Cathi Herrod’s outrage over the FDA is yet another exposition of the narcissism, authoritarianism at the heart of the anti-choice movement

monica miller
What, you thought it was about “saving babies”?

Thanks to the 1992 Supreme Court decision, Planned Parenthood v Casey, that made a “mess” of jurisprudence around abortion, GOP-led states have had largely free reign to pass intrusive restrictions on women’s health care under the guise of “health and safety”. While these laws are sometimes blocked by courts, anti-choicers continue to revive them, wasting millions of dollars in the process, in the hopes of exhausting opponents and/or getting more favorable court decisions as Republicans continue to stack the nation’s courts with ideologically friendly judges.

One such law was Arizona’s requirement that abortion doctors use outdated FDA protocol in dispensing abortion pills. The original label from 2000 recommended use of the pills only until the seventh week of pregnancy. But FDA guidelines are not laws and physicians commonly experiment with different levels and uses of medication to do what’s best for their patients. This is typical with many types of medications, not just for abortion. Arizona anti-choicers first tried to override the judgment of doctors on medication abortion in 2012, but were thwarted in court. This year, under Governor Doug Ducey, who is arguably even more anti-choice than his predecessor Jan Brewer, they brought it back as SB1324, which Ducey signed last week.

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The punishment that awaits women in Arizona for abortion

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If you haven’t watched it yet, the Thursday night Rachel Maddow abortion segment is a must-see for how brilliantly the MSNBC anchor eviscerates the disingenuous claim by the glib professional anti-choicers that they don’t intend to make criminals of women under criminal abortion bans and for how she takes the Beltway pundit class to task for the way they have allowed said glib professional anti-choicers to lie flagrantly about that in response to Donald Trump’s comments indicating his support for punishing women at a town hall on Wednesday.

But the Beltway knuckleheads aren’t the only ones deserving of a stern tongue-lashing. There are several prominent media people here in Arizona who were all too eager to run with some bullshit Planned Parenthood “sting” videos, produced by known anti-choice lying creeps, last summer. That was some highly titillating stuff for them, warranting several TV spots, angst-ridden newspaper editorials, and the burning question of whether Planned Parenthood was “toxic” to Dem electeds on the Sunday Square Off political show. Strangely, there’s been no mention this Trump statement in local media, despite the winner of the Arizona GOP Presidential primary (by a lot) having been endorsed by such luminaries as Joe Arpaio and Jan Brewer.

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FDA clowns Center for AZ Policy, other anti-choicers, with new medication abortion labeling guideline

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Ha ha, losers.
The sex-obsessed theocrats at Center for Arizona Policy thought they had scored another big win on the harlot-punishing front by passing SB1324 and sending it to Governor Ducey’s desk on Monday. The bill would require doctors to use outdated FDA label recommendations when dispensing abortion medication. Here’s CAP pretending to care oh-so-much about women in a “fact” sheet about the bill:

Currently in Arizona, abortion providers do not dispense the dangerous and deadly abortion pill in compliance with the protocol approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The abortion pill, also known as RU-486, Mifeprex, or mifepristone, was approved under a special section of the FDA’s rules reserved for drugs that the FDA does not believe can be distributed safely without following certain restrictions.[i] Thus, the FDA approved mifepristone only if it is dispensed following specific guidelines, which are contained in the drug’s prescribing information and label.[ii]

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Houston indictments of anti-choice smear merchants show how their claims fall apart under the slightest scrutiny

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Center for Arizona Policy, not dealing well with Monday’s news

So many anti-choicers were having a bad day on Monday with the announcement that a Republican witch hunt of Planned Parenthood in Harris County, Texas had gone hilariously awry, with the perpetrators of the video “sting” being indicted by the grand jury while Planned Parenthood was cleared, that it’s difficult to pick just one to highlight but I’ll go with Andrew Napolitano of Fox News. Napolitano, a former judge, had a meltdown over a Republican prosecutor not just going after Planned Parenthood out of opposition to legal abortion irrespective of whatever evidence came forth in the case.

“The grand jury does not turn around and indict your witnesses, the people who brought you the case, without the prosecutor wanting this to happen!” Napolitano exclaimed.

He continued: “So, why would this prosecutor, appointed by Gov. [Rick] Perry, a former judge, a Republican woman, why would this prosecutor want to do this other than to send a message like, ‘I might be a Republican but leave Planned Parenthood alone’?”

“Leave it alone?” Napolitano shouted. “They’re using tax dollars to kill babies and sell their body parts!”

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Center for Arizona Policy ignores the biggest threat to “moms and dads” in denouncing same sex marriage ruling.

Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

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The Supreme Court voted to legalize marriage equality in the entire United States and the God-botherers at the Center for Arizona Policy reacted with the all the subtlety you would expect.

Historically Tragic: Supreme Court says moms and dads are unnecessary
Friday, June 26, 2015
Statement from Center for Arizona Policy Vice President of Policy and General Counsel, Josh Kredit

PHOENIX – “Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision is historically tragic. The High Court has disregarded the democratic process by stripping all Americans of their ability to debate and decide marriage policy.

What’s more, by throwing out the time-tested definition of marriage as only the union of one man and one woman, the Court has said that children don’t deserve the best opportunity to be raised by their mom and dad.

This isn’t the first time the Supreme Court has overstepped its role, and just like before, this will not be the final word on this issue. The U.S. Constitution is absolutely silent on the definition of marriage which makes it all the more egregious for five justices to brush aside the votes of tens of millions of voters throughout the country.

The U.S. Supreme Court can never change the fundamental truth that the lifelong union of one man and one woman is at the foundation of a strong state and nation. Center for Arizona Policy is committed to seeing this essential union strengthened and reaffirmed to secure a better future for generations to come.”

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