Last week, a divisive bill introduced by anti-choice Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) failed to pass the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Franks calls his bill the "Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act" (PreNDA), but contrary to its title, it does nothing to end sex discrimination or gender inequity.
All forms of reproductive coercion are wrong -- including societal pressures to have a child of a particular sex.
But the Franks bill exploits the very real problems of sex discrimination and gender inequity while failing to offer any genuine solutions that would eliminate disparities in health-care access and information. PreNDA could subject a doctor to up to five years in prison for failing to determine if sex is a factor in a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy.
This bill represents cynical politics at their worst. That's why the NAACP, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), and other leading organizations in the civil-rights, faith, and medical communities publicly opposed this divisive attack.
Some observers and pundits are under the impression that the Franks bill is an isolated incident. After all, anti-choice leaders of the House who in 2011 held the most choice-related floor votes in more than a decade should have gotten the message, via the gender gap, that the public does not support this agenda.
Some might have that impression -- and it might make sense, but again, we're talking about right-wing members of the House.
Franks' PreNDA bill is just the first of five measures lined up for floor action that include anti-choice provisions.
Abortion Ban Targeting Women in Washington, D.C.
Rep. Franks is also leading an attack on Washington, D.C., women's right to choose.
He's pushing a bill in the House to ban abortion care at 20 weeks in the District of Columbia, without consideration for the woman's situation, including health-threatening conditions or in cases of rape, incest, or fetal anomaly.
And when Rep. Franks held a hearing on the bill, he didn't even allow Washington, D.C.'s elected representative, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, to testify against it.
The "Arrest Grandma" Act
Also making its way through the House is the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act (CIANA), a.k.a. the "Arrest Grandma" Act.
The "Arrest Grandma" Act would make it a federal crime for anyone other than a parent -- such as a loving grandmother, aunt, or clergy member -- to accompany a young woman to another state for abortion care. It also would force doctors to learn and enforce 49 other states' parental-involvement laws -- under the threat of fines and prison sentences.
Under the "Arrest Grandma" Act, young women who come from violent or abusive homes could find themselves unable to turn to any trusted adult.
Inserting Anti-Abortion Politics into Homeland Security
Anti-choice lawmakers have even stuck attacks on women's health into a Homeland Security spending bill.
Last month, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) introduced an amendment to restrict access to abortion care for women in immigration detention facilities. Under Aderholt's original amendment, survivors of incest in these facilities would lose access to abortion care.
Apparently, denying abortion care to incest survivors is now a matter of national security.
The Global War on Women
Anti-choice lawmakers are also trying their hardest to target women living overseas. They inserted language into a foreign-aid bill that makes it harder for the world's poorest women to get birth control.
These politicians are pushing to bring back the global gag rule, which barred USAID funds from going to any organization that provides abortion care, or even took a public pro-choice position. President Obama repealed this outrageous policy his first week in office, but anti-choice lawmakers in the House want it back.
So, there you have it: in the first five months of 2012, the anti-choice House leadership has lined up no fewer than five separate bills with anti-choice provisions for floor action.
It's amazing they can keep a straight face when they say there's no War on Women.
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I find that true for people who want to tell women what to do with their own reproductive systems - they are crazy.
look at it this way - should anybody be permitted to tell you you can't do that to your own body - because I own your body? of course not - but that is exactly what this type of legislation is telling women - you can't do that - because I know what is best for you - even it it means you die.
My question to you is why 20 weeks? Why not allow a woman to have an abortion at any time in her pregnancy for no reason? Even right up to the due date? If you truly want a woman to have complete control over her body, then that should be her right. You don't consider a baby a human until its born anyway. So giving women the right to abort at any time will finally put the issue to rest and you'll be out of a job.
Women of all ages are very concerned with what the GOP is doing to women.
www.17atheart.wordpress.com
lists all the legislation introduced by the GOP at the state level and also at the federal level. The GOP is spending so much time trying to take away our legal rights that they only have time left to go after the poor immigrants who come to the country to work in the fields and hopefully find a better life. The GOP IS NOT interested in creating jobs at all. They only want to fatten the wallets of their rich campaign donors.
We know what the GOP is doing and will vote accordingly.
At least if you make less, you aren't murdered.
If you don't believe in abortion, then next time you get knocked up, don't have one. Just stop trying to force your religious or personal beliefs on others. I promise we won't force you to have an abortion if you just stop trying to force your views on others.
As far as Obama care, so many people are benefitting from it already that they will vote against the GOP should the SCOTUS repeal it. It was voted in as law and we want it to stay just like Social Security and Medicare.
But then, there isn't any rationality attached --- it's just control, control, control....
American women prefer sons to daughter 33%:31%
American men prefer sons to daugher 49%:22%
39% of Democrats overall prefer a son, 49% of Republicans overall prefer a son.
Son preference is a MALE REPUBLICAN problem.
Why are they lecturing WOMEN about it?
No kidding Nancy, particularly in light of last week's vote in the House where only 7 Democrats agreed to ban sex-selective abortions typically aimed at little girls. Two hundred twenty Republicans voted to ban such abortions. The war on women is now the war on little girls and the it is being waged by the Left.
Of course the Left has a million reasons why their blatant behavior isn't REALLY a REAL war on women. But we all know that it is.
If you are a little girl about to be aborted just because you are a little girl, don't blame the Republicans, blame the Democrats who refused to come to your aid when they had a chance.
Millions of little girls have been aborted for no more crime than being a little girl. But that's not a war on women???
JPl100 is obviously addressing sex-selective abortions. If people on the left are okay with killing a fetus because it has XX chromosomes, how can they possibly claim to protect and defend women?
Think of the actual lives that would be saved!
Don't you?
What a sad and unfunny joke this comment is.