Democracy Tree: Pro-Choice movement finally strikes back

“Birth control is important across the political spectrum, to Democratic women, to Republican women, and to Independent women… birth control is the cornerstone of women’s health, their ability to get an education, and their economic security.” — State Rep. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids

It’s a purely political ploy by the GOP

by Amy Kerr Hardin

The GOP publicity stunt designed to shame Planned Parenthood is just that, and nothing more — a time-released ploy for the 2016 election cycle. Republicans are casting about for a defining issue as they realize Benghazi and emailgate just won’t carry the day. So, when all else fails, they fall back on reproductive rights — it may be all that remains of their teetering platform of retrograde policies.

Conservatives have been soundly spanked recently over other long-standing causes: dismantling the Affordable Care Act — not gonna happen; marriage equality — done; Cuba — dial 1-800-Travelocity; and thanks to Donald Trump, the GOP lineup has to sit-down-and-shut-up on immigration too, along with any other issue he opts to bloviate about to a panting media.

Republican leadership should take Trump’s popularity as an object lesson on just how dumbed-down their base has become, courtesy of Roger Ailes.

So, the right will continue to put on its dog and pony show of huffing and puffing their feigned indignation over the revelations of the heavily edited Planned Parenthood tapes, which divulged that, yes, the organization does provide fetal remains to research organizations, and yes, they are fairly and properly reimbursed for costs they incur in so doing, but yet no, the secretive tapes somehow neglected to mention that federal tax dollars are not used for either abortions or the transfer of fetal research tissue.

Pro-Choice strikes back – finally

The first return volley in the recent abortion fight occurred in a California Federal Court last Friday when San Francisco Judge William Orrick blocked the right-wing Center for Medical Progress from releasing additional secretly recorded tapes from meetings of the National Abortion Federation. The suit, filed by the federation, alleges that the Center for Medical Progress is a front organization created to infiltrate and illegally record Pro-Choice meetings. California has strict laws prohibiting unauthorized recording of confidential conversations.

Twelve states have launched investigations of Planned Parenthood to determine if they have broken any laws in providing fetal tissue to research organizations. Michigan is not yet among them — not because there hasn’t been a call for such. Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-25) demanded an inquest, outraged at the possibility that perfectly legal medical science could be occurring in the state. However, his histrionics were unfounded, as Michigan Planned Parenthood does not participate in this kind of research. Desiree Cooper, spokesperson for the organization, explained to MLive:

“State Sen. Phil Pavlov’s call for an investigation of Planned Parenthood is unwarranted as our organization does not offer patients the opportunity to donate fetal tissue.”

But, Pavlov’s distemper was duly noted.

Indiana was among those dozen states looking into the matter at the behest of an equally aghast Republican Gov. Mike Pence. One wonders if he was pleased or peeved to learn that the Indiana Department of Health reported no wrong-doing by Planned Parenthood.

Pro-Choice advocates are understandably disappointed with the somewhat anemic rebuttal from Planned Parenthood, but the organization is neither accustomed to, nor equipped for, this level of malicious covert political attack — one that was two years in the scheming, and timed with a certain precision that suggests possible high-level GOP coordination — something which the discovery phase of the litigation may in time reveal.

Adding to the injury, the top Democratic candidate briefly fell for the GOP gambit. Progressives found it equally upsetting when Hillary Clinton initially referred to the tapes as “disturbing”, but she has since wisely declared her support for Planned Parenthood via Twitter.

What goes around comes around

Progressives should take heart though, there are a couple of Pro-Choice legislative initiatives in the works, both nationally and stateside in Michigan, which may serve to at least alleviate some of the angst created by the Planned Parenthood tapes.

Several weeks ago, Congresswomen Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced the EACH Woman Act with the support of more than 70 co-sponsors and the backing of 36 women’s organizations. The acronym stands for Equal Access to Abortion in Health Coverage — a name inspired by the disproportionate number of women living in poverty who lack the means to avail themselves of the legal procedure. The reproductive rights organization, All Above All, describes the importance of the legislation:

The EACH Woman Act makes a meaningful change for women and their families, creating two important standards for reproductive health.

In Michigan, where women’s reproductive rights have been under constant legislative siege since 2011, Democratic lawmakers are striking back with their own proposal meant to roll-back the draconian GOP law, officially termed the “Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act,” more commonly known as the “Rape Insurance Law”, which requires women to purchase a special insurance rider to have abortion coverage. As with the EACH Woman Act, HB 4764 enjoys broad support — but on just one side of the aisle.

The bill was referred to the heavily Republican House Committee on Insurance, led by Rep. Tom Leonard (R-93). Leonard took a strong anti-choice stand in his 2014 campaign, declaring:

“I am honored to be the only 93rd District State House Candidate endorsed by the Right to Life of Michigan – PAC. I have maintained a 100% pro-life voting record in the state legislature.”

Not to be intimidated, the Progressive Women’s Caucus of Michigan Lawmakers additionally announced last week an upcoming legislative package with the intent to:

• Require employers to inform workers and job applicants of reproductive health coverage.
• Prohibit employers from discriminating against women based on contraceptive use.
• Require health care facilities to make emergency contraception readily available to sexual assault victims.

Yet, attacks on reproductive rights are sharply on the rise

Legislative assaults on women’s reproductive rights are certainly not unique to Michigan. The Guttmacher Institute reports that during the first half of 2015, states have enacted 51 new abortion restrictions, bringing the count to 282 since 2010.

Among the list of restrictions are: onerous waiting periods, targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP laws), limiting abortion to the first trimester, banning medication abortion, and preventing the use of telemedicine for woman living in underserved rural areas.

This is why 2016 is so very critical for reproductive rights advocates.