soulofawomanwascreatedbelow:

March 3rd, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. — More than 30 activists have been arrested for refusing to leave the Virginia Capitol steps during a protest of anti-abortion legislation.

Virginia Capitol Police Capt. Raymond Goodloesays 31 protesters were arrested Saturday. The demonstrators were some of an estimated 500 people who had gathered to protest legislation like a bill that passed the General Assembly earlier in the week that requires an ultrasound before an abortion.

The group had a permit to rally at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square, but Goodloe said rallies are not allowed on the Capitol steps.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/ye99lx) that police with plastic shields held demonstrators at bay while armed officers arrested protesters, who sat on the steps with locked arms.

http://rvanews.com/news/photos-abortion-protests-lead-to-31-arrests-at-virginia-capitol/57311

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

PLEASE SIGN and SIGNAL BOOST!!

From Shakesville:

Shaker ma_am recently suggested, in response to the onslaught of anti-choice legislation that includes encroachments on reproductive rights that undermine the autonomy of women and other people with uteri as well as proposed “Personhood Amendments” to confer personhood on fetuses, that we need a Personhood Amendment for women and other people with uteri to establish our rights as autonomous people. I suggested we compose the amendment, and then try to get a clever Democratic Senator to introduce it into the US Senate.

So we did!

And then we composed a petition, and ma_am launched it at Change.org.

Here is our prosed Personhood Amendment:

A person identifying as a woman and/or having a uterus shall retain all of the full, basic, and fundamental rights of a US citizen as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person’s life, including but not limited to access to life-saving or life-improving healthcare, and/or medicines and procedures deemed necessary or beneficial by a medical professional and/or by the person having the uterus, procurement of which shall not by denied in and of itself by the presence of a uterus. Congress and the States shall make no law that infringes upon a person’s liberty, including but not limited to autonomy over hir own body and the ability to make decisions regarding hir own healthcare. Congress and the States shall make no law that interferes with a person’s pursuit of happiness, including but not limited to access to a full spectrum of reproductive options, freedom from forcible reproduction, and the ability to make decisions regarding family planning and family resources.

Please sign the petition in support of the Personhood Amendment here. Once it has 1,000 signatures, it will be delivered to Senators Patty Murray (WA), Al Franken (MN), and Kristen Gillibrand (NY) with a request to introduce the proposed amendment into the legislative session.

And please spread the word about the petition via social networking sites. Let’s change this conversation. It’s time to change “women’s rights are human rights” from a radical statement to settled fact.

[As the amendment makes clear, this issue of personhood (and all anti-choice bills) affect more people than just cis women]

(Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

I keep wanting to scream, “TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASOUNDS ARE ALREADY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW TODAY IN TEXAS!!!!”

Texas has THREE times as many people as Virginia AND they already have mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds before abortions (I also have no hard data but I’m going to guess that Texas probably also has a much larger poor population and a higher percentage of minorities, both groups which have so many barriers to accessing abortion as it is).

I’m glad people are mad about Virginia. I’m glad Amy Poehler is talking about it on SNL. I’m glad that people whom I’ve never seen speak up about this issue are now because of what is POSSIBLY going to happen in Virginia. I’m pleased with these developments.

But please, let’s STOP talking about mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds like they MAY happen. THEY ARE HAPPENING.

(Source: keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

I don’t agree with this ad. Not everyone who identifies as a male will not get pregnant. Just because you’re a male doesn’t mean you don’t have functioning female parts. Cissexist language.

But most likely, the males that make decisions regarding abortion legislation will probably not get pregnant. You never know though.