- Jeff Dailey
- WOMEN FIGHT BACK: Punitive health legislation nationwide is getting growing attention, including a bus tour in Texas with a stop in Austin today.
Bad as things might seem, we’re not at Arizona’s level yet.
Here’s some news on the sex warrior front in the West.
* BIRTH CONTROL: Legislation is advancing in Arizona to allow secular employers to bar coverage of birth control in health insurance policies. As the bill is written, questions have been raised whether it would allow the firing of employees who obtain birth control with their own money when an employer disapproves.
* PREGNANCY CONTROL: The Arizona Senate now has passed legislation — linked to similar legislation in other states also sponsored by legislators tied to the American Legislative Exchange Council — that would protect doctors who don’t tell patients about fetal abnormalities. This is described as routine malpractice protection. It’s nothing of the sort. It’s meant to keep women in the dark about issues that might prompt them to seek an abortion. The oppression grows. Women go to the rear of the bus, even behind fetuses with no chance of survival outside the womb.
Why these bills weren’t introduced in 2011 is hard to figure, given the batch that was introduced, including Rapert’s vaginal probe bill. But with the growing ALEC and Republican influence, expect them here in 2013.