This was the week that began with the Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt
Here are some choice bits from Breyer’s Opinion of the Court:
Regarding the new requirement that doctors working at abortion clinics have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital:
The court found that "[t]he great weight of evidence demonstrates that, before the act’s passage, abortion in Texas was extremely safe with particularly low rates of serious complications and virtually no deaths occurring on account of the procedure."…. Thus, there was no significant health-related problem that the new law helped to cure.
As for men who never should have been abortion doctors such as Kermit Gosnell (convicted of murder and manslaughter):
Gosnell’s behavior was terribly wrong. But there is no reason to believe that an extra layer of regulation would have affected that behavior. Determined wrongdoers, already ignoring existing statutes and safety measures, are unlikely to be convinced to adopt safe practices by a new overlay of regulations.
Regarding the other new requirement, that abortion clinics meet all the standards of ambulatory surgical centers, including hallways wide enough for gurneys even though they will be using none:
The District Court’s findings indicate that the statutory provision requiring all abortion facilities to meet all surgical-center standards does not benefit patients and is not necessary.
[snip]
The record makes clear that the surgical-center requirement provides no benefit when complications arise in the context of an abortion produced through medication. That is because, in such a case, complications would almost always arise only after the patient has left the facility.
[snip]
Nationwide, childbirth is 14 times more likely than abortion to result in death, ibid., but Texas law allows a midwife to oversee childbirth in the patient’s own home.
Thus,
We agree with the District Court that the surgical-center requirement, like the admitting-privileges requirement, provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an "undue burden" on their constitutional right to do so.
Texas passed laws with few, if any, health benefits. Then they go on:
We consider three additional arguments that Texas makes and deem none persuasive.
Those arguments, in my (admittedly not Supreme) judgment, were basically weasel words, nearly farcical attempts to save unsalvageable laws that never should have been passed in the first place.
For more information re Hellerstedt:
The ACLU and Center for Reproductive Rights held a live chat Tuesday - it was planned for whenever the decision was handed down in Hellerstedt. Many of the main points can still be read in the comments.
SCOTUSblog has some very interesting analyses of the Hellerstedt decision.
www.scotusblog.com… (Objection to some wording here, “a presidential election featuring a pro-life man against a pro-choice woman,” Trump is not pro-life. He is for the moment anti-choice, but he hasn’t always been that either.)
On the flip side, they also have a very negative look at the decision written by an anti-choice woman, which ignores the record above to say the Court ruled against women's health and for the rights of the profitable abortion industry. Only click this one if you have a strong stomach for Faux-like non-news!
And of course another anti-choice woman weighs in:
Democratic Diva of Arizona highlights some of the outright lies being circulated by the Forced Birthers after Tuesday's hugely important Supreme Court decision:
In other abortion news:
The first fallout from Hellerstedt: rewire.news/… Wisconsin and Mississippi cannot do what Texas did either.
And on the same day as Hellerstedt:
SCOTUS also did something about keeping guns out of the hands of those convicted of Domestic Violence - they were rolling on Monday!
“A person who assaults another recklessly ‘use[s]’ force, no less than one who carries out that same action knowingly or intentionally,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan, who authored the majority opinion. She was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito.
It’s important to note that reckless acts don’t mean accidental. Under Maine law, a person acts recklessly when he or she “consciously disregards a risk that the person’s conduct will cause such a result.”
Individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors can’t legally own or buy guns under the Lautenberg Amendment, which Congress passed in 1996. But lawyers for the two men argued that their crimes did not qualify for the federal gun ban because their assaults were committed recklessly, as opposed to knowingly or intentionally.
Guess who didn't side with the majority? - CLARENCE THOMAS
This is a big victory for both women and men. More than 10 million men and women in the United States are physically abused by an intimate partner every year. And the combination of domestic violence and guns increases the risk of homicide 500%.
Not getting anywhere a needle myself, but to each their own:
Free tattoos for DV survivors www.viralwomen.com/...
Shortly before Monday’s ruling, the Alliance for Justice published this, www.afj.org/…, an important look at the effect of judicial vacancies and Republican obstruction on women.
INTERNATIONAL WAR ON WOMEN:
Birkana Faso: About African-American hair (not a typo — local women have bought into "straight hair is beautiful") — a thoughtful piece by a young woman. www.huffingtonpost.com/…
Regretting Motherhood Debate Rages in Germany
Excerpt: A mother who returns to the office without taking maternity leave for a year -- or often three -- opens herself up to being branded a "Rabenmutter" (raven mother) -- women who dump their kids in childcare so they can pursue their personal goals.
...cultural change has been slower in coming, with the top-selling Bild daily railing as recently as last summer against women who "pursue careers, wear trouser suits, drink smoothies and work out".
The male columnist was not finished: "They look like men. They are not mothers. They no longer wake up at night when their child is afraid of thunder and lightning."
...the idea of doing more to bring fathers into the mix has not really caught on.
(So Germany has lots of women who do not want to be mothers. Meanwhile, in France, women take a few lovely months off then resume their careers, and voila, there are a lot more willing mothers. Go figure.)
Michelle Obama with her mother and daughters is in Africa this week promoting girls' education.
Chinese textbook calls women who have premarital sex degenerate
nyti.ms/...
After the Stanford rape case, how “20 minutes of action” inspired Toronto fathers to teach their sons about misogyny.
Women in Maharashtra India will now have the option of using either the father's name or the husband's name in all the official documents, while the children will also be able to use the mother's name or father's name.
www.dnaindia.com/...
Good idea:
California becomes first state to make sexual consent teachings mandatory in public schools: www.ischoolguide.com/…
Ironic idea… or something:
Trump hires a "gender gap expert" for his campaign, and she's exactly what you'd expect.
(Much as I like purple, if I must choose between femininity and feminism, I’ll choose feminism, thank you anyway.)
Bad idea:
Men more likely to skip condoms with women they find pretty: goo.gl/…
WORST IDEAS: Senseless violence x2:
From abc7 Chicago:
Angry customers try to pull pregnant manager through drive-thru window over straws and sauce packets:
Two women and a man attacked the manager of a Wendy’s in the Kansas City Missouri area, and continued the attack even after she yelled that she was pregnant.
From ABC News
Another angry man with a gun - kills wife, kids and self in Las Vegas
Good Samaritan tries to save wife, held off at gunpoint
And now back to rape culture (TRIGGER WARNINGs):
Two awful stories from NY Daily News –
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ONE DAY in Jail and a Year’s Probation for a Two-Time Rapist
www.nydailynews.com/...
A former Indiana University student will only serve one year’s probation, pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery after initially being charged with rape. John Enochs, was charged last September with raping two women, with one alleged attack occurring at the Bloomington school's Delta Tau Delta fraternity house.
The victim told authorities that in April 2015 she had been held down by an attacker as she repeatedly told him to stop. She suffered a laceration to her genitals. Authorities said that DNA taken from this victim after the attack matched Enochs.
Prosecutors also brought charges for another alleged victim who said she was attacked by Enochs in similar case in 2013.
Rape is a level 3 felony in Indiana, and can carry up to 16 years in prison upon conviction.
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Rape-Murder RECORDED on Cell Phone
www.nydailynews.com/...
A petrified Texas teen begged for her life and screamed in terror as her boyfriend raped her, choked her to death and recorded video of the sickening attack, prosecutors said.
The unidentified underage suspect admitted to killing 15-year-old Karen Perez after her body was found stuffed in a kitchen cabinet in an abandoned Houston apartment Monday, prosecutors said.
A cellphone recording with audio but no video documented the girl’s desperate final moments.
Take a deep breath and cleanse the above from your mind. Now take the UN survey:
What empowers women economically?
A final note of Good News:
First-americans.com has posted a beautiful collection, Thirty-six Stunning Portaits of Native American Teenage Girls from the 1800s to 1900s such as this:
And have paired them with traditional native sayings such as this: “Treat every woman from the tiniest child to the oldest one with respect at all times. Always treat a woman with honor and consideration.”
Many Thanks for News! To cinnamon68, officebss, Besame, ramara, Eyesbright, Tamar, and Tara the Antisocial Social Worker! WOW women rock!