This is horrifying:
Ohio lawmakers passed a bill that would prohibit abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected — at around six weeks, before many women realize they are pregnant. Here’s what you need to know about the bill. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)
Ohio lawmakers passed a bill late Tuesday that would prohibit abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected — at around six weeks, before many women realize they are pregnant.
If Gov. John Kasich (R) signs the bill, it would pose a direct challenge to Supreme Court decisions that have found that women have a constitutional right to abortion until the point of viability, which is typically pegged around 24 weeks. Similar bills have been blocked by the courts. Because of this, even many antiabortion advocates have opposed such measures.
But some Ohio Republicans said they were empowered to support the bill because of President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 high court decision that legalized abortion nationally.
This no Christo-fascist regime is going to take decades to unwind.
rikyrah
The only ones who thought he was REASONABLE were fools.
Sigh.
They continue to want to control womens bodies.
Ugh
Baud
This will help with people’s economic anxiety, so not all bad.
Hunter Gathers
He’ll sign it, it’ll go all the way to the Supreme Court and it’ll end Roe V Wade.
But’s that’s OK, because Clinton used a private e-mail server and black people scare me.
Dadadadadadada
Shit like this makes me glad I gave up on religion. Until pretty recently, I would have supported (however tepidly) this precise action of Kasich’s, as well as a blanket ban on abortion (except in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother, because my former church was progressive like that), because LIFE IS SACRED.
Fuck all that now. This law is evil, and anyone who supports it is, at best, suspect.
GregB
Once the Cheese-Whiz Messiah appoints Rick Santorum to the Supreme Court this will be become the law of the land.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
Can we put paid to the notion that everything about Republicans is about keeping everyone not a white male in control by white males?
Ian
6 weeks is just the typical rethuggie hogwash. They know the bill will be struck down in court. The do this shit to keep their voters in line and fired up- ‘See, the Libtards want to kill 6 week old babies!’
debbie
Kasich has refused to support previous heartbeat bills, but he’s in such shit with the GOP, he may just go along to get along. Also, this may prove an effective distraction from the deteriorating economic situation in Ohio.
He’ll sign it.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@GregB: But Hitlery killed people at Benghazi!, so it’s all good.
smintheus
The good news is that wealthier women will still be able to get abortions simply by traveling to Canada. This law is directed against the rights of poor women.
Stacy
I think what we’re all forgetting here is every sperm is sacred.
Lyrebird
I guess they’re making their position clear. (shudders)
What do people here think of the Let’s-push-for-a-last-minute-Merrick-Garland-appointment strategy DKos is promoting?
PS: John Cole I hope you do get an estimate re: tree — in Pennsyltucky I got someone to remove a not-terribly-tall tree for just under $300?
@Hunter Gathers: effing sad effing true.
Ksmiami
Wipe them out. All of them Katie
Baud
@Lyrebird:
Fine, if they don’t blame Dems if it doesn’t succeed.
Hal
Hold up. Even if the bill is signed and the appeal reaches the Supreme Court, why would they here this case when they refused to hear the North Dakota appeal? Also, let’s say the court hears the appeal with a very anti-choice justice Trump appoints, is it a guarantee there would be a 5 to 4 in favor of the Ohio bill? The whole thing still seems like a long shot to me.
Baud
@Hal:
Kennedy is still the swing vote. They can’t overturn Roe unless he retires or one of the liberal justices dies.
Zinsky
@Hunter Gathers: Agree! This is the medieval legislation they will use to overturn Roe v. Wade, because it takes direct aim at the fetal viability threshold, which was the bedrock of Roe. Regarding your comment about Hillary’s e-mails, which is spot on with its snark, I was thinking about that on my long drive home for work today. Specifically – do you know anyone personally who has gone to jail or prison over an e-mail? Further, have you ever heard of anyone going to jail or prison over an e-mail? Ever? What would an e-mail have to say, to send someone to prison over it? A direct e-mail to Kim Jong Un with detailed plans on how to build and detonate a nuclear warhead with strong cheerleading for him to set it off in Manhattan? I mean, really? Having reflected on this for a second, now tell me how a significant proportion of Americans actually thought Hillary Clinton could or should go to prison over e-mails, especially when they couldn’t find one that actually leaked a “national security” secret? Good God, Americans are stupid motherf*ckers!
Chip Daniels
@Hal:
Regardless, its sickening that Roe is hanging by such a slender thread that it should come to to one single man on the SCOTUS.
In half a dozen states, this time next year, abortion could be defacto illegal in all circumstances .
dmsilev
@Hal: It lets the professional rabble-rousers turn to the rabble and say “look, we tried! We need you to send more money so we can put Men of God ™ on the Supreme Court”.
Percysowner
@debbie: Kasich is in shit with the GOP, but Ohio likes him. I think he doesn’t sign, because I think he knows that Kennedy still isn’t ready to overturn Roe v. Wade. If Trump appoints more than one Justice, then I think Kasich signs. I could be wrong, but don’t think he does this until he knows it will stand.
Baud
@Chip Daniels: It’s been that way for about 25 years. Our side continues to take it less seriously than the other side does.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Our side keeps saying, “Oh they don’t really mean that”; actually they really DO mean that.
ETA: The sluts must be shamed for their sins.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: That’s what I mean. We constantly take things for granted.
Shana
@Dadadadadadada: Yes, I agree with you about the hypocrisy of the supposed religious community about abortion. While I am militantly pro-choice, I have always thought that the people who oppose abortion in all cases except for the life and health of the woman have the more consistent moral position. Otherwise it’s just slut-shaming. If abortion is supposed to be murder, a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest is still murder.
Mind you, I don’t agree with that position, but at least it’s morally consistent.
Ian
@Lyrebird:
I think its dangerous. Yet the past 6 years have seen the GOP has not respect for institutions or rules. So I say, give it a shot. But if we do this, we may well lose the filibuster.
Ian
@Zinsky:
Child pornography and the Gawker sex tape are situations where emails can put you in jail. Not implying that HRC had anything to do with those, merely examples of where email can in fact be criminal.
Baud
@Ian:
Too late. Right wing fake news is on it.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
The very definition of a republican is someone who is unreasonable about any personal rights.
Any personal rights.
Kasich is a republican and is therefore unreasonable.
Van Buren
@GregB: I overlapped 1 year at Law School with Rick Santorum. You, sir, have just guaranteed me unending nightmares.
BJ Lurker
Having lived in Ohio for more than 30 years, I have concluded that voters need to experience the consequences of their votes. If you vote for Republicans, don’t be surprised if they want to control your body.
I’m totally out of empathy with those who vote against their best interests or can’t be bothered to vote. Count me in as a tough-love proponent.
I’m tired of trying to keep this ship upright.
BillinGlendaleCA
@BJ Lurker: Did they learn in Kansas?
Major Major Major Major
I keep telling people Kasich is still really fucking awful. A difference in kind and degree from Trump, in the way that bullets are fast but heavy metal poisoning takes a while and can be stopped.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Major Major Major Major: That’s what Sen. Graham said.
ETA: Though I think he was talking about Sen. Cruz and TEFA.
Ruckus
@BJ Lurker:
Remember the Titanic? That unsinkable ship piloted by someone who looks like a fool for thinking that any ship is unsinkable?
That’s our current republican party. And not only is the pilot a fool, his entire crew is drunk on stupidity.
Ian
@Major Major Major Major:
I love to quote Pelosi on this. “Your budgets are your values”. And guess which POS was budget director for the reign of shrubbery?
Ruckus
@Major Major Major Major:
There have been a few of us that have been saying that Kasich is not reasonable. He may be more reasonable than other major republicans, but he still does not come close to reasonable. As I said above, no republican does.
Major Major Major Major
@Ruckus: exactly.
@Ian: I forget where it’s from but I always liked “a budget is a moral document.”
scuffletuffle
Next on the agenda will be making birth control illegal…
Botsplainer
@smintheus:
You think pregnant women will be allowed to travel? Or that they won’t get checked out on return for an intact fetus?
BillinGlendaleCA
@scuffletuffle: Yup.
laura
@Shana: sure, if you overlook those who advocate murdering those on the pro-choice side.
I may be wrong, but I’m not aware of a history of death and mayhem against the pro-life/forced birth side.
PVDMichael
So with the exception of the economic cabinet guys (Treasury, Labor), all his cabinet choices so far seem to hate the agencies they’ve been tapped to lead. The incoming EPA Chief will be a climate change science denying Oklahoma Attorney General who has sued the EPA on many occasions.
Major Major Major Major
@laura: those 50 million dead babies don’t count??
BJ Lurker
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Nope. Get out of the way and let them go down.
gene108
@Lyrebird:
I am all in on trying to slip Garland in, by any means necessary.
PIGL
Look: the west coast and New England need to start packing their bags. There is no way to compromise with the Trumpistas, the fundies, and gun fondlers, the racists, or with the evil billionaires who cozen them. Luckily, there is enough geographic separation that they can be left behind to rot. I know it sucks for the almost 50% reasonable people who live in those benighted states….but they are manifestly incapable of stopping what is happening. This failure can not be allowed to drag under the rest of the world. The USA is a lost cause…time to pick yourselves up and move on.
debbie
@efgoldman: @efgoldman:
No. Trump has made Kasich appear reasonable. No one ever dreamed he’d distance himself from the GOP candidate.
SiubhanDuinne
@PVDMichael:
So much for the meeting with Al Gore.
Major Major Major Major
@PVDMichael: transportation is fine. She’s as close to “generic republican” as you can get.
gene108
@BillinGlendaleCA:
TEFA????
debbie
@Shana:
Really? Don’t you think moral consistentcy would require them to also care about the child after it was born?
BJ Lurker
Kasich is an idiot. I once ran into him in an elevator at a previous job when he was starting out at Fox News. I made a joke about fair and balanced. He gave me a blank look and talked enthusiastically about his new show.
He’s a whack job.
BillinGlendaleCA
@gene108: Covered in a previous thread: The Evil Fucking Asshole, aka ShitGibbon.
Percysowner
@scuffletuffle: The extremists are already saying any birth control that is not a barrier method is abortion. And I’m sure they will find a way to define anything a woman controls as abortion as well. Or as “too dangerous” for a woman to use. Condoms will get a pass because men control them. I’m just putting money away so that if I have to send my daughter to another country to get an IUD, I can afford it.
BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: Hell, they really don’t care about it before it’s born. Prenatal care is expensive.
jacy
Trumps going to bring back all those lost backalley abortion jobs! Who says he doesn’t care about the little people?
Major Major Major Major
@Percysowner: apparently lots of women are getting IUDs right now.
debbie
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes, before ACA is repealed. A double whammy, so to speak.
Feathers
@smintheus: Or it will be like pre-unification Germany and women “suspected” of having had an abortion are given gynecological exams at the border. Link: Abortion checks at German-Dutch border. One of the biggest barriers to German unification was the West Germany’s strict abortion laws. You had to get a doctor certification, and in many areas the doctors just wouldn’t give them.
Sab
@efgoldman: Kasich tries to appear reasonable
because he got his clock cleaned soon after his election when he and the state legislature tried to destroy public employee unions. Scott Walker in WI had the sense to exempt police and firefighters. Kasich didn’t. In Ohio the public unions did a huge repeal that law referendum (repeal S.B. 5) and Kasich’s side got clobbered. He has been very careful about appearing to be reasonable ever since, but he is still the nutcase he as always was. He just doesn’t say stupid stuff in public anymore.
PR
Hey proggies, get a load of Trump’s EPA pick yet? Apparently he was pretty much hand picked by James Inhofe.
Oil! Coal! Fracking! Gas! By their powers combined they will make the USA a fossil fuel Superpower!
Ian
I find it interesting that when our side loses we stock up on healthcare. When their side loses they stock up on guns. Priorities, no?
Glidwrith
And now we have Maddow bringing up Peter Theil’s belief that women should not have the right to vote.
May a thousand syphilitic camels infest every shitgibbon property.
Glidwrith
@PR: You still sound like Captain Planet.
Percysowner
@Major Major Major Major: I know a lot of women are, my daughter just got married and they want kids fairly soon, so no semi-permanent BC until they have a kid. They can probably afford to go and get an IUD, but I’m still keeping money in reserve, just in case.
Aleta
I kid you not, today the dental hygienist worked the phrase “your god-given teeth” into a sentence to me. (She was referring to ones that don’t have fillings.) Apparently she’s feeling “emboldened,” as the media likes to call the racists, nazi-worshipers and women haters.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Aleta: Will you be in the market for a new dental practice for your g*d-given teeth? I would, but I’m pissy about that kind of shit. Leave me out of it and clean my g*ddamned teeth.
Manyakitty
@Ian: And so, I heard that the loser-in-chief elect may not present a budget next year. Sums him up, no?
Omnes Omnibus
@Manyakitty: Who needs a budget?
Manyakitty
@Omnes Omnibus: We don’t need no stinking budget!
scott alloway
@Stacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUspLVStPbk
StringOnAStick
@Aleta: not all dental hygienists are winger nut jobs, but more than half the dentists out there are conservative so look for hints and change to a new one if you see stuff you don’t iike. Ask around, there are DDS’s that are Democrats.
When I used to be a temp RDH I was sent to a lot of offices. Every single office that was winger or TP was also practicing crappy, decades old dentistry with a very lose attitude about infection control and not keeping equipment clean enough to avoid swapping spit between patients. Gubmint can’t tell them what to to you see.
Mnemosyne
@StringOnAStick:
My dentist is a Russian immigrant whose office staff is made up of two more immigrants (Filipina and Latina). We all had a good grumble about the new asshole-in-chief when I had to get a crown a few weeks ago.
steve story
I spent all my savings to move from the Deep South to Washington State. It sucks being broke, but I’ll be slightly more immunized against the trashy GOP shitheads where I am now.
steve story
(thinking back to being in south georgia a few months ago and having a customer tell me “Finally somebody’s gonna have the balls to drag 11 million illegals outta here kicking and screaming!”)
Zinsky
@Ian: Ian, not sure I follow your logic here, although I am not aware of all of the details in the cases you cite. However, I suspect that e-mail was used in the commission and/or cover-up of other crimes. E-mail was not the sole “crime” involved. I still challenge anyone to cite a case where someone’s e-mail or e-mails alone landed them in a federal penitentiary. Just. One.