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As we await the verdict in the trial of Kermit Gosnell, Rep. Trent Franks and his colleagues in the House are quietly pushing a bill that could ban abortion after 20 weeks for women in Washington, D.C. – even if the pregnancy puts a woman’s health or ability to have children in the future at risk.1 It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect the dots. A bill like this will block women in desperate circumstances from getting abortion care they need and could force women to seek help from dangerous, back-alley predators like Gosnell. Rep. Franks pushed this bill before, and we managed to beat it. He already has the backing of scores of other anti-choice members of the House and the National Right to Life Committee. pro-choice people like you need to make your voices heard if we’re going to block it again. Even if your lawmaker is anti-choice, we need you to speak out against this bill now. I’m really concerned about what Rep. Franks’ bill could mean for low-income women in our city. Congress bars D.C. from paying for low-income women’s access to abortion care – even for women who rely on the city for their health care. This means that low-income women must find a way to come up with the resources on their own, which is extremely difficult and too often delays them from getting an abortion early in pregnancy. These women don’t even have a lawmaker who can vote to protect their interests. So it’s up to us. Tell your member of Congress that banning abortion at 20 weeks in D.C. is dangerous for women’s health. Rep. Franks may say he is concerned about the conditions that would lead a woman to seek help from someone like Gosnell in the first place. But we know his true motives. Rep. Franks wants to ban abortion. Period. Franks’ bill contains no exceptions for situations where continuing a pregnancy will place a woman’s health or ability to have children in the future at risk. A woman would have to be on death’s door before a doctor could provide the abortion care she needs. Making abortion harder for a woman to get doesn’t actually change a woman’s mind. It only makes it more likely that she’ll consider taking desperate measures. I believe that we can convince enough members of Congress that abortion bans will drive more women to underground, dangerous abortion providers if enough of us speak up. Tell your lawmakers that the Franks bill is bad for D.C. women. Thank you for making choice real for all women,
Ilyse G. Hogue President, NARAL Pro-Choice America 1 – “D.C. Anti-Abortion Bill Introduced By GOP Congressman Trent Franks…Again,” Huffington Post, April 29, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/dc-anti-abortion-bill_n_3180578.html |
Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture
URGENT: Cancer Patient About to be Evicted!
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Heartless
11 Awful GOP Amendments to the Immigration Bill
Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee officially kicks of the process of amending and working through what could be an historic reform of our broken immigration system.
The Republican members of the Gang of 8 — Sens. McCain (AZ), Flake (AZ), Graham (SC), and Rubio (FL) — deserve credit for their hard work and willingness to compromise on a plan that includes a pathway to earned citizenship. That said, other Republicans have offered dozens of offensive, mean-spirited, and just plain heartless amendments that serve no other purpose than to cause trouble, score cheap political points, demonize immigrants, and/or generally gum up the works for as long as possible in order to try and kill the bill.
ThinkProgress has rounded up 11 of the worst of these GOP amendments:
1. Undocumented immigrants can never become citizens. “No person who is or has previously been willfully present in the United States will [sic] not in lawful status…shall be eligible for United States citizenship.” Offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
2. Mandatory DNA testing. Registered provisional immigrant applicants must submit a DNA sample to the Department of Justice to compare against the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) at the FBI. Offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
3. Zero assistance. Would prohibit undocumented immigrants who earn provisional legal status from applying for permanent residence if they qualify for state means-tested assistance, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), the temporary assistance for needy families program (TANF), or supplemental security income benefits (SSI). Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
4. Bans humanitarian travel. Immigrants who are in provisional legal status but have to go back to their home countries for a humanitarian reason (to visit a sick relative, for instance) would be prohibited from re-entering the United States. Currently, the provisional legal status includes an authorization for travel.Offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
5. Guts family re-unification. The green card distribution for some foreigners relies on a point allocation system in which a certain number of points must be accumulated before those individuals can qualify for a merit-based visa. This amendment would eliminate points for siblings of U.S. citizens and points for individuals from low-sending countries from counting towards merit-based immigrant visas. Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
6. In-person interviews for 11 million immigrants. Sure to slow down the process time for 11 million immigrants, an in-person interview would be required to determine one’s eligibility requirements for provisional legal status. Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
7. Limits visas to South Korea. In an effort to force South Koreans to buy beef from the United States again, this amendment threatens to withhold E-5 visas from South Korea immigrants until the country removes its age-based import restrictions on beef. Offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
8. Enforces head-of-household deportation and causes family separations. Under the current bill, immigration judges have the authority to decline to deport individuals if they believe that the immigrant’s removal will result in hardship for his or her U.S. citizen child. This amendment would waive this judicial discretion and allow the deportation to occur. Offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
9. Prevents low-income undocumented immigrants from seeking legalization. The amendment would require individuals applying for provisional legal status to maintain regular employment and a “regular income or resources” above 400 percent of the poverty line (more than $92,000for a family of four). Under the current bill, immigrants must earn at 100 percent of the poverty line or show regular employment. Offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
10. Restricts visas for refugees. This amendment would prohibit individuals from applying for refugee and asylum status until one year after the Director of National Intelligence submits a review related to the Boston bombings to Congress. Offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
11. Allows for racial profiling. Would allow Federal law enforcement to take into account an individual’s country of origin when allowing them into the country. Offered by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Finally, in a very Downton Abbey-esque move, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) filed an amendment to allow undocumented immigrants to be hired, but only as domestic workers, specifically including cooks, waiters, butlers, governessess, maids, valets, gardeners, footmen, grooms, and chauffeurs.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
Vice President Biden told a Sierra Club activist that he opposes the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Silicon Valley backlash against Zuckerberg group’s pro-dirty energy ad campaign grows.
Fox News brings on convicted cover-up expert to comment on alleged Benghazi cover-up.
Immigration bill would boost Social Security and Medicare by $300 BILLION over the next decade.
NRA youth magazine recommends that kids build indoor home shooting ranges.
Seven times Republicans demanded the budget process they are now obstructing.
Racist author of Heritage anti-immigration study says Latinos have inherently lower IQs.
Amazon pulls bleeding ex-girlfriend shooting target after outcry.
Gabby Giffords’ anti-gun violence Super PAC raised $11 MILLION last quarter.
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HR1406 : Working Families Flexibility Act
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As a “Two-Minute Activist,” you know that we still have a lot of work to do to pass laws that will help workers balance the demands of their work and their families. But we can’t – and we won’t – let Congress fool us with the misnamed Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406).
We’ve heard the House may vote on H.R. 1406 as early as next week. This bill claims to offer flexibility to employees by allowing them to convert overtime work into paid time off (i.e. comp time) for family responsibilities. But this bill is not an improvement for working families: Under the Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406), employers would still have complete discretion over whether to approve workers’ requests to convert their overtime into comp time. This means that employees will still have trouble using accumulated days for an emergency, or even to plan for things like parental leave or caregiving leave. Nothing is currently stopping employers from offering more flexible schedules. Creating yet another system of hurdles for workers to access leave, left entirely at the discretion of their employer, is not the way to achieve flexibility. In just a few days, the House is voting on the problematic Working Families Flexibility Act (H.R. 1406): Tell your representative to vote against H.R. 1406! Don’t forget to register for AAUW National Convention in New Orleans, June 9-12! At Convention you can connect with more than 600 AAUW members from around the country, hear from esteemed speakers such as MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry and fair pay advocate Lilly Ledbetter, and (did we mention?) enjoy the city of New Orleans! Register today so you don’t miss out! The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. Our nonpartisan, nonprofit organization has more than 150,000 members and supporters across the United States, as well as 1,000 local branches and 700 college and university partners. Since AAUW’s founding in 1881, our members have examined and taken positions on the fundamental issues of the day — educational, social, economic, and political.
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U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
05/07/2013 09:23 PM EDT
Queen Creek, AZ, BeaMonstar Products is voluntarily recalling all of SexVoltz brand SKU’s 626570609490, 827912089028, 626570617877, 626570615316, Velextra brand SKU’s 626570619475, 626570619475, 626570619475, 626570619475 , Amerect SKU’s 626570619031, 626570619598 capsules to the retail level. Laboratory analysis conducted by the FDA on SexVoltz and Velextra has determined these products contain undeclared tadalafil. Amerect is voluntarily recalled because it has the potential to contain undeclared tadalafil. Tadalafil are FDA-Approved drugs used to treat male erectile dysfunction (ED), making the products unapproved new drugs.
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Cargill’s Animal Nutrition Business Conducts Voluntary Recall of Lamb Feed
05/06/2013 05:25 PM EDT
Cargill’s animal nutrition business today announced a voluntary recall of Showmaster® S-Series Show Lamb Feed (BW) because it contained incorrect sodium molybdate levels. To date, there are 170, 50-pound bags of feed still out in the market.
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Medtronic Announces FDA Classification Of Deep Brain Stimulation Lead Cap Communication
05/03/2013 09:16 AM EDT
In keeping with its commitment to keep physicians informed about product performance and safety, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) issued an Urgent Medical Device Correction notification in February 2013 to provide physicians with information concerning the potential for deep brain stimulation (DBS) lead damage associated with the use of the lead cap provided in Medtronic DBS lead kits and dystonia therapy kits.
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05/03/2013 10:42 AM EDT
Nestlé USA’s Pizza Division today announced the voluntary recall of select production codes of four different frozen pizzas sold in the U.S. These include: • California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) Crispy Thin Crust White®, UPC 71921 98745; production codes are 3062525951, 3062525952 and 3063525951
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