Obama at Head of Women's Issue Class

In terms of women's issues, it seems to be consensus that Obama has pretty much killed during his first 100 days (enter Steve and twin turds, Travis and OB Unsurper jumping on my use of the word kill here). Emily Douglas at RH Reality Check provides the most comprehensive break down that I've seen so far with her piece "RJ100: Reproductive Justice and Obama's First 100 Days." Here's a breakdown if you don't have time to read the article in its entirety:

Main accomplishments: signed Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, established the White House Council on Women and Girls, repealed the Global Gag Rule, restored international family planning aid, moved to rescind the Bush health care refusal rule, and appointed outstanding women's advocates Hillary Clinton and Hilda Solis to his cabinet.

The Report Card:

Access to Contraception: A-
Sexuality Education and Teen Pregnancy Prevention: C
Women's Economic Equity: A+
Global Reproductive Health: A+
Domestic AIDS Response: B
Global AIDS Policy: I
Global Women's Rights: A+

And calls for continued progress include access to EC for women in the military, total axe of abstinence-only sex education funding, and national AIDS strategy.


And in true That Girl fashion, I have to bring up just one itsy bitsy little point of criticism...

Though I've generally been beside myself with joy watching Obama in action over these past few months and swoon over his verbiage, I gotta say last night press conference? Not so much. Obama's answer to the question on FOCA (The Freedom of Choice Act) really failed to excite me. He sounded more like a "No on 6" machine than himself. It was also a pretty mixed message. What the hell was going on there?!

Ed Henry?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. In a couple of weeks, you're going to be giving the commencement at Notre Dame. And, as you know, this has caused a lot of controversy among Catholics who are opposed to your position on abortion.

As a candidate, you vowed that one of the very things you wanted to do was sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which, as you know, would eliminate federal, state and local restrictions on abortion. And at one point in the campaign when asked about abortion and life, you said that it was above -- quote, "above my pay grade."

Now that you've been president for 100 days, obviously, your pay grade is a little higher than when you were a senator.

(LAUGHTER)

Do you still hope that Congress quickly sends you the Freedom of Choice Act so you can sign it?

OBAMA: You know, the -- my view on -- on abortion, I think, has been very consistent. I think abortion is a moral issue and an ethical issue.

I think that those who are pro-choice make a mistake when they -- if they suggest -- and I don't want to create straw men here, but I think there are some who suggest that this is simply an issue about women's freedom and that there's no other considerations. I think, look, this is an issue that people have to wrestle with and families and individual women have to wrestle with.

OBAMA: The reason I'm pro-choice is because I don't think women take that -- that position casually. I think that they struggle with these decisions each and every day. And I think they are in a better position to make these decisions ultimately than members of Congress or a president of the United States, in consultation with their families, with their doctors, with their doctors, with their clergy.

So -- so that has been my consistent position. The other thing that I said consistently during the campaign is I would like to reduce the number of unwanted presidencies that result in women feeling compelled to get an abortion, or at least considering getting an abortion, particularly if we can reduce the number of teen pregnancies, which has started to spike up again.

And so I've got a task force within the Domestic Policy Council in the West Wing of the White House that is working with groups both in the pro-choice camp and in the pro-life camp, to see if we can arrive at some consensus on that.

Now, the Freedom of Choice Act is not highest legislative priority. I believe that women should have the right to choose. But I think that the most important thing we can do to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue is to focus on those areas that we can agree on. And that's -- that's where I'm going to focus.

The full transcript of the press conference can be found here.

BREAKING: Sebelius Confirmed by Senate!

Finally! Happy 100!

Is the Phelps clan preparing for another Jonestown?

A recent post on the Westboro Baptist Church's blog has caused some LGBT bloggers to speculate that Fred Phelps and his clan are preparing to off themselves. Others disagree. What do you think?

Note, by the way, how similar the insane rantings of Shirley Phelps sound to our own Pastor(?) DooHickey.

Go Hillary!

Observers of a committee hearing burst into applause as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlines the United States' new policies toward reproductive health care around the world:



The Obama Administration's policies save lives. Simple as that.

Next Up on the Chopping Block: Abstinence-Only Sex Ed

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Despite Lakita Garth sounding far less crazy than the wackadoddle Leslee, are we really to believe that she didn't have sex (and that includes vaginal, oral, and anal, friends) for 36 years?! And what about masturbation?! This website even maintains that she didn't even lock lips with her now husband until they got married (waving bullshit card here!):

Last summer, 36-year-old Lakita Garth kissed her boyfriend of two years for the very first time—at the altar after they said, "I do."

Yeah, I don't know about you other ladies out there, but I never know the name and/or address of whom I'm shakin' up with (note the sarcasm). Give me a break with that, Lakita! Who are these people who think that every sexually active woman who isn't opposed to premarital sex bounces from one bed to the next?! Most people are serial monogomists...and a whole lot of pro-choice and anti-choice people alike seemingly still have a lot of waking up to do on that one.

Also, perhaps not surprising that we've got another rightwinger-and-former-pageant-goer on our hands (the Palins and Krebs of the world cheer here). Speaking of...this video post at Feministing on the topic is pretty good.

BREAKING: FDA Approves Plan B for 17 Year Olds!

Via CNN. Stay tuned for more info to follow.

Edit: Full CNN story can be found here.

Happy Earth Day!

Go here to make a super fun virtual you and compute an estimate on your individual carbon footprint.

Hopefully it won't make you feel as bad as it made me feel :( Comparitively I thought I was doing pretty good, but this showed otherwise. It's time for some major lifestyle changes!

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Failed Personhood Movement May Be SD Bound

Just got an email from the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families:

Now, abortion ban proponents have launched a website to raise money and recruit volunteers to circulate petitions for a personhood amendment in South Dakota. Personhood amendments are even more rigid and restrictive than either of the abortion ban proposals in 2006 and 2008.

The alert points to this not so impressive website which seems to be associated with the national organization Personhood USA and the domain is registered to Keith Mason, Personhood USA, Arvada, Colorado. No sign if anyone from South Dakota is actually involved.

I honestly don't think a personhood amendment could pass here in a million years but I would hate to see any money, time, or energy expended on defeating it. Most of all, though, I would hate to see the rhetoric that would develop around the personhood issue, because it's totally irrelevant. I am not pro-choice because I don't think a fetus is a person. Person isn't exactly a medical term and it's been thrown around in some pretty questionable ways during the history of our country. I'm pro-choice because I believe in a woman's right to her bodily autonomy. It really doesn't matter whether what's inside her body is a person or not -- it's inside HER body.

The whole personhood discussion has so many problems and holes; I can already imagine the gigantic waste of time that such a measure would cause. Inevitably, it would lead to some pretty cringe-worthy biological claims from both sides and a whole lot of ignoring the real issue: the rights of women.

BREAKING: South Dakotans to vote on medical marijuana again!

I noticed today that there's a new ballot measure being started per the Secretary of State: Assuming they get the signatures, South Dakotans will again vote on whether to allow access to medical marijuana for certain patients.


I was pretty impressed with how close the measure came in 2006, as I believe it got 48% of the vote. With a bit more organizing, I think this could pass in 2010, which would be long overdue. I've never understood the reasoning from the anti crowd that this somehow leads to more drug abuse--we're not talking teenagers here, we're talking people with glaucoma, and terminal cancer patients. And as Kelsey has so eloquently pointed out, cancer sucks.


I guess 2010 just got even more exciting.

Texas Chucktatorship?!

This is sure rich. Apparently Chuck Norris has volunteered to be the first President (yes, you read that right) of Texas...you know, once it secedes and all.

The actor, who is a staunch Republican, insists Texans want an independent state after being let down by the American government - and thinks he'd be the ideal candidate to lead the Lone Star state's revolution.

In case you forgot how much of a badass Chuck Norris is, here are some fun facts to refresh your memory, taken from this website.

* If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.

* There is no 'ctrl' button on Chuck Norris's computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.

* Chuck Norris is suing MySpace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you.

* Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

...and so on. You get the point. He's one bad mother!


Even more Chuck-tastic is the shot named after him. It's de-lish. Drop 1 oz cherry vodka into 5 oz Liquid Ice energy drink and voila!

Teabags and D-Bags

The Steve-ster over at Voices Crazy (reminder: DW no linkage policy) posted a video on the Sioux Falls D-party, oops, I mean Tea Party that is just too funny for words. I've clipped out the visual highlights and I think you'll get the point after setting your eyes on these little beauties.

Exhibit A: ('Pastor') Steve Hickey, prominent anti-choice blog-roid and comedian.


Exhibit B: John Mogen, former District 13 Candidate for State House and Richard Simmons Look-Alike



test4eric, a commenter on the Argus Leader's story about the event, had this to say about Mogen's portrayal of Thomas Paine, which is not only right on, but also hilarious:

A) Thomas Paine was not only an advocate of a national pension for retirees (Social Security), but he also concieved of subsidized healthcare (Medicare), a guaranteed income (Minimum Wage), and he invented the suspension bridge to improve transportation (Infrastructure). Some nut dressed up as Tom Paine to protest high taxes or socialism needs to actually, ya know, READ some Tom Paine.

Exhibit C: ('Dr.') Allen Unruh, Media Whore and Resident Nutcase



And lastly, Exhibit D: Mental Institution Escapees and/or The Liberty Tax Mascot Wondering onto the Set of Point Break




So, what's the REAL reason that 3500-something people attended this event?! I think it's obvious. People love the circus. People also enjoy any opportunity to watch others (especially grown, politically active men) embarrass the hell out of themselves.

If you have 5:27 minutes to spare, watch the whole video. Note the music, it's classic!

New poll: Obama gets 62% approval rating in SD

With all the supposed uproar from the tea parties, one might assume that South Dakotans aren't big fans of Obama. But, as a new statewide poll indicates, Allen Unruh can huff and puff, but he can't blow Obama's job approval down!

Not surprisingly, the poll found 83% approval among Democrats, but also found a decent 41% approval from Republicans, and a solid 61% from Independents. It looks like South Dakotans aren't falling for ludacris claims that Democrats are wrecking everything. I think people are getting what they've asked for: serious reform of the economy, including middle-class tax cuts and health care reform. I'm sure saving the day from pirates also helps.

I think Jon Stewart said it best last week, that Republicans are confusing "tyranny" with "losing:"

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Baracknophobia - Obey
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

62 percent.

Unruh Media Whore-dom Reaches New High

Alright. After seeing the KELO footage on tomorrow's ridiculous teabagging...oops, I mean tea party, I've got to point out further evidence that Allen Unruh is a big fat media whore. First we have the obvious: abortion, abortion, abortion. Then we have his somewhat unexpected appearance on the side of organic foods which I wrote about previously...and now we have this.

It's official -- Allen has reached a level of media whore-dom that C-List celebs the world over only dream about. Here's an idea: maybe the SD media should just stop interviewing this nut. Is it that hard to find someone else to talk to?

And for all you first-time readers, here it is again, courtesy of Urban Dictionary:


Media Whore

1. A person who has a psychological need to get into TV, Film, Radio or Print.

2. A person who becomes aroused almost sexually by seeing or hearing themselves or about themselves in the media.

Most people who audition for reality TV series or write excessive numbers of letters to the editor are nothing more than media whores.

DakotaWomen Movie Night: This Blog is Not Yet Rated

Things I love: full movies available on the internet. What a great idea! Tonight I watched This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a fantastic documentary about the movie ratings system that has a lot to say about how films show (and don't show) sex, violence, etc. The lack of due process in the ratings system is pretty stunning. Just an FYI, this one's probably rated NSFW.



P.S. I love the private investigators he hires:)

I love a good turn of phrase...

Doesn't this hit the true philosophy of Leslee and Co. right on the head?

From The Right's Reasons: Constitutional Conflict and the Spread of Women-Protective Antiabortion Argument, Reva B. Siegel, Duke Law Journal (April 2008), describing the "vision of the good life" put forth in the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion majority report:

"[A]bstinence before marriage and economic dependence within it."

You snooze, you lose...

As expected, the Radical Religious Right has been in a bit of an uproar since Vermont and -- gasp! -- Iowa recently created full marriage equality.

In response, the National Organization for Marriage launched a campaign called "2M4M," or "2 Million 4 Marriage." (Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that's a Craig's List tag that has pretty much nothing to do with marriage. What is it with the Right lately and a giant lack of awareness that what they're talking about has a double meaning?)

The NOM is also spending $1.5 million ad campaign in states that now (or soon may) allow marriage. The ad itself is pretty ridiculous, in a "ZOMG, gay people can get married! The sky is falling!" sort of way.

My favorite part in all of this so far is that the 2M4M campaign was announced before they'd actually grabbed 2M4M.org. Apparently, someone on the pro-equality side realized this, and it's now become "2 Men for Marriage." I can just hear the NOM organizers realizing this after the fact and thinking to themselves, "Oh, you mean we should have made sure we bought it before we told everyone and their mother than we were doing this? Hmm."

"Religious Right concedes defeat..."

In a fascinating article from the Telegraph, Alex Spillus reported that James Dobson, former leader of Focus on the Family, told followers that "Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles" in their crusades against abortion and further acceptance of GLBT people.

Others within the evangelical community are also arguing that the movement is over. From the same article:

Michael Spencer, a writer who lives in a Christian community in Kentucky, said the religious Right had suffered from its identification with Mr Bush, the most unpopular president in living memory, and the extremist rhetoric of some on the religious Right.

One of the more notorious outbursts was the Rev John Hagee’s assertion that the deadly Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was God’s judgment on New Orleans for hosting a gay parade.

In an online article in the Christian Science Monitor that has became a touchstone for disaffected conservatives, Mr Spencer forecast a major collapse in evangelical Christianity within ten years.

“Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake,” he wrote.

This is great news. Now, maybe South Dakotans can focus on reforms that will help working women, professional women, women of color, homemakers, LBT women, and women who live in poverty, rather than fighting the same tired battles about abortion over and over and over.

Happy Easter, everyone!

ZOMG, Racism Still Exists?!

If you haven't seen it yet, one of Kelo's headlines today was seriously cringe-worthy: Some At Forum Say Racism Still Exists.


Yes, Kelo. The sky is blue, the grass is green, and even though it's 2009, racism does still exist. If there was ever a prime example of a "dog bites man" story, this is it.


I'm always amazed at people who think that because America now has a black president, that racism has suddenly vanished. I don't have the patience to unpack everything that's wrong with that, but let me just say that as long as we've still got things like grossly under-funded schools that also "happen" to be in communities of color, crazy-high incarceration rates for African-American men, and people reluctant or refusing to hire Native employees (just to name a few), we're in no danger of getting rid of racism any time soon.

Tell Your Daughters!

Being a super smart, super funny woman can actually pay off! Tina Fey made twice as much as Britney Spears last year!

Texas goes off the deep end

Sometimes, I think South Dakota has more than our fair share of crazy. After all, who could forget Bill Napoli's famous concession that a sodomized virgin exception would be allowable in an abortion ban. (Side note: whoever created that entry on Urban Dictionary is my favorite person of the day)

There's always election night 2006, with Leslee's "dead baby very very bad, live baby very very good" comment that sounded like she was being hypnotized by a Disney villain.

However, Texas may be trying to steal our spotlight, as Texas Rep. Betty Brown (R) is now suggesting that people of Asian descent should adopt easier names to understand.

Apparently deciding she hadn't dug herself into a deep enough hole, Betty went on and explained that "Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?"

Her testimony, by the way, was part of an exchange with a lobbyist for Chinese-Americans, whose last name was "Ko."

Guess those two-letter last names are tricky for Rep. Brown.

Sarah Palin's Selective Reality

According to a new statement issued by the Palin family following Levi Johnston's appearance on the Tyra Banks show...

Bristol's focus will remain on raising Tripp, completing her education, and advocating abstinence...

Wait, what?! You mean, she'll continue "advocating abstinence" like this?!

...but, uh...I think abstinence is like...like the -- I don't know how to put it like -- the main...everyone should be abstinent or whatever, but it's not realistic.

I think it's time to surrender the fantasy, Sarah. Really.

You Can't with Gant: Official Unendorsement of Gant for SOS

I'm gonna go ahead and make an official pre-endorsement of who the crap ever decides to run against Jason Gant for Secretary of State. Heck, I'd even pre-endorse Chris Nelson if he decided to make a run for it. Let's face it: Mr. Gant, despite having three daughters, is no lady-friendly dude. His vote against SB 134, the contraceptive equity bill, again illustrated (for the about the hundredth time) his opposition to gender equity in SD and for that reason, I'm calling this one early. I've long shuddered at some of Gant's comments throughought his legislative tenure and (fingers crossed) look forward to his concession speech.

Obviously having Gant in the SOS's office would be far preferred over that of his position as a senator where he can far more closely impact laws that affect women, but...if we can have our cake and eat it too, I'd hold out that in that transition, he gets his ass kicked.

Lady voters gear up for this one in 2010!

Marry Me, Sarah Haskins!

This has got to be my favorite "Target Women" since Yogurt. NSFW if your boss doesn't like the word 'douche.' In which case, put on your headphones.

1731 Days Until SD Marriage Equality?

Numbers wiz Nate over at FiveThirtyEight.com has a great post predicting when states will be ready to vote down a gay marriage ban. If Nate is correct, we could see marriage for all in South Dakota by 2014! I'm not sure how the model is affected by the fact that we already have a ban in place, so we'd have to actually repeal our amendment, but I also give South Dakotans more credit than statistics tend to show, so I'm willing to go with his number. Can we start the countdown?

More breaking news: North Dakota defeats "personhood" bill!

The North Dakota Senate just voted 29-16 against a proposed bill to define all fertilized eggs as "persons" under North Dakota law. Yup. Fertilized eggs would have been "autonomous" people, somehow completely getting around the fact that said "person" lives inside of another *actual* person. Perhaps more crazily, it would have probably outlawed birth control. Lynn Paltrow of the National Advocates for Pregnant Women explains it much better than I can.


After Colorado voted on a "personhood" amendment in 2008, which got voted down about 75%-25%, the "personhood" people said, "Wow, what a successful campaign! Let's take this everywhere!" Talk about a low bar of "success." I guess when you're trying to pass legislation that almost no one agrees with, you've got to take what you can get.


The only place something like this has gone through is South Carolina, and as the article above describes, it has caused some pretty horrific consequences. I'm so relieved that North Dakota has a bit more foresight than South Carolina's legislature apparently does.

BREAKING: Iowa Court Rules for Same-Sex Marriages!

Less than an hour ago, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of same-sex marriage. Check out the decision here.


According to the Des Moines Register, couples can start getting married April 24. If you read the decision, you'll see that it's a pretty thorough smack-down of every anti-equality argument that the right makes, and they do it with such ease.


Not gonna lie, I sort of expected them to split the baby and go the civil unions route...but, like California did last May, they've decided that nomenclature matters. What you call something matters. LGBT couples don't need a "special word" for their relationships.


Moral of the story: this is the IDEAL win for us. I couldn't be more proud of our neighbors. I wonder how soon now Minnesota will decide they can't be one-upped by Iowa. Stay tuned for that one, blogosphere!

Leslee for U.S. House? Would this mean more lemonade stand fundraisers?

Earlier this week, PP at the War College noted that the field of Republican candidates for House is...well, non-existent.

That jogged my memory a bit, and made me recall this video from 2006:




So...in a world where Herseth Sandlin stays put and runs for re-election to the House, and no other Republican candidate decides it's smart to run against her, maybe we could see the Herseth Sandlin/Unruh showdown?


Who knows? Maybe the real reason Leslee went to campaign school (watch the video at 3:05) was to take on Herseth.


If it were to happen, that'd be one hell of a show.

SD's neighbor might take a giant leap forward...

The Iowa Supreme court will issue its decision tomorrow on whether denying marriage rights to same-sex couples violates the Iowa constitution.

During the oral arguments last December, it was pointed out that the court was way ahead of the U.S. Supremes, overturning a ban on interracial marriage 100 years before Loving v. Virginia. So there's a precedent to be had for the court being ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court. Then again, it's Iowa.

So...guess we'll wait and see.

Wherein we pinpoint the precise moment when SDWC jumped the shark...

I'm calling it at April 1, 2009, 2:16 p.m. Feel free to place your own estimate in the comments.

I think PP probably differs from I and the other Dakota Women posters pretty profoundly in terms of ideology. However, I sincerely never thought he would stoop so low as to suggest that the tragic plane crash in Butte that killed seven adults and seven children was some kind of karmic abortion payback. You see, apparently the grandfather of the (p.s.) LITTLE KIDS WHO DIED IN AN AWFUL, FIERY PLANE CRASH owned clinics that performed abortions. Further, the plane crashed in a Catholic cemetery in Butte, where there is (allegedly) a memorial to the unborn.

Who were of the other victims of the crash? A pediatrician (sin!). A dentist (oh, the horror!). An eye doctor (my stars!). A two-year-old. Two three-year-olds. A four-year-old. A five-year-old. A seven-year-old. A nine-year-old. It turns my stomach that anyone would try to make this tragedy into some kind of commentary about abortion politics. I mean, it's actually sick.

Even Pastor DooHickey isn't horrible enough to imply that these kids and their parents died because of their grandfather's work as an abortion provider. And Hickey is literally insane. PP ought to think about that.

Women's Health and Liberty -- From Abortion to Birth

Two interesting articles I read today:

My dad often sends me columns by Sherry Colb that he thinks I'll like (he also bought me her book, When Sex Counts: Making Babies and Making Law; thanks, Dad!). Her most recent "Why A Botched Abortion Case Should, and Does, Inspire Outrage: The Sycloria Williams Story" makes some points about late term abortions that I think fit nicely with what SoMG commented on an earlier post -- namely that the abortion discussion should be about where, not what.

Over at the Huffington Post, author Jennifer Block takes on a recent (somewhat alarmist) article about homebirth that appeared in New York Magazine. Block addresses many of the issues that came up during legislative debate of the Certified Professional Midwife bill this year. Hopefully by next session, some of the legislators who were trotting out misinformation will have educated themselves so South Dakota women can have the same birth options that most women in this country do.

Actually, wouldn't it be nice if South Dakota had all of the reproductive options that most women in this country do? A girl can dream...