Tag Archive for "legislation"

Posts Tagged legislation

Rep. Gwen Moore on VAWA, shares experience of sexual assault

**Trigger warning**

The House has been hearing testimony and discussing reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In perhaps one of the most powerful moments during the floor speeches, on Wednesday, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI.) spoke about her personal story of being sexually assaulted during her childhood and raped as a young woman.

Rep Moore made the politics personal. As we mentioned in Wendesday’s WWM, she spoke on the House floor about her experience of date-rape:

I don’t have enough time to share all these experiences with you but I can tell you that when this bill came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with all the Republican Senators, all of the guys voting no, it brought up some terrible memories ...

**Trigger warning**

By Vanessa • 12 years ago

Tennessee bill would expose identities of abortion providers and possibly patients

Remember how anti-choice domestic terrorist group Operation Rescue created an online database of abortion providers across the country, leaving a terrifying opening for anti-choice harassment and violence? Well, it looks like legislators in Tennessee are trying to make the process easier for antis by making it a legal requirement:

The latest salvo in the abortion wars comes in the form of a bill in the Tennessee Legislature that would result in the online publication of the names of doctors who perform abortions, and — according to critics of the measure — potentially out individual women who undergo the procedure.

The Life Defense Act of 2012, which is under consideration in the Tennessee House, would direct the state ...

By Sharkfu • 12 years ago

Pondering recent chats about access to birth control….

Shall we?

Yesterday I traveled to Jefferson City, Missouri to lobby some state legislators who recently voted on a resolution to deny women access to birth control without co-payments . I was appalled by this vote…not just because I know how important access to birth control is for my fellow Missourians, but also because these legislators wasted the people’s time on a blatant pander rather than using it to address our many economic woes.

So, I found myself at the capitol on a Tuesday trying to get answers and explain why representatives voting against access to birth control without co-payment are out-of-step with their constituents. After a rather unsatisfying meeting with a legislator who didn’t even bother to offer a defense for ...

Shall we?

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

BREAKING: Key VA Senate committee passes Personhood bill

Virginia’s Personhood bill now moves to the full Virginia Senate. ABC7 in Richmond reports:

A bill that would define life as starting at conception has been approved in a key Senate committee.

Eight Republicans voted for the measure, and the committee’s seven Democrats opposed it after an hour-long hearing on the bill that is similar to one in Missouri.

The bill passed after an amendment clarifying that no provision in it would restrict the use of federally approved contraception.

At least three times, the committee chairman, Sen. Steve Martin, threatened to have police remove opponents of the bill after they spoke out during debate.

There are only twenty Democrats in the Virginia Senate, so this bill ...

Virginia’s Personhood bill now moves to the full Virginia Senate. ABC7 in Richmond reports:

A bill that would define life as starting at conception has been approved in a key Senate committee.

Eight Republicans ...

By Samhita • 12 years ago

Washington state senate passes gay marriage legislation

We can welcome one more state into the foray of states that believe in basic rights for all their citizens despite sexual preference. Washington’s state senate has passed same-sex marriage legislation.

via Seattle Times,

Lawmakers approved the bill 28 to 21. The measure now heads for the House where it’s expected to easily pass as early as next week. The governor supports the bill as well.

Washington would become the seventh state to legalize gay marriage.

The outcome, while expected, culminates more than decade of work by Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, the prime sponsor of the bill, and the gay and lesbian community.

“A lot of people are just stunned, particularly people my age and older, to think this day would actually come ...

via Seattle Times,

Lawmakers approved the ...

By Eesha Pandit • 12 years ago

Massachusetts passes law protecting trans residents

Today in Boston, a ceremony marked a newly passed MA state law which prohibits discrimination against transgender residents in employment, housing, insurance and credit.

Governor Deval Patrick told a crowded Statehouse ceremony on Thursday that he was happy to approve the bill as a “matter of conscience” in order to protect the rights and dignity of an estimated 33,000 transgender citizens in Massachusetts.

The law also extends the state’s hate crime laws to cover transgender people. Attorney General Martha Coakley said her office was ready to enforce the new law, adding that she hopes it won’t often be necessary. There is a long-standing debate about the impact of hate crimes legislation. see here for an analysis opposing such legislation.

That said, in a ...

Today in Boston, a ceremony marked a newly passed MA state law which prohibits discrimination against transgender residents in employment, housing, insurance and credit.

Governor Deval Patrick told a crowded Statehouse ceremony on Thursday that he was happy ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Eric Cantor heckled for opposing marriage equality

While speaking yesterday at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was booed for opposing marriage equality.

When the time came to take questions, Cantor was asked how he squares his support for states’ rights with his support for the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

He offered the explanation that he just believes in “traditional marriage” then offered some irrelevant rhetoric about how all Americans “should allow for equal opportunity to earn the success that we’re after.” Huh?

Same sex marriage and domestic partnerships are a hot and divisive topic at the University of Michigan at the moment. The state senate is currently considering HB 4770, which would which, in a purported ...

While speaking yesterday at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was booed for opposing marriage equality.

When the time came to take questions, Cantor was asked ...

By Eesha Pandit • 12 years ago

Alabama on my mind: anti-immigrant legislation leads to humanitarian crisis

In Alabama, recently passed House Bill 56 (HB 56) requires local and state law enforcement to check the status of any person of whom they have “reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented, in a remix of Arizona’s unconstitutional SB 1070. The Alabama law also requires schools to check the immigration status of all new students.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn first issued a temporary injunction in August to give her more time to wade through the complex legal arguments in the case, and the ruling came on her last day of review. Her ruling kept many elements of the law, including the immigration check of students, but she temporarily enjoined others.

So, some AL families are pulling their children out of ...