Ireland's no-exceptions-made abortion ban was one of the cruelest and most inhumane in the world, and after years of struggle, the country has finally held a referendum to amend its constitution and strike down the abortion ban in Article 8; the official count isn't out, but the Irish Times has called it for the reformers, in a "landslide," with a projected 68%-32% margin. Read the rest
Rep Dan Lipinski (@RepLipinski) is Congressman for Illinois's 3rd congressional district; he voted against marriage equality and opposes abortion and and the $15 minimum wage. He is up for re-election next November. Read the rest
"Crisis Pregnancy Centers" are fake abortion clinics run by religious fanatics who use online fraud to get them to the top of the search results in order to lure women seeking abortions to visiting a place they believe to be an abortion clinic, but which is really a religious mission where the people pretending to be medical professionals dispense misinformation about the medical risks of abortion, then apply high-pressure sales tactics to bully and trick women into carrying unwanted pregnancies to term. Read the rest
Benjamin writes, "Missouri Governor Eric Greitens has called for a special session to basically make Saint Louis less of a 'sanctuary city' for those seeking abortion. This special session will lead to some pretty hefty taxpayer expense, of course, and has faced some opposition. In an inexplicable turn of events, this has lead to state Representative Mike Moon [R-Ash Grove] [@realmikemoon, +1 573-751-4077, Mike.Moon@house.mo.gov] a member of the Tea Party, to literally slaughter/Indiana Jones de-heart a live chicken, on video. Because, abortion." Read the rest
Every dollar that the Trump administration takes away from Planned Parenthood in Maryland will be replaced by state funds (about $2.7M), which will save about $6 for every dollar it puts in, because when women are in charge of their own fertility, they don't end up raising kids they can't afford. Read the rest
The Colorado Family Planning Initiative spent comparatively small sums making IUDs and other long-term birth control methods (such as implants and injections) available to women, through a "no wrong door" approach that let women start their journey through a variety of agencies, and included after-school and other counseling services, and also provided birth control to women on maternity wards before they went home with their babies. Read the rest
Real Alternatives organizes and funds the notorious, deceptive anti-abortion centers ("crisis pregnancy centers") that pretend to be abortion clinics, luring in women who wish to terminate their pregnancies with deceptive advertising and then lying to them about abortion procedures in an effort to coerce them into carrying their fetuses to term; they got $30,000,000 from the state of Pennsylvania and are now suing the state over an audit that was triggered by nearly $1M worth of unaccounted-for state funding. Read the rest
Texas state rep Jessica Farrar has introduced legislation that would fine Texas men $100 for "unregulated masturbatory emissions"; it forces men seeking vasectomies or Viagra prescriptions to undergo medically unnecessary rectal exams, and would require them to review a government pamphlet called "A Man's Right to Know." Read the rest
Best Coast are headlining a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday (3/4) to benefit Planned Parenthood. It's a killer lineup playing for a cause urgently in need of support. Along with Best Coast, the show at the El Rey Theatre will feature Grouplove, The Lovely Bad Things, The Side Eyes, MUNA, Nina & Louise of Veruca Salt, The Regrettes, Wavves (DJ Set), Lili Hayes (DJ Set), Jimmy Tamborello (DJ Set), and a special appearance by Liz Phair. Worth every penny. Tickets here.
And in case you missed it, below is our exclusive Boing Boing Video performance/interview with Best Coast, produced with our friends at Remedy Editorial.
Norway has committed to join an international initiative that plans to raise millions of dollars to replace funding shortfalls from Donald Trump's ban on American-funded global NGOs that offer information about abortion. Read the rest
Ireland's abortion laws are among the most barbaric in the world -- among its many deficits, it forces women to carry unviable fetuses to term, making them labor to deliver babies who live short hours in extreme pain before dying before them. Read the rest
With Congress set to defund Planned Parenthood and millions of women and allies on the march across America, what better time to reacquaint yourself with this amazing, vital, brave organization that has withstood domestic terror, vile slander, and endless depredations to provide services to women for more than a century. (via Kottke) Read the rest
Sarah Jeong continues her brilliant, obsessive tear through the Star Wars canon (here's yesterday's post on the difficulties of the Warsverse's storage media and IT systems), this time looking at the outsized role that the lack of obstetric care plays in the collapse of the Old Republic and the rise of the Empire. Read the rest
It's been a year since the Law and Justice Party won the Polish election, on familiar-sounding promises to drain the swamp and restore Poland to its former greatness: now school textbooks are being redesigned to downplay evolution and climate change and to recount a fanciful version of Poland's history; the government is mooting giving hoteliers the right to turn away customers based on sexual orientation or skin-color; a minister rejected an international accord against wife-beating because it subverted traditional gender roles; Parliament is about to get the right to choose which journalists may report from its debates; the guy in charge of national sex-ed curriculum believes that condoms give women cancer; a proposed law will virtually end opposition protests; and disloyal journalists at the "independent" state broadcaster have been purged. Read the rest
Texas passed a new regulation requiring "cremation or burial" of fetal tissue after a miscarriage or medical abortion, and to hear the lawmakers who passed this idiotic rule, this requires grieving women to dress up minute scraps of tissue in little funeral suits and stand contrite over a tiny casket while a clergyman excoriates them for disappointing god with their selfish uteruses. Read the rest
Vegan shoe company Keep's $97 Ramos midtop sneaker was designed by Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, and will ship in February, with all proceeds going to Planned Parenthood, a vital woman's health organization under sustained assault from Republicans, who use lies about the rare abortions the organization performs to enrage and focus its low-information base, without any regard for the millions of women who rely on PP for basic health services (and the much smaller number who use PP for abortion). Read the rest
