prochoice

"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.

"The Democratic base would be less angry at our leadership if they would really stand up for something," notes Loretta Ross of SisterSong, "Democrats need to stop flinching every time someone says the word 'abortion'." Democrats are on the defensive, and meanwhile anti-choice activists are ramping up their efforts to deny women the right to an abortion, not just in the South, where the "Freedom Rides for Life" that we detailed here at GRITtv in our "Conspiracy Tactics" series began, but across the country. Loretta joins us in studio along with Lynn Paltrow of National Advocates for Pregnant Women to discuss the state of the reproductive justice movement: what are the latest tactics from the anti-choicers, what can be done to fight back, and why we need to not be afraid of the word abortion.

Democrats in D.C. are going about this regulation thing all wrong. Want to get Republican buy-in? Give Republicans the kind of regulation they like. As usual in U.S. politics, the states provide the road map. Take Arizona. There, the party of small government's just released police to stop people on suspicion. Want to break GOP resistance to financial regulation? Release the SEC to spot-check Wall Street. Anyone who looks suspiciously likely to be hawking synthetic derivatives? Slap ‘em in detention until their lawyers can prove they're innocent. It’s all in the interests of crime prevention. Oklahoma's state legislature just overrode the governor's veto of two laws related to pregnancy and abortion. Personal privacy's nice but even good people sometimes make bad decisions, said legislators. Now women who'd like to terminate a pregnancy will be subjected to mandatory vaginal scans and forced to view fetal porn videos. Want to reduce credit default swaps? Before they make another risky bet, let’s force traders to slap on a gown, step in those stirrups, and subject themselves to a mandatory scan of their stock portfolios, while watching American Casino or Plunder or listening to the live, panicked heartbeat of manipulated mortgage owners. Regulators need to remember that even the die-hardest conservative's OK with some regulation. If it's good enough for the women of Oklahoma, it's good enough for Wall Street. Right? The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com. Distributed by Tubemogul.

In the wake of health care reform, new attempts to restrict women's access to abortion services have surged. Nebraska has passed a new law that criminalizes abortions after 20 weeks of gestation on the basis of "fetal pain," and another that forces women to undergo mental health examination before obtaining an abortion at all. Eesha Pandit of MergerWatch and Raising Women's Voices For the Healthcare We Need returns to GRITtv to discuss the new attacks on women's right to choose and the chilling effect they're intended to have. Is the economy coming back--or is our debt going to sink us? Are people who don't pay taxes this year just freeloading? Did Virginia's governor really forget that slavery was a big part of the Civil War? Who's fact-checking the news, and what about that WikiLeaks tape, anyway? Danny Schechter, News Dissector, and Lizz Winstead, cofounder of the Daily Show, join us in studio to answer these and other pressing questions about the week in news. Finally, the Tea Party supposedly originated from opposition to taxes and government spending. Yet a New York Times poll finds something a little different behind the anger. Laura discusses.