As many predicted, implementing the rape of women with ultrasounds and probes is not politically savvy. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who had initially promised to sign the bill requiring women to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before terminating a pregnancy has had a change of heart. Today, in a statement, The Governor asks the General Assembly to amend the bill, so that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound would be required.

 

“For this reason, I have recommended to the General Assembly a series of amendments to this bill. I am requesting that the General Assembly amend this bill to explicitly state that no woman in Virginia will have to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound involuntarily. I am asking the General Assembly to state in this legislation that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound will be required to satisfy the requirements to determine gestational age.”

[…]

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You gotta hand it to the Republicans. They’re committed and consistent when it comes to making life miserable for women. Today’s all male panel on contraceptives was the cherry on the layered cake of misogyny comprised of opposing the Violence Against Women Act, and insisting on vaginally penetrating women against their will. See, the Republicans can’t support a bill that’s against violence against women, when they themselves are perpetuating violence against women by technically raping them with an instrument.

Digby has a great take on the Virginia Bill:

No Virginia, it’s not really about the fetus. It’s all about the probe.Democrats had sought to allow doctors to use other imaging methods but Republicans insisted that doctors put an instrument inside the woman’s vagina. Why? Well, since there’s no medical reason for it, the only possible explanation is that they want to “send a message.” You know. About who’s boss:

Read more at Feministing

House Oversight Committee Chairman, master car thief and general criminal, Darrell Issa held a hearing today on the Obama administration’s new regulation requiring employers and insurers to provide contraception coverage to their employees. Claiming that it was “not about reproductive rights and contraception but instead about the administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience,” Issa barred a progressive woman from testifying, as that would have ruined the all male conservative religious anti-Obama motif he was going for. This led three Democrats to walk out of the House (which must have been extra hard, because their panties were all up in a bunch). But I watched the hearing. And here are some thoughts.

1. I guess I should give the GOP props for voting against the Violence Against Women Act, since it would be hypocritical to condemn violence against women, while at the same time advocating ultrasound rape.
2. This is a really beautiful image of small government and big family values.
3. I’m really glad women aren’t allowed to testify at this hearing, which is about their bodies. It’s a dangerously slippery slope and I think we all know what comes next: box turtles are allowed to testify. It’s also really hard to be objective and have a vagina at the same time.

[…]

Read more at Huffington Post

Saying someone is a hero and a lifesaver, lauding their invaluable and extraordinary contributions to the world, can often be hyperbole. But in the case of Dr. Stephen Levin (Oct. 16, 1941- February 8, 2012) who fought for his patients’ lives as a physician and activist, and fought for change on both a cellular and a political level, it’s simply a statement of fact.

I first met Steve Levin at the New York City office of Kinderland, a progressive summer camp focused on social justice. I grew up going to Kinderland, and was there for my interview to be a Counselor in Training (CIT). Steve was there, waiting for his own daughter—who had never been to Kinderland—to finish her own CIT interview. In a way, Steve’s bringing his daughter Kate to that interview and that camp is a metaphor for what he did for so many people in his life; introducing them to interesting and important ideas, places and values. Steve brought his daughter to what turned out to be a healthy and happy place for her, just as he brought so many people, friends and patients to happier and healthier states. We started talking, and I liked him immediately; he was warm, engaged and engaging. He had a soothing, animated, deep voice and bright, sad brown eyes. He was excited and nervous about his daughter’s first time in camp and when she came out of the interview, his face lit up—Kate has this effect on him—and he enthusiastically introduced us, eager for his newbie daughter to meet an experienced Kinderlander. When they left I hoped and suspected that I’d see them again. And I did; Kate and I became CITs that summer and, more importantly, good friends. I was 15 when I met Steve. And that was 15 years ago. I’ve known Steve for half of my life.

Read more at The Nation

 

No, this video is not satire. It is real, as the couple explain in a follow up video. The video supports the Day of Purity, “a project of Liberty Counsel and is designed for students of all ages who commit to remain sexually pure until marriage.”  […]

Read more at Feministing

In a very meta way, the Romantic-Industrial Complex is putting a lot of time, money and energy into cutesey infographics demonstrating how much time, money and energy we put into cutesy commercial and materialistic expressions of Valentine’s Day. I should do an infographic on it, but I don’t have the time, money or energy to do so. So, I’ll just show you them.

Overstock.com presents

 

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Rick Perry is back! In the first speech he’s made since quitting the race January 19th, Perry Addressed Republican activists in Round Rock on Monday and said,

“I’m not slipping off into the sunset. I’m not riding off into the west…. We’ve got plenty of work to do right here in the state of Texas. And I got plenty of fight left in this old 61-year-old body.”

Read the rest at Feministing

While at the American Heartland Forum in Columbia, Missouri, an efficient Rick Santorum killed two birds with one stone, pushing the myth of death panels and longing for the golden days of illegal abortions.

“fifty years ago… sixty years ago, people who did abortions were, you know, in the shadows, were people who people who were considered really bad doctors. Now, abortion is something to that is just accepted.”

Read the rest at Feministing

In a stunning demonstration of his lack of empathy, tact and political savvy, Mitt Romney confirmed all of the accusations that he is privileged and out of touch with most Americans and specifically insensitive to the hardships so many Americans are currently experiencing.

I particularly love the way he suggests that the very poor are not “Americans.” And of course the great irony, as Think Progress points out, is that Romney wants to cut the very programs– which are already insufficient– he claims take care of the poor.

Read the rest at Feministing

Yesterday, Lori  blogged the then-breaking news that the Susan Koman Foundation woul stop funding Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screenings, bowing to pressure from ironically named “pro-life” groups and their ironically named “pro-life” new Vice-President, Karen Handel, who unuccesfully ran for Governor of Texas on an anti- Planned Parenthood campaign. Since the Foundation’s cuts will mean a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars that would have gone mostly to breast examx, these organizations and this creature, are less pro-life and more anti-life, pro-cancer and, ultimately pro-death.

Of course, people are encouraging donating directly to Planned Parenthood, or other great organizations. Sure, not having women dye in back alleys is great. Giving women who otherwise couldn’t afford breast exams is great too. But the truth is, I don’t know if I have the budget for any donations. I would have to dip into my monthly allotment for Sally G Komen products. And I’m not sure I am prepared to take that radical step.

Read the rest at Feministing