Tag Archives: abortion rights

Death of a Bill, Birth of an Activist

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Editor’s Note: Liza Love, an Arizona pro-choice activist, testified against House Bill 2838 at the Arizona House of Representatives on February 15, 2012. She shares her experience speaking out for reproductive rights.

I am one of millions. We all have some sort of story that reflects the positive impact of Planned Parenthood in our world. There are some of us who honor that role loudly, there are those who allow it to have a quiet sort of resonance, and there are even some who refuse to acknowledge it at all, but that makes it no less true.

We must get to a place where ridiculous ideology is unacceptable from our leaders, where science and facts are not vilified. That will happen when our voices are louder and more coherent.

I have wanted to give back to Planned Parenthood for a long time. Not having much monetarily to share, I have given what I could over the years, yet still felt a need to do more. When I read about HB2838, which would ban abortions at 20 weeks, even in the case of fetal anomalies, I was astonished! I had just moved and had a ton of unpacking to do, but I knew I would be at the hearing for HB2838 to make my voice heard. The plan was that I was going to show up at the Arizona House of Representatives early, meet with my fellow pro-choice activists outside, and get the story of someone who couldn’t be present so that I could share it on his or her behalf. It would allow me to support women and health and see the process of lawmaking all at the same time.

When I arrived at the Capitol, I ended up in this tiny room that was so full it would be an understatement to compare it to being packed like sardines! There were people everywhere!  Rep. Cecil P. Ash, the chairman, was reading some guidelines for the hearing, and then some proposed amendments from Rep. Matt Heinz were being explained to the panel, and ultimately, all but one was voted down. That alone was eye-opening. First of all, Dr. Heinz is a friend to women’s reproductive health and overall well-being, and his efforts to make sure his peers are informed with facts and details was refreshing. Continue reading →

This Week, Say Goodbye to Birth Control and Religious Freedom

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The political assault on women’s health care that has overwhelmed America in recent weeks is reaching a climax in Arizona THIS week.

No less than six bills that will make it harder or even impossible to get various women’s health care services are being voted on in committee hearings in these five days.

Every one of these bills is poised to become law if we don’t fight back NOW and LOUDLY. Continue reading →

Pro-Choice Friday News Rundown

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  • Arizona, ever the maverick state when it comes to anti-choice tomfoolery, wants to offer doctors who lie to pregnant women complete immunity from consequences. (Care2)
  • Here’s your all-encompassing digest of anti-abortion laws around the country. You might wanna have an alcoholic beverage nearby while reading. (Jezebel)
  • Republicans have inspired a plethora of insane sex legislation. (Mother Jones)
  • A male birth control pill on the horizon? Legions of pill-popping women are waiting! (Detroit Free Press)
  • Speaking of men, where the hell are they during this war on birth control? (CNN)
  • Planned Parenthood’s fearless leader, Cecile Richards, was a smash on The Daily Show Wednesday night. (RH Reality Check)
  • More on the awe-inspiring badass that is Ms. Richards. (The Nation)
  • Kansas has gone absolutely mad with 69 pages of anti-abortion malarkey, including, but not limited to, taxing women for abortions. (HuffPo)
  • Dear Rush Limbaugh, sex is not, I repeat, not a recreational activity. (Fem 2.0)

Action Alert: House Bill 2838 Is Resurrected as House Bill 2036

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All of your calls and emails really made a difference! HB2838 — the abortion bill that would impose harsh felonies and possible prison time on the physicians who provide care to me and my family — was pulled from the House Health Committee agenda and was considered dead!

But…

Rep. Kimberly Yee, the sponsor of the bill, has found another bill to use as a striker for 2838. House Bill 2838 has just become House Bill 2036.

A strike-all amendment is a little-known backdoor legislative maneuver that allows lawmakers to strip the contents of a bill and replace everything below the title with new bill language that died along the way, like HB2838, effectively resurrecting a dead bill.

House Bill 2036 now includes all the same language that was in HB2838. Anti-choice legislators and the Center for Arizona Policy have pulled out all the stops — even ignored the cries of constituents who opposed this bad bill. HB2036 is going to the Senate Judiciary Committee this Monday, February 27, and we have to make sure we show our power again! We helped kill this bill in the House — I know together, we can do it again in the Senate!!

TWO ACTIONS NEEDED NOW!

  1. Call Senate President Sen. Steve Pierce at 602-926-5584 and tell him: “Please do NOT allow HB2036 to be heard. It was already killed and it does not deserve to come back. I do not want doctors to have to face these kinds of liabilities and threats of jail.”
  2. CLICK HERE to send an important message to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

We can kill this bill forever!