#StopTheBans

[Content Note: War on agency.]

"We will stand up and speak out because we know that keeping people unhealthy is a tool of oppression and stripping reproductive health care is a tool of misogyny." — @DrLeanaWen, President & CEO @PPFA, President @PPact #StopTheBans pic.twitter.com/yQX0ywjYF6

— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) May 21, 2019

As I mentioned earlier, there are hundreds of events around the country today protesting the abortion bans being passed in state legislatures, and you can follow along on Twitter with the hashtag #StopTheBans.

I've been following with each free moment I've had today, often with tears streaming down my face because of a constellation of emotions: Pride in and solidarity with the protesters; anger at the actions by Republican legislators that obliged the protests; fear of what will happen to women et. al. if we lose the fight to prevent these bans from taking effect.

“We stand together to call out these anti-choice politicians who talk so much about life and yet ignore the lives of the half the population. YOU matter. WE matter.” —NARAL President @ilyseh #StopTheBans pic.twitter.com/WlLtVZSzXB

— NARAL (@NARAL) May 21, 2019

I have previously noted on many occasions (here, was probably the first time) that I'm hard-pressed to see why I should be any less contemptuous of a man (or woman) who sits at a big mahogany desk in a government building making decisions about my body without my consent than I should be of the men who used physical force to make decisions about my body without my consent.

It is an observation by which anti-choice folks are outraged. They are horrified to be compared, even obliquely, to sexual predators. As well they should be. I am horrified to have to make it. But anyone who holds the position that they should be able to legislate away my bodily autonomy and supersede my consent about what happens to my body shouldn't be too goddamned surprised by the comparison.

One must be ridiculously incapable of self-reflection to simultaneously argue that sexual assault (forcing a woman to do something with her body she doesn't want to do) is a Terrible Thing, but the denial of abortion (forcing a woman to do something with her body she doesn't want to do) is a Moral Imperative.

Disallowing access to abortion, i.e. forced birth, is an inherently violent position which values fetuses more highly than the people who carry them.

I am utterly unwilling to pretend it could ever be anything else.

Abortion bans are reproductive coercion.

Forced birth is a violent act.

Abortion is healthcare.#StopTheBans

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 21, 2019

This is a war on agency. It's a war on autonomy. It's a war on choice. It's a war on consent. It's a war on women and anyone else who can get pregnant. It's a war that will be expanded to control any bodies that the authoritarian pigshits in charge want to control to limit people's freedom.

We matter.

Our agency matters.

Our autonomy matters.

Our choice matters.

Our consent matters.

Our freedom matters.

We matter.

#StopTheBans.

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Leslie Jones Has Your Back

Ghostbuster Leslie Jones made an appearance on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update to say a few words to the men — and women — passing anti-abortion legislation on the state level. And to let the women in those states know that they aren't alone. I love this message eleventy-seven times as much as telling people to "move." This is the message we need: WE HAVE YOUR BACK. Because reproductive choice is FREEDOM.

Video Transcript: Weekend Update anchor Colin Jost, a white man, sits at the Update desk. Leslie Jones, a Black woman, soon joins him.

Jost: This week, Alabama passed a near-total ban on abortion, in what many say is part of a larger effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. Here to comment is our own Leslie Jones!

[audience cheers and applause; Jones comes out wearing a white bonnet and red cape a la The Handmaid's Tale. ]

Jones: Hoooooo! Yesssssss! Blessed be the fruit, Colin.

Jost: Are you in a Handmaid's Tale outfit?

Jones: Well, basically, we're all handmaids now — so my name is actually Ofjost. [laughter] But I don't know how good of a babymaker I'm gonna be, because my eggs is dusty as hell! [laughter] But I'll give it a shot!

Jost: I don't think, Leslie — I don't think society's quite there yet.

Jones: No? You would think that, right? [tears off bonnet and cape to reveal a black t-shirt reading MINE in big white letters and a downward pointing arrow; audience cheers] You would think that. But this is how it starts. I'm out living my life, then I see on the news a bunch of states are trying to ban abortion — and then tell me what I can and can't do with my body. Next thing you know, I'm in Starbucks, and they won't take my credit card because I'm a woman, instead of the regular reason which is I don't have no money on it. [laughter]

And what made me so mad [squeezes fists] was seeing the twenty-five Alabama senators who voted for the abortion ban. Throw that picture up. [image of 25 white male legislators; audience boos] Look at 'em. All men. This look like the casting call for a Lipitor commercial. [laughter] This look like the mugshots of everyone arrested at a massage parlor. [laughter] And if any of 'em had lips, I would tell them to kiss my entire ass. [laughter]

You can't control women! [audience cheers and applause] You can't control women! Because, uh, I don't know if y'all heard, but women are the same as humans! [cheers] And I'm Leslie Dracarys Jones! [applause]

I mean, why do alla these weird-ass men care about what women choose to do with they bodies, anyway?! I don't care what you do witchyo sixty-five-year-old droopy-ass balls! [laughter]

And how is Alabama's woman governor going along with this? WHAT?! You not rebel— Me? I'm rebellious from the top! When people tell me "good morning," I say, "No it's not. You don't know my morning. [laughter] Don't take away my choice to have a bad morning."

Because when women have a choice, women have FREEDOM!!! [cheers and applause]

Jost: That's right.

[Jones snaps her fingers repeatedly as the audience continues to cheer]

Jost: That's right. You tell 'em, Leslie!

[Jones turns on Jost and looks at him with contempt]

Jones: SHUT UP! [laughter] Ya flat white privilege latte. [laughter; Jones turns back to the camera] Look, the fact that nine states are doing this means this really is a war on women. [NB: And anyone who can get pregnant.] And if you're a woman out there and you feel scared or confused, just know that you're not alone. There's so many women out there that got your back — especially me, Leslie Dracarys That Bitch Jones! [cheers and applause]

You can't tell me what to do with my body. You can't make me small, or put me in a box. I'm six feet tall and two hundred and thirty-three pounds. [cheers] Ain't no box big enough to hold me!

And I know, 'cuz, uh, one time I tried to mail myself to a dude. [laughter]

Jost: Leslie Jones, everyone! [cheers and applause]

Jones: DRACARYS!!!

♥

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Quote of the Day

"I started to realize this was a calling, which is weird because most people wouldn't be like: You know what I want to do when I grow up? Be an abortionist." — Anna, quoted in a must-read piece by Lizzie Presser at the Guardian, "Inside the Secret Network Providing Home Abortions Across the U.S."

Most people wouldn't. More people should. And I imagine if more people heard directly from women who'd had abortions what it meant to them to be able to access them, more people would.

Anna is amazing. And so are the women who trained her. They provide a critical healthcare service that allows other women to define their own lives so that they can be amazing, too.

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Iowa Legislature Passes "Heartbeat" Abortion Bill

[Content Note: War on agency; anti-choice oppression.]

The Iowa legislature's Republican majority has passed a bill that would ban abortions after the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is around the sixth week of pregnancy and often before many women et. al. know they are pregnant. No Democrats voted for the bill, which now goes to the desk of Republican Governor Kim Reynolds.

"The time is now," bill manager Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, said early Tuesday afternoon when debate started on Senate File 359 that started in 2017 as a prohibition on the transfer of fetal body tissue. At about 11 p.m., the House passed the bill 51-46 and sent it to the Senate where debate started shortly before 1 a.m.

It's time for the GOP to "quit playing doctor and stop using your positions of power to harass, control, and disrespect Iowa women," Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said. And Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Hiawatha, said the bill isn't about reducing the number of abortions. Instead, its sponsors seem "hell-bent on making a name for those who are set to challenge Roe v. Wade," she said.

"Never mind how women's rights will be run over by the Family Leader bus that's headed to the U.S. Supreme Court," Mathis said.

Even though it was the middle of the night, Sen. Rick Bertrand, R-Sioux City, who led a group of Republicans who refused to vote for budget bills until getting a chance to vote for the fetal heartbeat bill, said it was a "good day for life."

He acknowledged this bill is an attempt to "take another run at Roe v. Wade," he said about the 1973 Supreme Court decision to allow abortion, and predicted the bill will be the vehicle for overturning that decision. "We're not hiding that."

Grim stuff.

Presuming Reynolds signs the bill into law, as she is expected to do, the law will be challenged in court. Which is precisely what its supporters are hoping.

And once again, the future of reproductive rights hangs in the balance. But do tell me again how there was "no difference" between an abusive misogynist with zero respect for women's agency and consent who chose as his running mate one of the most virulently anti-choice politicians in the nation, and a feminist who has spent her life advocating for healthcare access, including and especially reproductive healthcare.

Seethe.

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Trump, Baby Hope, and What Wasn't Said

[Content Note: Reproductive coercion; addition.]

If you were disturbed by the "uplifting" story told by Donald Trump about the Holets family, who were his guests at the State of the Union, you are not alone.

Here is the story Trump told to the nation, as the camera lingered on the young white parents and the white baby being cradled in her adoptive mother's arms:

As we have seen tonight, the most difficult challenges bring out the best in America. We see a vivid expression of this truth in the story of the Holets family of New Mexico. Ryan Holets is 27 years old, an officer with the Albuquerque police department. He is here tonight with his wife, Rebecca. Thank you, Ryan.

Last year, Ryan was on duty when he saw a pregnant, homeless woman preparing to inject heroin. When Ryan told her she was going to harm her unborn child, she began to weep. She told him she didn't know where to turn, but badly wanted a safe home for her baby.

In that moment, Ryan said he felt god speak to him. "You will do it, because you can." He heard those words. He took out a picture of his wife and their four kids. Then he went home to tell his wife Rebecca. In an instant, she agreed to adopt. The Holets named their new daughter Hope. Ryan and Rebecca, you embody the goodness of our nation. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan and Rebecca.

This story, when I heard Trump tell it, did not seem like the inspirational tale of people who "embody the goodness of our nation" to me. It seemed like a crass and exploitative yarn that reduced the identity of Hope's birth mother to a nameless, faceless junkie and invisibilized Trump's vile healthcare and childcare policies that leave many pregnant people and addicts without any good options.

(And while I have no idea if Ryan and Rebecca Holets would have been so quick to adopt Baby Hope if her birth mother were not white, I strongly suspect that Trump would not have told the story if she hadn't been.)

Many of us wondered: Was there not a better solution? Would it not have been a greater kindness to secure the help and recovery that Hope's biological mother needed to get sober, instead of (or, at minimum, in addition to) separating her child from her?

Many of us wondered what had happened to the woman who was written out of the story, in Trump's telling.

At the New York Times, Jennifer Weiner answers some of these questions ("Baby Hope's biological mother is named Crystal Champ."), and observes how writing Crystal Champ out of the story — her story, as much as anyone's — acts in service to an anti-choice agenda where women (and other people who can get pregnant) are nothing more than incubators, whose humanity is decidedly inconvenient.

Think of the posters often brandished at anti-abortion marches and rallies, with the image of a fetus in utero, floating free, like an astronaut, with the umbilical cord, untethered, trailing off into the darkness. The spaceship — a woman — was, of course, nowhere to be seen, an important framing. With the woman literally out of the picture, abortion foes can advance the claim that a fertilized egg is just as much a unique human life, deserving of protection as a living, breathing, toddler.

They can argue that the only difference between an embryo, a newborn baby, and a kidney patient on dialysis is age, size, location and circumstance.

In this formulation, a pregnant woman, a living, breathing, thinking person, becomes no more than an environment, or a tool, whose story ends once she's given birth.

Once we put the woman back in the picture, once we insist on seeing her as a person, not a place or a thing, we've got to acknowledge what is, for abortion opponents, an inconvenient truth. ...That embryo requires the support, the partnership and the body, of one specific individual: The woman carrying it.

The way around that is for abortion opponents to simply take the woman out of the story, to erase her from the picture, or to characterize her as nothing more than the place that "pre-born baby" happens to reside.

Trump's erasure of Crystal Champ acted in service to this narrative — the position I frequently describe as fetuses being valued more highly than the people who carry them.

It is an argument unique to anti-choice rhetoric: No one else is obliged to let their bodies be used without their consent to sustain another life. We don't even let organs be harvested to save a life unless the donor, or someone empowered to make decisions for them, consents to it.

That is why anti-choicers, including the president, choose to tell stories designed explicitly to conceal how far outside medical practice in all other circumstances forcible birth is, a central part of which is disappearing people who gestate the fetuses emblazoned on anti-choice propaganda.

But Trump had other things to conceal, as well: The fact that his policies failed Crystal Champ, and Baby Hope, in every conceivable way.

In the very same speech in which he held out this story as an example of "the best in America," he enthusiastically boasted about getting rid of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which makes healthcare affordable for and accessible to millions of people. He wants to restrict healthcare access further still.

He has declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, but took no action and requested no funds to do anything to address the problem beyond saying the words that got him a day's worth of headlines to make it look like he gives a shit.

He supports no early childcare policies that would help a mother struggling with addiction parent her own child; no policies at all that prioritize keeping families together. To the absolute contrary, he is an aggressive advocate of policies that tear families apart, from his cruel immigration policies to his Justice Department's renewed "war on drugs" that will continue to dismantle families via incarceration.

And his economic policies mean that people like Champ, and her daughter, will continue to be casualties of the class warfare being waged by his administration and Congressional Republicans.

All of these catastrophic failures were concealed in Trump's story, along with the identity and personhood and humanity of Crystal Champ.

He didn't say her name, and he didn't tell the truth about how conservative policy conspired to make Champ's best choice to give away her daughter, to a police officer who shamed her for being an addict in a country that treats addiction like moral weakness.

This story was emblematic of America, all right. But not in the way Trump would have us believe.

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And Now for Some Good News

One of the most amazing parts of the uterus transplant birth (besides the baby, of course), is the fact that a woman signed up to have her uterus removed and transplanted into a complete stranger to give another woman a shot at motherhood https://t.co/YwNzDfaz89

— Alexandra Sifferlin (@acsifferlin) December 1, 2017

Goddamn this is amazing. I'm probably just too old to be a donor now, which makes me so sad, because I've long hoped for the option to donate the healthy uterus I don't want to use to a woman who needed one. https://t.co/XJd6D3aXxZ

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 2, 2017

Anyway. It makes me really happy that the science has advanced to a point where there could soon be a generation of women (and men, and genderqueer folks) who can support each other's reproductive decisions in such a profound and intimate way.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) December 2, 2017

The reason I thought I might be too old is because these sorts of studies tend to prioritize younger participants, but it turns out donors in the study can range in age from 30-60, so I'm not too old after all.

The science right now is limited to donations from and to cis (and possibly some intersex) women, but certainly uterine transplants for trans women aren't far away.

There's something very precious and exciting to me about this particular piece of progress, in this moment. This woman-centered scientific advancement, enabling such deeply loving gifts between women.

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We Resist: Day 288

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

* * *

Here are some things in the news today:

Earlier today by me: Authoritarian Watch: Trump Screams for Show Trials and Elizabeth Warren, What Are You Even Doing?

Further in Authoritarian Watch today:

Trump says he's not worried about unfilled State Department roles b/c "the one that matters is me. I am the only one that matters." pic.twitter.com/JxcWiy7ozY

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 3, 2017

LAURA INGRAHAM: Your State Department still has some unfilled positions. Are you worried that the State Department doesn't have enough Donald Trump nominees in there to push your vision through? Because other State Departments, including Reagan's at times, undermined his agenda, and there's a concern that the State Department currently is undermining your agenda.

DONALD TRUMP: So, we don't need all the people that they want. You know, don't forget, I'm a businessperson, and I tell my people: Where you don't need to fill slots, don't fill 'em. But we have some people that I'm not happy with their thinking process—

INGRAHAM: Right. But Assistant Secretary of State you're not getting rid of that position?

TRUMP: Well, all right, but, let me tell ya: The one that matters is me. I'm the only one that matters. Because, when it comes to it, that's what the policy is going to be. You've seen that; you've seen it strongly.

Welp.

* * *

“Congratulations, Jay,” Trump tells his Federal Reserve chair pick, Jerome “Jay” Powell. pic.twitter.com/nsHaLFxIma

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 2, 2017

Trump replaces the first woman to chair the Fed with a dude. Shocking. https://t.co/MQxPji6BjM

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) November 2, 2017

Further, as Eastsidekate noted (which I'm sharing with her permission): "Lady with a PhD in economics who's garnered near universal praise is pushed aside for a lawyer dude. Got it."

It's not just that Trump is pushing Janet Yellen aside for a man; it's that he's pushing her aside for a man who is significantly less qualified than she is.

* * *

Caitlin MacNeal at TPM: Carter Page Says He Told Jeff Sessions He Was Traveling to Russia in July 2016. "After testifying to the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors on Thursday, former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page told CNN that he told Jeff Sessions that he had plans to travel to Russia in July 2016. ...Page told CNN that it was the only time he met Sessions, who at the time was a national security adviser to the campaign and now serves as attorney general. Page said that he told this to the House Intelligence Committee, and the Republican leading the committee's Russia probe, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) confirmed that to CNN. Conaway said that Page told the committee that Sessions did not react to Page's heads up about the trip. 'I don't make anything sinister out of it. He said Sessions did not react or comment one way or the other,' Conaway told CNN." LOL yeah that's kinda the problem!

[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link] Michael S. Schmidt, Matt Apuzzo, and Scott Shane at the New York Times: Trump and Sessions Denied Knowing About Russian Contacts; Records Suggest Otherwise. "Standing before reporters in February, President Trump said unequivocally that he knew of nobody from his campaign who was in contact with Russians during the election. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has told the Senate the same thing. Court documents unsealed this week cast doubt on both statements and raised the possibility that Mr. Sessions could be called back to Congress for further questioning. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, unsealed his first charges Monday in a wide-ranging investigation... Records in that case show that George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser, had frequent discussions with Russians in 2016 and trumpeted his connections in front of Mr. Trump and Mr. Sessions."

Esme Cribb at TPM: Franken Blasts Sessions: Papadopoulos Docs Show 'You Failed to Tell the Truth'. "Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), whose questioning of Attorney General Jeff Sessions in his January confirmation hearing kicked off a chain of events that ultimately led to the appointment of a special counsel, on Thursday had some more pointed questions for Sessions. Franken included his questions in a scathing letter to Sessions after court documents [were] unsealed Monday... 'We must get to the bottom of what happened so that we can prevent it from happening again,' Franken wrote. 'I am deeply troubled that this newest revelation strongly suggests that the Senate — and the American public — cannot trust your word.'" No suggestion. We can't.

Selina Wang at Bloomberg: Twitter Sidestepped Russian Account Warnings, Former Worker Says. "In early 2015, a Twitter employee discovered a vast amount of Twitter accounts with IP addresses in Russia and Ukraine. The worker, Leslie Miley, said most of them were inactive or fake but were not deleted at the time. Miley, who was the company's engineering manager of product safety and security at the time, said efforts to root out spam and manipulation on the platform were slowed down by the company's growth team, which focused on increasing users and revenue. ...Throughout Twitter's history, security took a backseat to free speech and growth, according to ten former employees who asked not to be identified."

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Alexander Nazaryan at Newsweek: Trump Is Leading the Most Corrupt Administration in U.S. History, One of the First-Class Kleptocrats.

Now, a year after the election — and more than a year after Trump first made that pledge [to "drain the swamp"] to the American people — many observers believe the swamp has grown into a sinkhole that threatens to swallow the entire Trump administration. The number of White House officials currently facing questions, lawsuits, or investigation is astonishing: Trump, being sued for violating the "emoluments clause" of the U.S. Constitution by running his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.; Paul J. Manafort, the second Trump campaign manager, indicted on money laundering charges in late October; Flynn, for undisclosed lobbying work done on behalf of the Turkish government; son-in-law and consigliere Jared Kushner, for failing to disclose $1 billion in loans tied to his real-estate company; and at least six Cabinet heads being investigated for or asked about exorbitant travel expenses, security details, or business dealings.

...[A]ccording to the presidential historian Robert Dallek, no American leader has acted with more unadulterated self-interest as Trump. Dallek says that in terms of outright corruption, Trump is worse than both Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding, presidents who oversaw the most flagrant instances of graft in American political history.

[CN: Climate change] Christopher Joyce at NPR: Massive Government Report Says Climate Is Warming and Humans Are the Cause. "The 600-plus-page Climate Science Special Report [is] part of an even larger scientific review known as the fourth National Climate Assessment. The NCA4, as it's known, is the nation's most authoritative assessment of climate science. ...Without major reductions in emissions, it says, the increase in annual average global temperature could reach 9 degrees Fahrenheit relative to pre-industrial times. ...The report notes that sea level has risen 7 to 8 inches since 1900, and 3 inches of that occurred since 1993." Holy shit.

* * *

[CN: Sexual violence; descriptions of rape] Cécile Allegra at the Guardian: Rape Used Systematically in Libya as Instrument of War. "Male rape is being used systematically in Libya as an instrument of war and political domination by rival factions, according to multiple testimonies gathered by investigators. Years of work by a Tunis-based group and witnessed by a journalist from Le Monde have produced harrowing reports from victims, and video footage showing men being [sexually assaulted]. In several instances, witnesses say a victim was thrown into a room with other prisoners, who were ordered to rape him or be killed. The atrocity is being perpetrated to humiliate and neutralise opponents in the lawless, militia-dominated country. Male rape is such a taboo in Arab societies that the abused generally feel too damaged to rejoin political, military, or civic life."

First of all, let me say that I take up space in solidarity with these victims and survivors, and I hope they are safe after courageously speaking out.

Secondly, I want to note that this is, or should be, a foreign policy issue for the United States. It is a critical human rights issue.

One of the many reasons I supported Hillary Clinton was because of her history of advocating on behalf of people who are victimized by rape as a weapon of war.

But Donald Trump, if he even ever hears about it, will not care. Further, he has no moral authority on which to speak about it, since he is himself a confessed serial sex abuser.

I will never stop grieving for the people we will abandon as a nation because our president is a hideous specimen.

* * *

[CN: Environmental racism; toxic water; description of miscarriage] Auditi Guha at Rewire: Miscarriages in Flint: 'I Really Believe It's the Water.' "Researches studying the water crisis recently found a high number of fetal deaths and fewer pregnancies in Flint since April 2014, which is when the city switched its water supply to use water from the polluted Flint River without adding anti-corrosives to treat it. ...Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who blew the whistle on high lead levels in children, has looked into the possibility of miscarriages being caused by the tainted water, according to the Free Press. State officials deny this is happening, but residents pointed out that the same people also denied the existence of the water crisis until it was made public." Residents make a damn good point.

By stripping Title X funding, Trump is taking direct aim at women in marginalized communities & their #reprohealth: https://t.co/DGy8BRgW5N

— NARAL (@NARAL) November 3, 2017

[CN: Racism] Sameer Rao at Colorlines: Report: Five Ways Hollywood Sidelines Black Screenwriters. "'Race in the Writers' Room: How Hollywood Whitewashes the Stories that Shape America' examines all 234 original scripted series airing on 18 basic cable, premium cable, and streaming networks during the 2016-2017 television season. Report author and University of California, Los Angeles scholar Darnell Hunt uses writers' room demographic information to conclude that most TV executives hire very few Black writers and showrunners. ...Fully 65.4 percent of all TV series writers' rooms have no Black writers. An additional 17.3 percent have only one Black writer. Black writers make up only 4.8 percent of all writers' rooms, while White people constitute 86.3 percent of the whole." 4.8 percent! For fuck's sake!

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?

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Check Out These Badasses!

[Content Note: War on agency.]

Women dressed as handmaids are protesting anti-abortion bills at the Capitol. #FightBackTX #txlege pic.twitter.com/w5EQfBqNtG

— PPTV (@PPTXVotes) March 20, 2017

2 DPS officers, Senate door guy & sergeant at arms have positioned themselves around a group of #handmaidstale activists in Senate #txlege pic.twitter.com/UC54ZlULQd

— Alexa Garcia-Ditta (@agarciaditta) March 20, 2017

Catherine Pearson at the Huffington Post: Women Wore 'Handmaid's Tale' Robes to the Texas Senate Floor.

On Monday, the Texas Senate considered several abortion-related bills, including Senate Bill 415, a regulation that would effectively ban a safe and common procedure used for second trimester abortions, which anti-choice legislators have taken to calling a "dismemberment abortion ban." It passed and will now head to the House.

The Senate also inched forward with SB 25 ― a bill that would effectively allow doctors to lie to pregnant [people] if they detect a fetal anomaly and are concerned their patients might opt for abortion. It will likely head for a final vote on the floor this week.

But in the Senate chambers on Monday, a group of Texas women were having none of it. The activists arrived decked out in full red robes, an homage to characters in "The Handmaid's Tale," Margaret Atwood's classic (and distressingly relevant) feminist tome.

Not all superheroes wear capes. BUT SOME DO.

Among the women who participated were two of my friends (whose identities I'm sharing with their permission): @meadowgirl and @ohthemaryd (who, as some of you may recall, has guest-posted at Shakesville on several occasions). These women are genuine badasses, and I am so proud to know them.

Looking at the pictures on social media of their visible but quiet protest, I got chills at the way their still, silent presence was like a haunting of the legislators conspiring to take away their rights.

They were specters and witnesses.

Republicans, we see you.

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Keep. Your. Eyes. On. Mike. Pence.

[Content Note: War on agency.]

As I mentioned earlier, one of Donald Trump's first executive orders was to reinstate the Global Gag Rule, also known as the "Mexico City Policy," which "bans recipients of U.S. foreign aid from offering abortion-related services."

Made U.S. policy through an executive order issued by President Ronald Reagan, it restricts family planning providers from offering comprehensive health care and, when in place, denies international family planning organizations the right to:

* Provide abortion-related information to their patients and clients
* Provide referrals to other health care providers who perform safe abortions
* Provide legal abortions or legal abortion-related services
* Advocate for the legalization of abortion in their country

The Mexico City Policy infringes upon women's fundamental right to make informed decisions about their bodies and their health. It denies women access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care that includes abortion care and related information and referrals.

It is a vile policy, rescinded by Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republican presidents like clockwork.

Trump's position on abortion has been inconsistent, to put it politely, but he has made it abundantly clear that, as a Republican president, he will align himself with anti-choice extremists. Including and especially Vice-President Mike Pence, to whom Trump delegated his presidential transition and who has been tasked with taking the lead on policy.

I bet Trump couldn't tell you what the "Mexico City Policy" is if you asked him *right now*. More evidence of Pence's outsized influence.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) January 23, 2017

To be clear: I am not suggesting that Trump is stupid. I am observing, based on Trump's own comments, that he doesn't care about policy; that he is willfully ignorant about an enormous amount of policy because to be well-versed in it serves no purpose to him, as it does not cater to his grandiose ego and would steal time from the things that do.

Trump explicitly wanted a vice-president who "would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy," leaving Trump free to "Make America great again," whatever that means on any given day. Tweeting at SNL on one day; provoking China by calling the Taiwanese President on another.

Everything else belongs to Mike Pence, who was a radically conservative governor and has already made several notable trips to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional Republicans to see what radically conservative legislation—starting with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act—they can bring to Trump's desk for his disinterested signature.

In December, Gallup noted Pence's influence squarely sits on the shoulders of Trump's lack of experience: "As has been true for previous vice presidents, Pence's background complements that of the president. But this seems particularly important for the incoming administration, given that Trump will be one of the few presidents without any elected political experience (the last was Dwight Eisenhower in 1952). Pence's legislative and policy experience may make him the 'quarterback' on the White House legislative team who has to deal with complex congressional processes. And his experience as a state governor may make him someone Trump relies on to help navigate 10th Amendment issues."

Trump's comprehensive inexperience leaves a void that Pence will be happy to fill.

Trump has almost certainly not learned the details of the Global Gag Rule, nor will he, but he didn't need to know them. Pence knew them. He is an extreme anti-choicer who, as Indiana's governor, waged war on Planned Parenthood, defunded clinics, and criminalized miscarriages. You bet he knew the details of the Global Gag Rule. You bet it was one of Mike Pence's priorities.

This, then, is a perfect and terrible example of why I am the brokenest of broken records about keeping our eyes on our most powerful vice-president ever, including even Dick Cheney.

As I wrote previously:

During the campaign, I repeatedly warned about Mike Pence's extremism with a particular urgency, given Donald Trump's desire for a vice-president who "would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy."

And, since the election, I have been carefully watching the role Pence is playing in the emerging Trump administration. He was put in charge of the presidential transition, and, to those who have long been familiar with Pence, his fingerprints are all over the selection of people and policy that is emerging.

…An article in Politico confirms precisely that about which I have been warning. Under the blunt title "Pence's power play," the writers detail his efficacy in building bridges with the Republican Congressional caucus and quote a former Pence aide saying, "He's going to play a more influential role on the policy front than we've seen from vice presidents in recent years."

It is a neat bit of understatement about an already observable fact.

Pence's style has always been less aggressive than it is opportunist — which does not make him any less dangerous. To the contrary, his patience in waiting for effective opportunities in which to implement his extremism, and his willingness to brazenly disregard democratic processes to get it done, makes him all the more toxic.

His stealth is the perfect complement to Trump's theatrical egotism: Pence will exploit every second of being ignored to enact a radical conservative agenda in the long shadow cast by Trump’s attention-grubbing megalomania.

Mike Pence would like nothing more than our inattention. Which is precisely why we must keep our eyes on him.

Pence—who, unlike his boss, does not have an ego rooted in personal glory, but in personal orchestration of a conservative agenda, irrespective of whether he gets the credit—is smart enough to realize that he has more power without scrutiny.

As a vice-president (and thus president of the Senate) who has been handed extraordinary power by the president, and a former member of the House with deep ties to many members of the GOP caucus, Pence is perfectly positioned to simultaneously: Assist Trump with his awful executive agenda; support Congress in their sinister legislative aims; and work with the Cabinet (which he has clearly shaped) to destroy every federal agency.

Trust that Pence does not want any attention that stands to undercut his enormous power at the center of this triangle.

Which is why I will say once more: Pence would like nothing more than our inattention—and that is precisely why we must keep our eyes on him.

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On the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt Ruling

[Content Note: War on agency.]

I've got a new essay up at BNR on the SCOTUS ruling in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, and how the ruling is about so much more than just abortion access:

The Supreme Court, with one day remaining in this term, handed down a long and nervously awaited decision on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. The decision is a huge win for women (and other people who need access to abortion, like trans men) across the nation.

...The decision was an incredibly important win for choice — and a powerful commentary on how the nation values women. Our health, our safety, our autonomy, and our lives.

I was born the year after Roe v. Wade was decided, and from the time I was old enough to comprehend even the most cursory facts of abortion law, I understood, even before I could articulate it, that whether my government allowed me control over my own body and the agency to make decisions about my own reproduction communicated how much I was respected and valued as a full human being.

My very first public act of political resistance was leading a walkout in my 8th grade confirmation class in protest of a minister who wanted to show us a graphic anti-abortion film. I was officially labeled a troublemaker, and the minister told me I would be pregnant or dead by the time I was 16. I was neither.

I have always understood intimately that abortion law is not, and has never been, just about access to abortion, but also about how we value women.

There is much, much more at the link (including my familiar argument about how we oblige pregnant people to sustain life in the way we oblige no other people), so head on over to read the whole thing!

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Hillary Clinton Statement on Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt

Today, following the Supreme Court's decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down some of the country's most restrictive anti-abortion measures, Hillary Clinton issued the following statement:

"The Supreme Court's decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt is a victory for women across America. By striking down politically motivated restrictions that made it nearly impossible for Texans to exercise their full reproductive rights, the Court upheld every woman's right to safe, legal abortion, no matter where she lives.

"I applaud everyone who flooded the Texas Capitol to speak out against these attacks on women's health, the brave women and men across the country who shared their stories, and the health care providers who fought for their patients and refused to give up.

"Our fight is far from over. In Texas and across the country, a woman's constitutional right to make her own health decisions is under attack. In the first three months of 2016, states introduced more than 400 measures restricting access to abortion. We've seen a concerted, persistent attack on women's health and rights at the federal level. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said women should be punished for having abortions. He also pledged to defund Planned Parenthood and appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

"Today's decision is a reminder of how much is at stake in this election. We need a President who will defend women's health and rights and appoint Supreme Court justices who recognize Roe v. Wade as settled law. We must continue to protect access to safe and legal abortion – not just on paper, but in reality."

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

MTV News has updated their list of How to Help Orlando. As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to leave additional suggestions in comments.

[Content Note: Pulse Shooting; domestic violence] "The wife of the Orlando gunman could face criminal charges if the FBI establishes that she knew in advance he was planning a deadly attack. Noor Zahi Salman has reportedly told agents that she tried to talk husband Omar Mateen out of the raid on the Pulse nightclub that became the deadliest gun massacre in US history." I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, if she knew but didn't alert authorities, that sounds horrifyingly irresponsible. On the other hand, we have all heard from his ex-wife that he viciously abused her. Does anyone really imagine he wasn't doing the same to his current wife? And can we really hold someone who is also his victim accountable in the same way we would hold someone who didn't report him just because they were unethical? What a nightmare of harm he created all around him.

[CN: Rape culture; description of assault] In good news: "The judge who gave a lenient sentence to a former Stanford student convicted of sexual assault has been removed from a similar case due to prosecutors' concerns about his ability to 'fairly participate' in the proceeding. Judge Aaron Persky, who declined to send the former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to prison for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, has been taken off a case involving a male nurse who sexually assaulted an anesthetized female patient, according to local prosecutors." Now get him off the bench altogether.

[CN: War on agency] As you probably recall, since I've written about it one biebillion times, one of my criticisms of President Obama has been his virtual silence (save for an appreciated speech to Planned Parenthood) on reproductive rights, while abortion access has eroded significantly and anti-choice terrorism has increased significantly on his watch. His failure to make use of the bully pulpit on behalf of abortion access is a major disappointment for me. As is his neglect to address the Helms Amendment. So this makes me very happy: "Reproductive health-care activists urged President Barack Obama to take executive action on the Helms Amendment early Tuesday morning during a demonstration outside the White House's United State of Women Summit. The two-day summit includes a variety of sessions across downtown Washington, D.C., around six main themes: economic empowerment; health and wellness; educational opportunity; violence against women; entrepreneurship and innovation; and leadership and civic engagement. However, none of the themes include abortion care. Even the description for the summit's focus on health and wellness merely touts the Affordable Care Act's coverage of preventive services, such as U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive coverage under the birth control benefit, and touches on maternal mortality and HIV prevention only as issues of global concern. The word 'abortion,' as Rewire previously reported, is nowhere to be found in any of the summit's materials." Come on, President Obama. You can do better than this. Much better. I expect more!

[CN: Guns] "Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Wednesday embarked on a talking filibuster in order to push the Senate to address gun control in the wake of the deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Florida." He tweeted: "I'm speaking on the Senate floor to honor the victims of the Orlando attack & demand the Senate address gun violence. #Enough." And: "I am prepared to stand on the Senate floor and talk about the need to prevent gun violence for as long as I can. I've had #Enough." Thank you, Senator Murphy. If this gives even one more Democrat the courage to take action, it will have been worth it.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has found that "70 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, including a 56 percent majority who feel this way 'strongly.'" Remind me again who it is that's supposed to have the "low enthuiasm" problem...?

Trump's tanking numbers will probably get even worse after voters hear that he said of the United States, the country of which he's running to be president: "Everntually, it's not going to survive, just so you understand." Cool.

[CN: Pulse shooting] Meanwhile, speaking elsewhere today, Hillary Clinton said: "A ban on Muslims would not have stopped this attack. Neither would a wall." HOW DOES ANY HUMAN BEING NOT SEE WHO THE BETTER OF THESE TWO CANDIDATES IS OMFG???

Neat! "An 'extinct' meteorite has been found in a Swedish limestone quarry that produces floor tiles, scientists reported Tuesday in Nature Communications. It may be the first of its kind—the remnant of an object long-destroyed, fragments of which once rained down on Earth but no longer exist in the heavens."

Cool! "Physicists have detected ripples in the fabric of spacetime that were set in motion by the collision of two black holes far across the universe more than a billion years ago. The event marks only the second time that scientists have spotted gravitational waves, the tenuous stretching and squeezing of spacetime predicted by Einstein more a century ago."

And finally! A husky enjoying an ice bath on a hot summer's day. LOL! Oh dogs.

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Hillary Clinton's Planned Parenthood Address

I have more to say on this extraordinary speech at BNR.
Transcript:

Thank you. Hello. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you all. I have to say, pink never looked so good.

I want to thank my friend, and your courageous leader, Cecile Richards. Cecile really is the definition of grace under pressure. She has proven that time and time again over the course of her career, particularly over the last few years. She really is like another great American, her mother, Ann Richards, who was a friend of mine, and I just wish Ann were here to see this election. She'd have Donald Trump tweeting double time.

We reached a milestone together this week. Thanks to you, and people all over our country, for the first time, a woman will be a major party's nominee for President of the United States.

And yesterday, I had the great honor of being endorsed by President Obama and Vice President Biden. And by Senator Elizabeth Warren.

So it's been a big week. And there's nowhere I'd rather end it than right here, with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

I'm grateful to the entire Planned Parenthood family. You made this campaign your own. Whether you knocked on doors in Iowa or rallied in California, this victory belongs to all of you.

It belongs to the one thousand young activists who came together in Pittsburgh last month to get organized.

It belongs to the staff, the donors, and to the providers. Providers like Dr. Amna Dermish in Texas, who called out Donald Trump when he said women should be punished for having abortions. And the open letter she wrote defending her patients' right to make their own health decisions should be required reading for every politician in America.

I am deeply conscious of the reality that this victory belongs to generations of brave women and men who fought for the radical idea that women should determine our own lives and futures.

And it belongs to the women and men who continue to fight for that idea today, even in the face of threats and violence.

When a man who never should have had a gun killed three people at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, leaders in this room voted unanimously to keep health centers across America open the next day.

The CEO, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains made a promise to patients in Colorado and beyond when she said: 'Our doors – and our hearts – stay open.'

That is really what Planned Parenthood is all about.

So today, I want to say something you don't hear often enough: thank you.

Thank you for being there for women, no matter their race, sexual orientation, or immigration status.

Thank you for being there for Natarsha McQueen in Brooklyn, who told me how Planned Parenthood caught her breast cancer when she was just 33 years old, and saved her life.

Thank you for being there for college students getting STD testing. The young people who have the tough questions that they're afraid to ask their parents. The sexual assault survivors who turn to Planned Parenthood for compassionate care. The transgender teens who come for an appointment and find the first place where they can truly be themselves.

Thank you for being there for your communities – whether that means taking on hostile politicians in Louisiana or handing out clean drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

And thank you for being there for every woman in every state who has to miss work; drive hundreds of miles sometimes; endure cruel, medically unnecessary waiting periods; walk past angry protesters to exercise her constitutional right to safe and legal abortion.

I've been proud to stand with Planned Parenthood for a long time. And as president, I will always have your back.

Because I know for a century, Planned Parenthood has worked to make sure that the women, men, young people who count on you can lead their best lives – healthy, safe and free to follow their dreams.

Just think when Planned Parenthood was founded, women couldn't vote or serve on juries in most states. It was illegal even to provide information about birth control, let alone prescribe it.

But people marched and organized. They protested unjust laws and, in some cases, even went to prison. And slowly but surely, America changed for the better.
51 years ago this week, thanks to a Planned Parenthood employee named Estelle Griswold, the Supreme Court legalized birth control for married couples across America. When I used to teach law, and I would point to this case, a look of total bewilderment would come across my students' faces. And not long after that, Roe v. Wade guaranteed the right to safe, legal abortion.

So young women were no longer dying in emergency rooms and back alleys from botched, illegal abortions. And this is a fact that is not often heard, but I hope you will repeat it: America's maternal mortality rate dropped dramatically.

And it turns out, being able to plan their families not only saved women's lives, it also transformed them – because it meant that women were able to get educations, build careers, enter new fields, and rise as far as their talent and hard work would take them – all the opportunities that follow when women are able to stay healthy and choose whether and when to become mothers.

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Hillary Clinton to Deliver Speech at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Today

Today, at the Planned Parenthood National Conference in DC, Hillary Clinton will deliver her first speech after clinching the Democratic nomination.

That's right: Clinton's first post-victory speech as the first female presidential nominee of a major party in the nation's history will be to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

As she pivots to the general election, speaking at the Planned Parenthood conference in the nation's capital sends a strong—and unmistakable—message about her priorities.

First: That her commitment to women and families—which has been a centerpiece of her career from her time as an attorney to her tenure as Secretary of State—is unwavering. Access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare has always been a crucial part of the polities she's championed. That hasn't, and will not, change.

Second: That she recognizes the importance of making sure all people who need access to abortion have it. Black women and Latinas, who are disproportionately likely to live in poverty, are also disproportionately likely to have their access to abortion limited by state-level abortion restrictions and by the inability to personally fund abortions. To that end, Clinton will reiterate her support for repealing the Hyde Amendment.

Third: That she has zero tolerance for Republicans' hostility toward abortion and contraception access—or, for that matter, for Donald Trump's contemptible attitudes toward women generally. Get ready for her to bring the fire!

I am very excited that Clinton is making Planned Parenthood her first stop as the nominee. I am grateful to her for making reproductive rights such a visible priority.

This, right here, is why it matters that Clinton is a progressive woman. She understands, as a woman herself, as a person who had to balance family and career, as a mother, as a grandmother, as a boss to other working moms, how important having control of one's reproduction is. She understands what's at stake—how difficult it is to navigate, and to succeed, even when you are parenting children who are very much wanted.

She knows that because she's done it herself, and she knows that because she listens. She listens to other parents, to their struggles. She listens to women who don't want children, to their fears. She listens to pregnant people, to their needs.

Here, for example, is then-Secretary of State Clinton at a Congressional hearing on reproductive rights in 2009, sharing a little bit of what she's learned by listening:

[Full transcript here.]

When I think about the suffering that I have seen of women around the world—I've been in hospitals in Brazil where half the women were enthusiastically and joyfully greeting new babies and the other half were fighting for their lives against botched abortions. I've been in African countries where 12- and 13-year-old girls are bearing children. I have been in Asian countries where the denial of family planning consigns women to lives of oppression and hardship.

...We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women's health—and reproductive health includes access to abortion.

Clinton is a candidate who carries with her the stories of women she has met all over the globe. Our successes and struggles, our joy and heartbreak. And she doesn't see us as a special interest group, but as half the world's population. Of which she is a part.

She recognizes our reproductive healthcare needs as both vast and urgent—and, unlike every other person who has held the office to which she aspires, she does not have the luxury of pretending that these needs are somehow separate, and secondary, to all the other issues being discussed.

When she talks about economic justice, she knows that half the population's economic security is inextricably tied to our ability to control our reproduction.

When she talks about workers' rights, she knows that half the population's employment opportunities and security are inextricably tied to our ability to control our reproduction.

When she talks about foreign policy, she knows that half the population's freedom, or lack thereof, which is inextricably tied to our ability to control our reproduction, can mean the difference between stability or extremism.

Over and over and over, Clinton has spoken about how women are key to peacekeeping. How we must be empowered to participate fully in every nation. How we are wasting half the world's talent when we oppress women. And she knows that all of that is inextricably tied to our ability to control our reproduction.

No other candidate in this election has articulated so clearly a vision of a world in which women are given, must be given, every opportunity to participate, fully and on our own terms.

No one else would make Planned Parenthood their first port of call.

This is what a feminist presidential candidate looks like.

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Suspected Arson at Planned Parenthood Clinic

[Content Note: Anti-choice terrorism.]

I am just incandescently angry about this:

A suspicious fire in a Central California Planned Parenthood clinic has forced the local women's health center to shut down for the rest of the week.

The suspected arson took place early Wednesday morning, according to police. Water from the building's sprinkler system has permanently damaged the office and its medical equipment. Police have yet to determine what or who started the fire at the Modesto clinic — but staff have reason to believe it was intentional.

"We have not been receiving threats, but we have been receiving more suspicious calls," Liz Figueroa, a spokeswoman with Planned Parenthood told the local FOX station. "The FBI is looking into it as we speak."

This attack is only the most recent in a string of vandalism directed toward Planned Parenthood clinics across the country in the aftermath of a malicious video campaign directed at the organization...

While the Modesto Planned Parenthood assesses its damage, patients will be redirected to their nearest health center. The next closest Planned Parenthood is a half hour drive away.

I have been obliged to write about so many incidents like this over the last decade, I don't even know what to say anymore. When is this going to be taken seriously? When are we going to center the reality that it's not just abortion access that is under attack, but abortion providers, clinic staff, abortion-seeking people? When are we going to start calling this the terrorism that it is?

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Quote of the Day

[Content Note: War on agency.]

"We all agree that protecting our children is a top priority. But this law isn't about protecting Alabama's children. It's about making a sure a woman who has decided to have an abortion can't get one."—Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, quoted in a piece at Think Progress by Alex Zielinski on a bill passed by the Alabama state legislature yesterday which prohibits "abortion clinics from being within 2,000 feet from any K-8 public school—the same rule a sex offender must follow in the state."

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Quote of the Day

[Content Note: War on agency. NB: Not only women need access to abortion.]

"Everything I've heard from Donald Trump and his fellow Republican candidates for president has convinced me that they have no regard for women or our ability to maintain autonomy over our own lives and futures. They all want limited government—except when it comes to intruding on women's health. Reproductive health and rights are a fundamental part of women's health and rights. And reproductive health includes abortion. So defending women's health and rights means defending access to abortion—not just in principle but in practice. In 1995, I traveled to Beijing for the Fourth U.N. World Conference on Women. I addressed human rights abuses in China—including violations of reproductive rights. The message of that conference still echoes around the world today: women's rights are human rights. And reproductive rights are human rights, too."—Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, affirming her commitment to abortion access, in a great essay.

[H/T to Shaker Lysis.]

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

RIP former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who died at age 94 over the weekend. My condolences to her family, friends, and admirers.

Do you want to see US gymnast Gabrielle Douglas' amazing floor routine at the American Cup? Well, here it is! She is terrific and that routine is outstanding! Yayayayay!

[Content Note: War; terrorism; death] "Tunisia's government said Monday that 45 people have been killed after extremists attacked a town near the border with Libya. The Interior and Defense ministries said in a statement that the Tunisian government has closed its two border crossings with Libya because of the attack. ...The gunmen targeted a police station and military facilities at dawn in the border town of Ben Guerdane in eastern Tunisia, Interior Ministry spokesman Yasser Mosbah told the Associated Press. ...The Tunisian military sent reinforcements and helicopters to the area around Ben Guerdane, and authorities were hunting several attackers still at large. Authorities urged residents to stay indoors. The violence comes amid increasing international concern about Islamic State extremists in Libya."

[CN: Terrorism] Relatedly: "The UK is facing the threat of 'enormous and spectacular attacks' by Islamic State as the extremist group attempts to wage war on western lifestyles, the national head of counter-terrorism has warned. The Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, Mark Rowley, said in a briefing to journalists on the UK terror threat that while in recent years Isis had urged would-be jihadis to attack the police and military, its mission had since widened. ...Rowley said Isis was encouraging supporters who had received military training in Syria to enter northern Europe to stage attacks."

[CN: Refugee crisis] Meanwhile: "European Union leaders are holding a crucial summit with Turkey on ways of dealing with Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War Two. The EU is pressing Turkey, through which many migrants transit, to take some back in return for $3.3bn in aid. ...Turkey is currently sheltering more than 2.5 million refugees from the civil war in neighbouring Syria. The EU wants it to take back thousands of migrants who do not qualify for asylum. In return Turkey is seeking full access for its citizens across the EU's visa-free zone and accelerated talks on EU membership."

[CN: War on agency] In domestic news: "The Supreme Court on Friday blocked a law that would have left Louisiana with only one doctor to perform abortions in the state. The law at issue, Act 620, was signed by former Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) in June 2014. It mandates doctors who provide abortion care must obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. The law was scheduled to begin on September 1, 2014" but the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) sued in August 2014 to keep the doors open. Finally, after more back-and-forth legal wrangling: "CRR sought emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that because of the Fifth Circuit's ruling, all but two doctors in the state have been forced to stop providing abortions and have been turning away women with scheduled appointments. ...In a brief order, the Court nullified the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that permitted the law to go into effect, providing a last-minute reprieve for patients in Louisiana seeking abortion care." A huge relief, but goddammit this fight for basic reproductive healthcare. FUCK.

[CN: Homophobia] In other SCOTUS news: "The U.S. Supreme Court overturned an Alabama court order that had prohibited a lesbian from having contact with the three children she adopted and helped raise in neighboring Georgia while in a long-term relationship with their biological mother. The ruling, without published dissent, reinforces gay rights less than a year after the court legalized same-sex marriage across the country. The justices didn't hear arguments in the case, instead summarily reversing the Alabama Supreme Court."

[CN: Animal endangerment] This is very good news, but only so long as the population is protected: "An international team of researchers has discovered 8,000 Sumatran orangutans which were as yet uncounted. The huge number of this critically endangered species of large apes was found living in mountains, as well as in areas west of Lake Toba. With this discovery, the population of the Sumatran orangutan is now estimated at about 14,600. ...'It was very exciting to find out that there are more Sumatran orangutans than we thought, but this does not mean that we can be complacent,' says Serge Wich of Liverpool John Moores University. 'Numerous development projects are planned in the area that—if they are not stopped—could sharply reduce the number of orangutans over the coming years.'"

Why hello there! "In the ocean near Hawaii, more than 2 1/2 miles underwater, scientists have discovered a small, delicate-looking and ghostlike little octopod—possibly a new species. The animal was discovered by Deep Discoverer, a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV—picture a small, unmanned submarine equipped with cameras and a robotic arm—that was working to collect geological samples. Michael Vecchione, of the National Marine Fisheries Service, described the Feb. 27 discovery on the NOAA website: 'As the ROV was traversing a flat area of rock interspersed with sediment at 4,290 meters, it came across a remarkable little octopod sitting on a flat rock dusted with a light coat of sediment. The appearance of this animal was unlike any published records and was the deepest observation ever for this type of cephalopod.'"

And finally! "Dog from Australia Makes Adorable Real Estate Agent." Awwwww lol!

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HB2 at SCOTUS: Updates

[Content Note: War on agency. NB: Not only women need access to abortion.]

As I mentioned yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Whole Women's Health vs. Hellerstedt, a case challenging parts of Texas' omnibus abortion bill, HB2.

For some additional background reading, see Jessica Mason Pieklo's "The 36-Year-Old Abortion Rights Case Emerging Again in Whole Woman's Health" and Tina Vasquez's "For Undocumented Women in Texas, HB2 Is Life or Death."

For coverage of yesterday's events at the Court, see:

Dahlia Lithwick: "The Women Take Over."

Irin Carmon: "No Clear Signal from Supreme Court on Abortion."

Lyle Denniston: "Argument Analysis: Two Options on Abortion Law?"

If you want to see what mainstream media sources are saying about the arguments, Molly Runkle's got a good round-up of coverage.

The transcript of the arguments is available in PDF format, and one thing that is abundantly clear: It matters a whole lot that there are liberal women on that Court.

Here, for example, are Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor calling bullshit on the fundamental inconsistency in Texas' argument, made by Solicitor General of Texas Scott Keller, that steep requirements for clinics are to "protect women's health" but that the closing of clinics as a result does not constitute an undue burden:

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Well, how many women are located over 100 miles from the nearest clinic?

MR. KELLER: Justice Ginsburg, JA 242 provides that 25 percent of Texas women of reproductive age are not within 100 miles of an ASC. But that would not include McAllen that got as-­applied relief, and it would not include El Paso, where the Santa Teresa, New Mexico facility is.

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: It includes— ­­

JUSTICE GINSBURG: That's—that's odd that you point to the New Mexico facility. New Mexico doesn't have any surgical—ASC requirement, and it doesn't have any admitting requirement. So if your argument is right, then New Mexico is not an available way out for Texas because Texas says to protect our women, we need these things. But send them off to Mexico—New Mexico,­­ New Mexico where they don't get it either, no admitting privileges, no ASC. And that's perfectly all right. Well, if that's all right for the—the women in the El Paso area, why isn't it right for the rest of the women in Texas?

MR. KELLER: The policy set by Texas is that the standard of care for abortion clinics should rise to the level of ASCs for clinics, and admitting privileges for doctors. Texas obviously can't tell New Mexico how to regulate, but the substantial obstacle inquiry examines whether there is the ability to make the ultimate decision or elect the procedure. And when there's— ­­

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Then why should it count those clinics?

MR. KELLER: Well, here, the evidence in the record showed that this particular clinic was 1 mile across the border that was still in the El Paso metroplex, and women in El Paso often used that facility to obtain abortions. So that would go into the contextual analysis of this particular as­-applied challenge. This doesn't go to the facial challenge, but the as-­applied challenge and whether women in El Paso do have access to abortion. In any event, over 90 percent of Texas women of reproductive age live within 150 miles of an open clinic as of today.

JUSTICE KAGAN: Mr. Keller, the—the statistics that I gleaned from the record were that 900,000 women live further than 150 miles from a provider; 750,000, three-­quarters of a million, further than 200 miles. Now, that's as compared to just in 2012, where fewer than 100,000 lived over 150 miles, and only 10,000 lived more than 200 miles away. So we're going from, like, 10,000 to three-­quarters of a million living more than 200 miles away.

MR. KELLER: Well, Justice Kagan, first of all, I believe the statistics at JA 242, which is their expert testimony, would not account for McAllen or El Paso, but in looking at the fraction of women affected. And that would be the facial challenge standard, that at a minimum, a large fraction of cases, there would have to be invalidity even if there was an undue burden. The travel distance of—even in Casey, the district court found over 40 percent of Pennsylvania women were going to have to travel at least one hour, sometimes over three hours, and there was a 24­hour waiting period. Texas reduces that waiting period to two hours for traveling over 100 miles. And in Casey, that was not a facial substantial obstacle. Here, that relevant fraction is—is lower. And under Casey, then the facial challenge would not succeed. And Petitioners have a heavy burden, and they haven't shown any capacity evidence— ­­

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: When there's a need. Meaning, where are you taking an account in the undue ­burden analysis the value of the need being—of being imposed? Meaning, even if I grant you that in some circumstances travel time is necessary because you just can't get any kind of abortion clinic to go into a particular area, so you might have to impose a burden that might be undue in other circumstances. Where do we evaluate the benefit of this burden? What—what's the need? You—you seem—your brief seemed to be telling us that there's no role for the Court to judge whether there's really a health benefit to what you're doing.

MR. KELLER: Well, there would be three elements of the doctrine. There's the rational basis test— ­­

JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR: I'm not talking about the doctrine. I'm talking about the question I asked, which is, according to you, the slightest health improvement is enough to impose on hundreds of thousands of women—even assuming I accept your argument, which I don't, necessarily, because it's being challenged—but the slightest benefit is enough to burden the lives of a million women.

DAMN.

If Justice Kennedy is persuaded by that exchange alone, I don't even know.

Justice Ginsburg once said: "People ask me sometimes, when do you think it will it be enough? When will there be enough women on the court? And my answer is when there are nine."

I don't disagree. And in related news on that front, President Obama is reportedly vetting Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jane L. Kelly as a potential nominee to replace Justice Scalia. According to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, announcement of the President's pick could come within the week.

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HB2 at SCOTUS Today

[Content Note: War on agency.]

Today, Texas' omnibus abortion bill, HB2, which was signed into law by then-governor Rick Perry on July 18, 2013, following then-state senator Wendy Davis' filibuster, will be considered by the Supreme Court, as they hear arguments in Whole Women's Health vs. Hellerstedt.

Eesha Pandit has written a terrific piece, "The Supreme Court's Massive Abortion Case: Everything You Need to Know about Whole Women's Health vs. Hellerstedt," which I recommend reading it its entirety, but here I'll excerpt her explanation of what's at stake:

Now for the politics: What's at stake when the lawyers stand before our eight Supreme Court Justices this week? Quite simply: The fate of abortion access all over the country, not just in Texas, hangs in the balance.

The Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey held that legislators may restrict abortion rights, but not if those restrictions cause women an "undue burden." Thus, the key question in the case is whether the Texas law, with its four core restrictive provisions, is unduly burdensome to someone seeking an abortion.

Before the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who made it clear that he believed Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, many pro-choice advocates worried that this case could serve to bring Roe down altogether, if enough justices decided to use this opportunity to declare that there is, in fact, no constitutional right to an abortion. With Scalia's seat now vacant, that scenario is off the table, since there simply aren't enough votes left on the bench for such a ruling.

Now all anticipation and anxiety shifts toward Justice Anthony Kennedy, the notorious swing vote. If Justice Kennedy voted to uphold HB2, the Court will likely hand over a 4-4 decision. In this scenario, the decision of the lower court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, that HB2 is constitutional, will stand. In that case, the Texas law would be upheld, but only in Texas, establishing the abortion restrictions until the law, or one similar, makes its way to the Court again, after the appointment of a new justice.

In addition to Texas, 23 states have passed laws — called TRAP ("Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers") laws — that regulate abortion providers above and beyond federal law.

If the law is upheld in Texas, it would restrict abortion access so severely in the state that abortion would be virtually inaccessible for millions and millions of people who need it.

I desperately hope that the Supreme Court—by which I mean one man, Justice Kennedy, who holds the fate of millions of women et. al. in his hands—does the right thing and overturns HB2.

And I will say, once again, that I am, and will always be, pro-abortion for any person who wants or needs one. Because abortion is healthcare, and healthcare is a right.

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