My new preferred definition for "pro-choice."

(Courtesy of Reddit.)

Oh yeah, that is EXACTLY what it should mean.

Ohio Senate passes bill to criminalize abortions once fetus has heart beat. Around six weeks.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

Ohio’s Republican-led House and Senate passed legislation Tuesday night that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected― as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. 

The measure was attached at the last minute as an amendment to an unrelated child abuse bill. It has no exceptions for rape or incest. 

If it’s passed into law, physicians could face a year in prison if they perform an abortion after a heartbeat is detected or if they fail to check for one before a procedure. 

The measure is the most extreme abortion restriction in the country, effectively banning the procedure before most women even realize they’re pregnant, pro-abortion rights advocates said. 

“After years of passing anti-abortion laws under the guise of protecting women’s health and safety, they lay bare their true motives: to ban abortion in the state of Ohio,” said Dawn Laguens, a spokesperson for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Let's face it a lot of women will not even know they are pregnant by six weeks, which means that for all intents and purposes some of them will already be denied access to an abortion before they realize they might need one.

A similar thing had been tried in Arkansas, only in that case it was a 12 week old fetus, and the courts rejected it. However this definitely shows that conservatives are still focused on taking a woman's right to choose away from them, and once Trump starts appointing judges it might provide the tools for them to do just that.

I fear that Roe vs Wade will not survive the Trump administration intact.

Last night Samantha Bee addressed misconceptions about abortion and the negative impact that religion has on women's health and it was epic.

(Samantha Bee's abortion public service announcement starts at the 20 second mark.)

If that was not satisfying enough Bee then went on to address the insanely dangerous impact that Catholic hospitals have on women's health.
It is extremely gratifying to see a presidential candidate who understands what women's health is all about and understands the importance of having control over your own reproductive organs.

Hillary Clinton clearly understands both, and Samantha Bee is the unapologetic pro-choice advocate that we need to explain why that is important in this election.

This was a damn good show and I thought that Samantha Bee was really in her wheelhouse while explaining this topic to her audience.

Let's face it neither Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, or even Jon Stewart could have handled this topic nearly as well as Samantha Bee just did.

Which I guess also goes to show why we need more female hosts taking on controversial topics and explaining them to the American people.

John Oliver's take on abortion laws in this country is your must watch video of the day.

Damn not only was that full of great laughs, but it was incredibly powerful as well.

John Oliver and Samantha Bee, are the antidote to our depression over the loss of Jon Stewart. 

St. Louis Archbishop wants to kick the Girl Scouts off of church property because essentially they do not hate on women and gays nearly enough.

Courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson has issued a letter calling on parishes to seek alternatives to Girl Scouts, arguing that the program and related organizations conflict with Roman Catholic teaching. 

The Archdiocese of St. Louis isn’t directly kicking Girl Scout troops and activities off church properties (Yes he is.), but is suggesting they and their cookies may no longer be welcome in the fold. 

“Girl Scouts is exhibiting a troubling pattern of behavior and it is clear to me that as they move in the ways of the world it is becoming increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values,” Carlson wrote in a letter dated Thursday. “We must stop and ask ourselves — is Girl Scouts concerned with the total well-being of our young women? Does it do a good job forming the spiritual, emotional, and personal well-being of Catholic girls?” 

The letter said issues such as reproductive rights and abortion separate the church from Girl Scouts and related organizations. 

The letter was a disappointment to Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri CEO Bonnie Barczykowski, who said by email Friday the organization “has enjoyed a history of cooperation with the Archdiocese of St. Louis for almost 100 years.”

"Well you had a good hundred year run Girl Scouts, but if you insist on being so damn reasonable you are going to have to get the fuck off of church property right now. But hey, leave some of those delightful cookies."anti-a

Personally I think that the Girl Scouts should remove themselves from church property, but not because this Archbishop is so intolerant, but because the Catholic Church is bulging at the seams with pedophiles.

Over 100,000 women in Texas have turned to the do it yourself method for ending a pregnancy. With clinics closing all over the state just imagine how that number will increase.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

New research paints a bleak picture of what could be in store for U.S. women if the Supreme Court upholds an abortion law that makes it more difficult for health clinics to remain open. 

Somewhere between 100,000 and 240,000 women of reproductive age living in Texas have tried to end their pregnancy entirely on their own, without any medical assistance, according to a group of policy researchers. Most of these women either used home remedies, like herbs or vitamins, or went across the border to Mexico to buy misoprostol, the drug used in U.S. clinics to terminate a pregnancy. 

The Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) — a research group based at the University of Texas that’s been tracking the state’s reproductive health policy over the past four years — released this information to illustrate the detrimental impact a recent slew of abortion clinics closures has had on its population. 

“As clinic-based care becomes harder to access in Texas, we can expect more women to feel that they have no other option and take matters into their own hands,” said Daniel Grossman, a TxPEP co-investigator and Professor in Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.

"We're protecting the sanctity of human life" they say.

Well what about the lives of thousands of women which are now at risk due to their archaic attitudes toward reproduction rights?

Is the "sanctity" of their lives not worth protecting?

Woman trolls Planned Parenthood protesters with sign that reads "Dear P.P. Thanks for helping with my yeast infection."

Courtesy of Slate:  

During her shift at Portland, Oregon’s Purringtons Cat Lounge on Sunday, Mary Numair looked out the street-facing windows and saw a woman carrying a sign that read “Abortion Kills Children.” Numair had noticed a group of protesters about a block away, gathered outside one of Portland’s Planned Parenthood health care centers. “I thought [the woman] might be lost. I said, ‘Hey, you’re gonna feel real silly. The protest is down that way,’ ” Numair, 29, told me. “She said ‘No, I need to stand here.’ I said, ‘Fuck this shit,’ went back inside, and started making my sign.” 

The sign, which Numair crafted out of masking tape and a piece of cardboard from the dumpster, praised Planned Parenthood for treating her chronic yeast infections when she was in her early 20s and uninsured. It also included a delightful cartoon of a vagina with a smiling clitoris and a stick figure with pigtails and prominent breasts (above). 

Numair’s best friend and co-worker clocked in early so she could head out to the protest, where she planted herself between two families with children. “In my first 30 seconds of walking out there, I did get called a whore,” Numair said. “One woman was shaking her head. I knelt down to her kid and said, ‘Do you know about yeast infections?’ ” 

Onlookers gave Numair the thumbs-up, and some passing cars honked in support, but she was the only counter-protester on the scene. Still, with a spontaneous chant, she managed to break up the protest in under a half-hour. “I don’t know why I started chanting ‘Yeast infections!’ but it just came out. I have this cold, so it was just this obnoxious squeak, cheerleader-like. And I started doing high kicks, which I don’t normally do, in my skinny jeans.” A religious leader was guiding a circle of protestors in prayers for Numair—but as her chants got louder and more grating, they stopped.

I love this SO much!

That my friends is how you call out these anti-choice nuts on their ignorance.

John Boehner announces the House members who will be embarrassing themselves, and their constituents, while investigating Planned Parenthood in response to those doctored videos.

Courtesy of Roll Call: 

Speaker John A. Boehner announced Friday that Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., will chair the investigative panel created following a string of hidden camera videos showing Planned Parenthood employees talking about the sale of fetal tissue. 

“Recent videos exposing the abortion-for-baby parts business have shocked the nation, and demanded action,” Boehner said Friday in a statement. “At my request, three House committees have been investigating the abortion business, but we still don’t have the full truth.” 

Boehner said Blackburn will have “the resources and the subpoena power to get to the bottom of these horrific practices, and build on our work to protect the sanctity of all human life.”

The full list of morons participating in this farce are as follows: 

• Rep. Marsha Blackburn, chairwoman 
• Rep. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania. 
• Rep. Diane Black of Tennessee. 
• Rep. Larry Bucshon of Indiana. 
• Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin. 
• Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland. 
• Rep. Vicki Hartzler of Missouri. 
• Rep. Mia Love of Utah.

Oh man that is like a who's who of pro-choice opponents. This could be a bigger joke than the Benghazi hearings.

Just a little something to chew on this Saturday morning.

Sarah Palin has ghostwriter launch a defense against preacher's comments on daughter's blog, which she then links to on her Facebook page while hiding behind Trig.

Sarah Palin hiding behind her favorite shield, while holding his arms so he won't smack her.

Okay so as you know there is a documentary which we discussed here on Saturday about an Evangelical minister's confusion as to how Christians can be both pro-life and pro-gun.

The documentary features Palin's speech at the NRA, which of course means that she must defend.

However since she is such an incredible coward, that defense takes the form of a pathetic Facebook post, which links to Bristol's blog, where Nancy French launches a tirade on her behalf, while Bristol scouts new locations for her next selfie.

And this woman still has supporters?

Here is the Facebook post: 

Preacher calling me out with his holier-than-thou condemnation for being both pro-Second Amendment and pro-life? I couldn't be prouder. And typically twisting context to fit his bizarre rant... er, "sermon?" Bring it on. Good job, shepherd. Don't think too many Americans will be led astray by you standing at the pulpit on this one.

Does anybody else actually hear their brain cells screaming as they die while reading this?

Palin then links to a rather lengthy screed by Nancy French attacking the minister in the film, and bitching that he is being hypocritical by not calling out pro-choice people over the "murders" they support.

The entire post is way too long and batshit crazy to cut and paste here in its entirety, but here are a few samples just to give you an idea of the lunacy.

The movie is nothing more than liberal propaganda camouflaged as “thoughtful commentary.” The pastor says he caters to the conservatives and Tea Party activists as the camera pans over some photos of the pastor with famous conservatives – including what looks like the Pastor Saeed prayer vigil with Ted Cruz and one of my mom and dad with (apparently) the pastor and perhaps his wife. It looks like it was taken in Alaska. (I asked Mom about it – she doesn’t remember taking that photo and doesn’t remember meeting them.) 

It speaks to the weapon issue, though he conveniently skips the Bible passages that talk about being armed and protecting one’s family. The pastor says he doesn’t want to be labeled as a “liberal,” though he spouts leftist talking points from the first moments of the movie.

(There's a passage in the Bible about being armed with assault weapons?  Man you forget so much when you haven't read something for a decade or three.)

Here’s my question. Since the number of deaths per year by gun users is dwarfed by the number of people killed through abortions, where’s the moment in the movie when he turns to Lucy and challenges HER beliefs that allow babies to get killed? (Lucy is of course pro-choice.) Oh, that’s right — because it’s produce by a pro-abortion activist.

(Now I am not sure which kind of "produce" Nancy is referring to here, so I will go out on a limb and suggest it is probably lettuce which I am told the Palins put on their mooseburgers and call "salad.")

The Pastor keeps asking the most inane question “Can Christians be pro-life and pro-guns?” Maybe he thinks that the swelling emotional music behind the words somehow make them more “important.”

(Or it could just be a very important question even without the music. You know for those of us who DON'T have Soldier of Fortune magazine sharing the same bookshelf as the Bible.)

He must not know the importance of guns to my family, and many other families just like us. 

We use those guns to FILL OUR FREEZER. To “live off the land” if you want to call it that. (Once again the Palins live less than a mile away from Wal-mart and have many fast food joints and fine restaurants quite near their home.) We use those guns to PROTECT ourselves, like many, many other people. (The Palins have NEVER used a firearm to protect themselves. And we know that because if they had we would have NEVER stopped hearing about it.) Gun’s aren’t used strictly for violence like people want to paint them to be. I carry and I know by carrying its keeping my kids and my household a whole lot safer from creeps like we unfortunately face everyday. (Is that why when that last stalker showed up at her house she ran to her Mommy's to hide out?)

It must be nice to sit back in your pew and let others defend you. (Uh, should I point out the obvious here?)

But it just sounds cheap and cowardly to me. I think Christians have a DUTY to carry and protect the innocent. (Seriously WHICH Bible are these people reading?)

If you want to know what the Bible REALLY says about topics like this, buy my Mom’s new devotional instead of watching this new film.

So after that last remark you almost have to wonder if Palin was REALLY upset about the way she was characterized in this documentary, or if she just saw this as a way to play the victim and pimp her new book?

Well I certainly have my theory.

You know this whole thing where Nancy French pretends to be Bristol, and Sarah pretends that her daughter loves her and is using her blog to defend her, is becoming more than a little psychotic.

I actually know at least two different therapists who would love to have a group session with Sarah, Bristol, and Nancy just to help sort out the different identities and to determine the level of psychosis.

Jason Chaffetz admits that after investigation he could find no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Thursday that the GOP's investigation into Planned Parenthood's use of federal funds hasn't turned up anything. 

"Did I look at the finances and have a hearing specifically as to the revenue portion and how they spend? Yes. Was there any wrongdoing? I didn't find any," he said during a Judiciary Committee hearing on the family planning provider. 

Chaffetz, a candidate for House speaker, grilled Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards during a five-hour hearing last week. He questioned her salary, asked about the organization's expenses and revenues, and pressed Richards on why the group had revenue of $127 million last year if it's a nonprofit. (Nonprofits put their revenues back into their programs.) 

But after all that, he concluded that Planned Parenthood isn't doing anything sketchy with its money. "Did we find any wrongdoing? The answer was no," Chaffetz said.

You are you now thinking, "Well good now that they have failed to find anything they will stop harassing Cecile Richards and trying to shut down Planned Parenthood clinics."

You are so cute.

No this is political catnip to the conservatives and there is no way that they are going to drop this thing until they have squeezed every bit of unmitigated rage and opportunism out of it.

Another win for Planned Parenthood in Utah.

Courtesy of The Salt Lake Tribune:  

A judge on Tuesday blocked an order issued by Utah Gov. Gary Herbert to cut off federal money going to Planned Parenthood in the state after the release of secretly recorded videos by a California anti-abortion group. 

U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups issued the temporary restraining order during a hearing, allowing the money to keep flowing while the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah seeks a longer-term injunction. 

Planned Parenthood sought the emergency order a day after suing Herbert. It said some programs would have expired Wednesday if the money was blocked. 

Herbert acted on his personal and political agenda when he cut off funding to the organization following the release of the videos, said Peggy Tomsic, a lawyer for the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.

State by state, lawsuit by lawsuit, Republicans are getting their asses handed to them over their overreaction to those doctored videos.

It is just sad that Planned Parenthood has to waste time and money defending themselves against what is clearly a partisan attack inspired by phony videos that were proven false almost the moment they first appeared.

Bernie Sanders tells an audience of Liberty University students that on the pro-life issue Republicans are hypocrites.

So as you can hear the moderator ask Sanders this student's question "You've talked in your campaign about how it's immoral to protect the billionaire class at the expense of the most vulnerable in society-children.  A majority of Christians would agree with you but would also go further and say children in the womb need out protection even more. How do you reconcile the two in your mind?"

You then hear the heavily indoctrinated audience go wild at this question, however Sanders response not only challenges their thinking, but seems to have earned more than a few converts to his point of view.

Here it is in its entirety:

“I do understand that. but I do also understand this is an area where we disagree. I do understand and I do believe that it is improper for the United States government, or state government to tell every woman in this country the very painful and difficult choice that she has to make on that issue.” 

Just listen to the applause and voices raised in agreement, most of it sounding female, in response to that statement.

“And I honestly don’t want to be too provocative here, but very often conservatives say, ‘Well, you know, get the government out of my life! I don’t want the government telling me what to do.” 

“But on this very sensitive issue on which this nation is divided. A lot of people agree with you, a lot of people agree with me.  But my view is I respect absolutely a family that says, ‘No, we are not going to have an abortion,’ I understand that, I respect that. But I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government telling them what to they have to do.” 

More applause, and female voices raised in agreement. 

“ But...but..I want to take that question a step further David. We do disagree on that issue no ifs, ands, or buts about it.  I respect your point of view I hope you respect my point of view. But here's where I hope we have common ground."

"Now I'm not trying to be partisan. During my remarks, I have not. But I'm going to be partisan for a moment, because I want to lay this on your shoulders."

"I am the ranking member of the US Senate Budget Committee.  That means I lead the Democrats in opposition. Republicans control the House and the Senate."

"Now I want to tell you what was in the Republican budget that passed a number of months ago months ago.” Check it out if you think I'm not telling you the truth. When you talk about issues of children, understand the Republican budget threw 27 million people off of health care, including many children, at a time when many families cannot afford to send their kids to college."

"And I am running on a program by the way that says every public college and university in America should be tuition free."

More applause.

"But at a time when families cannot afford to send their kids to college Republican's budget cut 90 million  dollars in Pell grants over a ten year period. At a time when children in America are going hungry, the Republican budget cut billions of dollars in nutrition programs, including money for the WIC program, which goes to low income pregnant women and their babies. And to add insult to injury in that budget, the Republicans provided over $250 billion over a 10-year period in tax breaks to the top two tenths of one percent."

"I don't think that is a moral budget." 

Now remember that Sanders made these remarks in front of an audience of conservative Christians, at the university founded by freaking Jerry Falwell.

And not only did he make these remarks unflinching, but he got far more than a tepid response from the crowd.

I have to say that after seeing this my advice to the Clinton campaign is that they better bring their A game, because Bernie is knocking it out of the park.

(H/T to Raw Story.)

Analysis shows that those Planned Parenthood videos were purposefully altered to give false impression. Gee, really?

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

The undercover Planned Parenthood videos that spurred a congressional investigation were so severely manipulated that they wouldn't hold up in court, according to an analysis by three teams of forensic experts. 

Planned Parenthood hired independent research firm Fusion GPS to investigate the validity of the first five "sting" videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group. 

Glenn Simpson, a partner at the firm and a former Wall Street Journal reporter, assembled three teams of neutral experts to comb through the tapes using special video software. He said the teams found that all of the videos analyzed -- even the supposedly "full," unedited footage the CMP released -- were missing large sections of time and misleadingly altered so that separate conversations appeared to take place in an uninterrupted take. Moreover, the forensic team found that the transcripts CMS released with the videos were frequently erroneous. 

"It appears they commit what I would call 'wishful thinking' about what was said," Simpson told reporters Thursday.

So not only were the videos used to attack Planned Parenthood altered, but even the so-called "unedited" versions, which already undermined the premise that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue for a profit, were changed to push forward a false impression. 

Color me unsurprised.

And yet THIS is what is being used to once again launch an attack against women's access to legal abortion services, as well as cancer screenings and important information about contraception and STD's.

Teacher harassed on Facebook and at her school for her work as an abortion clinic escort.

Courtesy of Cosmopolitan:  

Shana Broders has been an elementary school teacher for over two decades. For the last year and a half, she has spent her downtime as a clinic escort, helping patients at a nearby North Carolina abortion provider navigate their way past the protesters and into the building for services. For that, a group of extreme anti-abortion activists wants to get her fired from her job. As a new school year begins, they have escalated their efforts, harassing her school by phone and threatening to picket. Broders tells Cosmopolitan.com how her school has responded and why no threats will make her give up supporting a person's right to a legal, safe abortion procedure. 

Ms. Broder explains in the article how her world got turned upside down:  

I have very strong and passionate beliefs and views on bodily autonomy and women's rights. I was following something on Twitter and I saw a video clip of protesters at a clinic in another city. I tweeted or made a comment, "Wow. That's so horrible. I'm so glad that doesn't happen where I live," in my ignorance. Then someone commented back, "Oh, yes it does, right down the road." I was like, "What? Where? Can I be an escort?" They said, "Yes and let me hook you up," so I got hooked up though Twitter with an escort group in Raleigh, North Carolina. That's how it started. 

I'm not sure how I was targeted for this. All I can tell you is that I got [one activist] called out for trespass, me personally. It was July of 2014, and I was escorting, and he went behind our building and another building, and he hid in the bushes waiting for the doctor. I was afraid if he jumped out of the bushes at him, someone could get hurt. I called the police for that reason. I think that made it personal. He learned my name fairly early on and he calls me by name. "You know, Shana, you were nice when you first started." I have him on video saying, "You were nice. What you were doing was evil but you weren't a bad person when you first started this but the darkness is taking over you." 

He called me out. He told me he would come to my school. He named my school. Another man who is in this group, AHA [Abolish Human Abortion], who lives in my town — that scares me — he has told me he's going to come to my school and tell all the parents that I'm a baby murderer. Pure intimidation tactics.

At first nothing happened, but then the next year the anti-choice folks followed up on their threats and the school started receiving harassing phone calls referring to her as a "baby murderer." And then they took to Facebook and started sharing the graphic at the top of the page, until it was essentially everywhere.

Now this poor woman, a teacher of small children, feels threatened and under siege in her own community.

Fortunately her school has rallied around her and she has support from her fellow teachers, and of course she is in no danger of losing her job.

However the question remains how long will it be before the people making these threatening accusations are no longer simply happy using words to cause her harm?

Because as we have seen time and time again, this kind of illogical hatred can often take the form of physical violence and even murder.

Dr. George Tiller.

Personally I think this woman is incredibly courageous and hope that she serves as an inspiration for others to consider volunteering at their local clinics as well.

Man arrested in Kansas for bringing homemade bomb into abortion clinic.

Courtesy of CBS News: 

Police say a man is in custody after he brought a small improvised explosive device into a women's health care clinic that provides abortions in south-central Kansas. 

Wichita Police Department spokesman Doug Nolte says officers responded to the South Wind Women's Center around 3:30 p.m. Monday. He says on-site security inspected a backpack the man brought in and found knives and the explosive device. 

Officials told CBS affiliate KWCH in Wichita that the suspect was also carrying a small box wrapped in tape. 

Clinic staff evacuated the building, and a bomb squad was called to remove the backpack. No injuries were reported.

The authorities are investigating as to whether or not the man intended to cause any harm to the clinic or its staff, but since the guy brought a bomb into the same building that Dr. Teller used to work in before he was shot dead, I think it is a pretty good bet that his intentions were not altruistic.

By the way this kind of thing is the predictable byproduct of this most recent attempt to smear Planned Parenthood and abortion providers using those doctored videos.

Some people may write to their Congressman in response, some might create placards and protest outside of clinics, but there is also a fringe group who believes the best way to "save the fetus" is to murder those providing abortion services.

Media Matters provides the smackdown to the newest video from the anti-abortion group currently attacking Planned Parenthood.

Courtesy of CNN: 

The anti-abortion group that has accused Planned Parenthood of illegally selling organs and tissue from aborted fetuses released a new video Tuesday, a day after the Senate blocked a bill that would have defunded the organization. 

The latest undercover video, which is clearly edited, features operatives for The Center for Medical Progress posing as employees of a fetal tissue procurement company attempting to buy intact fetal organs from a Planned Parenthood branch in Houston. In the clip, Melissa Farrell, director of research for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, discusses the relationship between altering abortion procedures to get the most intact organs possible and costs. 

"If we alter our process and we're able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, it's all a matter of line items," she said in the video. 

Farrell, who said in the video that she is responsible for diversifying Planned Parenthood's revenue streams, also said the group works with multiple academics and researchers studying fetuses looking for intact organs -- and sometimes complete cadavers.

As you can imagine such frank talk about harvesting organs from aborted fetuses has further enraged the anti-choice crowd and driven them into a frenzy of letter writing and e-mailing to their local politicians who now feel they have little choice but to at least appear to be making an effort to defund Planned Parenthood.

However the video also makes it appear that the doctors performing the abortions will alter the procedure in order to get a better "sample" for sale later which might place the mother at risk during the procedure.

Here is the press release by the group The Center for Medical Progress who are behind these videos:

The fifth undercover video in the controversy over Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted baby parts shows the Director of Research for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Melissa Farrell, advertising the Texas Planned Parenthood branch's track record of fetal tissue sales, including its ability to deliver fully intact fetuses. 

In the video, actors posing as representatives from a human biologics company meet with Farrell at the abortion-clinic headquarters of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston to discuss a potential partnership to harvest fetal organs. 

"Where we probably have an edge over other organizations, our organization has been doing research for many many years," explains Farrell. When researchers need a specific part from the aborted fetus, Farrell says, "We bake that into our contract, and our protocol, that we follow this, so we deviate from our standard in order to do that." 

Asked specifically if this means Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast can change abortion procedures to supply intact fetal specimens, Farrell affirms, "Some of our doctors in the past have projects and they're collecting the specimens, so they do it in a way that they get the best specimens, so I know it can happen." 

The investigators ask Farrell how she will frame a contract in which they pay a higher price for higher quality fetal body parts, and she replies, "We can work it out in the context of--obviously, the procedure itself is more complicated," suggesting that "without having you cover the procedural cost" and paying for the abortion, the higher specimen price could be framed as "additional time, cost, administrative burden." 

Farrell finally summarizes her affiliate's approach to fetal tissue payments: "If we alter our process, and we are able to obtain intact fetal cadavers, we can make it part of the budget that any dissections are this, and splitting the specimens into different shipments is this. It's all just a matter of line items."

However Media Matters has compared the released fifteen minutes of footage and compared it to the full transcript and found some very deceptive edits.

Here are a few of them:

The Center for Medical Progress' full-transcript of their undercover video reveals that the anti-choice organization cut-out portions of Farrell's comments in order to make it appear that the official was suggesting changes to protocol that could endanger a patient. The short video skipped over Farrell explaining that everything done "is there for the safety of the patient" and under "our standard process." 

Not included in the 15-minute version of the video is Farrell's further explanation that the clinic would not alter or delay a procedure for the sake of fetal tissue donation, per Planned Parenthood and tissue donation guidelines. 

The unedited transcript reveals Farrell explaining that any changes to the procedure would need to be cleared by doctors and pose no threat to the patient. 

The full, unedited transcript reveals Farrell's explanation that any reimbursement for the costs incurred by the clinic cover only administrative costs, and would not be calculated on a per-specimen basis.

The problem of course is this now has become a conflict between logic and faith. The folks on the anti-choice side are driven by their faith that God places a child in the mother's womb, and that man has no right to interfere with its birth.

On the pro-choice side is the understanding that reproduction is not the product of divine intervention but rather every day biological interactions between human beings, and that allowing one of those humans to walk away unburdened by the interaction, while forcing the other to take full responsibility for the embryo created by the mingling of sperm and egg, is patently unfair and should not be forced on women simply due to a different reproductive system.

If these people REALLY wanted to reduce the number of abortions in this country, instead of simply controlling women, they would turn their attention to increased education and the increased availability of preventive measures and stop attacking programs that provide very important services for the health of American women.

The Republicans can huff and puff all they want about defunding Planned Parenthood, but one person stands in their way. President Obama.

That's our hero. Fighting for truth, justice, and women's basic health rights.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

The White House on Friday threatened a veto on any bill that defunds Planned Parenthood. A budget measure that strips funding from the organization “is certainly something that would draw a presidential veto,” press secretary Josh Earnest said. 

“We have routinely opposed the inclusion of ideologically driven riders” in budget bills, Earnest added. 

It is the first time the White House issued a veto threat against Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood since an anti-abortion group began releasing secretly recorded videos.

I am extremely glad to have Obama in the White House in times like this. And I am equally glad to know that if elected both Hillary and Bernie would continue to fight the Republicans on these key issues.

If you are a woman, and care even a little about women's rights, then you want to make damn sure to keep a Democrat is the White House. Because have no doubt that if the Republicans get their way, Planned Parenthood is finished. 

And if possible they WILL repeal Roe vs Wade just as soon as they get the deck stacked in their favor.

Well at least this nun gets it.

You know I consider myself pro-life. That is why I oppose war, support vaccinations, want universal health care, and argue for the rights of all Americans.

None of us are pro-abortion, but the majority of us recognize that we have no right to tell a woman what to do with her body.

And sometimes choosing not to give birth really is the right decision for all involved.

(H/T to the Daily Kos.)

Female reporter for Slate gives ten reason why she is not only pro-choice, but pro-abortion.

I think I am like most people who are for a woman's right to choose, in that I don't feel comfortable suggesting that there should be more abortions, only that I think it should be up to the woman to decide if she wants/needs one or not, and nobody else.

However this Slate reporter, Valerie Tarico, has a much more definite point of view.

She starts off with this declaration:I am pro-abortion like I’m pro-knee-replacement and pro-chemotherapy and pro-cataract surgery. As the last protection against ill-conceived childbearing when all else fails, abortion is part of a set of tools that help women and men to form the families of their choosing. I believe that abortion care is a positive social good. I suspect that a lot of other people secretly believe the same thing. And I think it’s time we said so.

From there she goes on to list, and explain, her reasons for being, not simply pro-choice, but pro-abortion.

Number 1: I’m pro-abortion because being able to delay and limit childbearing is fundamental to female empowerment and equality. A woman who lacks the means to manage her fertility lacks the means to manage her life. Any plans, dreams, aspirations, responsibilities or commitments–no matter how important–have a great big contingency clause built: “until or unless I get pregnant, in which case all bets are off.”

Okay you know that conservative women will lose their minds over this reasoning.  After all they believe that a woman's single greatest achievement is to make a little human being., and NOTHING should ever delay or interfere with that.

Number 2: I’m pro-abortion because well-timed pregnancies give children a healthier start in life. We now have ample evidence that babies do best when women are able to space their pregnancies and get both pre-natal and pre-conception care. The specific nutrients we ingest in the weeks before we get pregnant can have a lifelong effect on the wellbeing of our offspring. Rapid repeat pregnancies increase the risk of low birthweight babies and other complications. Wanted babies are more likely to get their toes kissed, to be welcomed into families that are financially and emotionally ready to receive them, to get preventive medical care during childhood and the kinds of loving engagement that helps young brains to develop.

I see nothing wrong with that logic.

Number 3: I’m pro-abortion because I take motherhood seriously. Most female bodies can incubate a baby, and thanks to antibiotics, cesareans and anti-hemorrhage drugs, most of us are able to survive pushing a baby out into the world. But parenting is a lot of work, and doing it well takes twenty dedicated years of focus, attention, patience, persistence, social support, mental health, money, and a whole lot more. This is the biggest, most life-transforming thing most of us will ever do. The idea that women should simply go with it when they find themselves pregnant after a one-night-stand, or a rape, or a broken condom completely trivialized motherhood.

Preaching to the choir.

However I will add one caveat, and that is that quite often women are indeed ready to be mothers even if they do not yet know they are ready.