Reproductive Rights Updates: Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio, & Federal

Do you know who already needs a drink this morning? Me. And it's only about 10 am here (as I am writing this). I think I have about reached my limit because damn.

In Oklahoma, the senate there just approved "personhood" legislation. Everyone knows what "personhood" is by now, right? You know, where a blastocyst has all the rights conferred on an actual person but only more so! Because actual people do not have the right to use the organs of anyone else. I'm sure OK senators will be right on approving a mandated organ donation system that requires people to donate organs in order to "protect life". Any donor's health, employment, or financial concerns will not be considered.

Oklahoma is also trying the administrative run around to defund Planned Parenthood where the state will attempt to rank places to give federal funds (House Bill 2324). One state rep, Doug Cox (an emergency room doctor), spoke out against it and pointed out how many people would be harmed by it, but to no avail. Of course.

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In Georgia, Senators Mike Crane and Judson Hill have intro'd legislation to ban abortion coverage in insurance plans.

Senate Bill 434, called the "Federal Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Act," was filed by Marietta Sen. Judson Hill. It would block qualified health plans from providing abortion coverage as allowed by federal law unless the life of the mother is endangered.

Senate Bill 438 was filed by Newnan Sen. Mike Crane. It would ban state employee health insurance plans from offering coverage for abortion services.

Because state employees would never need that, right?

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In Ohio, current contender for Most Anti-Choice Jackassery, state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann-- the Chairman of the House Health and Aging Committee--sneaked in an amendment to legislation at the last minute, thus making it so there was no discussion during a public hearing on said amendment. That amendment make it so that physician assistants--who work in a lot of medical office and particularly in clinics such as Planned Parenthood--would be barred from anything involving IUDs. No insertions, removals, adjustments...anything. Why? Well, probably why you think he'd do this:

Slipped into the bill minutes before the committee approved the bill on a party-line vote, the chairman's amendment was not the subject of any testimony during the half-dozen hearings on the legislation. Wachtmann told The Plain Dealer he included the provision because of his belief that a fertilized egg is a human life. IUDs prevent pregnancies by not allowing fertilized eggs to implant in the uterus.

"I'm pro-life and I don't want to encourage any medical professionals including PAs to be able to do that," the Napoleon Republican said after the vote.

Ok: 1. IUDs can work that way but not necessarily. Copper IUDs create an extremely hostile environment for sperm, to where conception likely will not even occur. Mirena IUDs contain low-dose of hormones which work like other hormonal birth control as well as an IUD.

2. OMFG, STFU Lynn Watchmann. Your personal beliefs HAVE NO BEARING on whether a person should be able to access a chosen birth control method.

Some retrofuck jackholes in Congress are having a hearing on "government overreach" today, well this is some fucking OVER. REACH. RIGHT. HERE.

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Speaking of those retrofuck jackholes, did you know Anthony Comstock was reincarnated as Darell Issa? You heard it here first!

As Liss noted in her post, they are having their shitty little hearing today where a bunch of men invited a group comprised of nearly all men to talk about birth control and how hooooorrrrible it is that employers might have to offer insurance plans that cover contraceptive medication (note: religious employers are ALREADY EXEMPTED). The first panel of witnesses (warning: link starts video of hearing) were only men and that's just fine because, according to Chairman Retrofuck Jackhole Darrell Issa (R-CA), it's about "about the Administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience" and not about contraception. Because no woman could possibly speak about: 1. employment law, 2. religious liberty, 3. constitutional issues. By the way, no employment lawyers/experts or constitutional scholars/lawyers were there to talk about government overreach and/or religious liberty in context of government employment law. None. So really, IT'S ALL ABOUT CONTRACEPTION. (Bonus 'Did you know?': Last June marked 46 years that SCOTUS ruled married women have the right to access birth control.)

From Planned Parenthood tweet during testimony from first panel of witnesses:

Rep. Davis asks witnesses if any of them have a health background. Answer: none. #bc4us #issacircus