALLY say that in his outside voice?

Look I hate to disagree with Grandpa Melanoma here, but the facts are that there is INDEED a war on women, and he damn well knows it!

Courtesy of US News:

The GOP "War on Women" is real and it has real-world consequences for the millions of women whose lives can and will be impacted by legislation that erodes more than a century's worth of progress on women's reproductive rights. There were over 1100 antichoice provisions introduced in 2011 and 900 antichoice provisions introduced so far in 2012. Legislators in 13 states have introduced 22 bills seeking to mandate that a woman obtain an ultrasound procedure before having an abortion. Of these, seven states are pursuing the state-rape vaginal probe variety. In addition, legislators in 13 states have sponsored right-wing "Personhood" type bills, too extreme even for the electorate of Mississippi, that could make both abortion and reproductive choices highly restricted. 

Lest we think that the rhetoric around these bills might contain the damage to the GOP's standing amongst women, please note how Georgia state legislator Rep. Terry England compares women to cows and pigs on his farm in support of bill forcing women to carry even inviable fetuses to term and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett justifies forced ultrasound bill by telling women to "just close your eyes."

Now you cannot tell me that McCain is completely unaware of these facts, or that women continue to earn 77% of what a man earns for the same job. 

This is reality for women living in the United States of America today.  And McCain HAS to be aware, on some level, of that reality.

But I think that he is more than simply uninformed, or purposefully obtuse on the subject, I think he has taken a very aggressive part in actively trying to keep women "in their place."

Because in the War on Women, THIS is the huge atom bomb that he dropped on the female population in America.

When given the opportunity to introduce a "Game Change" to Republican politics, instead of carefully vetting any number of truly qualified female politicians, McCain allowed himself to be bullied into choosing a winky -eyed, culturally illiterate, dipshit from Wasilla, who faked a birth to earn pro-life cred, and faked her own high poll numbers by hacking opinion polls while running one of the most secretive administrations in Alaska history.

In one fell swoop McCain pushed the women's movement back almost fifty years, and having struck the first devastating blow, drew in the other insecure male Republicans to continue the attack like sharks drawn to an open wound in a political ocean today virtually awash with blood gushing from rapidly dying rights of women in this country.

Lawrence O'Donnell takes on Mississippi's Initiative 26, which if passed might make illegal the use of In Vitro Fertilization and birth control.

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I have to say that the pro-Initiative 26 advertisement that O'Donnell started this segment with, REALLY creeped me out in a major way. The idea that life begins at conception is a purposeful oversimplification of what constitutes "life." It is the first, and obvious step, towards completely removing a woman's control over her own body.

The Democratic lawmakers in Mississippi will absolutely regret letting this initiative pass. And so ultimately will the women of Mississippi.

Rick Perry wants to shrink government until it is so small it can fit into a woman's uterus, and boss it around.

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Apparently in Rick Perry's America women would be relegated to the only job that God ever intended them have, breeding.

And folks, there is a VERY good chance that THIS is the guy that will be facing off against President Obama in 2012.  Still feel like sitting out this next election?

Ladies, today is YOUR day! The President even said so!

From the White House:

WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY, 2011 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

A PROCLAMATION 

The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution tore down the last formal barrier to women's enfranchisement in our Nation and empowered America's women to have their voices heard in the halls of power. This Amendment became law only after decades of work by committed trailblazers who fought to extend the right to vote to women across America. For the women who fought for this right, voting was not the end of the journey for equality, but the beginning of a new era in the advancement of our Union. These brave and tenacious women challenged our Nation to live up to its founding principles, and their legacy inspires us to reach ever higher in our pursuit of liberty and equality for all. 

Before the Amendment took effect, women had been serving our Nation in the public realm since its earliest days. Even before they gained the right to vote, America's women were leaders of movements, academics, and reformers, and had even served in the Congress. Legions of brave women wrote and lectured for change. They let their feet speak when their voices alone were not enough, protesting and marching for their fundamental right to vote in the face of heckling, jail, and abuse. Their efforts led to enormous progress millions upon millions of women have since used the power of the ballot to help shape our country. 

Today, our Nation's daughters reap the benefits of these courageous pioneers while paving the way for generations of women to come. But work still remains. My Administration is committed to advancing equality for all of our people. This year, the Council of Women and Girls released "Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being," the most comprehensive report in 50 years on the status of women in our country, shedding light on issues women face in employment, crime, health, and family life. We are working to ensure that women-owned businesses can compete in the marketplace, that women are not discriminated against in healthcare, and that we redouble our efforts to bring an end to sexual assault on college campuses. 

On the 91st anniversary of this landmark in civil rights, we continue to uphold the foundational American principles that we are all equal, and that each of us deserves a chance to pursue our dreams. We honor the heroes who have given of themselves to advance the causes of justice, opportunity, and prosperity. As we celebrate the legacy of those who made enormous strides in the last century and before, we renew our commitment to hold true to the dreams for which they fought, and we look forward to a bright future for our Nation's daughters. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2011, as Women's Equality Day. I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate the achievements of women and recommit ourselves to the goal of gender equality in this country. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth. 

BARACK OBAMA

You know with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann doing everything they can to roll back all of the progress made by the Women's Movement in the last hundred years, it is really nice to know that SOMEBODY has the back of the females in this country.

But then what would you expect from a man raised by a single mother, and married to a strong representative of the female gender like Michele Obama?

Have a great day ladies!