Civil & Human Rights

The legislature’s attempt to defund Planned Parenthood before the U.S. Supreme Court

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

TalibanLast November the state of Arizona petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the Arizona legislature's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood of Arizona as a family planning service under Medicaid (AHCCCS) on the specious argument that it also separately provides for abortion services. Providing funding to the family planning services side of Planned Parenthood allegedly "indirectly" subsidizes the separately maintained and accounted for abortion services of Planned Parenthood.

State and federal law have long prohibited public funding of abortions, hence the separation of services and separate accounting by Planned Parenthood. Should the state of Arizona succeed on its specious claim, many areas of the state would lose family planning services because Planned Parenthood is the only provider in those areas. Planned Parenthood also provides wellness services for such things as cancer screening for cervical and breast cancers, and a host of other services. In effect, the Arizona legislature, at the behest of Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP), would deny low income Arizona women access to basic health care and family planning services.

The case is Tom Betlach, Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, et al., v. Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc., et al. (Docket 13-621). A responsive brief was due on January 21, 2014.

Hedges: What Obama Really Meant on NSA Surveillance

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Posted by Bob Lord I received a little pushback on Debate on Snowden Over, So Why No Pardon? My only suggestion to those who don't see it my way is to check out Chris Hedges post today, What Obama Really Meant Was… The post, written as if Obama is the writer, is long, but awesome. It's … Read more

Why Marriage Matters Arizona Community Meeting

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Announcement from Why Marriage Matters Arizona: Why Marriage Matters Arizona, Open Community MeetingThursday, January 23, 6pm – 8pmHimmel Park Library1035 N. Treat Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85716(520) 594-5305 Why Marriage Matters Arizona (WMMAz) will host an open community meeting to discuss the campaign's progress in Arizona. WMMAz is a grassroots public education campaign to build support … Read more

Virginia is for lovers: Marriage Equality cases on the docket

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

EqualThe Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals is being asked to put the Utah and Oklahoma marriage equality cases on a parallel track, as expected. Tenth Circuit is asked to put Oklahoma and Utah marriage equality cases on a parallel track. Briefs are due in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case of Sevcik v. Sandoval later this month.

Media attention is about to turn to the state of Virginia, where a high profile case led by the Prop. 8 "Dream Team" of David Boise and Ted Olson is scheduled for a hearing on January 30. Va. quickly emerging as key in gay marriage fight:

Almost overnight, Virginia has emerged as a critical state in the nationwide fight to grant gay men and women the right to wed.

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Two federal lawsuits challenging the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage are moving forward, and a hearing on one of the cases is scheduled for Jan. 30.

With the recent court gains in Utah and Oklahoma, gay rights advocates are heartened by the new mood in Virginia. Symbolically as well, they say, the challenges of the state’s gay marriage ban resonate because of the founding state’s history of erecting a wall between church and state and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision involving a Virginia couple and a past taboo: interracial marriage.

“Virginia is one of several important battlefronts where we have the opportunity now to build on the momentum, embrace the public’s movement in favor of the freedom to marry and end the discrimination,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and president of New York-based Freedom to Marry, which seeks to have same-sex marriage bans struck down nationwide.

The Arizona Daily Star’s creative headline writer strikes again!

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

ScreenshotI almost spit out my coffee this morning when I opened up the fishwrap newspaper this morning. The print edition headline on the front page of our sad small-town newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, reads "Setback for AZ's voting ID effort" — on Martin Luther King Day, no less.

A quick Google search reveals that no other newspaper publishing this Howard Fischer report used this politically biased headline. Most used "Citizen proof request rejected by federal eelction commission." The Sierra Vista Herald used "State bid to change federal election law rejected." Hell, even our sad small-town newspaper did not use this politically biased headline in its online version: Panel rejects AZ's bid to require proof of citizenship for voting. All factual headlines.

The headline should read "A victory for voting rights," or "GOP voter suppression rejected."