LGBTQ news and entertainment
Some news items you might have missed: • The Advocate: One of the Jussie Smollett ‘attackers’ testified in court today he took part in the alleged charade because he thought Smollett (above) could help his “acting career.” Continue reading “News Round-Up: December 2, 2021”
While many Americans are still aghast at the highly-restrictive abortion law that went into effect in Texas this week, it turns out there’s more bad news from the Lone Star state. Another bill passed by the GOP-controlled state Legislature, Senate Bill 4, will limit access to abortion-inducing pills. Continue reading “Texas Lawmakers Approved Tighter Restrictions On Abortion-Inducing Pill”
The U.S. Supreme Court (2021)
The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, No. 19- 1392, concerns a law enacted by the Republican-dominated Mississippi legislature that banned abortions if “the probable gestational age of the unborn human” was determined to be more than 15 weeks. The statute included narrow exceptions for medical emergencies or “a severe fetal abnormality.”
Lower courts said the law was plainly unconstitutional under Roe, which forbids states from banning abortions before fetal viability — the point at which fetuses can sustain life outside the womb, or around 23 or 24 weeks.
Mississippi’s sole abortion clinic sued, saying the law ran afoul of Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that affirmed Roe’s core holding.
Judge Carlton W. Reeves of Federal District Court in Jackson, Miss., blocked the law in 2018, saying the legal issue was straightforward and questioning the state lawmakers’ motives.
In his ruling, Reeves wrote that he believed the Mississippi lawmakers knew exactly what they were doing when they passed the law setting up an eventual appearance at SCOTUS. A 3-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, agreed with Reeve’s ruling. It should come as no surprise that the basis for the legislation was written by the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom.
In case you were wondering why conservatives/Republicans continue to support Donald Trump.
Because he’s appointing judges that will uphold laws like Alabama’s new near-total-ban on abortion.
From The New York Times:
The Alabama Senate approved a measure on Tuesday that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state, setting up a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the case that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to end a pregnancy.
The legislation bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and criminalizes the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison. It includes an exception for cases when the mother’s life is at serious risk, but not for cases of rape or incest — a subject of fierce debate among lawmakers in recent days.
The House approved the measure — the most far-reaching effort in the nation this year to curb abortion rights — last month. It now moves to the desk of Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican. Although the governor has not publicly committed to signing the legislation, many Republican lawmakers expect her support.
Democrats tried to add amendments to the bill like providing women forced to have children with prenatal and medical care until the child reached the age of 13. But, apparently, Alabama Republicans only care about life before the child is born.
The law will be struck down by a lower court. That ruling will be appealed all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court where Trump’s two justices will side against women’s rights, and overturn Roe v. Wade.
Republicans are getting what they want from Trump.
And, by the way, everyone has said, “Roe v Wade is settled law – it won’t be overturned.”
Now look.
So, for all those who say marriage equality can’t be reversed, I suggest you look around.
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio & now Alabama – these anti-abortion bills aren’t a coincidence, it’s a concerted effort by the GOP to overturn Roe v. Wade.I’m sick and tired of this outright assault on women’s bodily autonomy – we will fight this with everything we’ve got.
— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) May 15, 2019
To be clear—before a bunch of ding dongs tweet “but HRC wasn’t running for Governor of Alabama”—Hillary Clinton would not have nominated Gorsuch or Kavanaugh for SCOTUS seats and she wouldn’t have allowed the Federalist society to pick her lower court judge nominees.
— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) May 15, 2019
#Alabama
1) “We’re not going to teach kids about sex.”
2) “We’re going to take away contraception access.”
3) “If you get pregnant, we’re going to force you to have the baby.”
4) “After you have the baby, you’re on your own.”It’s no wonder Alabama is ranked last in education.
— Craig Rozniecki (@CraigRozniecki) May 15, 2019
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| Judge Brett Kavanaugh |
A new poll by Axios/SurveyMonkey shows the vast majority of Americans want Roe v. Wade to be left alone.
The results of the new survey come as the U.S. Senate is weighing the nomination of conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Legal eagles are concerned Kavanaugh could flip the high court to a solid conservative bent that might overturn the groundbreaking abortion ruling.
According to the survey, 71% of respondents say they would NOT like to see SCOTUS make abortions illegal, while 23% do support a change in the law.
Axios points out that even rural voters, who skew conservative, want Roe v. Wade to remain the law of the land.
Additionally, the poll found a plurality of Americans disapprove of the choice of Kavanaugh, 48% – 44%.
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| Nicole Arteaga |
Nicole Arteaga, a first-grade teacher in Arizona, recently got the sad news that her nine week-old pregnancy had stopped developing.
With no heartbeat, the pregnancy would end in a miscarriage.
Instead of going through a surgical procedure to remove the fetal tissue, Arteaga opted to use a medication to provide what would basically be a medical abortion.
The FDA has approved misoprostol to end a pregnancy within the first ten weeks.
But when she went to pick up the prescription at her local Walgreens, the pharmacist inquired as to whether she was pregnant. When she shared that she was, the pharmacist refused to fill the prescription based on “his ethical beliefs.”
Arteaga shared her experience with the Walgreens pharmacist on Facebook and the post has gone viral having been shared almost 40,000 times.
I stood at the mercy of this pharmacist explaining my situation in front of my 7 year old, and five customers standing behind only to be denied because of his ethical beliefs.
I get it we all have our beliefs. But what he failed to understand is this isn’t the situation I had hoped for, this isn’t something I wanted. This is something I have zero control over. He has no idea what its like to want nothing more than to carry a child to full term and be unable to do so.
If you have gone thru a miscarriage you know the pain and emotional roller it can be. I left Walgreens in tears, ashamed and feeling humiliated by a man who knows nothing of my struggles but feels it is his right to deny medication prescribed to me by my doctor.
Walgreens eventually contacted Ms. Arteaga “and apologized for how the situation was handled,” but said company policy allows their pharmacists to decline to fill prescriptions in such situations.
“To respect the sincerely held beliefs of our pharmacists while at the same time meeting the needs of our patients, our policy allows pharmacists to step away from filling a prescription for which they have a moral objection,” the company said in a statement.
Virulently anti-abortion, anti-LGBT and hypocritical pro-family values Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania has resigned after text messages revealed he had an extramarital affair.
Further, when his mistress believed she was pregnant with his child, he apparently urged her to seek an abortion.
Text messages revealed earlier this week showed the woman with whom Murphy is having an extra-marital affair told Murphy, “you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Responding to the message, Rep. Murphy said: “I get what you say about my March for life messages. I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write any more. I will.”
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan issued a statement today which read, in part, “This afternoon I received a letter of resignation from Congressman Tim Murphy, effective October 21. It was Dr. Murphy’s decision to move on to the next chapter of his life, and I support it.”
Murphy will leave office on October 21.
The governor of Pennsylvania cannot appoint a replacement, and so a special election will have to be called.
While possible, it’s highly unlikely a Democrat would win the seat since the district is considered solidly red.
Embattled GOP Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania will resign from his position https://t.co/ipBIzWN4t0 https://t.co/NIcXvcCYR7— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2017
Rep. Tim Murphy’s resignation moves #PA18 from Solid Republican to Likely Republican @CookPolitical. R+11, but specials = more uncertainty.— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 5, 2017
Tim Murphy = a pro-life icon Rep who bullied his mistress into an abortion bc an out-of-wedlock child can harm a pro-life icon rep.— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) October 5, 2017
Here's @tperkins giving the @FRCAction "True Blue Award" To Rep. Tim Murphy for voting "100% in defense of family values."
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL pic.twitter.com/YI9r940HrG— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) October 5, 2017
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| Rep. Tim Murphy |
Well, well, well. It’s always so interesting when we come across hypocritical “pro-life” politicians who vote against pro-choice rights but seek remedies like abortion for their own life events.
In newly obtained documents, anti-abortion (and anti-LGBT) Rep. Tim Murphy asked his mistress to terminate a pregnancy this year even as he was putting out anti-abortion political positions.
From Slate:
According to documents obtained by the Post-Gazette, Shannon Edwards—a Pittsburgh woman exactly half Murphy’s age with whom he recently admitted to having an extramarital affair—texted Murphy in January about a possible pregnancy that turned out to be just a scare. “You have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options,” she said, referring to a post from Murphy’s professional Facebook account that accused America of “discarding and disregarding the most vulnerable” for allowing abortions past 20 weeks’ gestation.
“I get what you say about my March for life messages,” Murphy responded. “I’ve never written them. Staff does them. I read them and winced. I told staff don’t write any more. I will.”
Such a paragon of virtue.
In addition to opposing any pro-choice positions, Murphy voted against LGBT legislation like the the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
And what did he vote for? A constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
With a 100% rating from the Family Research Council it’s not surprising to know he has a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign.
Some news items you might have missed:
• The brilliant indie film Moonlight received 6 Golden Globe nominations which means even more of the world will be exposed to one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t seen it yet, GO!
• Scientists are downloading and copying government climate data as quickly as possible out of fears a Trump administration might destroy any info showing the reality of climate change.
• Politico is reporting that upwards of 20 GOP Electoral College members are considering not casting their votes for Donald Trump on December 19th. The most EC members to change their votes in one year was 6 in 1808.
• More from the Electoral College – 40 members have asked for an intelligence briefing before December 19th regarding information that Russia actively moved to help elect Donald Trump.
• Oklahoma lawmakers have approved a bill that would require businesses to post anti-abortion signs in their bathrooms.
• Following an acclaimed 4 night concert production at City Center this past October, Jake Gyllenhaal heads back to Broadway in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George for ten weeks at the Hudson Theater.
President-elect Donald Trump continues to send mixed signals about his policy positions.
During the campaign, he said he would appoint judges to the Supreme Court who would overrule the Obergefell v. Hodges decision last year which brought marriage equality to the entire nation. “I would strongly consider that, yes,” he said in a January Fox News interview.
In his 60 Minutes interview last night, he told Lesley Stahl he’s “fine” with same-sex marriage.
“It’s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it’s done.”
“These cases have gone to the Supreme Court. They’ve been settled. And I’m – I’m fine with that,” he added.
The Republican Party’s official platform, ratified by the party in July, opposes same-sex marriage, condemns the Supreme Court’s rulings in Obergefell v. Hodges and United States v. Windsor, and supports proposed “religious freedom” legislation that critics say would allow businesses to deny services to gay people.
During the very same interview, when asked if he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade, Trump said his judges will be “pro-life,” and suggested that decision could be overturned.
“If it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states,” Trump said.
Women seeking abortions would have to go “go to another state” for the procedure.
So, Obergefell is “settled law” but Roe v. Wade isn’t?