The War on Women

I've been hearing quite frequently from right wing pundits that the "war on women" is a fabrication of the left, that it's a distraction from real issues. However, the Republican party's own record makes it very clear that it's not a side issue; it's one that they have been very focused on. So I've put together a list of recent attacks on women from the Republican party.

Keep in mind I'm limiting this list to just instances by official party members serving in the government. Not their advisers, not radio hosts, not congressional aides. If I did, this list would be much, much longer.

• Texas Republicans have banned Planned Parenthood or any other service even associated with abortion providers, from receiving funding to do cancer screenings.
• The Alabama GOP has submitted a bill to deny licenses to abortion providers that are too close to schools in a specific attack on a center in Huntsville, AL.
• In a discussion over legislation to prevent rape, Republican Mike Bocchino of Connecticut said that seeing a woman get raped is indicative of a "really great party".
• Senate Republicans are delaying confirmation of Loretta Lynch as US Attorney General unless Senate Democrats accept anti-abortion measures in a bill on human trafficking.
• South Carolina Republican Tom Corbin refers to women as a "lesser cut of meat".
• Utah Republican Brian Greene doesn't think rape should count against spouses or others in a relationship.
• Republican state senator Steve Martin thinks that pregnant women are nothing more than "hosts" devoid of any rights.
• Republican Vito Barbieri of Idaho thinks that women could swallow cameras to have remote gynocological exams prior to having an abortion. He then proceeded to impose new abortion restrictions.
• Will Infantine, Republican from New Hampshire, states that women don't deserve pay equity because they're lazy in contrast to men who "don’t mind working nights and weekends. They don’t mind working overtime or outdoors in the elements."
• Republican Russell Pearce stated that he thinks women on medicaid should be sterilized.
• One of the first things the Republican led House did after winning a majority in both chambers of congress was introduce a bill limiting abortions in a similar manner to what many states have tried, after 20 weeks, which directly contradicts many federal court rulings as well as the Supreme Court's rulings.
• A Missouri Republican wants to give men control over women's rights to their own body by requiring women to have permission from fathers to have an abortion. Note that this politician has a history of idiotic bills including Creationist nonsense.
• Virginia Republican says pregnant women are just hosts.
• Missouri Republican Vicky Harltzer says that women should be denied abortions because it robs men of their rights.
• Republicans in Louisiana are attempting to force a woman to wait 30 days before having an abortion."
• Missouri Republicans are attempting to force a woman to wait 3 days before having an abortion.
• Kentucky Republican Joe Fischer is attempting to redefine abortion as domestic violence.
• Virginia Republican Bob Goodlatte has insisted that women should lose bodily autonomy and be denied abortions because it's good for jobs.
• North Carolina Republican Chris Christie has vetoed a law protecting victims of domestic violence.
• Republicans in Texas have passed a voter ID law that disproportionately effects women and may disenfranchise as much as one third of women voters.
• Michigan republicans have gone forward with a law that gives religion deference over women's rights to control their own bodies.
• On top of defunding Planned Parenthood, Ohio has now passed a law that would essentially close all abortion clinics in the state.
• Not satisfied that his fellow Republicans had failed to pass their anti-abortion bill and didn't get away with trying to cheat a vote in past the deadline, governor Rick Perry called for a special session of congress just to pass the defeated bill through.
• In response to the fillabuster being run, Republican hopeful called her a terrorist.
• During discussion of an anti-abortion bill in the Texas legislature that would close all but 5 clinics in the state, a Democratic senator attempted to fillabuster the bill. Republicans attempted to end the fillabuster by claiming an assistant adjusting a back brace, counted as leaning, and that discussing related topics of planned parenthood was somehow not germane to the discussion. When they finally did dishonestly end the fillabuster, they passed the midnight deadline and attempted to change their procedural obligations and pass the bill anyway.
• A Texas Republican has again spread misinformation about women's health, insisting that rape kits are a form of abortion.
• Yet another Republican has decided to claim that pregnancy from rape is so rare as to not be worthy of consideration.
• In looking to solve the deficit crisis, the GOP has targeted the provisions in the ACA supporting women.
• North Carolina Republicans have put forth a bill that would incorrectly teach elementary school students that abortion causes pre-term birth.
• Missouri Republicans sponsored a bill that would allow hospitals to deny women contraception or other health services.
• Once again mangling basic science, a California Republican has declared that pregnancy from rape is rare.
• Indiana Republicans have sponsored a bill that would prevent abortions of fetuses that show signs of severe defects.
• Kentucky's senate recently approved a Republican sponsored bill that would end telemedicine and require unnecessary ultrasounds before abortions could be performed.
• Alabama Republicans advanced a bill to the full House that would force all abortion providers in the state to close by redefining standards of architecture and staffing to meet the requirements of surgical centers as well as having physicians with admitting privileges to a nearby hospital be present for all abortions. Similar attempts have been made in Mississippi and North Dakota.
• Arizona Republicans have attempted to defund Planned Parenthood including its heath care services to women, by attempting to defund any organization that also performs abortion. Fortunately this action was blocked by a federal judge.
• Wisconsin Republicans have pushed through bills introducing unnecessary hurdles to prevent women from having abortions early enough for them to be medically induced, effectively ending first trimester abortion. Similar bills have been introduced in Mississippi.
• North Dakota Republicans have introduced seven anti-abortion bills this year alone. This includes "personhood" bills and fetal heartbeat bills.
• Tennessee Republicans have sponsored a bill to require women to undergo ultrasounds before having an abortion.
• Republicans in Texas have filed a bill that would require abortion providers to meet the standards for surgical centers despite abortions not being considered surgery.
• Wisconsin Republicans have stated their priority to force medically invasive and unnecessary transvaginal ultrasounds.
• Alabama Republicans have passed a hill in their House that would allow religiously affiliated groups to interject themselves between women and their insurance provider and deny women contraception coverage.
• South Dakota Republicans have proposed a bill that would extend the waiting period to get an abortion stating that women cannot use weekends or holidays to think over their right to have an abortion.
• Republican Clark Jolley of Oklahoma sponsored a bill requiring that insurance providers not provide coverage for contraception under the delusion that it "poisons their bodies".
• Indiana governor Mike Pence worked to introduce a bill that would require not one but two medically unnecessary and invasive vaginal ultrasounds from women seeking abortions.
• Arizona Republicans have sponsored a bill that would invade the privacy of women who use Assisted Reproductive Technology requiring that the government track those embryos.
• Arkansas Republicans passed a bill that would outlaw abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. When the bill was vetoed by the governor, they voted to override the veto and are working to enact an even more restrictive 12 week ban.
• Republicans in New Hampshire supported a bill reducing assault from a felony to a misdemeanor under the rationale that "a lot of people like being in abusive relationships."
• A Republican proposed law in New Mexico would criminalize abortions for victims of rape/incest as "destroying evidence".
• Republicans in Virginia have introduced a bill that would no longer allow for medicare to assist abortions in cases of "rape, incest, severe fetal abnormalities, or when the life of the mother is in danger."
• Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan has sponsored a bill letting rapists sue their victims for having an abortion.
• Republican Phil Gingrey of Georgia doubled down on Akin's scientifically inaccurate comments stating that women cannot get pregnant from rape.
• Republicans have blocked a bill that had broad bipartisan support (but not enough to keep other Republicans from stopping it) intended to help clear the backlog of rape kits.
• House Republicans ended 2012 without bothering to renew the Violence Against Women Act. The issue had come up earlier in the year (a Senate version was approved in April), but the House Republicans gutted it because they said it supported minorities, LGBT, and Native Americans too much.
• Michigan Republicans passed a package of bills that require unnecessary hoops to secure an abortion. These hoops include women prove they are mentally competent and that they haven't been "coerced". These additional steps do nothing but add additional and unnecessary expenses and wait times. The legislation also bans "tele-medicine" in which women can get a prescription for medically necessary abortions in rural areas. Legislators even admitted that the bill wasn't even intended to protect women but rather, it was "about protecting fetuses". Obviously at the expense of women.
• Former Arkansas Republican Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee blamed the Sandy Hook school shooting on contraceptives.
• A Michigan Republican voted for a bill restricting women's rights to procure abortions admitted he hadn't read it and then insisted the bill wasn't about women.
• Ohio Republicans have voted to strip Planned Parenthood of funding, once again putting the effort to unconstitutionally end abortion ahead of womens' health.
• Republican Rand Paul has again introduced a personhood bill to "end abortion once and for all", in stark violation of Roe v. Wade.
• Indiana Republican Richard Murdock says that abortions should be not allowed in the case of rape because those pregnancies are God's will.
• An Illinois Republican has claimed that women don't face medical conditions that put their life at risk due to pregnancies and as such, there is no reason to have an exception for abortion to save the life of a mother.
• In Georgia, Republicans passed the "women as livestock" bill. The bill bans abortions after 20 weeks. It had originally contained no exemptions, regardless of whether the fetus was viable or posed a threat to the mother. It was given the nickname when one of the bill's supporters, Terry England, supported the lack of exemptions stating "if farmers have to “deliver calves, dead or alive,” then a woman carrying a dead fetus, or one not expected to survive, should have to carry it to term."
• A Kansas Republican, Tim Huelskamp, compared abortion to racism and thinks it's akin to slavery.
• Missouri Republicans overturned a veto on a bill that prevented companies or heath insurances providers from denying women access to contraception.
• Todd Akin once again opened his mouth and suggested that as a nation, we should be allowed to pay women less because of free enterprise.
• Kentucky Republicans sponsored a bill that prevents public funds from being used to provide abortions to scare voters into thinking they are. Only trouble is, that's already the case: No public funds can be used for abortion services.
• Rick Berg (R - North Dakota) has voted to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape or incest, forcing women to choose to carry a baby from rape to term or go face prison.
• Joe Walsh (R - Illinois) pursued sexist tropes insisting a female Iraq war veteran only cared about what she wears.
• House Republicans sponsored a bill that would effectively prevent the removal of entopic pregnancies which will never be able to be brought to term but provide a high risk to the mother.
• At the GOP convention, they moved to include anti-abortion stances in their official platform with no exceptions for rape or incest.
• In Texas, Republicans are so desperate to stop abortions that they're cutting funding for anyone that's even associated with abortion providers, even if it's only sharing a name. This denial of services prevents the state from receiving federal funds, leaving over 50,000 women without routine services including preventative checkups, cancer screenings, and gynecological care.
• Senate hopeful Todd Akin (R-MO) states that restrictions on abortion don't even need to make exceptions for rape because women can't get pregnant from a "legitimate rape", thereby insinuating that if a women does get pregnant, it must not be rape. He was quickly backed up by Republican Steve King from Iowa who stated he hasn't heard of children getting pregnant from rape.
• While other Republicans were quick to distance themselves from Akin's comment, above, it has been frequently pointed out that his comments are very similar in nature to language by vice president hopeful Paul Ryan who worked on a bill to restrict abortions to only include "forcible rape" which was overwhelmingly supported by other House Republicans. When asked about it, Ryan marginalized the entire female population by trivializing the entire topic as a "side issue."
• Akin's comments were also defended by fellow Missouri Republican Sharon Barnes stating "If God has chosen to bless this person [the rape victim] with a life, you don’t kill it".
• Rick Santorum (R-KS) told women that they shouldn't have the right to abortion in the cases of rape and that they should "make the best out of a bad situation".
• Mike Huckabee seems to think the ends justify the means, stating that rape has produced some extraordinary people.
• Republicans block Sandra Fluke, the only woman on a hearing regarding birth control, from speaking.
• In Arizona, Republicans pushed through a bill redefining pregnancy to begin 2 weeks before conception.
• Also in Arizona, Republicans passed a bill allowing doctors to lie by omission regarding the health of their their fetus so women would be less tempted to choose to end the pregnancy of disabled children.
• Representative Pete DeGraff (R-KS) suggested that women should "plan ahead" for rape, comparing it to having a spare tire in case of a flat.

Archon 36 Recap

Archon has now come and gone for yet another year, although I'm still feeling it. My body's still angry at me from the lack of sleep.

I think all my panels went very well this year. Friday evening was my "Anime Mythbusters" panel which is always a fun time. I haven't changed it any since Naka-Kon this year, but I rarely look over it again once it's been put together. I glanced over the slides to remind myself what topics I'd included, but beyond that, did absolutely no preparation. Yet giving the talk, I felt perfectly comfortable and never missed a beat. One of my goals is to always know the talk well enough that I can say things before putting that information on the slide, so I don't have people trying to read the same thing I'm saying.

This is especially true for things where I'm doing math, where I want to walk people through what I'm doing, such as in segments like this one in which I'm deriving the geometry necessary to figure out how close the comet came to hitting the planet.

My intention was to be that well prepared for my new Quantum Mechanics talk I delivered Saturday morning. The challenge is even harder in this case since there's so much technical information that builds on itself. If I forget even a single sentence, often times, it will come back to haunt me since I rely on that information having been passed on later.

Unfortunately, that was too large of a challenge for me this time. Friday, as the con started, I think I only had the first 50% of the talk memorized perfectly, and about another quarter memorized in rough format. So I cheated more than normal and had my outline on notecards, as well as the full script downloaded on my Kindle. I had to pause a few times to figure out where I was again, but after the talk, people told me they didn't even remember me doing so. I'll take that as a sign that the rest of the material was of sufficient quality that it distracted them.

I'd meant to get a video of this talk, but left my camera sitting at home. I know a few segments were recorded, but I'll wait until I have the full thing before posting anything.

My last talk Saturday was the "Sexism in Anime" panel. For whatever reason, I feel like I prepare a lot less for this panel. Even the first time presenting it, I knew what I wanted to say, but I allowed myself to deviate far more than I usually do. Perhaps it has something to do with still being relatively new to this field. I have a lot of information still kicking around in my head that's all still shuffling around, trying to find a good and appropriate home in the talk. Until it does, sometimes it just jumps out at odd moments.

Archon is well known for its parties and this year was no exception. Since I just live across the river, I went home nightly, but I didn't make it to bed until Sunday morning at 4:30am. I did go back Sunday, but had no panels and was just saying goodbye to friends.

In the meantime, Go Cardinals!