I heard today that the geniuses in Columbia might agree to raise the state minimum wage to $10 an hour, but not $15. Not that that would happen for a few years anyway, and $10 an hour today is still a joke. I can't imagine how a person can assume someone can live with health and dignity on $10 an hour. I have to assume that it is the consequences of growing up in a state where the schools are so poor that they have graduated without math skills.
And nobody has sat them down to teach it to them.
When my daughter turned sixteen, she just couldn't understand how I could be so mean as to not get her a car. One afternoon, I told her and my thirteen-year-old son to come to the kitchen table with a pencil and paper. Then I told them to write this down... and proceeded to list all our monthly bills. Then we listed my monthly income. Before we had a chance to sum things up, my daughter threw down the pencil and ran out of the room. Because the facts were tough. We couldn't afford to get her a car.
Now our legislators are like the folks at MacDonald's that kindly wrote up a budget for their employees to follow, including helpful hints like, "get a second job." They can't possibly assume that a person can live on $10 an hour unless, of course, they haven't done the math. Because it would be just too cruel for these good Christian folks to know that people would have to live with inadequate housing, food, and heat, much less poor schools and little or no health care. If they had to sit in their well heated (and air conditioned) offices up in the Statehouse, and try to figure out with a pencil and paper how to pay for the battered old car that needs a repair and requires insurance so that they can get to work (or to the doctor's office or to school to meet with a teacher), they would certainly not shrug and say that all an employer should have to pay their employees is $10 an hour.
We hear a lot from the republican side of reality about whiners. Well, for an employer to whine about having to pay an employee a living wage just seems unconscionable. I read somewhere recently that if an employer can't afford to pay a living wage, they had no business owning a business. You can't be very good at what you do if you can't figure out how to do it without paying slave wages.
And yet we hear -- and have been hearing for many decades now -- about how paying people a living wage will cause the economy to collapse. Meanwhile, folks like those who head up Walmart and MacDonald's are perfectly happy making millions of dollars and allowing the government to feed employees that live in poverty. For that matter, the Trumps and the Kochs are delighted to take money from the government any way they can. Have done for decades. Apparently they believe that because they have wealth the government should give them more wealth.
And apparently, voters who are trying to stretch their dollars to cover college and home repairs and maybe a vacation, also believe that the Kochs and Trumps deserve that money more than those living on $7.25 an hour. Because they keeping electing jackasses who keep whining about helping low wage workers, who refuse to make employers do the right thing by paying them a living wage, and who keep giving away the store to the largest and wealthiest among us.
Bill Clinton said it in 2012, and we need to apply it to everything every politician tries to tell us:
It's about arithmetic, and it's about values.
Showing posts with label SC Legislature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SC Legislature. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Charleston's Democratic Women
As you may know, Charleston County Democratic Women has been around a long time, fighting for the rights of all South Carolinians. They are working to make us more aware of the ongoing battles at the Statehouse for women's rights as well as healthcare, education, a living wage and the right to live free of racism and gun violence. Membership and donations support like-minded candidates, so that we can change the pathetic record of rabid right-wing radicalism in our legislature.
The next meeting of CCDW is this Thursday, February 4, at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Riverview. The featured speaker is Will Moredock, author and columnist. Will has been reporting on the weird, wacky and often offensive twists and turns of our state government for well over a decade. His latest book is a collection of articles from 2002 to 2012 entitled Living in Fear: Race, Politics and the Republican Party in South Carolina.
Will has spoken passionately for women's rights, and is an advocate for reproductive rights, which, since the secretly recorded and heavily edited Planned Parenthood video, are even more under attack by state and federal legislators than they had been in previous years. Our state legislature currently has twenty or more bills pending that would curb the rights of women to pursue legal abortions in South Carolina, and even restrict the ability to donate fetal tissue to research.
But the attack is not just against women. It is against African Americans, the LGBT community, college students, workers. Families, children, the poor, all are under fire from a legislature with the mantra of no taxes. Small government is cited in denying Medicaid to the uninsured but doesn't apply at all when it is women's right to medical privacy that is being considered. Bad state government is the reason South Carolina ranks 45th in financial security.
CCDW is planning on keeping us all informed about what is going on in Columbia, and in spearheading some grass roots actions in order to fight all those bad bills, and promote the good ones.
I hope you will be there on Thursday. We can fight the insanity if we work together.
The next meeting of CCDW is this Thursday, February 4, at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Riverview. The featured speaker is Will Moredock, author and columnist. Will has been reporting on the weird, wacky and often offensive twists and turns of our state government for well over a decade. His latest book is a collection of articles from 2002 to 2012 entitled Living in Fear: Race, Politics and the Republican Party in South Carolina.
Will has spoken passionately for women's rights, and is an advocate for reproductive rights, which, since the secretly recorded and heavily edited Planned Parenthood video, are even more under attack by state and federal legislators than they had been in previous years. Our state legislature currently has twenty or more bills pending that would curb the rights of women to pursue legal abortions in South Carolina, and even restrict the ability to donate fetal tissue to research.
But the attack is not just against women. It is against African Americans, the LGBT community, college students, workers. Families, children, the poor, all are under fire from a legislature with the mantra of no taxes. Small government is cited in denying Medicaid to the uninsured but doesn't apply at all when it is women's right to medical privacy that is being considered. Bad state government is the reason South Carolina ranks 45th in financial security.
CCDW is planning on keeping us all informed about what is going on in Columbia, and in spearheading some grass roots actions in order to fight all those bad bills, and promote the good ones.
I hope you will be there on Thursday. We can fight the insanity if we work together.
CCDW
Charleston County Democratic Women
February Meeting
Thursday, February 4, 6:00 PM to Socialize
Program Starts at 6:30!
Holiday Inn Riverview in Charleston
Optional Buffet Dinner is $20
Our Featured Speaker will be Charleston Author
Will Moredock
Living in Fear is a selection of his writings with a focus on the way that racial fear has shaped the politics and culture of our state. Also included in this collection is Will’s 7,000 word essay on the origin and future of these fears.
A South Carolina native and Charleston resident, Will is a veteran journalist with stints at The State Newspaper in Columbia and Creative and Loafing in Charlotte. From 2002 till 2012, he wrote a weekly column on South Carolina politics and culture for Charleston City Paper.
His work has appeared in newspapers around the country including the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and Charlotte Observer. He is also the author Banana Republic Revisited: 75 Years of Madness, Mayhem and Minigolf in Myrtle Beach and The Storm – A Story for Children.
Monday, January 18, 2016
The Lee Bright Method
In the interest of bringing the country, or at least the state of South Carolina together, let me extend my admiration to some of our more persistent legislators. Regardless of how many of us are living below the minimum wage, how many children go hungry, how many pregnant women have inadequate heath care, how many of us are killed by guns and die on bad roads, these admirable politicians always have time to dig up another anti-abortion bill.
And it doesn't matter whether the words make sense, or not. They copy those bills right from the national playbook of organizations for which truth has no meaning, like the Life Education Council, that wants to keep facts from pregnant teens and women. Or the National Right to Life Committee, whose website provides "information" on partial-birth abortion and fetal development. Or the Pro-Life Action League, which "saves women" as well as "babies." Not a single one of which organizations promotes better health and education for pregnant women, only the words to prevent them from making their own well-informed decision.
So kudos to Wendy Nanney, whose mission in life has been to force women to carry pregnancies to term after 20-weeks, under the misinformation that fetuses feel pain at twenty weeks. The pain aspect doesn't seem to matter to Wendy when it comes to a woman having to give birth to a severely defective baby that dies minutes after birth, at enormous emotional cost. And financial cost as well, because Wendy Nanney voted against the Affordable Care Act and is against the federal expansion of Medicaid.
Lee Bright may be a dull reflection of his name, but he stays up nights thinking about women and girls having sex and then getting abortions. I'm not sure which of those images -- the sex or the abortion -- turns him on more, but we do know that he is obsessed with the topic. He, as well as fellow obsessives Larry Grooms and Kevin Bryant, can always be counted on to send in another bill, even if it is exactly the same bill as one he submitted weeks or months earlier. I imagine he gets so excited he forgets.
What we end up with is a stunning fifteen or more anti-abortion bills in our legislature for 2016. The absurdly titled "Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act" continues to take up space this year, but we have new bills with excruciating titles. There is the "dismemberment abortion" bill. And the blood-curdling "Defunding the Abortion Industry and Advancing Women's Health Act". The most recent insult is the "Women's Ultrasound Right to Know Act." This in a state with high rates of death by guns, including that of children shooting themselves and others. And in spite of a serious upswing in traffic fatalities as the price of gas goes down and people like Lee Bright refuse to raise the gas tax to repair roads and bridges. A state that in 2014 ranked 41 in teen pregnancy, despite the national trend of lowered teen pregnancy -- hey, somebody's got to hold down the bottom, right? And we can be sure that when Lee gets his way, the rate of infant mortality in South Carolina (currently the 14th highest in the nation), will go even higher.
But I would like to, again, look at the positive. Anti-abortion advocates are ignorant and small-minded, misogynistic and -- have I said ignorant? They may be all that, but they can focus. And I believe that the rest of us (the silent majority) should take our cue from that.
Mia McLeod has introduced an important new bill that speaks volumes to the issue, which is an overabundance of bills focusing on women's bodies. Her bill has caused some republicans to squeal, claiming that, unlike the thousands of bills that have invaded women's reproductive systems, it is a waste of time, "entertaining but kind of sad." I take umbrage at that. This is the legislature that has been investigating Planned Parenthood for a non-existent donor tissue program, and even though no state dollars fund Planned Parenthood. So we would have to go a long way to find a bill that wastes more time than our esteemed republican legislators are willing to waste.
Mia's bill makes a great deal of sense, and could lead to less of a need for all those anti-abortion bills, saving the state lots of time and dollars.
First of all, it is important to make sure that, before taking such drugs, erectile dysfunction is not a psychosomatic problem, so the bill requires a referral to a sex therapist. Just common sense. Along with this, though, it will be important for the therapist to provide information about how erectile dysfunction drugs might lead to unwanted pregnancy.
Also, in order to protect the patient, the bill would require a cardiac stress test, which is critical in light of serious possible side effects, and necessary if our legislators indeed want to protect us from sexually caused problems, like heart attacks, oh, and pregnancy. So it is obvious that along with the stress test, a physician would be required to notify the patient of all potential side effects. I would also add a waiting period so the patient will have time to think about his responsibility when agreeing to take ED drugs.
Finally, the bill requires a notarized affidavit from at least one sexual partner stating that the patient has experienced erectile dysfunction in the last ninety days. I believe, however, that the affidavit should also require that the partner state that having sex with the patient is agreeable to her. After all, how many unwanted sex acts as well as unwanted pregnancies have been caused by men using erectile dysfunction drugs?
Our SC legislators know that, as important as the will of God is to us, it is a no-no for them to bring that up as a reason to pass a bill. So what they do is bring in witnesses to testify that the bill is the will of God; for example, when the mother-and-daughter team testified that God had intervened to prevent mom from having that 20-week abortion, making it obvious that no other woman should have the right to one.
So let me take it upon myself to state the obvious. Men should know that if God wanted them to have erections, He would have given them erections. Erectile dysfunction is a message from God, just as our legislators contend is true of pregnancy. We have no right to mess with God's intention to keep men from having sex by allowing them to have boner drugs.
The most important thing about this bill is that it should open an until-now closed floodgate. Not only should all reasonable legislators in the House run to co-sponsor that bill, but there should be a version of that bill in the Senate. With co-sponsors.
There should be dozens of bills in both House and Senate that truly protect women. I'm talking about bills called the "Women's Medical Privacy Bill," and "Preventing Government Surveillance of Women Act." The "Doctor-Patient Privacy Bill." "Equal Rights for Medicaid Patients." The "Keeping Government Out of the Doctor's Office Act." "Government Interference in Medical Procedures Ban."
You get the idea. So, legislators, we women are fighting for the right to the best medical treatment available, and for privacy in that treatment. It is up to you to step up with Mia McLeod and get some bills introduced.
If it were Lee Bright, that's what he would do.
And it doesn't matter whether the words make sense, or not. They copy those bills right from the national playbook of organizations for which truth has no meaning, like the Life Education Council, that wants to keep facts from pregnant teens and women. Or the National Right to Life Committee, whose website provides "information" on partial-birth abortion and fetal development. Or the Pro-Life Action League, which "saves women" as well as "babies." Not a single one of which organizations promotes better health and education for pregnant women, only the words to prevent them from making their own well-informed decision.
So kudos to Wendy Nanney, whose mission in life has been to force women to carry pregnancies to term after 20-weeks, under the misinformation that fetuses feel pain at twenty weeks. The pain aspect doesn't seem to matter to Wendy when it comes to a woman having to give birth to a severely defective baby that dies minutes after birth, at enormous emotional cost. And financial cost as well, because Wendy Nanney voted against the Affordable Care Act and is against the federal expansion of Medicaid.
Lee Bright may be a dull reflection of his name, but he stays up nights thinking about women and girls having sex and then getting abortions. I'm not sure which of those images -- the sex or the abortion -- turns him on more, but we do know that he is obsessed with the topic. He, as well as fellow obsessives Larry Grooms and Kevin Bryant, can always be counted on to send in another bill, even if it is exactly the same bill as one he submitted weeks or months earlier. I imagine he gets so excited he forgets.
What we end up with is a stunning fifteen or more anti-abortion bills in our legislature for 2016. The absurdly titled "Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act" continues to take up space this year, but we have new bills with excruciating titles. There is the "dismemberment abortion" bill. And the blood-curdling "Defunding the Abortion Industry and Advancing Women's Health Act". The most recent insult is the "Women's Ultrasound Right to Know Act." This in a state with high rates of death by guns, including that of children shooting themselves and others. And in spite of a serious upswing in traffic fatalities as the price of gas goes down and people like Lee Bright refuse to raise the gas tax to repair roads and bridges. A state that in 2014 ranked 41 in teen pregnancy, despite the national trend of lowered teen pregnancy -- hey, somebody's got to hold down the bottom, right? And we can be sure that when Lee gets his way, the rate of infant mortality in South Carolina (currently the 14th highest in the nation), will go even higher.
But I would like to, again, look at the positive. Anti-abortion advocates are ignorant and small-minded, misogynistic and -- have I said ignorant? They may be all that, but they can focus. And I believe that the rest of us (the silent majority) should take our cue from that.
Mia McLeod has introduced an important new bill that speaks volumes to the issue, which is an overabundance of bills focusing on women's bodies. Her bill has caused some republicans to squeal, claiming that, unlike the thousands of bills that have invaded women's reproductive systems, it is a waste of time, "entertaining but kind of sad." I take umbrage at that. This is the legislature that has been investigating Planned Parenthood for a non-existent donor tissue program, and even though no state dollars fund Planned Parenthood. So we would have to go a long way to find a bill that wastes more time than our esteemed republican legislators are willing to waste.
Mia's bill makes a great deal of sense, and could lead to less of a need for all those anti-abortion bills, saving the state lots of time and dollars.
First of all, it is important to make sure that, before taking such drugs, erectile dysfunction is not a psychosomatic problem, so the bill requires a referral to a sex therapist. Just common sense. Along with this, though, it will be important for the therapist to provide information about how erectile dysfunction drugs might lead to unwanted pregnancy.
Also, in order to protect the patient, the bill would require a cardiac stress test, which is critical in light of serious possible side effects, and necessary if our legislators indeed want to protect us from sexually caused problems, like heart attacks, oh, and pregnancy. So it is obvious that along with the stress test, a physician would be required to notify the patient of all potential side effects. I would also add a waiting period so the patient will have time to think about his responsibility when agreeing to take ED drugs.
Finally, the bill requires a notarized affidavit from at least one sexual partner stating that the patient has experienced erectile dysfunction in the last ninety days. I believe, however, that the affidavit should also require that the partner state that having sex with the patient is agreeable to her. After all, how many unwanted sex acts as well as unwanted pregnancies have been caused by men using erectile dysfunction drugs?
Our SC legislators know that, as important as the will of God is to us, it is a no-no for them to bring that up as a reason to pass a bill. So what they do is bring in witnesses to testify that the bill is the will of God; for example, when the mother-and-daughter team testified that God had intervened to prevent mom from having that 20-week abortion, making it obvious that no other woman should have the right to one.
So let me take it upon myself to state the obvious. Men should know that if God wanted them to have erections, He would have given them erections. Erectile dysfunction is a message from God, just as our legislators contend is true of pregnancy. We have no right to mess with God's intention to keep men from having sex by allowing them to have boner drugs.
The most important thing about this bill is that it should open an until-now closed floodgate. Not only should all reasonable legislators in the House run to co-sponsor that bill, but there should be a version of that bill in the Senate. With co-sponsors.
There should be dozens of bills in both House and Senate that truly protect women. I'm talking about bills called the "Women's Medical Privacy Bill," and "Preventing Government Surveillance of Women Act." The "Doctor-Patient Privacy Bill." "Equal Rights for Medicaid Patients." The "Keeping Government Out of the Doctor's Office Act." "Government Interference in Medical Procedures Ban."
You get the idea. So, legislators, we women are fighting for the right to the best medical treatment available, and for privacy in that treatment. It is up to you to step up with Mia McLeod and get some bills introduced.
If it were Lee Bright, that's what he would do.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Democratic Women
With terrorist groups using Donald Trump's hate speeches to encourage terrorism, I would like to suggest a little diversion from the terrifying idea that he or any one of those idiots could be our next president. It is truly too soon after the Dubya years to contemplate.
Instead, let's take a peek at our own SC State Legislature, and the schemes and pranks they have up their sleeves for the coming legislative session.
We do have heroes stepping up to file a bunch of gun control bills (oops, I mean "gun safety"), and a particularly brilliant and much-needed erectile dysfunction bill, the usual nuts and bolts are spewing the usual old-white-christian-male nonsense. I wish December saw them spending more time celebrating the joy of Christmas and less time ruminating on how to take away the rights of all us residents of Whoville.
We have a bill that will protect pastors from the ever present threat that they will be forced to perform a marriage ceremony on a gay couple. There's the one that keeps popping up that would make absolutely sure that our judges will not practice Sharia Law in our South Carolina Courts. And one that will protect us from being overrun by refugees; once they have food and a roof over their heads, I imagine the fear is that the next step will be to establish their own little governments.
Then we have one that would require every school district to display the words "In God We Trust" in every single school in the state. Since they'll be spending the tax dollars on plaques instead of educational materials, maybe our pols figure a miracle is the only way our kids are going to get educated.
Of course, the real red meat for our right wingnuts is women's reproductive rights. How can Lee Bright focus on decorating that tree with little mangers when he is imagining all the infinitesimal little tiny babies in all the women and girls that might not be born? And his buddy in all things despicable, Kevin Bryant, can't hardly say his prayers for imagining what goes on in a woman's body when she has an abortion. Let's not forget Wendy Nanney who represents all the women who want to control women, and her fact-free "pain capable" anti-abortion bill which is likely to start the session right where it left off in June, attempting to force its way into passage.
As half-time of the two-year legislative sport approached, Kevin Bryant tossed out a bill that would ban "dismemberment abortions." And chomping at the bit, during the prefile period, a whole plethora of lunatics signed on to the comedically entitled "Defunding the Abortion Industry and Advancing Women's Health Act." Thanks to the Americans United for Life this bill is spreading around the states like ebola. So as well as pretending the goal of killing Planned Parenthood is to save "babies," the anti-abortion movement has now taken the absolute galling stand of claiming they are protecting women's health.
Well, here's my point.
We need to fight these idiots. They are very small, bitter people who are incapable of seeing the irony or the falsehood of any of this legislation. The same legislators who would like to force women to bring a pregnancy to term work just as hard to make sure that she does not have adequate health care. In the case of working to kill Planned Parenthood, they also want to make sure that women of limited means don't have access to birth control. Many of them will fight to prevent medically accurate sex ed.
Gee, it's almost as though the radical right wing wants to punish girls and women for having sex by making them bear children. And then make them work a low paying job with inadequate child care. And then blame them -- and the kids -- when they have problems.
Family values just don't get screwier than that.
Here in Charleston County, we have a group of Democratic women that are fighting for sanity in our legislature. They support representatives that will work for us, that will fight to protect us from the rabid and rage-filled radicals of the right. And this year they have a goal of joining forces with us to advocate for us in Columbia.
Charleston County Democratic Women (CCDW) meets once a month, on the first Thursday, at the Charleston - Riverview Holiday Inn. You don't have to be a member to enjoy the $20 buffet dinner and the speakers, and you don't have to be a woman. You do have to support the goals that will make lives better for women, which in fact, will improve all our lives.
Membership is $20 annually, and January is membership renewing time. While the cost of the meeting pays only for the dinner, membership goes toward supporting the candidates that will move us forward in South Carolina. Better education for our children, freedom from reproductive tyranny for women and families.
On Thursday, January 7, the speaker will be Dr. Donna Johnson, first female Chair of the MUSC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She will talk about why South Carolina gets an "F" in women's care. And what we can do about it.
Start the year off right by supporting Charleston County Democratic Women, and by joining in the effort to make legislative changes that will in fact advance women's health, and improve the lives of all of us.
You can find Charleston County Democratic Women on Facebook, and get more information about Thursday's meeting.
I hope to see you there.
Instead, let's take a peek at our own SC State Legislature, and the schemes and pranks they have up their sleeves for the coming legislative session.
We do have heroes stepping up to file a bunch of gun control bills (oops, I mean "gun safety"), and a particularly brilliant and much-needed erectile dysfunction bill, the usual nuts and bolts are spewing the usual old-white-christian-male nonsense. I wish December saw them spending more time celebrating the joy of Christmas and less time ruminating on how to take away the rights of all us residents of Whoville.
We have a bill that will protect pastors from the ever present threat that they will be forced to perform a marriage ceremony on a gay couple. There's the one that keeps popping up that would make absolutely sure that our judges will not practice Sharia Law in our South Carolina Courts. And one that will protect us from being overrun by refugees; once they have food and a roof over their heads, I imagine the fear is that the next step will be to establish their own little governments.
Then we have one that would require every school district to display the words "In God We Trust" in every single school in the state. Since they'll be spending the tax dollars on plaques instead of educational materials, maybe our pols figure a miracle is the only way our kids are going to get educated.
Of course, the real red meat for our right wingnuts is women's reproductive rights. How can Lee Bright focus on decorating that tree with little mangers when he is imagining all the infinitesimal little tiny babies in all the women and girls that might not be born? And his buddy in all things despicable, Kevin Bryant, can't hardly say his prayers for imagining what goes on in a woman's body when she has an abortion. Let's not forget Wendy Nanney who represents all the women who want to control women, and her fact-free "pain capable" anti-abortion bill which is likely to start the session right where it left off in June, attempting to force its way into passage.
As half-time of the two-year legislative sport approached, Kevin Bryant tossed out a bill that would ban "dismemberment abortions." And chomping at the bit, during the prefile period, a whole plethora of lunatics signed on to the comedically entitled "Defunding the Abortion Industry and Advancing Women's Health Act." Thanks to the Americans United for Life this bill is spreading around the states like ebola. So as well as pretending the goal of killing Planned Parenthood is to save "babies," the anti-abortion movement has now taken the absolute galling stand of claiming they are protecting women's health.
Well, here's my point.
We need to fight these idiots. They are very small, bitter people who are incapable of seeing the irony or the falsehood of any of this legislation. The same legislators who would like to force women to bring a pregnancy to term work just as hard to make sure that she does not have adequate health care. In the case of working to kill Planned Parenthood, they also want to make sure that women of limited means don't have access to birth control. Many of them will fight to prevent medically accurate sex ed.
Gee, it's almost as though the radical right wing wants to punish girls and women for having sex by making them bear children. And then make them work a low paying job with inadequate child care. And then blame them -- and the kids -- when they have problems.
Family values just don't get screwier than that.
Here in Charleston County, we have a group of Democratic women that are fighting for sanity in our legislature. They support representatives that will work for us, that will fight to protect us from the rabid and rage-filled radicals of the right. And this year they have a goal of joining forces with us to advocate for us in Columbia.
Charleston County Democratic Women (CCDW) meets once a month, on the first Thursday, at the Charleston - Riverview Holiday Inn. You don't have to be a member to enjoy the $20 buffet dinner and the speakers, and you don't have to be a woman. You do have to support the goals that will make lives better for women, which in fact, will improve all our lives.
Membership is $20 annually, and January is membership renewing time. While the cost of the meeting pays only for the dinner, membership goes toward supporting the candidates that will move us forward in South Carolina. Better education for our children, freedom from reproductive tyranny for women and families.
On Thursday, January 7, the speaker will be Dr. Donna Johnson, first female Chair of the MUSC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She will talk about why South Carolina gets an "F" in women's care. And what we can do about it.
Start the year off right by supporting Charleston County Democratic Women, and by joining in the effort to make legislative changes that will in fact advance women's health, and improve the lives of all of us.
You can find Charleston County Democratic Women on Facebook, and get more information about Thursday's meeting.
I hope to see you there.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Abortion Opponents Rehearsed and Camera Ready
This is what I thought about as I tossed and turned for several hours last night:
H 3114, the deceitfully titled, "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," went before the SC Senate yesterday. That afternoon, The State ran a video of a woman -- and her daughter Savannah's -- testimony. Wendy Duke is dignified and well-spoken, and her remarks were carefully prepared. She has written an inspirational book about her daughter's first years, and she is a blogger. She introduces her daughter early on, and 14 1/2 year old Savannah comes to sit by her while her mother continues.
At 21 weeks, Ms. Duke's doctor informed her that there were potentially severe fetal abnormalities. At first glance, it sounds like the recommendation was based on the fact that one leg would be significantly shorter than the other. Listen carefully, though, because it turns out there was also "significant brain abnormality," so the recommendation to consider an abortion was more than responsible and justified.
Before she turns the microphone over to Savannah, Duke concludes, "At 21 weeks gestation, this former fetus' personality had already been established."
Well, no. And therein lies what is outrageous about this testimony. An emotional appeal mixing feelings with facts, combining the terms "fetus" and "personality" as though they actually made sense together, just does not belong in the South Carolina legislature.
Duke's comments were followed by a brief religious screed by her daughter. The camera panned on an anti-abortion pin that she wore prominently, with a photo of something that looked more like a premature infant than a fetus, saying, "20 week preborn child -- Please protect me."
National anti-abortion organizations advising the states have been careful not to frame legislation in religious terms and rather resort to nonsensical medical terms, hence "pain capable" and my favorite, "pre-born." We have heard legislators across this country claim such idiocy as because male fetuses have erections it is an obvious indication of pleasure, so therefore must feel pain. We have been constantly inundated with claims that the fetus appearing to flinch in response to stimuli assumes pain, although pain receptors have not yet been developed.
And here we have the testimony of a truly inspirational parent, and her truly amazing daughter, claiming that without this proposed law, her daughter would not exist. Also not true.
But it is well orchestrated and heart-wrenching. And here it is on video, and making it to the State website.
If you read to the end of the piece, though, you will find testimony by another woman, Jennifer Lane, describing the tremendously difficult decision she had to make in similar circumstances. With a five-year-old daughter, she had to make decisions based on not just the severe brain abnormalities, but also on whether she could care for a child with such limitations while also caring for her young daughter.
It is apparent that Ms Duke had the resources to give great amounts of time, pay for years of medical treatments, and nurture her disabled child without sacrificing her own health. She was able to provide well for her daughter, and to give her all the support that would assure she would excel in her endeavors. She is an exceptional woman, but she also had the freedom to assess her situation and make the best choice for her.
Yet here she is judging other women, each with unique situations -- financial, familial, emotional -- by testifying that there should be a law preventing them from being able to make the choice that she was allowed to make.
To their credit, the subcommittee has asked for medical professionals to make recommendations on an amendment for exceptions for fetal abnormalities and the health of the woman. On the other hand, it assumes that this procedure has been done excessively and frivolously and that a law is needed. And they also seem to have accepted the erroneous claim that this ban is necessary because of fetal pain.
In any event, the subcommittee will be meeting again around April 1, a fitting time for fools to meet. And it will give me a few days to catch up on my sleep.
H 3114, the deceitfully titled, "Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act," went before the SC Senate yesterday. That afternoon, The State ran a video of a woman -- and her daughter Savannah's -- testimony. Wendy Duke is dignified and well-spoken, and her remarks were carefully prepared. She has written an inspirational book about her daughter's first years, and she is a blogger. She introduces her daughter early on, and 14 1/2 year old Savannah comes to sit by her while her mother continues.
At 21 weeks, Ms. Duke's doctor informed her that there were potentially severe fetal abnormalities. At first glance, it sounds like the recommendation was based on the fact that one leg would be significantly shorter than the other. Listen carefully, though, because it turns out there was also "significant brain abnormality," so the recommendation to consider an abortion was more than responsible and justified.
Before she turns the microphone over to Savannah, Duke concludes, "At 21 weeks gestation, this former fetus' personality had already been established."
Well, no. And therein lies what is outrageous about this testimony. An emotional appeal mixing feelings with facts, combining the terms "fetus" and "personality" as though they actually made sense together, just does not belong in the South Carolina legislature.
Duke's comments were followed by a brief religious screed by her daughter. The camera panned on an anti-abortion pin that she wore prominently, with a photo of something that looked more like a premature infant than a fetus, saying, "20 week preborn child -- Please protect me."
National anti-abortion organizations advising the states have been careful not to frame legislation in religious terms and rather resort to nonsensical medical terms, hence "pain capable" and my favorite, "pre-born." We have heard legislators across this country claim such idiocy as because male fetuses have erections it is an obvious indication of pleasure, so therefore must feel pain. We have been constantly inundated with claims that the fetus appearing to flinch in response to stimuli assumes pain, although pain receptors have not yet been developed.
And here we have the testimony of a truly inspirational parent, and her truly amazing daughter, claiming that without this proposed law, her daughter would not exist. Also not true.
But it is well orchestrated and heart-wrenching. And here it is on video, and making it to the State website.
If you read to the end of the piece, though, you will find testimony by another woman, Jennifer Lane, describing the tremendously difficult decision she had to make in similar circumstances. With a five-year-old daughter, she had to make decisions based on not just the severe brain abnormalities, but also on whether she could care for a child with such limitations while also caring for her young daughter.
It is apparent that Ms Duke had the resources to give great amounts of time, pay for years of medical treatments, and nurture her disabled child without sacrificing her own health. She was able to provide well for her daughter, and to give her all the support that would assure she would excel in her endeavors. She is an exceptional woman, but she also had the freedom to assess her situation and make the best choice for her.
Yet here she is judging other women, each with unique situations -- financial, familial, emotional -- by testifying that there should be a law preventing them from being able to make the choice that she was allowed to make.
To their credit, the subcommittee has asked for medical professionals to make recommendations on an amendment for exceptions for fetal abnormalities and the health of the woman. On the other hand, it assumes that this procedure has been done excessively and frivolously and that a law is needed. And they also seem to have accepted the erroneous claim that this ban is necessary because of fetal pain.
In any event, the subcommittee will be meeting again around April 1, a fitting time for fools to meet. And it will give me a few days to catch up on my sleep.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Gun Fantasies
Holiday time, and neither the anti-abortion nuts nor the guns rights idiots could take time off. Weeks before the start of the South Carolina 2015 legislative session, bills were being pre-filed to make sure they were right in the front of the line to trample on our desire for peace and civil liberty.
As far as gun rights and the NRA are concerned, don't ever think you've heard it all. And, as with the anti-abortion war, any recent victory -- or defeat -- will result in more attacks on more fronts.
Since his not-quite-stunning defeat in the US Senate primary against Lindsey Graham, not-so-bright state senator Lee Bright has redoubled his efforts to be South Carolina's most formidable gun nut. If you recall, in the last legislative session, he attempted to top the "guns and liquor" bill by offering up his "guns everywhere" bill. Supporters of the "Constitutional Carry" bill claim that South Carolina is one of the most restrictive states in terms of allowing folks to tote guns, interpreting the lack of express restrictions in most states to mean that gun-toting is allowed, and not that it should be so obvious that guns aren't allowed that there has been no need for express laws banning them in specific situations. The "Firearms Freedom Act" would have kept South Carolina gun manufacturers and owners safe from all those pesky federal laws.
Neither bill passed, but we can count on Bright to come back energized and ready to take up the mantle once again like a warped Don Quixote. And he has been joined by fellow gun nut, Alan Clemmons, who has proposed a required three week Second Amendment curriculum in all public schools, ending in a Second Amendment Awareness Day, with the festivities closing with a poster/essay contest on "The Right to Bear Arms: One American Right Protecting All Others." That's right, because in the America we all grew up in, it's guns that have protected our freedom of speech and our individual rights. Oh, irony, since it's these same goofballs that are continually attacking individual rights. Maybe if we had weapons, women would be free to have private reproductive health care and gays could marry, anyone could vote and poor people would be given a living wage....
Anyway, obviously, the NRA has its hands all over this one.
But wait! Here are some of the other less-than-delectable tidbits from the gun nuts in our state legislature:
Again, the "constitutional carry" bill, which would change breaking the law from carrying a gun to carrying a gun with intent to commit a crime. So, as long as our police officers can spot a crime before it's committed, we're okay.
And because having all South Carolina residents carrying just isn't enough, there is a bill which would allow reciprocity for citizens from other states. Now, here's the thing about this. South Carolina does not allow reciprocity with other states for licensed professionals. South Carolina does not even allow persons from other states with motor vehicle learners permits to drive with licensed SC drivers. But: "Got a gun? Come on in!"
Last year, gun nuts had a resounding success with passage of the bill that allows guns in restaurants and bars. Because you never know when a gunfight will break out at the saloon, and we should all be ready to defend our honor and our shrimp 'n' grits. If you don't look too closely at the numbers of shootings in and around South Carolina, you might think that hasn't been a problem. And if you like the idea of protecting yourself when you take the family out to dinner, you will love the bill that will allow guns to be carried at any college. Because we'll all rest easier knowing our kids are getting their secondary education in a place where there will never be anyone who is stressed out and unstable and feeling the need to bring a gun to school.
The topping on that deadly cake are bills that would remove the fees for applying for, renewing or replacing one's concealed weapons permit, and of course, allowing it to be used as Voter ID.
To end on a more optimistic note, Democrats Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Mia McLeod have filed H 3034 that would require a person to surrender firearms if the courts have determined that he (or she) presents an imminent danger in a domestic abuse situation, with comparable bill S 3 in the Senate; and H 3033, requiring national criminal background checks. I believe I also saw a bill that would create penalties for adults when a child is endangered by a weapon in the home, but I haven't been able to find it again.
Now this is all very confusing for me, as I am sure it is intended. But I did my best, and apologize for any mistakes. The important thing is that we know these bills are up there, and they are going to move forward as long as we don't oppose them. That's how Georgia ended up with its "guns everywhere" law. Our state restaurant association claims not to have know about the bill allowing guns in bars and restaurants. So it will take more than occasional disgruntlement to fight this tsunami. The gun nuts in our legislature know how to rally the gun nuts in the populace. There really aren't as many of them as there are of us, but, as with the fight for reproductive rights, they are loud and persistent, and we need to keep up, and keep shouting. So find out who your legislators are, and let them know, today, tomorrow, and next week, how you feel about people walking around in our communities with deadly weapons, and how you feel about our children being forced to learn untruths about the Second Amendment.
It's not just a matter of quality of life, it's a matter of life and death.
As far as gun rights and the NRA are concerned, don't ever think you've heard it all. And, as with the anti-abortion war, any recent victory -- or defeat -- will result in more attacks on more fronts.
Since his not-quite-stunning defeat in the US Senate primary against Lindsey Graham, not-so-bright state senator Lee Bright has redoubled his efforts to be South Carolina's most formidable gun nut. If you recall, in the last legislative session, he attempted to top the "guns and liquor" bill by offering up his "guns everywhere" bill. Supporters of the "Constitutional Carry" bill claim that South Carolina is one of the most restrictive states in terms of allowing folks to tote guns, interpreting the lack of express restrictions in most states to mean that gun-toting is allowed, and not that it should be so obvious that guns aren't allowed that there has been no need for express laws banning them in specific situations. The "Firearms Freedom Act" would have kept South Carolina gun manufacturers and owners safe from all those pesky federal laws.
Neither bill passed, but we can count on Bright to come back energized and ready to take up the mantle once again like a warped Don Quixote. And he has been joined by fellow gun nut, Alan Clemmons, who has proposed a required three week Second Amendment curriculum in all public schools, ending in a Second Amendment Awareness Day, with the festivities closing with a poster/essay contest on "The Right to Bear Arms: One American Right Protecting All Others." That's right, because in the America we all grew up in, it's guns that have protected our freedom of speech and our individual rights. Oh, irony, since it's these same goofballs that are continually attacking individual rights. Maybe if we had weapons, women would be free to have private reproductive health care and gays could marry, anyone could vote and poor people would be given a living wage....
Anyway, obviously, the NRA has its hands all over this one.
But wait! Here are some of the other less-than-delectable tidbits from the gun nuts in our state legislature:
Again, the "constitutional carry" bill, which would change breaking the law from carrying a gun to carrying a gun with intent to commit a crime. So, as long as our police officers can spot a crime before it's committed, we're okay.
And because having all South Carolina residents carrying just isn't enough, there is a bill which would allow reciprocity for citizens from other states. Now, here's the thing about this. South Carolina does not allow reciprocity with other states for licensed professionals. South Carolina does not even allow persons from other states with motor vehicle learners permits to drive with licensed SC drivers. But: "Got a gun? Come on in!"
Last year, gun nuts had a resounding success with passage of the bill that allows guns in restaurants and bars. Because you never know when a gunfight will break out at the saloon, and we should all be ready to defend our honor and our shrimp 'n' grits. If you don't look too closely at the numbers of shootings in and around South Carolina, you might think that hasn't been a problem. And if you like the idea of protecting yourself when you take the family out to dinner, you will love the bill that will allow guns to be carried at any college. Because we'll all rest easier knowing our kids are getting their secondary education in a place where there will never be anyone who is stressed out and unstable and feeling the need to bring a gun to school.
The topping on that deadly cake are bills that would remove the fees for applying for, renewing or replacing one's concealed weapons permit, and of course, allowing it to be used as Voter ID.
To end on a more optimistic note, Democrats Gilda Cobb-Hunter and Mia McLeod have filed H 3034 that would require a person to surrender firearms if the courts have determined that he (or she) presents an imminent danger in a domestic abuse situation, with comparable bill S 3 in the Senate; and H 3033, requiring national criminal background checks. I believe I also saw a bill that would create penalties for adults when a child is endangered by a weapon in the home, but I haven't been able to find it again.
Now this is all very confusing for me, as I am sure it is intended. But I did my best, and apologize for any mistakes. The important thing is that we know these bills are up there, and they are going to move forward as long as we don't oppose them. That's how Georgia ended up with its "guns everywhere" law. Our state restaurant association claims not to have know about the bill allowing guns in bars and restaurants. So it will take more than occasional disgruntlement to fight this tsunami. The gun nuts in our legislature know how to rally the gun nuts in the populace. There really aren't as many of them as there are of us, but, as with the fight for reproductive rights, they are loud and persistent, and we need to keep up, and keep shouting. So find out who your legislators are, and let them know, today, tomorrow, and next week, how you feel about people walking around in our communities with deadly weapons, and how you feel about our children being forced to learn untruths about the Second Amendment.
It's not just a matter of quality of life, it's a matter of life and death.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Honoring Our Legislators
As the clown car pulls out of the Columbia station, I think we should all take a few moments to reflect on what I believe has been a year of astounding idiocy.
For example, who can ever get enough state symbols? Whenever we start to think there is nothing our legislators can agree on, we can always turn to choosing another state symbol. But wait! This year, we managed to turn a simple request to recognize the Columbian mammoth as state fossil into a battlefield. Just as we keep fighting the Civil War, this was yet another chapter of science versus the bible. Senator Kevin Bryant added an amendment that referred to the animal "as created on the sixth day with the beasts of the field." Not to be outdone, Senator Mike Fair then put a block on the bill based on his failure to grasp the theory of natural selection. These religious objections and aimless incursions into the realms of science are just another day of governing down here; my favorite objection, however, is that we have just too darned many state symbols.
Anyway, my personal opinion about the state symbol debate is that the more time they spend arguing about state-whatevers, the less time they have to do real damage. Like the way they mangled attempts to legalize medical marijuana. Our moral mediocrity members, by way of protecting us from relief of pain in our illnesses, whittled down what should have been a simple bill by creating complexities that Obamacare drafters could only have written in their dreams. Talking out of the other side of the mouths that they use to spout stuff about individual freedom, our legislators showed their concern that we not succumb to the evils of the wicked weed by narrowing the type of oil, its point of origin, the specific type of research, and I believe the hours of the day and days of the month it can be accessed. And probably a dozen or more other stipulations that will keep that plant out of the hands of those in need.
But no prizes to those who worked hard to make the bill meaningless; it's been done already. Right here in South Carolina, in 1980, the South Carolina Controlled Substances and Research Act had so many inclusions and exclusions that it has never actually been used. Not once. While we wait another 35 years for the next attempt at a law that would actually allow people to use medicinal marijuana, we'll just have to keep relying on that oxycodone, the stuff that will get you high and addicted, while PhRMA gets ever richer. Hey, it's legal.
Well, that was a little too heavy for a clown car award, especially if you start to think about the people you know who experience chronic pain, and/or the drug dependency and side effects of oxy use. So I'm not even going to talk about Wendy Nanney's work to become god's crusader for exposing (and controlling) women's medical decisions. But Wendy did give us a lighter moment.
It seems she was driving home one day and noticed a bicyclist do something dangerous. And in the time it took her to get where she was going, she had devised a bill that would require licensing and classes for cyclists. Except that the minute it went public, and to her surprise and consternation, friends of hers in the bicycling community were up in arms; two hours later, the bill went down. Wendy defended her bill by saying that it wasn't really about big government; only those over 15 years old would have to be licensed.
Now this to me is proof that Wendy sincerely cares about life before birth and after age fifteen. Any life falling in between is on its own.
Another heated battle that should not have been was about whether to bring sex ed into the twenty-first century, which for some of our legislators would have been too much too soon, as we never actually made it all the way into the twentieth century. Mike Fair, staunch defender of his own religious distortions, sees no need to bring any education, much less sex education, up to the level of "medically accurate." Seems to me he was back there complaining that "minimally adequate" was too high a standard for educating our children.
The problem may just be that Mike is uncomfortable with the thought that these young kids might end up knowing more than he does. So after months of serious legislators, organizations and constituents fighting to get it to the point of passage, he put a block on the bill. Proving that one idiot can move an entire Senate, and in fact, an entire state -- backwards.
In the final minutes of debate on another bill which attempts to provide much needed awareness to our children, one senator wakes up and rises to ask, "Why are we teaching sexual awareness to our four-year-olds?" The sponsor of the bill informs him that it is not "sexual awareness" but "sexual abuse awareness." Watching this debate, a wise friend commented, "Forget the kids; our legislators need sex ed."
And so it goes; another year down the tubes. If it's any consolation, these guys did approve a raise for themselves. Might be coming out of the savings from denying people food stamps and Medicaid, but it will be well worth it to keep these idiots off the street.
If you have a favorite moment from this year in South Carolina's legislature, please leave a comment and share it with us all. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
For example, who can ever get enough state symbols? Whenever we start to think there is nothing our legislators can agree on, we can always turn to choosing another state symbol. But wait! This year, we managed to turn a simple request to recognize the Columbian mammoth as state fossil into a battlefield. Just as we keep fighting the Civil War, this was yet another chapter of science versus the bible. Senator Kevin Bryant added an amendment that referred to the animal "as created on the sixth day with the beasts of the field." Not to be outdone, Senator Mike Fair then put a block on the bill based on his failure to grasp the theory of natural selection. These religious objections and aimless incursions into the realms of science are just another day of governing down here; my favorite objection, however, is that we have just too darned many state symbols.
Anyway, my personal opinion about the state symbol debate is that the more time they spend arguing about state-whatevers, the less time they have to do real damage. Like the way they mangled attempts to legalize medical marijuana. Our moral mediocrity members, by way of protecting us from relief of pain in our illnesses, whittled down what should have been a simple bill by creating complexities that Obamacare drafters could only have written in their dreams. Talking out of the other side of the mouths that they use to spout stuff about individual freedom, our legislators showed their concern that we not succumb to the evils of the wicked weed by narrowing the type of oil, its point of origin, the specific type of research, and I believe the hours of the day and days of the month it can be accessed. And probably a dozen or more other stipulations that will keep that plant out of the hands of those in need.
But no prizes to those who worked hard to make the bill meaningless; it's been done already. Right here in South Carolina, in 1980, the South Carolina Controlled Substances and Research Act had so many inclusions and exclusions that it has never actually been used. Not once. While we wait another 35 years for the next attempt at a law that would actually allow people to use medicinal marijuana, we'll just have to keep relying on that oxycodone, the stuff that will get you high and addicted, while PhRMA gets ever richer. Hey, it's legal.
Well, that was a little too heavy for a clown car award, especially if you start to think about the people you know who experience chronic pain, and/or the drug dependency and side effects of oxy use. So I'm not even going to talk about Wendy Nanney's work to become god's crusader for exposing (and controlling) women's medical decisions. But Wendy did give us a lighter moment.
It seems she was driving home one day and noticed a bicyclist do something dangerous. And in the time it took her to get where she was going, she had devised a bill that would require licensing and classes for cyclists. Except that the minute it went public, and to her surprise and consternation, friends of hers in the bicycling community were up in arms; two hours later, the bill went down. Wendy defended her bill by saying that it wasn't really about big government; only those over 15 years old would have to be licensed.
Now this to me is proof that Wendy sincerely cares about life before birth and after age fifteen. Any life falling in between is on its own.
 |
| Wendy Nanney -- You have to be this tall to be required to get a bicycle license. |
The problem may just be that Mike is uncomfortable with the thought that these young kids might end up knowing more than he does. So after months of serious legislators, organizations and constituents fighting to get it to the point of passage, he put a block on the bill. Proving that one idiot can move an entire Senate, and in fact, an entire state -- backwards.
In the final minutes of debate on another bill which attempts to provide much needed awareness to our children, one senator wakes up and rises to ask, "Why are we teaching sexual awareness to our four-year-olds?" The sponsor of the bill informs him that it is not "sexual awareness" but "sexual abuse awareness." Watching this debate, a wise friend commented, "Forget the kids; our legislators need sex ed."
And so it goes; another year down the tubes. If it's any consolation, these guys did approve a raise for themselves. Might be coming out of the savings from denying people food stamps and Medicaid, but it will be well worth it to keep these idiots off the street.
If you have a favorite moment from this year in South Carolina's legislature, please leave a comment and share it with us all. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Fun Home -- A Legislative Tragicomic
If you haven't yet read Fun Home, the graphic autobiographical novel by Alison Bechtel, you should be happy to know that the waiting list at our library is only 17, since they recently got in a slew more copies. And even though this is a book we all should read, we owe its current popularity (its copyright is 2006) to our South Carolina legislature.
Just as they claim to be experts on medicine and science in general, this bunch has now weighed in with their expertise in literature. Mind you, most of them haven't read the book. It appears that out of 232 pages, someone was shown one of two pages that depicted a sexual act (and not all that graphically I might add). And that's really all it took for idiots like Larry Grooms and Mike Fair to begin this newest battle in their war on education. In defense of his position, Fair refers to a state law against "the abominable act of buggery," which a) gives you an idea of how backward and perverse the man is, and b) is proof that he hasn't read the book.
In fact, this is an award-winning piece of literature written by an adult who explores in depth her relationships with her family and particularly with her father. Issues about belonging, trying to do the right thing, and those coping mechanisms we resort to when we are lost. So many complex questions of sexuality that we should all think about, and discuss, critically and with sensitivity. It would be a feather in the cap of South Carolina's legislators to promote the freedom of educators to include this in recommended reading. And it sure wouldn't hurt anyone if it were required reading.
Because the people who force us to accept prayer in public places and legislate their faux science based on their right-wing interpretation of the bible don't think that professors should have the same right to expose students to different ideas. I mean, of course, different from the legislators' own. This controversy and the heavy-handed manner in which the most ignorant of our "representatives" have forced their opinion on our educational institutions should be a red flag.
Recently a bill to introduce the Columbian Mammoth as the state fossil was held up by religious freaks like Kevin Bryant who felt the need to add amendments recognizing God for creating the woolly mammoth.
While such stories are good fun to those who are peeking at us through the bars, being here and knowing that our legislators have so little knowledge and are so comfortable throwing their weight around is tiresome if not plain scary. Raising children in a state in which our lawmakers want to be sure evolution is taught as part of a debate against intelligent design and in which books from Harry Potter to Fun Home have come under fire is tragic. The great loss is that the world around us may be growing in insight and understanding while we stumble backwards, clinging fearfully to superstitions and suspicion.
And the fire that was started by the ill-conceived controversy over Fun Home is not just about reading matter. It is about understanding and tolerance of life styles, recognition of our inter-relatedness, and inspiration through new ideas. It is about living together and moving forward. Sadly, our lawmakers are more inclined to attack those who are different or hold different beliefs. In a very small way, it gives them power. And makes us all feel that much more insignificant in the context of the world.
The way we here in the South have reacted to this rigidity is to cling even more fiercely to old ideas, become more defensive and hostile to other ideas, and continue to vote into office people who will protect us from the outside. We do have representatives that speak out against dogma and for that I am thankful. But more of us need to speak more loudly for reason and tolerance, for critical thinking and insight, for the freedom to seek and share other points of view. And we need to elect more legislators who are proud to fight for those principles.
Just as they claim to be experts on medicine and science in general, this bunch has now weighed in with their expertise in literature. Mind you, most of them haven't read the book. It appears that out of 232 pages, someone was shown one of two pages that depicted a sexual act (and not all that graphically I might add). And that's really all it took for idiots like Larry Grooms and Mike Fair to begin this newest battle in their war on education. In defense of his position, Fair refers to a state law against "the abominable act of buggery," which a) gives you an idea of how backward and perverse the man is, and b) is proof that he hasn't read the book.
In fact, this is an award-winning piece of literature written by an adult who explores in depth her relationships with her family and particularly with her father. Issues about belonging, trying to do the right thing, and those coping mechanisms we resort to when we are lost. So many complex questions of sexuality that we should all think about, and discuss, critically and with sensitivity. It would be a feather in the cap of South Carolina's legislators to promote the freedom of educators to include this in recommended reading. And it sure wouldn't hurt anyone if it were required reading.
Because the people who force us to accept prayer in public places and legislate their faux science based on their right-wing interpretation of the bible don't think that professors should have the same right to expose students to different ideas. I mean, of course, different from the legislators' own. This controversy and the heavy-handed manner in which the most ignorant of our "representatives" have forced their opinion on our educational institutions should be a red flag.
Recently a bill to introduce the Columbian Mammoth as the state fossil was held up by religious freaks like Kevin Bryant who felt the need to add amendments recognizing God for creating the woolly mammoth.
While such stories are good fun to those who are peeking at us through the bars, being here and knowing that our legislators have so little knowledge and are so comfortable throwing their weight around is tiresome if not plain scary. Raising children in a state in which our lawmakers want to be sure evolution is taught as part of a debate against intelligent design and in which books from Harry Potter to Fun Home have come under fire is tragic. The great loss is that the world around us may be growing in insight and understanding while we stumble backwards, clinging fearfully to superstitions and suspicion.
And the fire that was started by the ill-conceived controversy over Fun Home is not just about reading matter. It is about understanding and tolerance of life styles, recognition of our inter-relatedness, and inspiration through new ideas. It is about living together and moving forward. Sadly, our lawmakers are more inclined to attack those who are different or hold different beliefs. In a very small way, it gives them power. And makes us all feel that much more insignificant in the context of the world.
The way we here in the South have reacted to this rigidity is to cling even more fiercely to old ideas, become more defensive and hostile to other ideas, and continue to vote into office people who will protect us from the outside. We do have representatives that speak out against dogma and for that I am thankful. But more of us need to speak more loudly for reason and tolerance, for critical thinking and insight, for the freedom to seek and share other points of view. And we need to elect more legislators who are proud to fight for those principles.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
The Last Gasp of the Columbian Mammoth
I don't want to suggest that making the Columbian Mammoth the state fossil wasn't a hard fought victory; after all, it came to having to decide once and for all whether the earth is 6,000 years old. But we managed a compromise between religion and science and we can rest easy about our State Fossil. Which thankfully continues to make science in this great state a matter of opinion.
But still on the horizon are some horrendous and stinky bills, that are being pushed through in the last weeks of the session. This week coming up are anti-abortion bills that masquerade as anything from protecting women from assault to protecting 20-week-old fetuses from feeling pain that they are physiologically incapable of feeling. And just added to the roster is a bill that would add regulations to birth centers that would restrict the practice of midwives. And another bill proposes to protect the rights of public schools to display religious symbols that represent holidays, once again keeping Christmas safe.
So here is a brief rundown:
In the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, Thursday 4/10, 9:30, 407 Gressette:
But still on the horizon are some horrendous and stinky bills, that are being pushed through in the last weeks of the session. This week coming up are anti-abortion bills that masquerade as anything from protecting women from assault to protecting 20-week-old fetuses from feeling pain that they are physiologically incapable of feeling. And just added to the roster is a bill that would add regulations to birth centers that would restrict the practice of midwives. And another bill proposes to protect the rights of public schools to display religious symbols that represent holidays, once again keeping Christmas safe.
So here is a brief rundown:
In the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, Thursday 4/10, 9:30, 407 Gressette:
S 83 is the personhood bill, stating that life begins at fertilization.
S 457 is pretty much the same nonsense, as far as I can tell.
S 527 pretends that it wants to protect pregnant women from violence by allowing them use deadly force against an assailant. THE TRICK IS THAT THE FETUS IS DEFINED AS AN UNBORN CHILD, WHICH SETS THE PRECEDENT FOR PERSONHOOD IF PASSED. Nice try, sleazoids.Subcommittee members are: Campsen (ch), Hutto, Gregory, Allen, Hembree.
* * * * *
Also in the Senate, the Medical Affairs Subcommittee Wednesday, 4/9, at 9 a.m., will hear debate on H 4223. This is the 20-week abortion ban, falsely called the "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act." THIS BILL HAS PASSED THE HOUSE. It is crucial that we be heard in the Senate on this bill. Members of the subcommittee are: Ray Cleary (ch), Hutto, Bright, Tom Davis, Kevin Johnson.
* * * * *
H 4458 will be heard by the House Committee on Education and Public Works. This bill, which goes by the inoffensive title of "Winter Holidays" opens the door to religious symbolism in public schools, pretending that all religions would get equal representation, and that this is for the purpose of education rather than indoctrination. This meeting will be held on Wednesday, 4/9.
* * * * *
H 5002 is a late-to-the-party attempt to restrict midwives through "accreditation" and "addressing professional requirements for staff members (at birth centers) who provide patient care." You can't convince me that this doesn't also have an anti-abortion/contraception hidden agenda, although I can't prove it.
* * * * *
At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna, I am going to end with some potentially good news.
H 3435, the Comprehensive Health Education Act, has had its first reading on the House floor and could be called up for a vote as early as Tuesday. This bill proposes upgrading school standards for health education to "medically accurate." This is a good thing, and it seems to have a bit of momentum. Which means you should call your legislators in the House and give them that little extra encouragement to vote yes, and bring our health education system out of the Stone Age, which is even older than the age of our State Fossil.
Finally, I would like to apologize for any errors. I find this whole process terrible confusing, and wonder if that is part of the grand plan.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
In Honor Of Woman's History Month...
In honor of Woman's History Month, our legislators are working on bills that will take South Carolina back to 1960:
It's an era that's never been too far from our hearts and minds. So go ahead and give your legislator a call as he gets ready to vote on bills that will keep you barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Twenty-Week Abortion Ban Bill -- Update
I am on my way out of town -- and a needed respite from politics -- but I want to send out important information about H 4223, the falsely named "pain capable" abortion bill.
At this point, after an extensive subcommittee hearing, the bill was approved by a vote of 2-1, and now goes to the House Judiciary, which may hear this bill as early as next week.
You can find a list of the members of the Judiciary Committee at SC Statehouse. Here is how to send a message:
Click on a name to get to their page.
Click on "Send Message to..."
Type in your message. (Note: You can write your message in Word, then copy and paste it in the message area. This way, you can copy the same message to as many members as you like. The more you can contact, the better.)
Send.
I urge you to send messages to: your own representatives, any representatives who may know you personally, representatives who may be more receptive to the message.
Here are some important points:
First of all, The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has testified that a fetus cannot feel pain until 29-30 weeks, at which time thalamocortical connections have been developed.
Only a very small percentage (1%) of abortions occur this late. Those that occur are because of serious abnormalities discovered that indicate risk to the woman, or fetal impairment, miscarriage or stillbirth. Due to these life-threatening complications, such late abortions occur in what would otherwise be wanted pregnancies.
It is imperative that a physician be allowed to exercise their professional expertise and judgment, without fear of governmental reprisal, in advising a woman of these potential risks and recommending the best possible course of action.
It is essential that a woman experiencing complications during pregnancy has access to the best possible medical care, without fear of government interference.
There is no place in a woman's pregnancy that should be determined by government mandate.
Write your representatives. Write a letter to the editor. Talk to your friends, family, co-workers.
Let's all work to stop this intrusive piece of legislation.
At this point, after an extensive subcommittee hearing, the bill was approved by a vote of 2-1, and now goes to the House Judiciary, which may hear this bill as early as next week.
You can find a list of the members of the Judiciary Committee at SC Statehouse. Here is how to send a message:
Click on a name to get to their page.
Click on "Send Message to..."
Type in your message. (Note: You can write your message in Word, then copy and paste it in the message area. This way, you can copy the same message to as many members as you like. The more you can contact, the better.)
Send.
I urge you to send messages to: your own representatives, any representatives who may know you personally, representatives who may be more receptive to the message.
Here are some important points:
First of all, The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has testified that a fetus cannot feel pain until 29-30 weeks, at which time thalamocortical connections have been developed.
Only a very small percentage (1%) of abortions occur this late. Those that occur are because of serious abnormalities discovered that indicate risk to the woman, or fetal impairment, miscarriage or stillbirth. Due to these life-threatening complications, such late abortions occur in what would otherwise be wanted pregnancies.
It is imperative that a physician be allowed to exercise their professional expertise and judgment, without fear of governmental reprisal, in advising a woman of these potential risks and recommending the best possible course of action.
It is essential that a woman experiencing complications during pregnancy has access to the best possible medical care, without fear of government interference.
There is no place in a woman's pregnancy that should be determined by government mandate.
Write your representatives. Write a letter to the editor. Talk to your friends, family, co-workers.
Let's all work to stop this intrusive piece of legislation.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
When Born Children Are Dying
The pompous idiots at our SC State Legislature have been going at it with gusto again this year. Liston Barfield of Horry County has introduced H 3324, which would create a commission to study the creation of an "unborn children's monument." We might consider this an adjunct to the ever popular H3323, Barfield's House version (same as the Senate version) of the Personhood Amendment.
Before we get all paranoid about the expansion of the right-wing-nut arm of the Christian movement, let me explain that these dudes have been offering these amendments every year for some time now. In fact, in 2009, our own Wendell Gilliard cosponsored the monument bill. Let's all hope that he has matured and understands the difference between right-wing-nut "freedom" and democratic "freedom."
The personhood bill would guarantee the right to life for all born and "preborn" human beings. Unlike a "preowned" used car, a "preborn" human being is a fetus without any miles on it. Basically, it's a ridiculous made up word to try to justify the belief that life is the same before birth as after birth. Be aware that the only thing this bill promises is the right to life. Not health care, not a roof over a woman's head while the fetus is growing, not a nutritious diet. Just "life."
The Post and Courier headline yesterday tells us that in Greater Charleston black infants died at a much higher rate than white infants in 2011, which researchers attribute to poverty and other sociological factors. The article talks about the number of children that die before their first birthday. For the state, there are approximately 8 deaths per 1,000 infants under one year of age.
Isn't it appalling that Barfield and the other idiots who brag on their Christianity are wasting so much of their positions of responsibility working to shame women who choose not to bear a child, rather than improve and maybe increase the chances of life among those babies who have been born?
Before we get all paranoid about the expansion of the right-wing-nut arm of the Christian movement, let me explain that these dudes have been offering these amendments every year for some time now. In fact, in 2009, our own Wendell Gilliard cosponsored the monument bill. Let's all hope that he has matured and understands the difference between right-wing-nut "freedom" and democratic "freedom."
The personhood bill would guarantee the right to life for all born and "preborn" human beings. Unlike a "preowned" used car, a "preborn" human being is a fetus without any miles on it. Basically, it's a ridiculous made up word to try to justify the belief that life is the same before birth as after birth. Be aware that the only thing this bill promises is the right to life. Not health care, not a roof over a woman's head while the fetus is growing, not a nutritious diet. Just "life."
The Post and Courier headline yesterday tells us that in Greater Charleston black infants died at a much higher rate than white infants in 2011, which researchers attribute to poverty and other sociological factors. The article talks about the number of children that die before their first birthday. For the state, there are approximately 8 deaths per 1,000 infants under one year of age.
Isn't it appalling that Barfield and the other idiots who brag on their Christianity are wasting so much of their positions of responsibility working to shame women who choose not to bear a child, rather than improve and maybe increase the chances of life among those babies who have been born?
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