NARAL Pro-Choice

The feeling here among the Big Apple's grassroots is that winning Congress is going to be far more powerful for the Democratic Party than taking over the Senate. That said, I am very excited that Whitehouse has smacked Chafee out of the Senate.

Had Lincoln Chafee been a true pro-choice candidate as he had led NARAL to believe he was, he would have voted against both John Roberts and Samuel Alito. He did not. And for that matter, his ass needed to be thrown out of the Senate.

Tomorrow, of all days, the Roberts court starts deliberating on the late-term abortion ban. Thank Lincoln Chafee for voting the two most anti-abortion justices this country has ever had the misfortune to have seated in the Supreme Court.

In a released statement by Planned Parenthood congratulated Sen. Hillary Clinton in her efforts to get Plan B approved for over-the-counter use. NARAL, PFAW and the ACLU have been swift to point out that it's a half-win : underage women and fertile children have no free access to emergency contraception. Which is why at culturekitchen Lorraine Berry is taking the pledge to start a PlanB Underground and buy the damn thing to anybody under 18 who needs it.

There is no need to force underage women and fertile little girls down the path of an abortion or unwanted pregnancy for unrational health reasons having all to do with religious extremists obsession over parental rights. Hoorah for New York State Senator Liz Krueger to tackling the issue head on:

KRUEGER CALLS FDA "MORNING AFTER" MOVE A "HALF-VICTORY"; CALLS UPON STATE SENATE TO PASS S.6686 WHICH WOULD MAKE EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION AVAILABLE FOR ALL AGES AT NEW YORK PHARMACIES

New York—Describing today's Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) move to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter to women over 18 as "a half-victory", New York State Senator Liz Krueger called upon the state Senate to review S.6686.

Yesterday a friend called to check how I was doing. During the course of the conversation she said something to the effect that people's reactions to the death of a child are greater because we project something or other on them. I was stunned at the unintentional callousness of the comment.

First, this was my niece we're talking about; the closest thing to a sister my kids had. Second, I love my sister-in-law. She's an astounding human being. As someone who has been a witness to her greatness through the years; it breaks my heart to know she will carry this sorrow for the rest of her life. It really truly is not fair.

Why doesn't a tree fall on fucking Dick Cheney or George Bush? Why Lydia? Why my SILs baby?

I politely ended the conversation one way or other with my friend. I know her for too many years to know she did not mean any harm with the comment. Yet it confirmed what I have felt for some years now : the love that comes with parenting is many times greater in order of magnitude than romantic love because it is not just a blood or family relationship between two people. It's the kind of love that builds worlds and universes.

Yup. I was researching fake pro-abortion websites when I found that Abortion Freedom sometimes gives you The New Civil War : South Dakota bans abortion | culturekitchen as the #1 choice. Over Planned Parenthood, NARAL and Feminist Women's Health Center ... that is, as long as you don't have the Google censorware turned on. And not all the time, mind you.

Still...

From the standpoint of a blogger, Google is the most important ideological battleground. Folksonomies and taxonomies are some of our most important political tools.

So pat yourselves on the back. because when a lucky kid is using the largest library in the world, using it's most popular liberian as her guide, you know who's gonna be up there.

I just wanted to give y'all a heads up about the Matt Brown campaign. I just got off the phone from a PR call announcing their internal polling results. Their numbers are looking good.

[via Matt Brown - Brown Gaining Momentum; Leads Whitehouse in New Poll]:

Brown is leading Whitehouse, even though Whitehouse has a 16 point advantage in name identification (Whitehouse 81%, Brown 65%).

"Matt has run an aggressive grassroots campaign since day one and people are responding - but we aren't taking anything for granted until the final poll on Election Day," said Pete Brodnitz, campaign pollster. "Whitehouse has the backing of the political machine, the endorsements and money. But Matt Brown has the people. This poll shows Matt has room to grow and the more voters know about him, the more they like him."

As I said before, Matt Brown looks like a good pro-choice candidate to support. I am keeping my eye on this race because I am hearing good things that I have not heard from other campaigns here in New York :

This morning I sent a bunch of emails to several feminist and pro-choice bloggers on the matter of Matt Brown. Right after the Alito confirmation I sent an email to Matt Burguess, Matt Brown's communications director. I've been receiving their press releases probably like everybody maybe many other political bloggers all around the country.

I am fed up with what I think is a lack of vulvas, not cojones, effecting the political discourse around choice. We need more feminists raising money, evaluating and promoting candidates, getting on the TV and radio and newspapers and the net and blasting over and over and over again that forced pregnancies are anti-American, that forced pregnancies are a new kind of slavery, that forced pregnancies are a fundamental crime against humanity.

We need to have more women speak like this publicly to all candidates, Democrats and Republicans. I was introduced here in New York City to Eric Massa, an upstate New York candidate running for Congress. I was very happyt to know he's running against Randi Kuhn, a Republican who has been taking tons of money and support from the extreme right with organizations like Focus on the Family and the Homeschool Legal Defence Association. But then, he lost me. When I asked Mr. Massa how we stood on abortion he flubbed, he fumbled, he totally ho-hummed.

Editor's/Liza's Note : Unfortunately none of the editors here at www.culturekitchen.com were aware of the "Blog For Choice" blogswarm. Enjoy BL's entry (posted yesterday) but promoted and re-dated.

** The previous note was misconstrued as a swipe to the good people of NARAL. Apologies for the tone. Nice does not come easy to me.

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A while ago, I mentioned to Thagmano and Rachel that I would probably post my "I'm not sorry" story.

I had an abortion last January. I wasn't exactly pleased about that. Inn my dotage, I'm just fertile goddamned myrtle. I guess I'm just a horrible person, but I didn't feel the slightest bit of anguish over anything but the fact that I DO want children with R but, uh, with both of unemployed at the time and hoping to move out of this state, it wasn't exactly the best time was it?

So, no anguish here. Nothing but relief and love and admiration for my sisters. I can safely say that it was a wonderful experience, with terrific women with whom I'd have loved to have become friends.

We talked about my underwear.

Carrie, the woman who did the intake counseling that day, came in to say "Hi" after the procedure. I don't know why, all I could tell in that hazy state was that she seemed interested in hanging out. We ended up chatting and the conversation became more animated when the other nurse, Patty, also came in. Patty was the one who'd taken a blood sample and other tests earlier. We'd talked about my blood pressure -- which was surprisingly in a healthy range given that I'd thought I was going to die from the stress of my job just two months earlier.

Patty started asking Carrie about her new beau. Carrie was blushing like crazy and I was wondering if I should try to pretend that I was otherwise occupied. Patty wasn't going to let up, even though Carrie obviously didn't want to answer the question Patty kept hinting at.

Finally, Patty just blurted it out: "Is he, you know, doable?"

I sat there in a haze of nitrous, smirking. I waited for Carrie's blush to return to a more normal pink because, the minute Patty said "doable," Carrie had turned a bright, high red. But, as it turned out, it was an obligatory blush. Her pink-cheeks smarting, Carrie smiled and her eyes twinkled as she related to both of us just how doable he was. Mostly, she talked about where they'd had dinner, what they planned to do the next date, and some concerns she had about this new man in her life, the date, and where she thought the relationship might be going.

When Patty left, Carrie and I started talking about nursing. Like my mother, she'd become a nurse later in life. I told her that my mother was a nurse who specialized in geriatric care. My mother often gets right in bed with someone as they are dying. She hugs them, the only person by their side as they die.

We talked about how emotionally draining that kind of work could be and Carrie mentioned that she'd one done hospice work before she'd gotten her LPN. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought about the people she'd cared for. We talked about death and god and taking care of our loved ones as they died from a long-term illness -- something with which I'm all to familiar.

Age. Illness. Death. God. She talked about faith and how she knew God was in the room when her mother passed.

I smiled, which was about all I was capable of. All I could hope was that she saw in my eyes how amazing I thought she was -- how amazing she and so many people like her are. People who take care of their loved ones. People who sacrifice. People who do the work that makes this world go 'round. People who hold hands with and hug dying people, to comfort them. People who feel God in the room as a body passes away.

She asked if i thought I'd like to stand up as it was likely that the nitrous had worn off enough.

I smiled and nodded and thought how nice it would be if everyone who believed in God could work for ob-gyn's who provide abortions.

I haven't been a lot of doctor's offices, so I guess I can't compare, but that few hours at the ob-gyn office was one of the best medical experiences I'd had in my life. It was far better than the way I'd been treated when I had to have a broken tooth repaired last August. It was better than most of the reception I received at the hospital when sonshine was in his accident last year.

Instant Congress Phone Number Lookup Street number and name only: Zip Code (5 digits):

It is amazing that in this day and age, when we have so many technological innovations that connect us to people from all over the world as we while away at our computers, it's seems like a burden for "We The People" to try to contact our lawmakers. The developers over at People's Email Network created this fantastic widget to help you get the phone numbers of your representatives in Congress and the Senate. We are going to need them during these nomination hearings.

Samuel "Scalito" Alito is turning out to be not just a liberal but a conservative's worse nightmare. The man is so extreme in his use of the law that I would be hard pressed to believe this man could get appointed to the SCOTUS. Especially with the paper trail that's popping by the minute. First off : Shoot to kill is a OK with him.

From Alito memo says police shooting justified:

Asked to prepare a memo on whether the Reagan administration should intervene and how the case should be argued, Alito wrote, "The shooting can be justified as reasonable within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment."

The young lawyer contended that "a fleeing suspect in effect states to the police: 'Kill me or let me escape the legal process, at least for now.'"

He added, "If every suspect could evade arrest by putting the state to this choice, societal order would quickly break down."

Alito argued against overturning the Tennessee law, but recommended that the administration stay out of the case.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in early 1985 that the Tennessee statute and department policy violated Fourth Amendment protections, setting a precedent forbidding the use of deadly force by police except in certain circumstances. Justice Byron White wrote the majority's decision.

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Is it any wonder why he refused to meet with the Black Congressional Caucus? Does this mean the Puerto Rican and Latino caucus are out of the picture as well? :

[via BAW: Alito Snubs Congressional Blacks, Talk of Senate Filibuster Heating Up]:

Dandridge said the caucus, which has been critical of Alito's judicial opinions involving race, asked for a meeting with Alito last month but never got a response.

"We just assumed the answer was no," Dandridge said.

Last week, the Congressional Black Caucus announced its collective opposition to Alito, saying Alito's conservative views could place longstanding civil rights legislation in jeopardy.

"The members of the CBC are concerned about Judge Alito's opinions, many in dissent, in race cases where his decisions have disproportionately affected African-Americans," Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), chairman of the caucus, said last week.

"We are troubled by what appears to be a very conservative judicial philosophy that seems greatly at odds with much of 20th century constitutional jurisprudence," he said.

Which reminds me, we need to start keeping a tally of all the organizations opposing Alito --so we can send them thank you notes galore. PFLAG jumps in the bandwagon with several other gay and lesbian organizations :

From U.S. Newswire : Releases : "PFLAG Unites with LGBT Rights Groups to Oppose Alito Nomination":

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Human Rights Campaign, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and National Center for Lesbian Rights today announced their opposition to the nomination of Samuel A. Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States, contending that Alito would roll back protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community (LGBT) community.

"Alito's record indicates that he would not protect all families equally," said Jody M. Huckaby, executive director of PFLAG. "As parents, family members and friends, we know that there is too much at stake now to leave GLBT rights in the hands of Alito."

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Meanwhile, Bill Frist has a fool on The Hill moment. In a show of psycopanthic premature verbal ejaculations, Frist threatens to call on the nuclear option (even though insiders tell me he has not a chance in hell to get the 51 votes he needs) :

From Frist Cautions Senators Against Stalling Alito Vote:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) threatened yesterday to strip Democrats of the power to filibuster if they block the vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr."It would be against the intent of the Founding Fathers and our Constitution to deny Sam Alito an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate," he said on "Fox News Sunday.

"His willingness to consider a procedural maneuver called the "nuclear option" seemed somewhat premature. Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said that although he anticipates intense questioning of Alito during next month's hearings, he does not detect strong sentiment for using the filibuster to stall a vote.

A spokesman for the leading Senate Democrat agreed."As far as I can tell, the only person talking about a filibuster is Senator Frist and some of the far-right fringe groups," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.). "This kind of talk is silly and unhelpful."

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And senator Byrd is ready to give him the senatorial bird if need be :
From Politics News Article | Reuters.com | Fight looms if Republicans change Senate rules:

Minutes after the Senate returned from a three-week vacation Byrd challenged Frist, a Tennessee Republican, in an unusually pointed floor debate.

"If the senator wants a fight, let him try. I'm 88 years old but I can still fight and fight I will for freedom of speech," Byrd said.

Byrd said he did not expect a filibuster against Alito, but complained, "I'm tired of hearing this threat thrown in our faces if we decide we want to filibuster."

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Let's not call this victory, but at least let's pat ourselves in the back because obviously, we are doing our jobs :
From Step up Alito fight, right urges GOP:

While Democratic senators such as Edward Kennedy (Mass.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and liberal groups such as People for the American Way and the National Women's Law Center have raised concerns about Alito, Republican senators, with the notable exceptions of John Cornyn (Texas) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (Pa.), have done little to rebut the criticisms, GOP aides say.

The Democratic and liberal offensive against Alito is expected to rise a notch this week when civil-rights and labor groups come out against him, Senate Democratic and liberal strategists said. Last week, the National Women's Law Center announced its opposition to Alito.

"We'll probably see some activity [on Alito] next week, and as we get closer to the hearing there'll be a lot," said Stephanie Cutter, an aide to Kennedy.

Although Cornyn has issued regular press releases challenging liberal charges and Specter has defended Alito for failing to recuse himself from a case involving an investment firm to which he was connected, other Republicans have been mostly silent.

"Why only Cornyn?" asked a strategist for a conservative group allied with the White House in the court fight. "[The others] are back in their home states taking time off."

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