DOWNLOADS: (222)

PLAYS: (3033)

Embed

From this Wednesday evening's The Tonight Show, President Obama went after Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock and his comments about conception from rape being "God's will."

Obama tells Leno: 'Rape is rape':

Asked by host Jay Leno about Mourdock's comments, in which the Indiana state treasurer said during a debate Tuesday evening that "even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something God intended to happen," the president said "rape is rape."

"I don't know how these, come up with these ideas ... rape is rape. It is a crime," the president said. "These various distinctions about rape ... don't make any sense to me."

Mourdock, an Evangelical Christian, says abortion should only be legal when necessary to prevent the death of the mother. He argues it should be illegal in cases of rape and incest. Many who share his faith believe God chooses when conception occurs and that abortion is equivalent to murder.

In a press conference Wednesday, Mourdock accused Democrats of twisting the meaning of his comments.

"I would be less than faithful to my faith if I said anything other than life is precious. I think it is a gift from God. I don't think God would ever want anyone harmed, sexually abused, or raped. I think it's wrong when someone wants to take what I said and twist it," Mourdock said.

The Obama campaign aggressively criticized Mourdock's comments throughout the day Wednesday, and sent an email to female supporters in the evening linking Mourdock to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

"Not surprisingly, Romney is still standing by his endorsement and is refusing to ask that [an ad featuring Mourdock and Romney] be pulled down," deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter wrote in the email. "It's a grim reminder of something he's trying desperately to hide in the final weeks of this election: Romney has campaigned as a severe conservative, supports severely conservative candidates, and would be a severely conservative president -- especially on issues important to women."

The Romney campaign on Wednesday said that the presidential nominee disagreed with Mourdock's comments, but would not ask the Senate candidate to take down an ad featuring Romney.

President Obama also reminded the viewers just what's at stake this election with a couple of Supreme Court nominations potentially in the balance and that keeping organizations like Planned Parenthood funded and allowing women to control their own reproductive rights are not just health issues, but economic and family issues as well.

DOWNLOADS: (444)

PLAYS: (1591)

Embed

As we already discussed here, Republicans in the House forced a vote on their ridiculous gender-based abortion bill this week. Chris Matthews invited Rep. Cliff Stearns on his show, who defended the bill on the basis that Europe and Asia supported such measures. After being hammered by Matthews on why they're always going after the doctors instead of the women who have abortions, he got Stearns to admit that he'd like to see women face criminal charges for having abortions.

GOP Congressman: Women Who Undergo Abortions Should Face Criminal Charges:

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) unwilling admitted to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Friday afternoon that he believed women who receive abortions should face criminal charges. “I think the punishment should certainly be very serious,” he said. “It should be more than a civil case. It should be something very serious”:

MATTHEWS: So it should be a criminal matter for the woman as well as the doctor?

STEARNS: I think so. You are killing an embryo and in some cases you are killing an embryo that is four or five months into gestation.

As Rep. Donna Edwards pointed out earlier in the interview, this is just another attempt by Republicans to roll back women's reproductive rights and it's asking doctors to be mind readers. One issue that wasn't discussed here is the fact that most abortions are preformed well before anyone can determine the sex of a fetus and that it's ridiculous to pretend that there's some sort of wide spread problem with women waiting around to find out what the gender of their child might be before having an abortion. As Edwards noted during the interview as well, it's a solution for a problem that doesn't exist here.

No one is forcing women to have abortions for population control in the United States and Matthews alluded to that earlier in the interview when he reminded Stearns that China is not a country that is anti-abortion.

As the post from Think Progress noted, here's how Matthews responded to Stearns' assertion that they have this rule in Europe and Asia, and asking why we can't do the same in the United States:

But Matthews responded succinctly, saying, “it’s always amazing when you guys on the right want to import the values of other countries. Any time we do it, any time a liberal tries to do it, you say they’re bringing foreign values into this country.”

I'll be happy to see Congressmen like Stearns keep talking this way, because even in areas of the country where you have the majority of voters against abortion, they don't want to be throwing women in jail for it. He's a reminder of just how extreme the Republican Party has become on this issue. Normally you never get them to admit something like this on camera.

DOWNLOADS: (318)

PLAYS: (1066)

Embed

If RNC Chairman Reince Priebus thinks nasty, petulant interviews like this one with MSNBC's Thomas Roberts are going to win his party some support back with women voters, I think he's sadly mistaken. Last week, Priebus appeared on Bloomberg TV's Al Hunt and claimed that the "war on women" was as fictional as the "war on caterpillars."

This Wednesday, Priebus was asked about those remarks and decided to double down:

On Wednesday, MSNBC host Thomas Roberts gave Priebus a chance to revise his remarks.

“I’m not going to walk back,” the RNC chairman insisted. “I’ll double down on it. This war on women is a fiction that the Democrats have created. And the real war on women is the war that this president has put forward on the American people by not following through on his promises, by having women disproportionately effected by the Obama economy.”

“How can you say that it’s a fiction, though, if you stand of the record of what the Republican Party has said and done?” Roberts wondered, noting that all of the remaining GOP presidential candidates had promised to eliminate funds for family planning and Republican-controlled state legislatures had pushed through 90 anti-abortion bills in 2011.

“Because it is a fiction, Thomas,” Priebus replied. “It’s a fiction because, number one, there is no war on women. … The fact of the matter is that the real war on women, the actual thing that I think most women in this country are most concerned about, which is a good job, a good family, being able to live the American dream, provide for your kids and your family, that war on women is being perpetrated by President Barack Obama.”

Thomas actually did a pretty good job of pushing back at Priebus' arguments and pointed out the record number of anti-abortion legislation passed by the Republicans and their attacks on Planned Parenthood.

“You can’t discount the fact that we almost took the government to the brink of closing Planned Parenthood,” Thomas pressed.

“The world will continue,” the RNC chairman quipped. “I don’t buy your argument. I happen to believe that you can be pro-women and pro-life. You don’t. That’s the problem, Thomas.”

Sadly, Thomas did not point out to Priebus that their forced birth agenda is not necessarily "pro-life" when it means forcing a woman to choose between her life and the life of a fetus that's not viable when there's a problem pregnancy with some of these extreme laws they've been passing -- or the fact that abortions are only a small fraction of the services provided by Planned Parenthood and that life-saving cancer screenings are "pro-life."

Planned Parenthood has done more to prevent abortions than the current Republican Party. All the Republicans want to do is to restrict access to birth control and dumb down our kids by refusing to teach them sex education at the appropriate age and pretending they're never going to have sex until they're all adults and married.

It's been pointed out repeatedly by those on the left that if you actually want to limit the number of abortions in the United States, then make sure everyone has access to affordable contraception and educate people on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. The right would rather demagogue the issue and pander to the religious right.

DOWNLOADS: (347)

PLAYS: (206)

Embed

Over the weekend, C-SPAN aired the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards lecture from March 28th at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The topic was “Keeping Politics out of Women’s Health” and Richards discussed the importance of getting accurate information out there to the public and to teenagers in an age when sadly our politicians are using women's health and access to birth control as a political football, and what her organization is doing to circumvent that obstruction in the age of social networking and smart phones.

You can watch the entire event at Princeton's site here or at C-SPAN here and I've got more of Richards' lecture below the fold.

And here's more from one of the media links at Princeton's site on the event -- Richards Defends “Basic Human Right” Of Access to Reproductive Health Care :

Describing the past year’s “unrelenting attacks” in this country on women seeking reproductive health care, Planned Parenthood of America President Cecile Richards spoke last week to a packed auditorium at the Woodrow Wilson School about “Keeping Politics Out of Women’s Health.” Her appearance, which was cosponsored by Princeton University’s Office of Population Research and the Center for Health and Well Being, was part of the Wilson School’s “Leadership and Governance Program,” which brings prominent policy makers to Princeton for a two to three day visit so that students can meet and learn from them.

Ms. Richards, who has led the 95-year-old organization since 2006, said that a confluence of events and issues have made this a “critical moment” in Planned Parenthood’s history. She cited the public outcry in response to Susan B. Komen For the Cure’s attempt to discontinue funding Planned Parenthood, the debates in Washington regarding contraception and religious organizations, and the current discussion about health care reform.

Social networking using texting, chatting, email, tweets, and Facebook, promises to be a powerful challenge to some politicians’ interest in limiting access to information and services, Mrs. Richards suggested. The current “revolution about how people access information is nowhere more visible than in reproductive health care,” she said.

With four million online website users, half of whom are using their cell phones to connect, Planned Parenthood’s has been a “living digital laboratory in recent years,” noted Ms. Richards. Statistics are only part of it, though. Ms. Richards described the almost palpable relief reflected in a young woman’s text response to a Planned Parenthood staffer’s answer to her question about birth control.

Currently, she reported, 15-to 24-year-olds represent over half of this country’s reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases. “This is pretty frightening,” she said, adding that a disproportionate number of them are young people of color. A smartphone represents “freedom” and is one of the most important tools being used “to keep young people from becoming statistics.”

And from the Princeton Patch -- Planned Parenthood Head: Keep Politics out of Women's Health:

Sex is everywhere, from music to movies to television, yet when it comes to sex education and reproductive health, there is a lack of credible information, says Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood.

“I don’t have to talk about sex for young people to think about it,” Richards told the crowd at Princeton University on Wednesday. “I think of my own kids who grew up watching Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, let’s just go down the list…and yet somehow we don’t want to teach sex education or provide access to good information." [...]

“The single biggest struggle is dealing with the politics of it all,” Richards said. “It’s the barrier that politics are putting ahead on the wellbeing on young people in this country and of women. Every time we take two steps forward, we take another step backwards. Partisan politics rather than public health interests are driving healthcare policy in America.”

Continue reading »

Fox News' Megyn Kelly returns from maternity leave with a more liberal perspective on mandated benefits and entitlement programs.

DOWNLOADS: (193)

PLAYS: (282)

Embed

March 01, 2010 CNN

Utah lawmaker Carl Wimmer defends the law he's proposed that would punish "reckless" acts by pregnant women.

DOWNLOADS: (834)

PLAYS: (1238)

Embed

We ran a story on Dec. 20th, when General Cucolo first banned pregnancies under his command. Well, he took it a step further.

The crazy that comes out of the military sometimes is breathtaking. I wonder if this General is connected to the C-Street gang known as The Family?

VELSHI: Twenty-two U.S. soldiers serving in northern Iraq have just gotten two new orders from their general. Rule one, don't get pregnant. Rule two, don't get another soldier pregnant. Break those rules and you will get court-martialed. The general, Anthony Cucolo, e-mailed CNN explaining his decision, telling us -- quote -- "I need every soldier I have got, especially since we are facing a drawdown of forces during our mission."

LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: In my view, this is patently unconstitutional, Ali. There's a long line of U.S. Supreme Court cases that says that the right to be a parent is a fundamental constitutional right. That means it's a right of the highest order and worthy of the highest protection.

Now, the military does get great deference from the courts, which means, if they want to redeploy a pregnant soldier, as they often do, they can do that in the way that a private employer could not do. But they cannot threaten with court-martial or jail a pregnant woman or a man who impregnates a woman. In my view, this will not pass any kind of constitutional muster.

--

THOMAS KENNIFF, FORMER ARMY JAG OFFICE ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, I think he may be going into hiding soon, because I think this is a situation where you have a commanding general who is in charge of his own fiefdom in northern Iraq and probably thought that he could do this with the consent of his own JAG, who may -- we use a term in the military when JAGs are referred to as going native, meaning that they're basically acting as yes men for the commend.

I agree with Lisa fully that there are serious constitutional problems with this and military laws and military orders are not exempt from constitutional scrutiny. The Supreme Court weighs in on military case laws and military decisions all the time.

So, you know, I think when this gets more exposure, as it is now through the media, there's going to be some major fallout here, because there's no question in my mind this is a major violation of the right to privacy.

UPDATE: John Amato:

Four Democratic female Senators have demanded that this horrific policy by General Cucolo be rescinded immediately. This is insane stuff.

Four Democratic senators have written a letter to an Army general in Iraq asking him to rescind an order that threatened to court martial female soldiers who become pregnant while deployed in the war zone.

The policy by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo III was instituted on Nov. 4, but it has triggered outrage among women's groups since it became publicly known in recent days.

"We can think of no greater deterrent to women contemplating a military career than the image of a pregnant woman being severely punished simply for conceiving a child," the senators wrote to Cucolo today. "This defies comprehension. As such, we urge you to immediately recind this policy."

The letter was signed by Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

UPDATE II: Now the general is saying that no soldier will actually be court martialed.

The commander who instituted a policy cracking down on pregnancy among soldiers defended it Tuesday as necessary to maintain troop strength, but said no soldier would ever be court-martialed for violating the directive. The policy -- which would punish soldiers who get pregnant or impregnate another soldier -- was included in Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo's orders to troops regarding conduct while deployed under his command in northern Iraq.

Cucolo said that as a former public affairs officer, he realized when he created the rule that it would be controversial for those outside the military.

"When I wrote this, I knew there would be public interest, and I also knew there would be a period of time when many folks would opine and give their own personal thoughts and blog about it. And I am fine with that. That's America," he said. "But I was also willing to deal with this attention because this is important. I am responsible and accountable for the fighting ability of my task force. I've got to take every measure to preserve my combat power, and that's the reason."

Yes General, we will blog about it and you got your fifteen minutes of shame, but in the end it's just another attack on the ladies when all is said and done no matter how you care to view this issue. I didn't realize that serving in battle was a lot like "Animal House."

DOWNLOADS: (762)

PLAYS: (1342)

Embed

December 18, 2009 MSNBC

The Army general of U.S. forces in Northern Iraq has banned pregnancy among military personnel in his command, NBC News reported on Friday.

Anyone who becomes pregnant or impregnates another servicemember, including married couples assigned to the same unit, could face a court-martial and jail time, according to an order issued by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo.

The order, which went into effect on Nov. 4, was first reported by the military publication Stars and Stripes.

No one has been punished or accused under the policy, according to Col. David S. Thompson, the inspector general for all soldiers in Iraq.

Military officials say the order was issued because Army policy requires the force to remove a pregnant soldier from a war zone within 14 days of learning of the pregnancy, creating a hole in a unit that makes it more difficult to complete its mission.

“It is a lawful order,” Thompson said Friday during a phone interview with Stars and Stripes.

Thompson, who has served 29 of the past 39 months in Iraq as an inspector general, told the publication that it’s the first time he can recall pregnancy being prohibited.

So far, there have been no known violations of Cucolo's order, NBC reported.

Heather: I would like to know if this is even legal. Apparently MSNBC decided to give this a blurb in their news coverage both on line and on the air and treat it like a footnote. So now on top of the number of sexual assaults we have going on within our armed forces, a woman who gets pregnant under any circumstance also has to worry about being thrown in jail as well. Isn't that special? Why more attention has not been drawn to this is beyond me.