Civil & Human Rights

Comprehensive immigration reform bill advances to debate in U.S. Senate

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The "Gang of Eight" comprehensivie immigration reform bill is finally being debated in the U.S. Senate today. I love the caption Ed Kilgore at the Political Animal Blog gave his post on the subject, Slouching Towards Bethlehem (a reference to W. B. Yeats' poem Second Coming: "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"):

Mitch McConnell signaled early on
that there would be no leadership-backed filibuster against initial
consideration of the bill, in part because quite a few GOP senators who
will likely vote against the final product also want to claim they
support immigration reform generally, and/or hold out hope the bill will
be amended (i.e., gutted) to incorporate their views.

In fact, the "Gang of Eight" comprehensive immigration reform bill passed its first cloture vote tests today: the motion to proceed to a vote on whether to proceed to a floor debate passed 82-15, and the subsequent motion to proceed to a floor debate passed 84-15. (This is the Senate people). Now the real debate begins.

Obama administration agrees to comply with federal court order re: Plan B

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Justice Department announced on Monday that it will allow the most popular morning after pill, Plan B, to be available over the counter to women of all ages, dropping its appeal of a federal court order. Obama Administration To End Age Restrictions On Plan B:

PlanBThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a statement that it
has “asked the manufacturer of Plan B One-Step to submit a supplemental
application seeking approval of the one-pill product to be made
available O.T.C. without any such restrictions” and “intends to approve
it promptly.” Generic versions may also be eventually approved. The
morning after pill prevents conception “if taken within 72 hours after sexual intercourse.”

The decision comes after a federal judge in April ordered the FDA to
lift restrictions on the morning-after pill. The administration
responded to the ruling by lowering the age restriction from 17 to 15,
sparking the ire of health groups and district Judge Edward Korman,
who, in a series of contemptuous opinions, called the administration’s
defiance an insult to the intelligence of women” and “a charade” meant to stall his original order. Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ordered
the administration to make two-pill versions of emergency contraception
immediately available over the counter to women of all ages.

(Update) The ‘Mayor’ of Washington, D.C. wants to take his anti-abortion crusade nationwide

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Arizona's anti-abortion zealot, Rep. Trent Franks, who fancies himself the "Mayor" of Washington, D.C. by trying to impose his anti-abortion crusade on the District, has convinced the GOP leadership (sic) in the House to give him a purely symbolic vote on his 20 week abortion ban bill — the same bill that has already been struck down by federal courts, and Arizona's version of the bill is being heard on appeal by a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

How's that GOP rebranding working out for ya? The GOP's war on women continues unabated.

Steve Benen reports, House GOP eyes more anti-abortion votes:

House Republicans' laser-like focus on job creation — which is to
say, they've passed zero jobs bills in three years — is poised to take yet another detour.

The House will vote next week on a bill banning abortions across the country after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Doug Heye, deputy chief of staff to House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor, R-Va., confirmed to CQ Roll Call that the chamber is on track to
consider legislation next week that would ban all abortions after the
20-week threshold — the point at which some medical professionals
believe a fetus can begin to feel pain.

50th Anniversary of a momentous day in the Civil Rights movement

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of a momentous day in the Civil Rights movement. On June 11, 1963, the U.S. government enforced the court order of the U.S. District Court in Alabama to desegregate the University of Alabama (a federalism lesson our Birthers-Birchers-Secessionists in Arizona who put "nullification, interposition and secession" measures on the Arizona ballot have forgotten). Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door to block Deputy U.S. Attorney Nicholas Katzenbach from enforcing the court's order (see news video below).

Katzenbach called President John F. Kennedy, who immediately issued a proclamation to federalize the Alabama National Guard to enforce the order of the U.S. District Court. At about 3:40 p.m., Governor Wallace finally stood aside,
and Vivian Malone and James Hood entered the building and enrolled at
the University of Alabama.

That evening, President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation on the moral question of civil rights. America, “for all its hopes and all its boasts,”
observed Kennedy, “will not be fully free until all its citizens are
free.” "The time has come for this nation to fulfill its promise."

Later that evening, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assasinated in front of his home, marking the first in a series of assassinations that would claim the lives of President Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

CAP ‘poison pill’ amendment approved by House Appropriations Committee

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

TalibanThe Arizona House Appropriations Committee began its hearing today with the eleventh hour "strike everything amendment" to SB 1069 for the benefit of the Mullah Cathi Herrod and her Christian Taliban at the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) to allow the
Arizona Department of Health Services to conduct unannounced
inspections of abortion clinics, in violation of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Tucson Women’s Clinic v. Eden (2004) which does not allow surprise inspections without an administrative warrant. The strike-everything amendment would also require AHCCCS to conduct financial audits of Medicaid providers to ensure that the money isn’t being co-mingled.

Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix) briefly testified in support of the amendment, citing convicted Dr. Kermit Gosnell as a reason for this untimely amendment, and a secretly recorded video by the anti-abortion organization Live Action, between a pregnant woman
and a doctor and counselor at the Family Planning Associates Medical Group at a Phoenix abortion clinic.

Bryan Howard, CEO of Planned Parenthood, testified against the "strike everything amendment" on the basis of language restricting Medicaid funds — it is unnecessary (unannounced inspections are already provided by law) and illegal under the 2004 9th Circuit decision. It is also unconstitutional under the 4th Amendment.

Howard cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court denial of cert from an Indiana case in which the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a law that prevents Medicaid recipients from being reimbursed for health services at Planned Parenthood because some of its clinics offer abortions.