Civil & Human Rights

“Reasonable” anti-choice law led to AZ Dept of Health demanding to inspect a woman’s home

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

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I recently had this little dudebro who supports Ethan Orr (R-Tucson) for reelection to LD09 House mansplain to me how Orr’s motivation for voting for HB2284 this past session, which would allow surprise warrantless inspections on abortion clinics, was “reasonable”, as if those of us who were angered by it were being hysterical overreacting bitches.

Welp.

NARAL AZ, and its Executive Director Kat Sabine, are being represented by the ACLU in their complaint against the Arizona Department of Health Services. Here is their press release:

Arizona Health Officials Cannot Use Inspections for Intimidation, Harassment

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014

CONTACT: Steve Kilar, ACLU of Arizona, 602-773-6007, skilar@acluaz.org

PHOENIX – Following a threat by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to search the home of a reproductive rights leader, the ACLU of Arizona is demanding records that will help establish whether intimidation tactics are routinely being used by the department against reproductive health service providers.

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Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds same-sex marriage bans in split decision; SCOTUS review now almost a certainty

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EqualA panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals today in a split decision decided to go against the tide of history and upheld same-sex marriage bans in four states.

Barring an en banc review reversal by the full appellate court, the U.S. Supreme Court is almost certain to have to review this ruling, and can no longer avoid having to make a final decision on whether constitutional equal protection applies to gays and lesbians. These cases also include a challenge to Section 2 of DOMA, which raises the constitutional question of the Full Faith and Credit Clause requiring states to recognize lawful same-sex marriages from other states.

Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog reports Sixth Circuit: The split on same-sex marriage:

Breaking ranks with a wide array of other federal courts, and coming close to setting up almost certain review by the Supreme Court, a divided federal appeals court in Cincinnati on Thursday upheld bans (.pdf) on same-sex marriage in four states.  Dividing two-to-one, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned lower court rulings in cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

Probably the only way that this ruling would not predictably lead to Supreme Court review, it appears, is if there is a request for en banc review in the Sixth Circuit, and that request is granted.

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Measuring for the drapes on the 9th Floor

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HerrodSo “Cathi’s Clown” Doug Ducey, “hired by Koch Industries to manage their Southwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Arizona,” to paraphrase Charles Pierce, is now the governor-elect of Arizona.

I’m curious. Has Cathi Herrod started measuring for the drapes in her corner office on the 9th Floor?

From the Yellow Sheet, Rumor mill: Churn, baby, churn:

Many Republicans celebrating last night (Nov. 4) already had accurate measurements of the Governor’s Office windows, with key cabinet positions all but guaranteed for some.

Cathi Herrod has already promised to bring back a new version of SB 1062, the “get out of jail free” card for hatin’ on the gays and anyone else you dislike, based upon one’s personal “deeply held religious beliefs.” Freedom to discriminate is a “religious liberty” in her bizarro world. But WWJD?

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Why don’t Democrats win in Arizona? Answer: Not enough Democratic voters

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Crossposted at DemocraticDiva.com

canvassingPhoto: IPrecinct.us

Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns & Money wants Democrats to stop trying to woo old white people who hate them:

So what’s up? I think there are a few really important points. Democrats need to just stop trying to appeal to old white people. White men voted for the GOP 64-34. It is a loser strategy. This demographic overwhelmingly votes GOP. Alison Grimes, who ran an utterly pathetic and embarrassing campaign, refusing to say whether she voted for President Obama is the prototype of how not to do it. No one is going to believe you. Heard a bunch about the North Carolina race last night and all the discussion about how Ebola, ISIS, and immigration dominated voters’ agenda. When I hear those three things in this context, I hear three words: racism, racism, and racism. And the Supreme Court supporting racist policies to restrict blacks from voting by eviscerating the Voting Rights Act allowed racists to indeed restrict black voting in meaningful ways that may well have swung North Carolina to the execrable Thom Tillis. Developing entire political campaigns to swing a few of these voters to the Democrats isn’t going to work–as we saw quite clearly last night.

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Live Blogging Election Results

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In an hour, the polls will close. The big question is: Will dark money from the Koch Brothers and their multinational corporate brothers win or will the people win? Will millions of dollars — more than $25 million to buy each Senate seat for Republicans and more than $15 million in Arizona for Republicans — take this … Read more