choice

"We're supposed to love life, right? And protect mothers and ban abortion because abortion is about ending babies lives, right? But then we see cuts to WIC, [Women, Infants & Children benefits], we know women are being chained to beds to give birth," Paris Hatcher of SPARK Reproductive Justice points out. The entire idea pushed by conservatives that we are concerned with a "culture of life" is proved false by the way our society treats mothers--certain mothers, anyway. Today, while the House debated H.R. 3, the "redefining rape" bill that would eliminate funding for abortion, we spoke with Paris via Skype from Georgia, and she noted the outrage that women around the country feel over the double standard in Congress and the states--we don't want women to have abortions, but we don't want to support their motherhood, either. One of the deadliest tornadoes in US history, over a mile and a half wide, touched down in Tuscaloosa, Alabama last week, with devastation extending across seven states. More than 350 fatalities have been reported, 80 people are still missing in Tuscaloosa alone, and over a thousand people remain hospitalized with critical injuries. The Alabama state Emergency Management Agency is calling the aftermath in Tuscaloosa “Katrina, without three days warning...” While the networks are wall-to-wall Bin Laden, with or without budgets or even homes - survivors are getting the story out.. To compile this piece GRITtv's Rebecca MacDonald relied on eyewitnesses -- many of them students of University of Alabama assistant professor Dr. Rachel Raimist. Student Trey Moe's graduation was to be this week. "We need to understand that we are one people all of whom have myriad origins. We've come together here in this place," says bestselling author Walter Mosley. He joins us to talk about his newest book, 12 Steps Toward Political Revelation. For a growing number of American who feel left out--or even targeted--by the current political climate, the possibility of influencing change and of having a voice is becoming an increasingly problematic task. 12 Steps Toward Political Revelation stresses the importance of everything from finding a strong political identity, and recognizing the systems that work against us and not for us. Walter joins us to explain how important each of our paths towards political enlightenment is for our nation and our world. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"Many important issues facing working people don't get the attention they deserve, and other issues get a whole lot of issues because they're sensational or if they divert attention," says Senator Bernie Sanders of the media's failures these days. He notes that we're now seeing a newly aggressive push from corporate interests and the politicians they sponsor, making attacks that have little to do with deficits. Senator Sanders joins Laura via Skype from Washington, D.C. to discuss the assault on programs that aid working families, the way the media helps conservatives wtih framing, and his state of Vermont's steps toward single-payer healthcare. "We're seeing the political southernization of the whole country. There's a surge of conservatism, targeting a wide variety of communities," says Paris Hatcher, interim director of Georgia-based SPARK Reproductive Justice Now. As we see the anti-abortion tactics started in the south hitting the northeast--a billboard sprang up in New York City recently targeting black women, and though it was quickly taken down, states around the country are fighting antichoice legislation and attempts to defund reproductive healthcare. Paris joins Laura in studio to discuss her reproductive justice work in Atlanta and how the rest of the country can learn from the work women of color are doing on state and local levels. On February 26, the first round of US Uncut protests hit the states, targeting Bank of America branches around the country. Inspired by the UK's actions targeting corporate tax dodgers, protesters came up with creative ways to express their ire at Bank of America's tax avoidance. And this week right here in New York, US Uncut made its presence felt at the Bank's investor conference. Thanks to various US Uncutters for the footage! And Laura has a few thoughts on the new wave of protest, from US Uncut to Madison, that's sweeping the country--and why the media hasn't pounced the way they did on the Tea Party. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"This is a national plan of action designed to take women back to a time when we had second class status as persons," Lynn Paltrow says of the ongoing attempts by conservatives around the country to shut down abortion rights by any way they can think of: fetal personhood, banning taxpayer funding, defunding Planned Parenthood, and making it "justifiable homicide" to kill an abortion provider.The outrage against these bills is gaining ground, though, and Lynn notes that when people wake up to the assaults on their rights, they fight back. She joins Laura in studio to discuss."There is only one state employee I'd like to see laid off, and that's Scott Walker," says Milwaukee's Ellen Bravo, who helped lead a successful campaign in Wisconsin for family leave that is now being attacked by Governor Walker's administration. As thousands of Wisconsinites gather in the capitol and Democratic state senators flee the state to avoid a vote on Walker's bill to bust the public employees' unions, Ellen points out the ongoing struggles of workers for basic rights.Ellen joins us via Skype along with Ev Liebman, who helped organize a 35,000-person rally in New Jersey against similar attacks by that state's governor, Chris Christie.Finally, Lara Logan, CBS's chief foreign affairs correspondent, was sexually assaulted in Egypt while covering the revolution--and the response has been staggering. And not in a good way. Laura has some thoughts.

"We've been playing defense too long," says Sady Doyle, founder of Tigerbeatdown.com and one of the architects of a new Twitter campaign to pressure Congress to shut down a new bill in the House that would further limit women's access to abortion. The #dearjohn campaign, along with other actions, helped convince Republican Chris Smith that he should take controversial language around "forcible" rape out of the bill, but the activists aren't backing down. Sady and health care advocate Eesha Pandit join Laura in studio to discuss H.R. 3, the Republicans' skewed sense of priorities, the Democrats who are complicit, and why it's time to go on the offensive over abortion.