An old adage proves true

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

For Pro-Life (Forced Birth) advocates, "Life begins at conception and ends at birth."

This old adage proved true on Tuesday in the Arizona legislature. Two reports in the newspapers today should be juxtaposed side-by-side to make this point.

On a 20-10 margin, the state Senate voted Tuesday to ban virtually all abortions at 20 weeks of gestation, a measure that Planned Parenthood Arizona says makes it the most restrictive in the nation. Arizona Senate votes to ban abortions after 20 weeks – East Valley Tribune:

The vote came over objections of foes to HB 2036 who have argued that the question of terminating a pregnancy should be left to a woman and her doctor, without legislative intervention.

This is the "strike everything" amendment sponsored by Rep. Kimberly Yee (R-Phoenix) on behalf of Center for Arizona Policy aka the Christian Taliban. This is CAP's main legislative initiative this year. The bill did not get a hearing in House committees, so it was rammed through the Senate by way of this "striker" to bypass the House committees. Tuesday's vote sends the measure to the House which has not considered the issue.

Michael Bryan addressed the "legislation making performing an abortion at 20 weeks or beyond a Class 1 misdemeanor which can result in six months in jail" in an earlier post.

The attempt by Tea-Publicans to impose their religious dogma on people of other religious faiths, or of no religious faith, through the force of law in violation of First Amendment religious freedom is self-evident from the comments during debate:

"There's a third person in that room,'' said Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler. "There's the baby. Who speaks for her, the totally innocent one with no voice? Who has the duty and the right to speak for her? We do.''

* * *

Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, put the issue on a larger scale. "I would like to listen to the 50 million-plus children that have been aborted and killed since Roe v. Wade,'' he said, referring to the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which concluded that women have a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. "I would like to listen to what they think of this bill.''

Ah yes, Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, the tool who wants to treat the unemployed as criminal suspects and subject them all to drug testing, conditioning their receipt of unemployment benefits to which they are entitled on passing a drug test for which they get the privilege of paying, adding insult to the injury of losing their job. GOP war on the unemployed advances in House committee.

Which brings me to the second story in newspapers today. Legislation would make it harder to get unemployment benefits in Arizona – East Valley Tribune:

Arizonans who lose their jobs through no fault of their own will have to do more to look for work to qualify for unemployment benefits under the terms of a measure given preliminary Senate approval on Tuesday.

* * *

HB 2519 would add a requirement that the recipient has engaged in a "systematic and sustained effort'' to obtain work at least four days a week and made at least three work search contacts during the week.

The legislation also would nearly double the amount someone had to earn in a three-month period to collect benefits. The net results would make it harder for some who were not working full time to get any help.

* * *

Under the current law, someone needs to have earned $1,500 over a quarter to get any benefits. HB 2519 would peg that to the minimum wage, a computation that would take the minimum immediately to more than $2,900 a quarter.

"When you have folks that are out there struggling, you're going to make it difficult for them to obtain unemployment benefits?'' asked Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix.

"Arizona is better than this,'' Gallardo said. "We should not turn our backs on folks that are struggling right now.''

* * *

The legislation also says anyone who fails a drug test by a prospective employer would be considered available for work and therefore would forfeit benefits for that week. The same penalty would apply to someone who is out of work and refuses to submit to a drug test.

* * *

Gallardo also noted that the law would give employers seven days to provide final pay to a laid-off worker; the current requirement is three.

Tea-Publicans are only concerned about your life when you are in the womb. Once you arrive, you are on your own baby! Tea-Publicans resent paying for health care, education and social services that you may require during your lifetime. You should simply die "and decrease the surplus population," as Ebeneezer Scrooge said.