Civil & Human Rights

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

So the Tea-Publican response to the GOPs "war on women" is to form a Women's Policy Committee and put a female face on their misogynist anti-woman policies. "How can there be a war on women if women are sponsoring these misogynist GOP policies?" (The Arizona legislature has used this tactic for years).

Tea-Publicans insult your intelligence. They think you are stupid and you will fall for this kind of crap. As Steve Benen writes, The 'Women's Policy Committee' gets to work:

The "war on women" didn't catch on as a national phenomenon because GOP officials are invariably men; it caught on after Republicans in Virginia decided to mandate medically-unnecessary, trans-vaginal ultrasounds for women who want to undergo a legal medical procedure.

In recent months, Republicans at the state and federal level and have been fighting to restrict contraception; cut off Planned Parenthood; approving sweeping new restrictions on abortion; playing games with the Violence Against Women Act; denying the existence of gender-based pay discrimination and rolling back pay-equity laws.

When it came time for House Republicans to pay for lower student loan interest rates, GOP officials decided to get the funding by cutting access to breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings.

And in nearly all relevant instances, every member of this new Women's Policy Committee voted with their far-right male counterparts.

If these lawmakers think a committee and a video will help improve the political circumstances, they don't yet understand that this is about public policy, not perceptions about gender diversity. If they want to close the gender gap, they need to change the substance, not the style.

The Women's Policy Commttee video has the feel of an SNL ad skit, and reminded me of this earlier ad from the creative minds at Funny or Die. (Video below the fold – not work safe).

By Michael Bryan I consider the fight for equal rights for LGBT Americans one of the true litmus tests for true progressivity in American politics today. If you don't think that the equal treatment under law of LGBT Americans is vitally important, you don't really think much of the central value proposition of the American … Read more

The Voter-ID requirements may seem pointless, but they are not. The point is to discourage young people, poor people, and disabled people from voting.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

In another remarkable moment this week, Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2625 into law on Friday. Brewer signs Arizona bill on contraception coverage:

Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law Friday a measure allowing some religious employers to opt out of covering prescription contraceptives as part of their health-care plans.

House Bill 2625 applies only to "religiously affiliated" employers, which are defined as non-profit groups that primarily employ and serve individuals of the same religion or religiously motivated organizations with articles of incorporation clearly stating that religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles.

* * *

"Mandating that a religious institution provide a service in direct contradiction with its faith would represent an obvious encroachment upon the First Amendment," she said in a news release.

Just… wow. First of all, religious institutions (churches) are already exempt from providing such coverage so that last statement from Gov. Brewer is a solution in search of a problem that did not exist.

The key to HB 2625 is how it amends A.R.S. Sec. 20-1057.08 (G) to define "religiously affiliated employer." Subsection 1 is unchanged from previous law and describes religious institutions (nonprofit entities for tax purposes) which are already exempt from providing such coverage under existing federal and state law.

A new subection 2, however, adds: "An entity whose articles of incorporation clearly state that it is a religiously motivated organization and whose religious beliefs are central to the organization's operating principles."

Got that? The legal fiction of a corporation now possesses constitutional rights and liberties under HB 2625, and Arizona says corporations enjoy preferential rights and liberties superior to individuals under this law.

Just… wow.

By Michael Bryan In America, we mostly talk about the civil rights of LGBT persons in moral or ethical terms – and it certainly is that. Equity and justice war with the moral precepts and prejudice of religionists. But there is more to it. It's also an economic issue. And we need to talk about … Read more