October 19. 2012

FEATURED BLOG

"No 'Personhood' Amendments Will Appear on Any Ballot This Election Day," Erin Gloria Ryan, Jezebel: Although no "personhood" amendments will appear on state ballots this fall, "that doesn't mean [they're] not seeing demoralizing success in state legislatures," Ryan writes regarding attempts by some abortion-rights opponents to declare that fertilized eggs are people. She notes that in the past seven years, 10 out of the 11 antiabortion-rights state ballot measures have failed, indicating a lack of public interest "in voting to limit the rights of other people." She concludes, "If only our elected officials felt the same way" (Ryan, Jezebel, 10/16).

FEATURED BLOG

"The Woman who Dared To Show us a Transvaginal Probe," Steve Williams, Care2: Williams highlights a recent campaign advertisement by North Carolina Senate candidate Deb Butler in which she displays a transvaginal ultrasound wand and criticizes abortion restrictions that her opponent supported. "Butler's ad does something that few have dared: it actually shows the public what a transvaginal probe looks like," Williams writes, adding that advocates of mandatory ultrasounds before abortion "have been quite shy" about that. Butler's opponent, state Sen. Thom Goolsby (R), called her a "complainer," Williams writes, adding, "When it comes to transvaginal probes and the violation of women's bodies, we can agree the complaint is justified" (Williams, Care2, 10/16).