Shame on Rep Steve Kestell

During the Republican's all out assault on women's rights last week, Rep. Steve Kestell (R-3rd Grade) made a rather insulting comment.

Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, did a much better and more appropriate response to Kestell's adolesence than I would or could:

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Condemns Representative Kestell’s Insensitive Comments
Abortion Bans and Sex Selective Abortions Are No Laughing Matter

Madison, WI – NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin condemned the Assembly’s passage of AB 217 and its author’s insensitive and outrageous comments during discussion of AB 217. The bill would create a cause of action to allow abortion providers to be sued by the mother, father or grandparents for providing a sex selective abortion and places the penalty for a sex selective abortion solely on providers.

In committee, the proposal’s author, Representative Steve Kestell made light of the abortion ban, commenting that the bill was necessary because if sex selective abortion occurs it can create a “quite a mismatch.” Kestell then chuckled and asked, “can you imagine being a fourteen year old guy in school looking to ask someone to prom?” The Assembly passed his bill on Thursday evening.

“Representative Kestell’s comments about sex selective abortion are outrageous. If even one woman chooses to end a pregnancy because of coercion or pressure to have a child of a certain sex, that represents a departure from true freedom of choice and is one woman too many. This is not a laughing matter,” said Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.

“It is unbelievable that we are even having to point out that this issue is more serious than prom dates. Insensitive comments such as Representative Kestell’s—justifying a sex-selection ban so young men will have more dating options—demonstrate how little thought he has actually given towards women.”

“Meanwhile, abortion bans do nothing to change underlying cultural norms of sexism and gender bias that place greater value on boys over girls. Representative Kestell should support bills that promote gender equality, rather than making flippant comments,” added Dye.

A 2011 report on sex selection from the World Health Organization and other international-health groups indicates that restricting access to abortion services without addressing social norms and cultural factors is likely to result in a greater demand for unsafe, clandestine procedures that place women’s health and lives at risk. Anti-choice proponents are using the unfortunate circumstance of gender bias and inequality that may lead to sex-selection abortion as justification to advance their longstanding goal of banning abortion.

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Condemns Effort to Fund Misleading, Anti-Choice “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”

From the inbox:

Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, expressed serious concern regarding legislative efforts to fund so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs).

A bill sponsored by Rep. Andrea Jacque and Sen. Mary Lazich would provide funds for CPCs by funneling the specialty license plate revenue to “Choose Life Wisconsin”, which would then allegedly give to crisis pregnancy centers.  However, research done by NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Foundation has clearly shown that crisis pregnancy centers are providing inaccurate, biased, and medically disproven information to women at an alarming rate. In the investigation, 100% of CPCs visited provided false and inaccurate information to women regarding abortion or emergency contraception.

Dye said, “State involvement in funneling money to anti-choice groups and so-called crisis pregnancy centers is completely inappropriate. Once again, we see legislators like Rep. Jacque and Sen. Lazich focusing on their extreme agenda on social issues instead of the pressing need to spur job growth in Wisconsin. Further, if the Legislature is going to take action regarding crisis pregnancy centers, they should be taking steps to prevent CPCs from misleading women instead of trying to find ways to fund them.”

“This bill is particularly misguided in its stated intent to fund crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) through Choose Life Wisconsin. Choose Life Wisconsin is a new organization with no track record of accountability, but with ties to individuals with an extreme agenda on reproductive healthcare, like Julaine Appling, who is clearly out of touch with Wisconsinites on issues from LGBT equality to keeping abortion safe and legal.”

“Regardless of our views on the issue of legal abortion, we should all be able to agree that Wisconsin women deserve the facts and the chance to make an informed decision about what is best for them and their families. Our state certainly shouldn’t be trying to find ways to channel funds to spread more falsehoods.”

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Foundation’s full report can be found at http://www.prochoicewisconsin.org/in-our-state/wicpcs.shtml.

WISGOP Poised To Legalize Sexual, Emotional Abuse

Just as it was in 2011, Scott Walker and the other Republicans have a lot of debts to repay for the financial support they received in order to buy their positions.

They are passing the mining bill, even though it won't stand up in court, because they owe the mining and power companies. They're passing bills to sell our children, their education and their futures in order to pay back the education profiteers.

And they are about to pass a bill legalizing the sexual and emotional abuse of women:

“We are in a very good place in Wisconsin,” Vos said. “We have a pro-life Legislature, pro-life governor in Scott Walker and a pro-life attorney general (J.B. Van Hollen). We can all wrap our arms around this agenda.”

And it sounds like the first bill to get a warm reception from Republicans will be what's being dubbed the “Woman’s Right to Know her Unborn Child Act,” also being termed the "ultrasound bill" by pro-choice forces.

The bill would require a woman seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound and be informed of what is visible on the monitoring screen — although the woman would not be forced to look at the image.

“This bill is a priority,” Fitzgerald said. “It is long overdue.”

Barbara Lyons, executive director of the misnamed group Right to Life (Except for the Living), lied through her teeth, claiming that this procedure is non-invasive. This is patently false:

Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, is the former public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. She says requiring an ultrasound to be performed before all abortions would mean an invasive procedure for women who are less than 12 weeks pregnant.

At that stage in a pregnancy, she said, the uterus may be blocked by the pelvis, preventing a traditional ultrasound from picking up the image. Thus, a vaginal ultrasound would need to be performed in order to provide an image for a medical professional to discuss with a woman.

The reaction, as one would imagine, is less than warm. Jenni Dye, Executive Director for NARAL, said:

This is more evidence that the anti-choice leadership seems to have missed the memo from voters in November. Voters are tired of the divisive attacks on women, like subjecting them to invasive transvaginal ultrasounds. It’s time for politicians to do their job, not our doctors'.

Not only does it further prove that the Republicans are willing to sell out to the highest bidders and are crass misogynists, but it also shows their hypocrisy and cowardice.*

Remember, these Republicans are the same people that are afraid to meet their constituents, to see the damage their actions are causing in the real world outside of their ivory towers, and to take any responsibility for the consequences of their actions, whether it is in their political or personal lives.

Until they show real leadership by behaving the same way they expect others to behave, I can not have any respect for them.  In fact, I can not have anything but contempt for these vile creatures.

*And considering how much effort Vos and Fitzgerald put in in getting into different women's vaginas, they'd have figured out by now that their are no jobs in there.

Correcting The Wrongs Of The Right

Since Owen Robinson has seen fit not to let me comment on his blog anymore, I am forced to correct his factual errors here.

My friend, Jenni Dye (the famed @legaleagle on teh twitter) wrote a thought-provoking opinion piece for the Isthmus regarding what she feels needs to be done to pull the Democratic Party and the progressives out of the quagmire of Fitzwalkerstan and lead the state back to where jobs are created and people are respected.

Robinson found the article interesting, but offered a couple of his own skewed observations.

The first one:

Where the author gets it a bit wrong is in from whence those new folks should hail. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is currently being led by folks from the radical activist wing of the party. They are the ones who have driven the party into the wilderness. The party needs new blood, but putting up Blue Fisters hasn’t worked and it won’t work in the future. You can’t win the majority when you spend your time telling folks with whom you disagree how stupid/bigoted/sexist/oppressive/etc. they are. You have to actually communicate with them at some point.

The funny thing is that Ms. Dye was just elected this past spring as a Dane County Supervisor, even though she was on of the most recognized "blue fister" who he says can't ever be elected.

So much for his theories.

But the real kicker, which I will post with no further comment, except for emphasizing the pertinent parts, so that the gentle reader can get their licks in, is this "observation":

That’s where Republicans in Wisconsin have been successful in recent years. They have effective, principled people who communicate a positive vision of Wisconsin based on their values. They don’t denegrate those who oppose them and they don’t bash their opponents as bad people - just people with bad ideas. Of course there are exceptions, but the Republican Party has been quite disciplined as of late.

Oh, I guess I spoke too soon. I just have to point out that his first commenter, Kevin Binversie, who has recently called me a "liar" and a " loony, bat-shit crazy, AFSCME hack" rather shows just how wrong Robinson got it.

Some days, it is really beyond me how anyone can take these stooges seriously.