30 arrests: Ultrasound protest brings riot police to Capitol
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Police remove a person who refused to leave the steps of the state Capitol.photo by lisa provence - click to view more photos
A grassroots protest of a controversial women's health care bill recently approved by the state Senate brought hundreds to the state Capitol grounds in Richmond March 3 and ended with the arrest of 30 people on the Capitol steps.
"This is like Star Wars," said one attendee of the black-clad, shield-carrying Virginia State Police officers, who lined up to keep people away from the building that houses Virginia's General Assembly.
The demonstration was in response to a bill that originally required a transvaginal ultrasound for women seeking abortions– and which quickly became a national controversy and target of derision among satirists including Saturday Night Live.
After Governor Bob McDonnell signaled his discomfort, House Bill 462 was modified to require a less-invasive abdominal ultrasound and passed the Senate this week and awaits McDonnell's signature.
Supporters say the measure helps women make a more informed decision; opponents say the ultrasounds are medically ineffective, a thinly-veiled attempt to thwart a woman from obtaining an abortion.
Organizers from a group called Speak Loudly with Silence, which led an estimated 1,200 women in silent protest on the Capitol grounds nearly two weeks earlier, estimated the crowd of Saturday's attendees at 900.
"This is a diverse group- they're not from any one political group," said organizer Molly Vick. "I think [the General Assembly] went so extreme, they brought people in the middle here,"
Sign-carrying protesters marched from the Capitol around downtown Richmond, and returned to the Capitol grounds. Capitol Police told the protesters their permit for the rally did not include the steps of the Capitol building, and when 30 or so people refused to move, approximately 24 riot-geared State Police joined the officers already there and started hauling the demonstrators away.
In the aftermath of the arrests, the ACLU issued a statement March 5 expressing concern that police may have "overreacted" to "peaceful demonstrators gathered at a public place to exercise their First Amendment right to protest the government."
Charlottesville delegate and House Minority Leader David Toscano sent a letter to the Steve Pike, chief of the Capitol Police, asking to review the the protocol on the decision to deploy weapons-carrying SWAT teams at protests.
"[T]he images of armed State Police in full riot gear removing Virginia citizens from the Capitol steps is troubling to many of our constituents and potentially places Virginia unfavorably in the national spotlight," wrote Toscano.
Some Republicans, however, supported the enforcement of the rule of the law and said they've received death threats, the Times-Dispatch reports. Albemarle Delegate Rob Bell, who voted in favor of the bill, had not returned phone calls at press time.
–slightly edited 7:23am, Sunday, March 4: original headline: '31 arrests: Women's rights rally brings riot police to Capitol'
–Updated March 6 with reaction to the arrests.
–Correction March 6: Capitol Police say they counted one arrested person twice and the correct number of those charged is 30.
80 comments
The Republican Party has somehow made half the population of planet Earth the enemy. It's difficult to see the political calculus that was made here, and yet it's impossible to deny that the decision to push this bill was a political one.
Bob McDonnell's decision to assemble the storm troopers in riot gear tells you all you need to know about how he feels towards women that aren't his wife and daughters. It's a shame that he refuses to extend the human affection he feels towards his precious family to the other women of the commonwealth that have to make difficult adult decisions every day.
Oh well. People have a tendency to rise to their level of their incompetence. It appears that Virgina Governor is as high as Mr. McDonnell will ever go. I hope he's happy with his decisions.
I find picture #9 to be way out in left field. As in "police state". They're going to use SWAT tactics and full auto weapons on this crowd? Even using it as an intimidation factor only should be a wake up call to society what law enforcement has become lately.
The right has really pulled a boner this time. Hopefully they will continue down this path of self destruction, but, its inevitable anyway, the human condition will not tolerate a congress full of old fat white guys trying to enforce their own misguided belief systems on the masses very much longer. We need V.
They're doing the old switcheroo hoping it will work, but they're not breaking any arms or injecting any haldol.
By they I don't mean the police, I mean the establishment. And by "it" I mean trying to get true conservative patriots to temper their rage against the police state. It isn't gonna work. And by "it" I also mean trying to present the image that the government isn't pushing abortion on the public by any means possible. It isn't gonna work.
Or maybe they're just trying to create a new set of enemies for the police and cause more discord between them and the public. After all, that's been the plan all along. They want this thing to get going here. They're getting old.
GSOE - I agree wholeheartedly...guess the state police have had a slow year and needed the practice. (can you hear the sarcassm?) The "wake up call" has not been shouted loud enough yet for most people. As long as it doesn't affect them, they will go about their marry way...but it's building and will be here soon enough. I just hope most people wake up before it's too late.
JWG, the more you explain yourself, the less sense you make.
IT'S A PSY-OP. SIMPLE ENOUGH FOR YOU?
Instead of making comments here and if you object to this Bill - you can call, write or email the Governor to voice your objection. The finance committee failed to pass HR 62 probably based upon mine and several other emails to them that pointed out that 10 "interupted pregnancies" (over 10 years) where the infants were not compatable for life - would cost the State 10s of millions vs. a humane procedure that cost much less than this.
Only a patient and doctor should require testing, this means that Governor McDonnell and the State of VA is in our doctors offices in Virginia. And the Repubtards say they want less Government? Not over women's bodies - they want more!
There are some in the world who do believe that the killing, of what would be their breathing child, is not a good method of birth control. That does not make someone a "tard," as is so eloquently used by the very same person that would likely scream from the rooftops if someone used that same term on a mentally retarded person. That all too often liberal elitist double standard so often at work. But alas, too many in the world really think they should be allowed to violate laws and rules and regulations if it is something important to them, everyone else be damned. Hey, it is all about YOU.
When I was young and irresponsible I ended up in a situation that resulted in a girlfriend having an abortion. Sometimes I wonder what my (would be now) 28 year old son or daughter might be doing now if not sucked down a tube.
And heaven forbid we encourage people to have more information...oh wait...
The Rethugs are showing their true colors once again. Can't help but think about to the days of the civil rights and peace protests of the 60s.
Why am I not surprised by this latest manifestation of rightwing extremism? In the 50s it was the Democrats of Harry Byrd and their "massive resistance. Now its the Republicans(who back then were the moderate to liberal party in the state) who are attempting to crush opposition in their neverending crusade to appeal to the rightwing religious nuts who think they own the party.
People who believe that "the killing, of what would be their breathing child, is not a good method of birth control" should therefore not use that method of birth control. A problem arises, though, when those people attempt to legislate their particular moral conviction, which is not universally held, so that it applies to everyone else.
Roe v. Wade decided this decades ago. If anyone objects to this they should raise their children and place values on them. There are thousands of other reasons to terminate a fetus which is scientifically not human. In fact, a newborn is called a neonate because physiology they are not human either - their systems are not developed completely until they are 28 - 30 days old. No one is pro-abortion.
What this comes down to is the simple fact that Governor McDonnell is now dictating medical procedures which a woman should have and her doctor is required to give her. Is he an MD?
Before Roe v. Wade - what was it like? The wealthy went to Mexico, or their doctors wrote it up as a D&C for a "miscarriage". The poor, the despirate, were butchered in allys and make shift clinics with coat hangers and Lord knows what. If they sought medical treatment then they were arrested?
Again, not pro-abortion and there are thousands of other reasons for termination of a pregnancy, incenst, rape, failed birth control. And if you are male and you don't want abortions, don't have sex until you are married.
But if males were the ones who were getting pregnant - abortion would be available at drive throughs and convenience stores, there would be specials for buy one get one!
I can't even eat a corn chip these days without being sterilized, Cville Native.
Cville Native - well said and much to ponder on the last sentence!
Don't worry, nobody's gonna be getting pregnant in a few more years. male or female. GMO's have only been available for human consumption since the late 1990's and weren't really widespread in food produce until the early 2000's.The first generation of babies who grew up eating food genetically engineered to sterilize mammals (tested on rats, shown to cause completed sterilization within three generations, and subsequently approved by the FDA for that very reason for human consumption, look it up) is only now beginning to reach sexual maturity. Many of them will never be able to have children due to having been sterilized by genetically modified organisms. Many (if not most) will not even realize they are sterile even if they are sexually active because they will attribute not having children to condom use and birth control. By the time they decide they want to get off birth control and have children ten or so years may have passed sinced they began sexual activity. meaning ten more years of gmo sterilant food consumption. This is what a society that calls killing babies "reproductive freedom" while saying absolutely nothing of the OPEN HOLOCAUST ON REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM that is being perpetuated BY THE VERY SAME PEOPLE who are pushing the GMO and sterilizing vaccines to PREVENT FUTURE GENERATIONS FROM BEING ABLE TO REPRODUCE.
I almost finished with "it's what this society deserves" but it won't not the next barren generation's fault, and it won't be mine either because I tried to stop it.
Of course during the first generation people will probably be able to produce children, they'll just be children everywhere with birth defects and dying of cancer. Oh, wait...
They're gonna get their New World Order one way or another. They just might have to wait another fifty years before you're all wiped out. By the time you realize your grandchildren have no hope of ever being able to conceive it will be far too late because you were too busy fighting for legalized baby killing to address the deliberate and covert sterilization of all humans on earth by the same people who put Hitler in power in the 1930's.
So you can buy an abortion pill RU486 out of vending machines at some colleges with just a credit card because it is a 'private" decision... but you have to consult a Psychiatrist to get some very "private" anti depressants. If you want a nose job you are required to a consult and some doctors will send you to a therapist if he feels you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Before a judge will approve a bankruptcy he will send you to a credit councilor.
But if you want to invade your privates with a surgery that could leave you infertile it is all on you.
If a woman says that it is a "tough, personal decision not made lightly" then ultrasound is just an assurance to society that you are NOT taking it lightly and should be a part of the decision making.
If a woman is fibbbing about her proclamation and just doing it for convienience then the ultrasound certainly won't bother her since she has already addmitted she cares not about whether whats inside of her is a child or not.
While I would not have voted for this because I think that barn door to easy guilt free abortions was left open long ago I find it ironic how crazy women get for the right to be irresponsible. Its too bad they don't raise as much hell about the bad parenting that gets them in the predicament in the first place.
@Hollow Boy - the "Democrats" of Harry Byrd and massive resistance were the dixiecrats and they are the exact same people who switched parties and make up the 'base' of the "Republican" party today. The "Republicans" of the 50s - the northeastern moderates - have been driven from the party as "RINOs". Olympia Snowe is just the latest. All those 50s northeastern moderate/liberal Republicans - people like me and my family - have long since been left by the GOP. We are Democrats now.
Thankfully, this is the last gasp of these culture war holdovers - people still pissed off about not getting laid in the 60s.
@Edgar - yes, that's right: since Plan B (not RU486) is perfectly safe - so safe that it is similar to Aspirin and not a drug of abuse like SSRIs - you can get it without having some one exert "control" over it.
I think women who have the sense to avoid pregnancy when they aren't ready to be a parent are being reponsible - very responsible (and saving us all a lot of taxpayer money via the social safety net). Of course, it's not pregnancy that you "values" conservatives want them to avoid - it's sex that you don't want them to be able to have - pregnancy is just their punishment for having sex. Be honest, huh?
Any way to get a video of our delegate Rob Bell speaking on this? He supported it, of course.
Welcome to the new Police State.
How many more incidents like this before the general public starts to wake up?
This has been slowly building up over the past decade, since 9/11. But until it starts happening in one's own backyard, so to speak, it's easy to look the other way.
Either it was a slow day for the staties, or this is doubling as a training exercise.
It's also a good test to see whether the general public will just sit by and not do anything about it.
Is that a smile on her face?
John,
So limbaugh was right?
@Edgar Summer you stated: "If a woman says that it is a "tough, personal decision not made lightly" then ultrasound is just an assurance to society that you are NOT taking it lightly and should be a part of the decision making." WTH?
Society is to tell a woman how to make a decision? This is the United States - we are free to make our decisions. For the GOVERNMENT to dictate what medical procedures and tests we have? I assure you any woman who has had to terminate a pregnancy knows exactly what she is doing, most must pay dearly for it financially and emotionally. This is the problem out there - society shouldn't be making decisions for us. We should.
I predict this will go up to the Supreme Court. You want to confirm a pregnancy - there are pregnancy tests. Ultrasound is already utilized to verify the gestational age here in VA because there is a cut off for clinics.
Never mind that there are birth defects which a fetus may have which are incompatable with life, for example, Anencephaly - go look it up - not pretty and the longer a woman carries this fetus the more likely there will be complications and her life will be in jeopardy. Doctors take a hypocratic oath, "to do no harm". It would be harmful for these women to continue their pregnancies. Even though these pregnancies were probably planned and very wanted and they will grieve their baby forever. How dare you and how dare this be polticial at all!
Keep your laws off women's bodies period. Women are not going back to the kitchen and be barefoot and pregnant for you male chauvinistic pig republicans.
Cville Native - I was actually typing a post similar to yours, but not quite so passionate! Thanks and kudos for getting off your chest! You beat me to the punch!
"I find it ironic how crazy women get for the right to be irresponsible."
If you had an inkling of an idea of how serious pregnancy is, you would be dead serious about having control over your body too. But you don't and don't care to. Easier to paint us with a wide brush to fit your ideology than listen to women's lived experiences.
@Native - Hello from another native!
What I find ironic and hilarious is that the same Teabaglicans (Talibangelical "Social Conservatives" who re-branded after losing in 2008) who jump up and down, screaming and crying "freedom, freedom" anytime the personal mandate is discussed, don't even hesitate to try to legislate the practice of medicine. They don't even see the contradiction as they fall all over themselves to regulate our freedoms. What happened to personal choice and keeping the government out of my healthcare? Shameless hypocrites.
The images of riot police hauling away women peacefully protesting against the government getting all up in their vaginas are telling. They reveal that Bob McDonnell, Republican Governor of Virginia, and his government, are in fear of the women they've provoked to protest. Ladies, keep stepping it up. Keep the pressure on, not just for yourselves, but for the generations to come.
What's that quote from "The West Wing"? Something about reducing the size of government so it's just small enough to fit into our bedrooms.
They are lucky that this ahhpened so they would get some attention..............if it didn't, they would have elevated it themselves to really get attention.
Edgar,
You are very confused in your analogy. A doctor, in his or her opinion can require you to consult a psychriatist before they themselves choose to do the surgery. Another physician might have another opinion. All of which is done within the confines of a private office, and is not the government coming in to tell you.
You are saying that its OK to create a law to force a woman to have a medical procedure because you happen to dislike what she is doing.
I tell you, you want Communism, you keep working at it this way. We'll just make religion illegal.
Sorry all I take it all back, I have reversed position. I do not think that women take abortions lightly. After reading these statistics I am convinced that women ONLY have abortions for good reasons.
"WHO HAS ABORTIONS?
•In 2007, 84% of all abortions were performed on unmarried women (CDC).
•Women between the ages of 20-24 obtained 33% of all abortions; women between 25-29 obtained 24% (CDC).
•50% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25; women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all U.S. abortions and teenagers obtain 17% (AGI).
•47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion (AGI"
I am now convinced that women who have abortions all got pregnant while using protection that failed. I am sure that the ones who got pregnant by the wrong guy had ZERO clues he was a jerk and that there no instances where their friends all told them to dump him before something bad happened. I am sure that of all the millions of "walks of shame" going on on college campuses around the country every morning none of them actually ever get pregnant. Every pregnancy is obviously from an unpreventable instance and never the womens fault for being irresponsible.
http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
Abortion is big business. Over a MILLION every year Over 50 million since Roe V wade. .Maybe if we relax our morals even more and we can become the worlds prominent "exporter" of unwanted babies. maybe we can even get some synergy and and get a slogan like Mickey Ds. "over one billion killed"
You have the "right" to do it. It doesn't mean its not NASTY.
Here are some stats Edgar left out:
• Thirty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions identify as Protestant and 28% as Catholic.
• About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children. [6]
• Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children).[6]
• Twenty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes between 100–199% of the federal poverty level.* [6]
• The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.[7]
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
Women have abortions for many different reasons. Some may seem more frivolous and some may seem more moral, but all are a choice that women must make for themselves and none take lightly. Trust women.
and how many of those abortions could have been avoided with an ounce of prevention?
Abortion is nasty....
Women who have abortions because they were too irresponsible to be careful should have some anguish.
Christ would be proud of you, Edgar.
"and how many of those abortions could have been avoided with an ounce of prevention?"
Santorum, Limbaugh, McDonnell, and their ilk aren't especially open minded about prevention either.
http://swampland.time.com/2012/02/14/rick-santorum-wants-to-fight-the-da...
I say hand out the birth control like halloween candy.....
Abortion is legal, So is lung cancer from smoking. And they both should be avoided by prevention whenever possible.
When over a million abortions occur in this country EVERY YEAR at some point you have to accept that probably half could have been easily avoided.
That is not close minded, Conservative or christian, it is just common sense.
The court gave women the right to have an abortion based on medical privacy, they put the health and wll being of the mother ahead of the fetus. Okay, but with every right comes responsibility. For anyone to argue that all of these abortions were unavoidable is a joke.
Abortion is nasty. It does end a life before it begins (just like taking an egg from under a bluebird and smashing it) and the sheer numbers prove that women abuse the right because they CHOSE to be irresponsible and have put more value on a bluebirds egg.
It is sad and barbaric.
@Edgar: "Abortion is nasty", and "I say hand out the birth control like halloween candy....."
I could not agree with you more, about both of these statements. I think you are entirely correct that we could do more to avoid abortions.
We should improve the quality of sex education by explaining to girls just how they get pregnant and how to avoid it - and not just by abstaining from sex. We need to explain how to avoid getting pregnant in the first place when you do have sex. Pretending people won't drink, drive, have sex or engage in any other risky behavior as a way of avoiding risk is stupid and ineffective.
I hope you, like me, have sent in a donation to Planned Parenthood - they do more to prevent abortion by "handing out contraception like candy" than anyone else.
Climb down off your soapboxes. It's legal and it will remain legal. The majority of Americans support a woman's right to choose. My ethics or morals don't fit into the argument...I don't have a womb, very much like all the crusty old men passing these ridiculous laws.
@Edgar, not every form of birth control is 100% effective, and women who are on birth control are doing their best to avoid getting pregnant. Many who aren't on BC for one reason or another also are taking steps to avoid getting pregnant. Yet, it happens. Accidents happen. Abortion needs to remain an option for those situations.
Men have no business getting involved with these issues. They just don't get it.
Edgar, having an abortion IS being responsible. Did you not read the stats I posted? The majority of women who have abortions already have children and state that they cannot afford another one as their reasoning. They are taking responsibility for their life and those who depend on them.
Edgar, in cases of what the Pro-Lifers termed "Partial Birth Abortions" - truly they are induction of labor and giving birth to a baby prior to term that will allow that baby to live or be saved by high tech equipment and care that would cost millions per infant. Those babies were diagnosed with something incompatible to life. They will die. These parents make a choice so their child does not suffer, they hold their infant and love them inspite of the condition their babies may be in. They grieve.
Admit there are some out there using abortion as a means of birth control - that I personally agree with you is nasty but it also is expensive. When birth control can be obtained for less and less trama and stress to all involved, I agree with you.
However, there are cases of rape which go unreported, there are case of incest that go unreported, there are incidents of failed birth control and mistakes do happen.
Long ago my grandmother used to take in women who were then "with child" who would take care of her children and when it was time, she took them to the hospital where they would give birth and the baby would be adopted by a family. That was a woman's only choice for an unwanted pregnancy. Today, however, we have glorified teen pregnancy (check out MTV), single mothers to the point of extreem we no longer appear to condem women for this choice.
It is a choice, it comes down to raising your child(ren) with values to make the proper choices based on what they have been taught.
But the choice should still be there. You don't want to go back to the back rooms and allys that some nasty person with a coat hanger butchered not only the fetus but also the women.
I would rather that choice be there for my daughters, granddaughters and their children because it is safe. However, I have raised my daughter to know where to get birth control, how to take care of herself and to take responsiblity for her actions.
There are a whole lot of men/boys out there who will when their partner makes the announcement walk away, claim they are not the father and label those women. See, the difference is if a man has a fetus out there - he can run away from it, ignore it and no one truly can point their finger and make the accusation unless a blood test is done. Women don't have that choice.
My quote"Abortion is legal, So is lung cancer from smoking. And they both should be avoided by prevention whenever possible. "
So I am not advocating an end to abortions.. I am advocating changing the lazze faire attitude american women have about having them.
All of you who think that ALL women make the "tough decision" and that they think long and hard about it are living in lala land....
When there are over a million plus abortions every year in this country it is obvious that too many women do not care enough about themselves to be careful and part of the reason is because abortions are easy and there are fewer and fewer social repurcussions.
As for men not having a say in the matter that is another argument... after all every abortion is the taking of a potential son or daughter for the guy(s) you had sex with.
I would imagine if since men don't have a say and should stay out of it we could just spread the cost of abortions to women only?........... Didn't think so.
You can argue good reasons as to "why" they seek abortions all day long but why is no one asking these people "why" they got pregnant? Women do not want to be held accountable for making the mistake in the first place.
Its still nasty and its still barbaric...
perhaps if a woman feels that she might get pregnant and if she does says that she would abort the fetus, she might think about self-induging herself for pleasure rather than being so selfish............there are many men who self indulge rather than risk a pregnancy
Edgar, technically when a woman becomes pregnant the fetus feeds off of her. Women are the ones that carry a child full term 10 lunar months, go through labor, etc. No man could survive pregnancy to get to child birth. I'm just sayin'
You are condeming women for these millions of abortions - when there are men there involved too. Do you know how many women I know who were talked into "taking care of it" by the fathers?
We have a society of those not taking responsiblity for their actions - and it transends all generations. It seems that there are so many out there saying it isn't their fault, or it wasn't them or they are not responsible. Why is that? It is an epidemic we are living.
But the point of this article above is a peaceful protest which was met by officers in riot gear?
See what this state senator states about his view on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2ZpAP1EHc4&feature=youtu.be
So if we do or do not agree with what these women were protesting, we should all agree that the resistance which they met was not acceptable. We all have a right to our values and beliefs and we should be able to express to our government officials our views. We should not be met by police in riot gear which does look like it would have been better served at a bar room brawl.
@Edgar,
"I am advocating changing the lazze faire attitude american women have about having them."
I don't know where you get off with saying that about women. Obviously you don't know too many who have had abortions if thats what you think. Its just not true. What is true is that women are coming out of the kitchen, and when they have meaningful lives and access to birth control, they are less likely to fall prey to the silly notions about having some guy's baby. And remember, a guy had a part in it too.
I wonder if we should start making all guys have a colonoscopy before being allowed to have intimate relations with a woman, so they can know what will happen to her if she gets in the family way unintentionally.
Edgar has no interest in women's experiences. He already admitted that he wants to punish them.
"What is true is that women are coming out of the kitchen, and when they have meaningful lives and access to birth control, they are less likely to fall prey to the silly notions about having some guy's baby"
They are also obviously less likely to give S$et about killing a fetus since it would cut into their "me" time.
If someone drove a car without their headlights on or their glasses and the inadequate precautions caused an accident than people would give them some blame in the mattter.
If someone has sex without adequate protections and gets pregnant and aborts it we rally on the courthouse steps in their honor.
Hey wingnut, you do know that no birth control is 100% effective, right? And you do know that a fetus is not an actual baby, even though it theoretically could be one someday?
And Lord knows men *never* get enough "me" time. We women just sit on our butts on the couch watching sports while the guys do all the cleaning and child care.
If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.
@ Dawg...wingnut has no concerns regarding birth control. I'm guessing with his archaic attitudes about women, he isn't having a whole lot of sex, unprotected or otherwise. As a man I am ashamed of the views of some of you...where do you get off judging women (or anyone) for anything? Get over yourselves. Women are awesome!
Whats the difference between a drunk driver and a drunk coed?
When the drunk coeds pulls out too late and kills a baby she gets a pep rally on the courthouse steps.
Did you know the establishment has had a game plan of breaking up the American family for decades? Did you know Gloria Steinem was hired by the Central Intelligence Agency to start Ms. Magazine, as a propaganda vehicle to get the other half of society (women) under the tax bracket and break up the family unit? She admits it in her autobiography. In other words, the women's liberation movement of the 60's and 70's that has taken us to where we are today, was lead and directed by those working against the interests of the women it proclaimed to be liberating, and for the interests of the Central Intelligence Agency to put an end to a society where a woman is able to stay at home and raise children while her husband is out bringing home the bacon. Now both man and woman are working like slaves to bring home less and less bacon while the state raises the children, and it's called progressive.
Last I checked, women's bodies are not cars and people who got in accidents weren't state sanctioned vaginally probed for the purpose of humiliating them. btw I live in a no fault state.
John, the family you describe existed only for 20 years and was only available to white, hetero, middle class folk. That particular American family was a blip in American history for a small segment of privileged people. As for female liberation, I don't consider domestic servitute and a forced gender binary very freeing, but I would love it if I could make enough to support my husband so he can raise the kids.
@ DK...You are awesome! You are the reason I love women!
Thank god for the CIA, they're behind EVERYTHING and nothing would ever have been accomplished without those busy little devils. What really funny is that they have no interest in silencing people who repeated out them and their scheming. Why gosh durn, I'm sure the whole staff of this little rag sits pretty on their CIA pay offs and still can't be bothered to interfere with the brave people who post here about CIA activities.
RE: wives bringing home the bacon, well mine does, and fries it up in the pan too if you catch my bacon drippings.
What if Gloria Steinem hadn't waited twenty years to admit the CIA was running the women's liberation movement? What if she had worked for the CIA for a year or so, and then ran a front page article in Ms. about how the CIA hired her to participate in the deliberate plot to take down the white middle class (which the establishment deemed the biggest threat to their power). Well, I may not have spent countless afternoon's after school by myself while my mother was out slaving away for the system. Same goes for millions of others.
Where's your father in your obvious troll story, John?
He wasn't at my home because the family unit was broken up by design.
OMG, John Walton, you really should see a mental health professional.
I still see them from time to time in my nightmares, and they're still raping me just like they did at Western State.
My mother was a card carring member of NOW even tried to establish a day where no woman went to work for a day, how that would cripple the US - and this means she was in the CIA. I assure you all, she would never have participated in that sort of establishment! The woman marched on DC with MLK and she protested at Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in DC with me in tow.
Now I have suspected that the FBI has a file on me for being present at that event but CIA? Dawg is right, JW, you need serious mental help - or you have far too much free time on your hands.
She wouldn't need to be "in the CIA" as you so ignorantly state. All that would be needed to incite your mother to become a card carrying member of NOW is to read an article or two in Ms. Magazine by a CIA trained psychologist that she wasn't smart enough to see through. What does your mother have to do with Gloria Steinem working for the CIA, anyway? I guess I just need to be raped and tortured by psychiatrists some more because I don't drink municipal water that has had vats of toxic waste marked with skull and crossbones dumped into it.
I think abortion is a travesty, how many Einstein’s have been sucked down a tube? Having said that, it is a woman’s decision, not the law makers. I have always been a republican because I believe in personal responsibility, but these Republicans today don’t reflect my views any more than the Democrats do. They are suing the government over Obama care because it is an invasion of privacy, then they try to pass a law like this. Politics and hypocrisy are steadfast bedfellows.
Has anyone ever considered that both this bill and subsequent police state clamp down on protestors are obviously psychological tactics? The bill gives the pro-life movement a bad image. The police state crackdown on protestors of the bill elicits sympathy for the pro-choice movement. The government has always had a pro-abortion agenda, support for abortion rights is dwindling nationwide, they're desparate. Believe it if you want. It's a stunt, folks.
And when was the last time you saw a police state crackdown on abortion rights protestors? I mean, give me a break!!!
The point of this article has been completely missed. First Amendment people - the right to peacefully assemble on public property - to which the Capitol is public property. It doesn't matter if you are pro-choice, pro-life - it matters that these people had their Constitutional Rights violated by our state!
Westboro Baptist Church can protest funerals on public property and no one arrests them - they have the right to their "expression" even though most don't believe in their insane retoric (much like John Walton Giulianno - why don't you go join them John?). But they have the right to assemble and protest.
I smell a lawsuit brewing, one thing Virginia has an abundance of is attorneys...
The managing board of the Human Rights and Scientific Honesty Initiative would like to congratulate and thank Virginia General Assembly Delegate Kathy Byron and Senator Jill Vogel on the passage into law of House Bill 462, Virginia’s new Informed Consent Ultrasound Law requiring that mothers be offered the chance to see and hear the reality of their child’s humanity before following through with his or her dismemberment. We’d also like to thank Democratic Senators Phillip Puckett and Chuck Colgan for their votes in favor of this life saving legislation, as well as Senator Puckett and Delegates Bob Marshall and Rob Bell for their endeavors on our behalf over the last year. We also express our gratitude towards all of the 64 Delegates and 21 Senators who voted for this bill, an to Governor Bob McDonnell for signing it into law and respecting the will of the voters above the threats and misinformation from its opponents that have been repeated in the media.
Informed consent is a foundational pillar of medical ethics going back hundreds of years. Violated wholesale for decades by the abortion industry, this new law will set things back in the right direction towards a day when human rights and scientific honesty will prevail once more in all of the medical facilities in Virginia. While we acknowledge that this is just a first small step towards those goals, we appreciate and applaud that thousands of lives will be saved as more mothers are adequately informed. We are also taking great interest in those provisions in the law that mandate honest descriptions of human development, accurate medical record keeping, and a rejuvenated regime of informed consent for mothers when it is most crucial.
We also would like to express our disappointment and astonishment that Senate Bill 277 was continued to the 2013 legislative session rather than swiftly becoming law. This was to be a new law finally outlawing forced and coerced abortions in Virginia. From the home of Tammy Lynn Baker and her unborn daughter Savannah, who both paid the ultimate price for this common yet under-reported phenomenon, we noticed that there was a complete media blackout of this bill – and that all organizations who proclaim themselves as being “pro choice” avoided any mention of it also. We also take note of the 18 state senators who voted against a bill outlawing threats and coercion towards pregnant women, as well as the Delegates in the House Committee for Courts and Justice who prevented it from even getting to the House floor for a vote.
For over 40 years here in Virginia, the abortion industry has deliberately and successfully lied to girls and women, and violated the medical tradition of informed consent regarding several crucial facts of medical science. They have done so on behalf of their political and profit motivated agendas, and in doing so have already harmed and/or killed countless women as well as their children. As a direct result of their dishonesty, we now have more children with developmental disabilities and severe birth defects such as cerebral palsy. Since 1989, this policy of dishonesty and keeping women in the dark regarding grave threats to health unfortunately found its way into the health care infrastructures of both the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University as they have pursued their own in house abortion programs as state funded institutions. This will not stand.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we remember and honor the 23 million American girls and women who are not here with us because they were the ultimate victims of elective abortions, and reflect on what each of these women may have accomplished in life. We’d also like to note the passing of our colleagues Kortney Blythe Gordon, her unborn daughter Sophie, and Jon Sharfenberger this past October. Kortney and John were brave and capable defenders of both women’s and children’s health, and it is in their honor and memory that we will now more aggressively pursue bringing human rights and scientific honesty back to UVA and VCU employing all the legal and legislative means available to us. In the coming days, we will be releasing our response to the changes that we have forced the University of Virginia to make over the past year, their numerous continued violations of informed consent, and a list of UVA employees who should resign their positions due to the serious harm that they have already done and continue to do.
Virginia has been through this process before, first with slavery – and later with the Jim Crow laws. Publicly funded universities peddling nonsense as science, speaking of “potential persons,” and comparing vulnerable and powerless populations to parasites or “human weeds” is nothing new to Virginia, US, or world history. But in the end, the reality of medical science and the unalienable rights of all persons always prevails. This is precisely why ultrasounds change the minds of so many mothers.
Although we are gratified that the Culture of Death is now in retreat in Virginia, we acknowledge that the overall battle is far from over. We will not be backing off our activism against these universities as they continue to violate the Declaration of Geneva as reaffirmed following the Nazi Doctor’s Trial at Nuremberg, The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the Nuremberg Protocol, the Declaration of Helsinki, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We rededicate ourselves anew to bringing back a healthy and robust respect for human rights, informed consent, and scientific honesty to both UVA and VCU.
" This is precisely why ultrasounds change the minds of so many mothers."
Except it doesn't.
@Sean, you disgust me. You are an enemy of women everywhere.
Sean,
I expect you are in support of the Ohio bill then, that requires infomraed consent for men before they are allowed to get viagra? I will be pushing for a similar bill in Virginia, and one that requires a prostate exam, and a test for the viability of the sperm to bear life, before allowing any male to receive such a prescription. Whats more, I will then allow employers to deny coverage of it in insurance, as we don't want to have too many promiscuous males running around.
After all, why should women pay for the sexual pleasures of men?
You people are still so missing the point.
Not at all onwidit. What we are not accepting is those who say its OK because they happen to agree with the legsilation - which is also an attempt to deny rights to citizens.
C-ville Native, are you really attempting to link me with the Westboro Baptist Church because I pointed out that Gloria Steinem was a hired CIA psychologist? That's pretty weak.
Gloria Steinem personally broke up John's family. Let's be serious here.
Westboro Baptist Church is that crazy outfit that Alex jones fronts isn't it?
Cheap shot saywha...Alex Jone has a better head on his shoulders than that. In fact, some of his reporting has done a service to this country. Westboro Baptist are on a par with the Taliban.