Women's Rights

NC NOW (National Organization for Women)
Wed., May 15, 2013, Noon – 2:00 pm NC4
ERA ALERT

After more than 40 years, North Carolina will walk back onto the historical stage with an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Action coming on the heels of Mother’s Day.

Join us on Wed., May 15, 2013, Noon – 2:00 pm, on the grounds of the NC Legislative Bldg. for a vigil - “Simple Justice, Long Overdue”

Women deserve better:

Chapel Hill’s town council has adopted a resolution calling on the General Assembly to promote unbiased medical information for pregnant women, free of what it calls the intimidation and harassment in “crisis pregnancy centers” – organizations that attempt to persuade women not to have abortions.

And here are a few words from NARAL Pro-Choice in NC:

Learning to deceive from the masters of deception:

But what's McCrory going to do if a controversial piece of abortion legislation shows up on his desk? He said he doesn't see the need for any abortion legislation and that, from conversations with Speaker of the House Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, he doesn't see any coming.

If anybody out there is foolish enough to equate "doesn't see" with a "no" answer, they need a crash course in critical reading. First of all, "doesn't see" is a temporal classification, leaving flexibility for new data input. Secondly (and less technical), the phrase is a classic tool of the deceiver, and is most often used when they believe it will likely come in handy down the road. Like when a bill that's been cooling its heels in Committee finally gets the right combination of a supermajority and a GOP Governor:

Between some troubling incidents I've personally witnessed recently, and several statutory changes enacted or put forward by misogynistic dinosaurs going around dressed like normal human men, I figured it was about time for another lecture. Now, this may piss a few of you guys off, but guess what? I don't care. If I can plant a seed in that moribund pile of mush you call a brain, it's worth the effort.

On Saturday, April 28th, North Carolina will join a host of other states in holding a rally for women's rights. The rally is being sponsored by numerous organizations from across the state, including groups representing women's healthcare rights, voting rights, leadership in government, pay equity and more. All are welcome. It's supposed to be a beautiful day and I hope a lot of BlueNC-ers will join us. Details below.

New Hanover County last night “unanimously voted to turn down a state family planning grant that would cover contraceptive supplies along with other medical services related to family planning. Via Wilmington Star News http://watchdogs.blogs.starnewsonline.com/19718/new-hanover-commissioner...). Per Chairman Davis “If these young women are being responsible and didn’t have the sex to begin with, we wouldn’t have this problem to begin with,” Davis said.

And the Democrats on the commission should change their affiliation to the Stupid party and stop trying to associate with Democrats. Via WECT, "Commissioner and Democrat Jonathan Barfield says he now regrets his vote and that the commissioners should have taken the grant money."

Are you as outraged by the Republicans’ radical assault on women as I am? Then let’s do something about it!

We’ve watched in disbelief as Republican extremists in Congress have attempted to undermine our hard-won rights, voting time after time to do away with measures that protect women’s health. There are so many of these fanatical attempts that I won’t try to list them all, but here are a few of the most disgusting:

Good people of Blue NC, especially those of you near Asheboro or within a sane drive to Asheboro (I am talking about you Greensboro!) -- why not leave work early this Friday and join me and a bunch of other people unhappy with Thom Tillis and all he represents at a rally? We'll be gathering in Asheboro at 4 PM on Friday to protest the unconstitutional post-midnight legislative session called by GOP lawmakers last month as well as their ever more lousy public policies. It will be held right before House Speaker Thom Tillis’s town hall (see details after the jump). A couple hours protesting and you can be on your way to a good weekend suffused with a sense of accomplishment -- plus we could meet in person and... there's nothing like a good protest rally to get the blood going!

Hello again 1950's: (Hat-tip to Pam Spaulding for Tweeting this)

“Why don’t they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously, the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem?”

Which is an excerpt from his 1987 book Freedom Under Siege. And proving that idiocy doesn't improve with age, his defense of that quarter-of-a-century-old statement is even worse:

So much for giving women important information to guide their decisions:

For the past year, NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina has been investigating the state's 122 crisis pregnancy centers. Director Carey Pope says they found that, "Staff and volunteers often use propaganda to dissuade women from abortions." Previous research has found that the centers often lie to women about abortion being linked to breast cancer, infertility, and mental illness.

Which is bad enough, but this stuff is just crazy: