Catholics for Choice said a birth control exemption for religious organizations ignores the well-being of the organization’s workers and patients.
The group also said that they spent a lot of money in the 2011 legislative session and appealed for donations.
As with every year, the 2011 Minnesota State Fair will feature plenty of things on sticks — mainly food items — but one object may stand out: Condoms. And they’re being marketed to grandmothers.
Tim Pawlenty has been touting his record of opposition to abortion and funding for Planned Parenthood, but this hard-line on abortion is somewhat new. One acquaintance of Pawlenty’s says that his “pro-life” stance is faked, and a report by Mother Jones on Thursday demonstrates that Pawlenty approved a “dizzying increase” in funds for Planned Parenthood and other family planning agencies — according to a local paper at the time — during his two terms as governor, as well as cutting abstinence-only programs.
GOP presidential contender Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has taken a further step proving his anti-abortion-rights commitment since signing the Susan B. Anthony List’s “2012 Pro-Life Presidential Leadership Pledge,” a pledge also signed by Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty. In his budget document, Paul says he’d “veto any spending bill that contains funding for Planned Parenthood, facilities that perform abortion and all government family planning schemes.”
Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty have signed on to the Susan B. Anthony List’s 2012 Pro-life Presidential Leadership Pledge. The presidential candidates have pledged to roll back abortion rights in four key areas, and the duo join three other presidential contenders: Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Bachmann went after fellow presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday for not signing the pledge and not committing to “ending the practice of abortion.”
On Thursday, the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee will hear a presentation on vaccine safety by a researcher who asserts that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine may not be safe for children — and part of the basis for the concern appears to stem from her religious opposition to the use of human cells in the vaccine. The testimony of Dr. Theresa Deisher is part of an official informational hearing, but Deisher’s assertions regarding autism and vaccines have been debunked by many researchers. Deisher — who is the hearing’s only testifier — has earned praise for her work from both the anti-vaccine and anti–abortion rights movements.
Recently proposed federal and state family-planning spending cuts would disproportionately hinder low-income Latinas’ access to reproductive care, said several women’s reproductive care providers and advocates during a teleconference organized this week by Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
DFL Rep. Collin Peterson is joining with Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and John Kline in strongly urging the District of Columbia to act quickly in implementing a ban on publicly subsidized abortions in the city. As part of the continuing resolution passed last week, Washington, D.C. has to halt paying for abortions under its programs for low-income women. Peterson, Bachmann and Kline were among several dozen Congress members who issued a letter on Tuesday that also asks D.C. for detailed reports about the new ban.
Republican lawmakers and anti–abortion rights group Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life are pushing a ban on abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy and after conception, citing a medical and scientific “consensus” that fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks. But according to statements and research from leaders in the medical and scientific communities, no such consensus exists. In fact, researchers continue to debate whether fetuses feel pain at 20 weeks or at much later stages.
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