Despite the MAGAnetic promise of a major presidential announcement hanging over the nation, women and supportive men hit the streets for the third year in fair and foul weather for the third year in a row in major cities and small towns across the U.S. and in Canada, too!
Thanks to everyone who came out to be a part of the Pittsburgh #WomensMarch2019 today. Great to see such a strong organized labor presence at the march. Workers' rights are women's rights. pic.twitter.com/Gxli5xxuML
It’s 11a.m. and the Phoenix #WomensMarch2019 has taken to the streets. Demonstrators are rallying behind Indigenous women how are leading the march on Jefferson Street. The banners read “Honor Indigenous Women” and “Rise Stand with Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women” pic.twitter.com/Ab0khkUhvr
I want to be sure we're all clear about something that Brett Kavanaugh said in his confirmation hearings last week. He referred to birth-control pills as "abortion-inducing drugs." That set off a lot of alarm bells for me, and it should for you, too.
Kavanaugh didn't use that term because he misunderstands the basic science of birth control—the fact that birth control prevents fertilization of eggs in the first place. He used that term because it's a dog whistle to the extreme right.
When Kavanaugh called birth control "abortion-inducing drugs," he made it clear that safe and legal abortion isn't the only fundamental reproductive right at grave risk if he is confirmed. Access to birth control is, too.
Imagine an America in which women are barred from getting IUDs or birth control pills, and doctors are criminalized for prescribing them. It's an America in which women would be punished for insisting on being full and equal partners in society.
Sen. @kamalaharris asked Brett Kavanaugh last week: "Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?" He said he was not. Because there are none.
Let’s be clear: Women have just as much right as men to make the most personal health decisions without government interference. We are equal citizens and we will insist on nothing less in this country.
Please call your senators and relay the message: (202) 224-3121
The move — believed to be ordered by a top aide to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — reflectsthe Trump administration’s rightward turn from the Obama administration on family planning issues. | Hussein Malla/AP Photo
State Department officials have been ordered to pare back passages in a soon-to-be-released annual report on global human rights that traditionally discuss women’s reproductive rights and discrimination, according to five former and current department officials.
The directive calls for stripping passages that describe societal viewson family planning, including how much access women have to contraceptives andabortion.
A broader section that chronicles racial, ethnic and sexual discrimination has also been ordered pared down, the current and former officials said.
The move, believed to have been ordered by a top aide to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, reflectsthe Trump administration’s rightward turn from the Obama administration on family planning issues. It also appears to highlight the stated desire of Tillerson and President Donald Trump to make human rights a lower priority in U.S. foreign policy.
The morning after the inauguration of the least popular incoming
president in modern history, millions boarded all manner of
transportation to head to their nearest (or dearest) Women's March. Many
flew or took trains or buses to Washington, DC for the march there.
Others went to cities near them.
The numbers are not in yet but
there are estimates - almost all of which exceeded expectations.
Washington, DC expected 200,000. Estimates are that a half a million
showed up. In New York City, the crowd was so large that for hours the
march could not move appreciably for lack of space. The same thing
happened in Chicago where organizers transformed the march into a rally -
no space for people to march! Reports are that the same thing occurred
in Los Angeles.
Portland ME police estimated this to be the
largest demonstration they had ever encountered. Boston organizers think
150,000 attended there. People tweeted pictures of crowds in Denver,
Nashville, Asheville, Atlanta, Sioux City, Phoenix, of a human chain
across the Golden Gate Bridge. Across the nation they marched - in the
rain in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and in the snow in Boise and
Anchorage.
There were marches and demonstrations in all 50 states and on every continent, including Antarctica. Look at this map!
Here are a few of my favorite images from the day starting with a sea of pink pussyhats in the nation's capital.
Paris put its message in lights.
The Brits displayed their characteristic reserve. They had the best signs.
My favorite Brit marched and spoke in New York and declared herself a New Yorker.
Helen Mirren posted “this is amazing!” (Instagram / @helenmirren
A human traffic jam in Los Angeles.
A human chain across the Golden Gate Bridge.
In blinding snow in Anchorage.
In Boise.
Antarctica!
Some awesome folks!
They weren't all Democrats! Ana Navarro posted this selfie!
A note from a flight attendant who had to work to a passenger who was attending.
The human traffic jam on NY's 5th Avenue that lasted for hours.
In Detroit.
New York City.
This woman tweeted that she wasn't ovary-acting. How bad is it?
One guy we know brought his best friend along for his first day as a private citizen.
On
the sidelines, this day, Donald Trump attended the National Prayer
Breakfast and visited CIA HQ in Langley, VA to tell them what a yuge
inauguration he had (it looked like a million - a million-and-a-half
people to the guy who saw imaginary thousands in Jersey City celebrating
the fall of the towers) and how spectacular the weather had been
(it rained - George W. Bush struggled with a plastic poncho). Later
his Press Sec stormed into the White House press room to scold the media
for telling the truth about the paltry attendance yesterday. He said
this was the largest inauguration ever. Period. He took no questions and
left in a huff.
The rest of the country and the free world was
busy having a lovely Saturday all together. No incidents, no arrests,
and according to actress Ally Sheedy, a patrol officer told her how
wonderful everyone looked. Madonna dropped the F-bomb twice and they
cheered. Everyone was included - babies in strollers and seniors in
wheelchairs. It was a great day in history!
Read Hillary's response to Donald Trump's outrageous comments this
week. Many people are writing and reporting on this story, but these
are Hillary's own words. Media source can spin stories. This is directly from Hillary Clinton - unspun!
All
of the Republican frontrunners for president want to make abortion
illegal. Now Donald Trump has said how he’d enforce that prohibition:
punishing women and doctors.
Donald
Trump can try to distance himself from his comments all he wants. But
we all heard what he said. As Maya Angelou said, “When people show you
who they are, believe them.”
Donald Trump keeps showing us who he is. We should believe him.
But
it’s important to remember that he’s not alone. Donald Trump is just
saying what Republican politicians across the country believe — everyone
who has signed and voted for laws to defund Planned Parenthood, force
women to undergo invasive and medically unnecessary procedures before
ending a pregnancy, mandate that doctors recite misleading information
to patients, and shutter every abortion provider for miles. These are
laws that are meant to shame women and block their access to health
care. That’s their purpose.
We don’t need to imagine the consequences of these laws. It’s unfolding right before our eyes.
SNIP
Whenever
politicians become involved in deciding whether, when, and how a woman
becomes a mother, it’s not just degrading — it’s dangerous. Few
decisions are more sacred or intensely personal, and women deserve to
make them for ourselves.
Here’s
the good news: While Donald Trump is a bully, voters will have our say
at the ballot box. So if you disagree with his comments, you’ve got to
vote. Vote like your health and rights depend on it. Because they do.
