Tag Archives: Trent Franks

It never really ended, but the GOP’s war on women is definitely back and more misogynistic than ever. Let’s go through a few things that have happened just in the past week:

House of Representatives to consider unconstitutional abortion ban: Today the House Judiciary Committee, whose 23 Republican members are all men, approved an unconstitutional ban on abortion after 20 weeks. The measure, championed by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), is similar to one enacted in his home state of Arizona that was recently found unconstitutional by a federal appeals court. Franks’ present effort would apply nationwide, which is more aggressive than previous years when he only sought to force a 20-week ban on the women of the District of Columbia. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has promised that the full House will vote on it next week.
Congressman revives Akin-like rape talk: During today’s markup of the aforementioned abortion ban, Rep. Trent Franks made comments echoing Todd Akin’s infamous “legitimate rape” remarks. Franks, who defended Akin at the time he made those remarks, explained today that the incidence of pregnancy from rape is “very low.” There are approximately 30,000 pregnancies resulting from rape every year in the United States.
GOP governor revives forced ultrasounds: Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) became the latest Republican governor to embrace forced transvaginal probes for women seeking to exercise their constitutionally-protected right to have an abortion. In addition to forced ultrasounds, the legislation Walker has promised to sign would also close abortion clinics across the Badger State.
Senators suggest offensive explanations for military sexual assault crisis: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) blamed the growing problem of military sexual assault on “the hormone level created by nature.” His colleague, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), instead suggested that perhaps pornography is to blame.
GOP governor attacks working mothers: Gov. Phil Bryant (R-MS) was asked to explain why the American education system “so mediocre.” Bryant responded that working mothers were to blame. This came just days after several Fox News commentators lost their minds over the record number of women who are the primary breadwinners in their household.

BOTTOM LINE: Republicans didn’t learn a single lesson from their string of outrageous attacks on women last year and instead appear to be doubling down on their extreme views and offensive legislative proposals.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

More progress on Facebook’s content policy.

Connecticut passes homeless person’s bill of rights.

Key senator seeks to make immigration bill more LGBT friendly.

Greece is no longer considered a developed country thanks to austerity.

DREAMers fenced off from reuniting with mothers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Obstructionist senator upset at 60-vote threshold for amendments to the immigration bill despite his party requiring it for everything else.

Federal judge being sued over racist comments removed from death penalty case.

NFL commissioner defends racist Redskins nickname as standing for “strength, courage, pride, and respect.

Virginia senator gives first-ever Senate floor speech entirely in Spanish.

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UPDATE: Abortion ban subcommittee hearing today

05/23/2013 Nativegrl77

20 Week Abortion ban gets Congressional Hearing

Today, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) is holding a hearing in his subcommittee on legislation that would take away women’s constitutional rights and put women across America in danger.

Ironically, Franks‘ panel is called the “Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice,” neither of which Mr. Franks seems very interested in using to protect women.

This is incredibly dangerous legislation. It’s a blatant attempt to roll back a woman’s right to choose. We need to fight it every step of the way. People need to know this is happening. People need to know what’s in store if these anti-choice zealots have their way.

Please make an emergency gift to stand against this bill and to stand up for women.

Yesterday, the radical anti-choice group Susan B. Anthony List stood with Rep. Franks and declared their support for this terrible bill. Anti-choice activists want to drag us back to the days when abortion was illegal and desperate women had nowhere to turn. I won’t go back. Will you?

Ilyse G. Hogue President, NARAL Pro-Choice America

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the Franks bill is bad for D.C. women

05/09/2013 Nativegrl77

Does Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona think he rules D.C.?

Stand up to Trent Franks

Rep. Franks doesn’t speak for D.C. and shouldn’t get to ban abortion for women he doesn’t represent.

Help us stop Rep. Franks by taking action!

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 Hogue

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

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Stand Up for Women in D.C. and Everywhere!

07/27/2012 Nativegrl77

Stand Up for Women in D.C. and Everywhere!	Take Action!
Tell Your Representative to Stop the D.C. 20-Week Abortion Ban

And you thought the War on Women couldn’t get any worse. At a time when lawmakers are slashing funds for family planning services, blocking pay equity legislation, and targeting other programs that serve women and girls, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) has set his sights on women who have no voting rights in Congress and can’t fight back: residents of the District of Columbia. Franks is pushing H.R. 3803, which would ban abortions only in D.C. after 20 weeks without any exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother’s health. The bill, which is modeled after a similar ban in Nebraska and several other states, passed the House Judiciary Committee on July 18. *Tell your representative to stop this heinous bill in its tracks and oppose* a full floor vote.** Franks’ bullying tactics are an act of radical cowardice. Instead of proposing this extreme legislation for the entire country, which undoubtedly would mobilize women to contact their elected officials to vote against it, Congress is imposing its will on a group of residents who lack the voting representation to fight back. In fact, Franks refused to allow Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), the duly elected, non-voting representative of the District of Columbia, to testify at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on H.R. 3803! But don’t be fooled! This legislation is a direct challenge to the constitutional protections for all women. This extreme and continued assault on women’s reproductive health will stop at nothing with the ultimate goal of turning back the clock on our constitutional rights. The War on Women, including women in our nation’s capital, needs to end now. Take Action! Urge your representative to stop H.R. 3803 from coming to a floor vote. To send a message, simply click on the “Take Action” link in the upper right corner. Then follow the instructions to compose and send your message. Follow AAUW on Twitter, and read our award-winning AAUW Dialog Blog for discussion, information, and advocacy for women and girls! Are you an AAUW member? Subscribe to *Washington Update, a members-only weekly e-mail bulletin with an insider’s view on public policy and politics news, resources for advocates and programming ideas! Subscribe today*! Take the next step to break through barriers for women and girls: Become part of the AAUW national community! Join or donate today! Have general questions about AAUW? Please contact connect@aauw.org or call 800/326-2289 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.