During the health care reform fight the women’s reproductive rights groups and legislators were basically sold out. President Obama decided to cut a deal with Bart Stupak’s Gang. He assumed that the pro-choice and women legislators in the House and pro-choice groups would just fall in line, and they did with very little fighting. Passing [...]

For the Republican Party, there seems to be no limit to the amount of beloved personal freedoms they are willing to shred to simply make abortions more inconvenient. The latest example is the GOP’s push to actually increase the power and scope of the IRS. From Mother Jones: Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail [...]

Lois Herr has a message for all of you helping to defend reproductive choice by phone banking and spreading the word through One Voice For Choice,

“Don’t forget it’s Stupak/PITTS – I’m the one running against him in PA-16 and I want everyone to know that there’s a radical Republican co-sponsor who should lose his seat over this.”

She’s right. Most of us forget that the Stupak/Pitts amendment’s true author was Joe Pitts, who has one of the most radical, anti-choice records in congress.

Yesterday, the NY Times ran self-serving op-ed from Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Coat Hanger), in which he claims his harmless little amendment was no worse than current law.Forget for a moment the logic disconnect here that Stupak and his coalition of anti-choice Democrats in the House would threaten to derail the entire health care reform bill just to maintain a status quo that wouldn’t have changed one iota if they had left well enough alone.

The one bright spot in yesterday’s firestorm of health care reform news was that Barbara Boxer drove a stake through the heart of Ben Nelson’s version of the anti-choice Stupak amendment. Her motion to permanently table it easily passed with 54 votes.

If anything, yesterday’s events puts a bright, shining spotlight to how this process really works. The cold, hard truth is Obama won’t lift a finger if it means losing even a few votes in the House for the final bill. And so far, One Voice For Choice is the only campaign going on out there that’s targeting the Stupak coalition of conservadems that says you can’t pass a final bill without gutting women’s reproductive rights.

“He did what?“ I take the phone away from my ear, surprised by both the volume and intensity. “He did WHAT?”, she says again, this time loud enough for the volunteer next to me to hear. She shoots me the evil eye, then moves farther down the couch to continue her own conversation with a [...]

This weekend scores of One Voice For Choice volunteers gathered in the homes of their friends and neighbors in Texas and California and began reaching out to thousands of pro-choice (and very likely) Democratic voters across the country.

Stupak, can you hear us now? It’s the sound of your bluff being called. Motivated voters will not allow you to hold health care reform hostage at the expense of a woman’s right to chose.

Just after midnight, Bart Stupak (D-MI) testified on behalf of his amendment which would effectively make it illegal for private health insurance in the individual market to cover abortion. He was there in support of his amendment, because he claims negotiations to find a compromise just fell apart. He claims as recently as earlier this [...]

Rachel Maddow and Katha Pollitt take Rev. Rick Warren to the woodshed.

 Ouch.  

The powerful new ad by Planned Parenthood demonstrates quite plainly that contrary to all of the spin, Sarah Palin made rape victims pay for the kits needed to prosecute their attackers.