Justin's Political Corner
It sounds like a headline from The Onion, but it’s not.
The reasoning for this bill makes it sound even more like something that is parody - it’s an anti-agenda 21 bill, the right seems to think agenda 21 is a conspiracy to undermine property rights and american sovereignty.
Never mind the fact that implementation of agenda 21 is completely voluntary and non-binding …
Bill No. 2366 would ban all state and municipal funds for anything related to “sustainable development,” which it defines as: “development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come.”
(via questionall)
KANSAS CITY, Kan., April 5 (Reuters) - The Kansas state Senate passed a measure on Friday that would ban Planned Parenthood from providing sex education in schools and require women to get more information about fetal development before having an abortion.
The measure was approved by a 28-10 vote and was expected to pass easily in the House of Representatives, which backed the 70-page bill in largely similar form earlier this week. Republicans have large majorities in both chambers. Republican Governor Sam Brownback, who opposes abortion, is expected to sign it.
Opponents of the measure say it contains 40 provisions that affect a woman’s health and intrude on her right to an abortion. Advocates said it mainly codifies existing practices, while helping women make more informed choices.
The Kansas bill is the latest development in a national fight over abortion that has seen lawmakers in several states pass new restrictions on abortion in the past two years.
Those have included laws approved in the past month in North Dakota and Arkansas that are seen as direct challenges to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion.The bill bars school districts from letting abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood offer, sponsor or furnish course materials or instruction on human sexuality or on sexually transmitted diseases.
The bill defines life as beginning at fertilization, but does not ban abortion from that point. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Mary Wisniewski, Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)
h/t: Huffington Post
The Kansas legislature is advancing an omnibus abortion bill that would, among other things, define life as beginning at conception in the state constitution and place unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers in the state. HB 2253 has already passed the House, and looks poised to gain enough support to sail through the Senate — but only after Republicans rejected several key amendments to soften the measure, including a provision to add exceptions for rape and incest to the state’s existing abortion restrictions. Top Republicans decried those provisions as “little gotcha amendments.”
Senators discussed the bill for more than two hours on Monday. There were several proposed amendments up for debate — a rape and incest exception, a provision ensuring that women won’t be prosecuted for using birth control even if the state officially redefines life with a “personhood” amendment, and a measure to remove HB 2253′s requirement that doctors tell women about a scientifically disputed link between abortion and breast cancer. All of them were rejected.
“These amendments are little gotcha amendments,” Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce (R) said during the floor debate. “I’m getting a little irritated at it.”
State Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook (R) explained she opposed the rape and incest exception because it would apply not just to HB 2253, but also to the existing abortion laws in Kansas. That means it would extend an exception in the cases of rape and incest to current state restrictions banning most abortions after 22 weeks, preventing private health insurance from covering abortion services, and requiring doctors to obtain parental consent before performing an abortion for a minor. “This language would completely undo 10 to 20 years of abortion legislation,” Pilcher-Cook said.
In fact, such an amendment wouldn’t “undo” state-level abortion restrictions at all. Exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, and preserving the life of the woman are still extremely narrow, and don’t change the fact that restrictions on reproductive care are still imposed on the majority of women.
Americans also overwhelmingly support abortion access for victims of rape and incest.
But for Kansas Republicans, it’s too politically contentious to ensure, for instance, that a minor who has been sexually abused by a family member doesn’t have to seek parental consent to terminate a resulting pregnancy. “This is political hijinks,” Pilcher-Cook said. “We should be focused on the bill instead of trying to make political points.”
States slowly chipping away at Roe vs. Wade: How far will they go?
The landmark decision Roe vs. Wade of 1973 gave women the right to have an abortion until “viability” (which is defined as when a fetus could live outside the mother) which is generally thought to be after 22-24 weeks, or about 6 months. But in the last few years, and especially, it seems, just in the last month, lawmakers in various states across the country are passing laws that contradict Roe’s standing. While these states are most likely setting themselves up for costly lawsuits in their states, pro-choice activists are afraid that this was their plan along—to bring the fight back to the Supreme Court. Here are some states we should keep our eye on.
Kansas: On Tuesday, a bill was passed in the Kansas house which, among many things, would require doctors to inform their patients of the link between breast cancer and abortions. Here’s the thing, that link is totally bogus. Institutions like the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society don’t believe in it, and other studies have completely debunked it. Oh, and that same bill? It wouldn’t allow rape and incest victims to get late term abortions.
Missouri, Texas, Alaska: These states already have some form of law that requires a patient to be informed of that medically-incorrect breast cancer link.
North Dakota: Just this Friday, the North Dakota senate approved a law that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks (and that’s with an invasive vaginal ultrasound). It’s the strictest proposed abortion ban in the country. The bill is on its way to the Republican governor for signature. The North Dakota legislature is also attempting to further abortion bans by considering a “personhood amendment” which would define life as beginning at conception, which could essentially outlaw abortions altogether.
Arkansas: Just two weeks before the North Dakota legislature, Arkansas instituted an abortion ban after 12 weeks, which is the time when you can hear a heartbeat with an abdominal ultrasound. The Democratic governor vetoed the bill, but his veto was overridden in the legislature. It will go into effect this summer.
Nebraska: In 2010, Nebraska banned abortions after 20 weeks with the claim that fetuses feel pain. That law set off a wildfire, with other states like Oklahoma, Indiana and Louisiana passing similar “fetal pain” bills. Conversely, a judge in Idaho struck down that state’s take on the law just this month.
So why is a debate we had and settled on 40 years ago creeping back into political discourse? And will these states eventually erode Roe v. Wade altogether? And can they legally get away with it? Elizabeth Nash, states issue manager and the Guttmacher Institute, will tell us everything when she stops by “The War Room.” Tune in Wednesday night @ 6E/3P on Current TV for more.
Two granddaughters of Fred Phelps, the leader of the virulently anti-LGBT Westboro Baptist Church often found protesting with “God Hates Fags” signs, have left the group. Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper were among the most visible members of the group online, with active social media presences that promoted the group’s hateful message until last year. Megan posted her first tweet since October yesterday, linking to a statement announcing their exodus and apologizing for their actions.
The last two nights of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show featured segments on how abortion rights are under attack in 4 states (Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota), both by anti-choice zealots and GOP Governors (Bryant [MS], Dalrymple [ND], Daugaard [SD]) and their legislatures, as part of the War On Women playbook to drastically curtail and/or end abortion rights and to defund Planned Parenthood, to name a few.
Mississippi’s last women’s health clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, could be closed down due to anti-choice extremist Governor Phil Bryant (R)’s wishes that “Mississippi should be an abortion-free state.” If his plan successfully goes through, it would be the 1st state since the highly controversial 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling by SCOTUS to effectively ban abortion.
Of the four states with only one women’s health service clinic (or abortion provider) left in their respective states, all except Arkansas currently has a GOP Governor running the state. All four of the states listed have both their state Houses and Senates under GOP control.
CNN projects Republicans will maintain control of the House
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) November 7, 2012
NBC News declares Barack Obama the projected winner in MI, NM, and NY. #NBCPolitics
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 7, 2012
NBC News declares Mitt Romney the projected winner in KS, LA, NE, ND, SD, TX, and WY. #NBCPolitics
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 7, 2012
BREAKING: Looks like Scott Brown has been replaced by Elizabeth Warren. Hooray! #MASen #ScottBrown #ElizabethWarren
— Justin Gibson (@JGibsonDem) November 7, 2012
AP RACE CALL: Dems win Senate seats in MN, NY, MI, GOP wins Senate seats in TX,WY. #Election2012
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 7, 2012
Kris Kobach is the Kansas Secretary of State but he’s well invloved in national politics. Most notably in anti-immigrant activism. He’s the most recognizable author of the model legislation that led to become know as Arizona’s SB 1070. He’s now facing the challenges that other proponents of SB 1070 have faced, a recall.
(img via facebook: Kris Kobach)
via Huffington Post
###
john.celock@huffingtonpost.com
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), who famously drafted Arizona and Alabama’s controversial immigration laws, is facing a recall attempt over those efforts and his support for a new voter photo ID law in the state.
The Kansas State Objections Board is considering removing President Barack Obama from the November ballot because of doubts over his place of birth, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
The panel of Republicans, which consists of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, received a complaint from a resident who claimed Obama was not a natural born citizen and therefore ineligible to be president.
Obama has been dogged by questions about his eligibility to serve as President of the United States since 2008. Some of the so-called “birthers” believe Obama is not a natural born citizen because his father was a British subject.
Kansas GOP officials consider removing Obama from November ballot (via Raw Story )
The Kansas State Objections Board is considering removing President Barack Obama from the November ballot because of doubts over his place of birth, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. The panel of Republicans, which consists of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and…
A group of House Republicans visiting Israel as part of an official Congressional delegation last summer enjoyed a late night of drinking at the Sea of Galilee that included swimming and, in the case of one member, a little skinny dipping in the place where the Bible says Jesus walked on water.
The story was first reported by Politico and has been confirmed by ABC News.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was on the trip but was not present for the late night antics. When Cantor was told about what happened, according to Republican sources, he was “livid” and called members of the delegation to say the behavior was unacceptable and must never be repeated.
The skinny dipper, according to the sources, was Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kansas.
In a statement to Politico, Yoder said: “A year ago, my wife, Brooke, and I joined colleagues for dinner at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After dinner I followed some Members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit. It is my greatest honor to represent the people of Kansas in Congress and [for] any embarrassment I have caused for my colleagues and constituents, I apologize.”
H/T: Yahoo! News
“Morality” used to be the established code word for anti-gay and anti-choice discrimination. It seems that “morality” has run it’s course, however, and it is now time for new and improved phraseology to push the anti-choice, anti-gay theological agenda in Kansas. The new catch phrase for discrimination is “religious freedom” and the queen bee of spreading the pollination of religious freedom in Kansas is Representative Jan Pauls.
Representative Pauls is another one of those anti-choice Democrats that pervades the Kansas political landscape. She has served in the Kansas Legislature since 1992 and has used her time there to sponsor numerous anti-choice bills. She wrote a law prohibiting same sex marriage in the state, backed thesuccessful state constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage, and blocked the attempted repeal of Kansas’ antiquated sodomy ban.
She heralded the Kansas legislature’s so-called “Preservation of Religious Freedom Act” and the expansion of the existing “Conscience Refusal Act,” which both gained momentum from “Obama outrage” over contraception care afforded under the Affordable Care Act.
Representative Pauls resides in Hutchinson, Kansas. Pauls’ stance on these “religious freedom” initiatives may garner her usual votes and favor from many of her constituents at large in this conservative Kansas community, but in this election cycle there is a question as to whether or not Pauls will earn a place on the general election ballot. This time around, Jan Pauls and her “religious freedom” have earned her a Democratic primary opponent, and that primary opponent is gay.
Erich Bishop is a member of the Kansas Equality Coalition, a gay rights organization that has waged a full on political war against Pauls for her public statements, votes and actions against the gay community. Pauls, for example, made the following comment on February 20, 2012…
Progressive Kansas Democrats have long been frustrated by conservative representation, but the general attitude from within the State Democratic Party has been quiet tolerance for those with conservative ideologies within their midst. But, Jan Pauls’ public comments in the name of “religious freedom” finally pushed State Party Chair Joan Wagnon to speak out against this elected member of her own party at a State Party Democratic Convention in February of this year.
h/t: RH Reality Check
Science and religion are once again pitted against each other — this time in a Kansas Board of Education race in which one candidate, Jack Wu, has called evolution “Satanic lies.”
Wu, who also attends, but is not an official member of, the controversial Westboro Baptist Church, is running for the Board of Education in the 4th District against Democratic incumbent Carolyn Campbell. The church is known for anti-gay protests around the world.
Wu’s candidacy has caused a stir in an otherwise uneventful election. He wishes to entirely remove evolution from public school curricula, whereas Campbell believes evolution should be taught in school as well established scientific theory, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.
The debate over evolution in the 4th District comes as the state is drafting new science standards as part of a nationwide effort for standardized guidelines. When Kansas’ first draft became public last month, however, Republican board member Ken Willard told the Associated Press that the standards are ”very problematic” for describing evolution as a well-established, core scientific concept.
Westboro Baptist frequently pickets funeral services for fallen soldiers by holding signs that read “Thanks God For IEDs” and “Pray For More Dead Kids.” A series of television interviews with its founding family members have catapulted the church to national infamy.
Wu said he decided to enter the race after discovering that the incumbent was running unopposed.
“She’s going to win my district without a fight?” he told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
Westboro Baptist church spokeswoman Shirley Phelps-Roper told AP that Wu is an “acquaintance,” and described him as “just a friendly little guy.”
h/t: Huffington Post
ThinkProgress reported last week that Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R) was forced to apologize to First Lady Michelle Obama after forwarding an email to fellow lawmakers that called her “Mrs. YoMama” and compared her to the Grinch.Earlier that same week, the Lawrence Journal-World was sent another email that O’Neal had forwarded to House Republicans that referred to President Obama and a Bible verse that says “Let his days be few” and calls for his children to be without a father and his wife to be widowed.
Nick Sementelli at Faith in Public Life notes that Psalm 109, which is a prayer for the death of a leader, became a popular conservative meme after Obama’s election. The “tongue-in-cheek” prayer for the president was seen on bumper stickers. The relevant part of the psalm reads:
Let his days be few; and let another take his office
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes.
May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children.
O’Neal forwarded the prayer with his own message: “At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!”
The Republican speaker of the Kansas statehouse issued an apology this week after sending emails from his personal account referring to First Lady Michelle Obama as “Mrs. YoMama” and quoting a Bible verse cited by some as a reference to presidential assassination.
Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal, from the city of Hutchison, sent an email before Christmas that compared the president’s wife to the Dr. Seuss character The Grinch, with a tagline asking: “Twins separated at birth?”
“I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing Mrs. YoMama a wonderful, long Hawaii Christmas vacation — at our expense, of course,” the forward read.
In a statement to The Lawrence Journal-World, a newspaper in Kansas that was first to obtain the emails, O’Neal apologized for “missing” the offending text. “To those I have offended, I am sorry,” he said. “That was not my intent.”
The Journal-World also revealed that O’Neal had forward another email which referenced the Bible verse Psalm 109:8, which reads: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”
The very next verse adds: “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”
The verse became a conservative meme in 2009 after it began appearing on bumper stickers, t-shirts and even toys. The most common slogan was, “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8.”
“At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president!” O’Neal wrote. “Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!”
h/t: Stephen C. Webster at Raw Story
A Kansas tea party group is saying “pee-eww” to President Obama.
Patriot Freedom Alliance, a tea party group in Hutchinson, Kansas, made a statement on its website recently, depicting Obama as a skunk.
“It is half black, half white, and almost everything it does, stinks,” the site reads, according to a screen grab posted by The Hutchinson News. The skunk depiction has been replaced with an abridged biography of Newt Gingrich.
The group’s webmaster, Thomas Hymer, told the The Hutchinson News the statement was just political satire, saying Sarah Palin has been subjected to worse attacks. But Hutchinson chapter NAACP president Darrell Pope suggests the message carries racial overtones.
h/t: David Taintor at TPM
