CNN - Now They're Just Assholes

Approximately 5 minutes after McCain announced Palin as his choice for VP, a male reporter on CNN just asked another reporter something along the lines of, “Palin also has a baby with Down’s Syndrome. Those children require an awful lot of care. Do you think she’ll be able to balance taking care of that baby with being Vice President? I mean, having a Down’s Syndrome baby takes up a lot of time and energy.” (emphasis mine)

The (female) reporter answered by saying that the McCain campaign would probably point out that a similar question wouldn’t be asked of a man. She then said that although Palin “unfortunately” has a baby with Down’s Syndrome, having that baby was a choice she made knowingly as a person with strong anti-abortion views, and that may endear her to conservative voters.

How many times did that make you want to throw up? "Yes, her decision to have a disabled baby could make it impossible for her to have a political career, but she brought that on herself since she's anti-abortion." How...sweet?

Goodie...now we'll have the ultimate martyr - a working woman who claims to feel blessed because her child has Down Syndrome. Gee, I wonder if she'll have any understanding at all for women who don't want to get pregnant or have children?

CNN - So Sensitive!

There's really nothing for me to say here...

Calling it Abortion Instead of Birth Control Didn't Work, Now I'll Act Like I'm Protecting Doctors

The Health and Human Services new proposal, which would reclassify methods of birth control such as the pill, patch, ring and IUD as abortifacients, got too much criticism. You can read more details here.

Now the HHS has released a revised version of the proposal, which removed the redefinition of contraception as abortion, but centers on the idea of protecting doctors that are morally opposed to abortion and refuse to refer patients to other doctors that do perform abortions. That's right, if a doctor wants to block your attempt to have a legal abortion, this proposal would protect that doctor's right to do so. RH Reality Check has a great article on the revised proposal.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has been trying to argue that the justification for these new regulations are because the poor doctors who would want to be Board certified OBGYNs would be FORCED to provide abortion services in order to be certifed, and forcing doctors to provide medical services that they disagree with is wrong. You can't keep someone from being a gynecologist just because they don't want to provide abortions! Except, oh, wait...there is nothing that requires OBGYNs to perform abortions...there are plenty of OBGYNS that don't offer abortions NOW, and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology has publicly stated, multiple times, that whether or not an OBGYN performs abortions will have no bearing upon their certification or re-certification. Leavitt doesn't seem to have an answer to this, so he just keeps ignoring the fact that this new argument of his is wrong. I guess he doesn't want to come right out and say that he wants to keep women barefoot and pregnant.

Here's an idea - why don't we all go over to Secretary Leavitt's blog right now and leave him some comments letting him know how we feel about these proposed regulations? The proposal is also open for public comment, it's HHS_FRDOC_0001. And check out this excellent comment on Leavitt's blog!

I've been trying to figure out when I can fit my tubal into my schedule, with work and personal and family events, since I'll need to allow a few days for recovery time. This makes me want to run out and get it RIGHT NOW!

Nice Move, Dumbass

Former Presidential candidate John Edwards actually made an even WORSE political move than admitting that he cheated on his wife, who is battling breast cancer. Not only that, but he made this horiffically bad move on Nightline!

"Asked how he could have cheated on his wife, Mr. Edwards noted that his wife’s cancer was in remission during the affair.”

Oh, well, then that makes it all hunky dory. I'm sure that is a great comfort to Elizabeth Edwards now. "Well, yes, he betrayed my trust and broke his vows...but at least he wasn't fucking some other woman before my cancer was in remission!" Wipes brow in relief.

Congratulations Dumbass. You actually managed to sink yourself even lower. Other politicians have cheated on their wives, but so far you're the only one to say "Well, at least I had the decency to cheat on her while her cancer was in remission." I'm just glad Elizabeth Edwards didn't do the "stand by your man" television appearance like so many other wives of political candidates.

I Heart Sarah Haskins

She is SO AWESOME!

Sad, Sad State of Affairs

Two quick things:

This clip from The Daily Show about the hearing on the ban on gays in the military would be hilarious, except it's true...Anyone ever hear of Alexander the Great?



Hillary Clinton has a guest post up at RH Reality Check about the Bush Administration's attempt to label common methods of birth control, such as birth control pills, IUDs and emergency contraception as abortion, which would allow health care providers to refuse to provide these services to women. Wake up people, I'm not being paranoid. Check out this excerpt:

The regulations could even invalidate state laws that currently ensure access to contraception for many Americans. In fact, they describe New York and California's laws requiring prescription drug insurance plans to provide coverage for contraceptives as part of "the problem." These rules would even interfere with New York State law that ensures survivors of sexual assault and rape receive emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms.

Make sure to fill out the online petition.