FEMINISM! What? Yeah.

blandarchist:

About a thousand women’s rights protestors descended on the state Capitol Saturday afternoon to protest anti-abortion legislation in the General Assembly, and then things got ugly.

About 20 State Police officers, many in swat gear with face shields and body armor, were called in to assist Capitol Police in controlling the crowd. Some of the State Police officers wore green camouflage and carried rifles and canisters of tear gas (no tear gas was used, however). After being warned to vacate the south steps of the Capitol, police officers arrested 31 people — 14 men and 17 women — on charges ranging from unlawful assembly to trespassing, according to Capitol Police.

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

A group of women has formed a new political action committee to recruit and support candidates to defeat elected officials who back the ultrasound and so-called personhood bills.

Women’s Strike Force, which boasts several former elected officials, formed after Virginia spent last week in national headlines for its attempt to require women to undergo mandatory trans-vaginal ultrasounds before an abortion.

“As a former member of the General Assembly and Virginia’s first woman in Congress, I fought for women’s rights in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s,” Leslie Byrne said in a statement. “We must move the commonwealth and the nation forward, not backslide to denying women rights.”

This is amazing and I’m pleased to see people reacting in this way.

[NB: It’s more than just cis women’s rights that are backsliding. Also, I keep saying this, but this is not simply the burden of ladies. I appreciate and am pleased that (cis) women are leading the charge but this should really be everyone’s concern.]

(Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

flirtingwithfoolishness:

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

jessicavalenti:

Republican Virginia delegate Dave Albo says his wife refused to have sex with him over the “trans-v” bill. Nice that dudes who are legislating women’s bodies can’t even say the word ‘vagina’.

I’m gonna guess that this dude is not gonna get any sex after his wife hears that he told everyone on the interwebs and the VA House floor that she withheld sex after he supported fucked up abortion bill. Just a guess.

Also: vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina 

[NB: not just cis women’s, but people’s bodies]

Imagine their dirty talk…. LMAO

Holy shit that just made me laugh so hard.

(via keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

Things are (not) looking up. In Washington state, U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton ruled in favor of plaintiffs in a case that called the states laws about access to Plan B an infringement on religious freedom (sound familiar anyone?). The law mandated that Plan B and other such emergency contraceptive drugs be available to women in all pharmacies at all times. This law applied to all drugs, with some exceptions:

Pharmacies can decline to stock a drug, such as certain painkillers, if it’s likely to increase the risk of theft, or if it requires an inordinate amount of paperwork, or if the drug is temporarily unavailable from suppliers, among other reasons.

The plaintiffs argued that this targeted religious pharmacists, because they were not allowed an exception to the rule (though the rule did allow pharmacists to pass the customer on to a coworker if it posed a religious problem). The judge found that this was unfair because it allowed for “secular” exemptions while denying religious ones. 

According to USA Today, this ruling only effects the plaintiff at the current moment. However, in the opinion of this feminist, it is yet another attempt to place religious freedom over the rights of women to access contraception and make their own family planning decisions. 

In Virginia, more bad news. A modified version of the ultrasound bill passed in the state house today. Though this is certainly less invasive than the trans-vaginal ultrasound, it reaffirms anti-choice tenants, such as the inability of women to make their own decisions regarding abortion without the state stepping in to place obstacles in their way. 

However, this afternoon the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the bill’s sponsor, state Senator Jill Holtzman Vogel, no longer felt “in good conscious that I want to carry the bill in its current form.” Vogel continued:

There are moments when you are legislator when you have to stop and you have to have a moment of real conscience. I sort of had that moment this morning considering the outcome and the fate of this bill.

I can see how this could be viewed as a success for pro-choice activists who came out en masse against the transvaginal ultrasound. However, here is why I think it’s still problematic:

Assuming that women need yet another state mandated intervention to make sure they know what they are doing when they get an abortion just reiterates socially accepted knowledge that says women are incapable of making these decisions without the state stepping in to make sure they really know what they’re doing. This assumes that women are inherently ignorant of what an abortion is or what it does, and that they need (male, white, cis, hetero) men to come in in the form of state-mandated obstacles to access to make sure they actually know what is going on with their bodies. It also reinforces the anti-choice party line: that abortion is a very bad thing that no one should do/would want to do if they really understood what they were doing. 

This is absolutely a blow for women’s health in VA. 

Democratic State Sen. Barbara Favola said she also heard that Republicans lawmakers may be buckling under pressure from women voters. “They’re backing off because they’re now hearing from women about it,” she said. “Yesterday we had hundreds of women line the walkwaybetween General Assembly and the Capitol in silent protest.”

jessicavalenti:

Props to all the pro-choice activists in VA!

This is super awesome for VA. But am I the only Texan feminist who is sad that there wasn’t this kind of a backlash when TX passed a similar bill last March, which just went into effect? 

(via youdontlooklikeafeminist)

Virginia Board Of Health Passes Strictest Abortion Clinic Regulations In The Nation (via becauseiamawoman)

Emphasis mine.

These new restrictions must be approved by Governor Bob McDonell in order to become {temporary) law.  If he agrees with the proposed changes, they will go into effect beginning on January 1st, 2012.

I urge you to contact Bob McDonell and ask him to oppose these regulations. Although McDonell has consistently voted against abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, it is worth a try to communicate with him and let him know that the people he represents support abortion access.   Email him or call his office directly at (804) 786-2211.

(via mylifeasafeminista)

(via mylifeasafeminista)