August, 28 2009, 02:13pm EDT
NARAL Network Stands with Dr. Carhart Against Anti-Choice Attacks on Women
BELLVUE, Neb.
Emilie Ailts, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, joined other leading pro-choice advocates at a news conference with Dr. LeRoy Carhart, the abortion provider whose health center outside Omaha, Neb., is the target of massive anti-choice demonstrations and protests this weekend.
Ailts, who served as a representative of NARAL Pro-Choice America and its affiliates, delivered the following prepared remarks in support of Dr. Carhart, his staff, and his patients as they endure an onslaught of intimidation and inflammatory rhetoric:
"I am here today on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, my colleagues in other state affiliates, and the million-plus Americans who are members of the organizations that comprise our network.
"I am honored to stand in unity with Dr. Carhart and his staff. Their continued courage and commitment against many odds make it possible for women in Nebraska and across the country to make the personal and private decision to access safe, legal abortion care with dignity.
"On May 31 in a church in Wichita, Kansas, we witnessed what happens when inflammatory rhetoric, similar to the antics we see outside this building today, fuels violence. Dr. George Tiller's murder left Dr. Carhart as one of the only physicians in the country who is publicly willing to state that he will provide abortion care to women who face severe health-or-life-threatening complications late in their pregnancies.
"As pro-choice Americans, we must remain vigilant in stopping anti-choice efforts to undermine a woman's right to choose, whether it's in the form of the intimidation we see outside Dr. Carhart's health center today or at the ballot box. Groups with agendas like those outside today are threatening to put another deceptively worded abortion ban on Colorado's ballot in 2010, even though voters resoundingly rejected a similar measure in 2008.
"In fact, Dr. Carhart said it right when, after the murder of his friend and colleague in Kansas, he advised America's pro-choice majority to vote for candidates who share their values and turn out of office those elected officials who refuse to condemn this pattern of violence against abortion providers and their patients.
"As a representative of the pro-choice political organization, NARAL, I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Carhart. As a symbol of this commitment, I am wearing this purple wristband that reads 'Trust Women,' two powerful words that were on a button Dr. Tiller often wore.
"Today, pro-choice Americans across the country are wearing this wristband in honor of the courageous physicians like Dr. Carhart, other medical professionals, and volunteers who make it possible for women to exercise their constitutional right to choose.
"We look forward to a day when violent protests are a vestige of the past; when all women are trusted to make the personal health-care decisions that are best for them and their families; and when courageous and caring physicians like Dr. Carhart are free from the threats of violence and intimidation."
NARAL Pro-Choice America and the following state affiliates signed on to this statement of support for Dr. Carhart, his staff, and his patients:
NARAL Pro-Choice America
NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona
NARAL Pro-Choice California
NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado
NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut
NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota
NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri
NARAL Pro-Choice Montana
NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire
NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico
NARAL Pro-Choice New York
NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio
NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon
NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota
NARAL Pro-Choice Texas
NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia
NARAL Pro-Choice Washington
NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin
NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming
NARAL Pro-Choice America fights for reproductive freedom for every body. Each day, we organize and mobilize to protect that freedom by fighting for access to abortion care, birth control, aid parental leave, and protections from pregnancy discrimination.
(202) 973-3000LATEST NEWS
Joe Lieberman, Iraq War Cheerleader and Killer of Public Option, Dead at 82
"Joe Lieberman's legacy will live on as your medical debt."
Mar 27, 2024
While current and former officials across the U.S. political spectrum shared praise for and fond memories of former Sen. Joe Lieberman in response to news of his death on Wednesday, critics highlighted how some of his key positions led to the deaths of many others.
Lieberman's family said the 82-year-old died at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital after a fall at his home in the Bronx. He served in the Connecticut Senate, as the state's attorney general, and in the U.S. Senate—initially as a Democrat and eventually as an Independent. He was also Democratic former Vice President Al Gore's running mate in the 2000 presidential election.
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The Lever's David Sirota declared, "RIP Joe Lieberman, Iraq War cheerleader who led the fight to make sure Medicare was not extended to millions of Americans who desperately needed the kind of healthcare coverage he enjoyed in the Senate."
The Debt Collective said on social media that "Joe Lieberman killed so many people when he killed the public option. Not to mention all the people he killed by cheerleading every war and every lie that led to war. A truly horrible person with a shameful legacy."
Journalist Jon Schwarz pointed out that Lieberman continued to lie about the WMDs long after the claims were debunked.
FormerMSNBC host Mehdi Hasan noted that Lieberman declined an opportunity to apologize for the disastrous war, sharing a clip from his on-camera interview with the ex-senator in 2021.
And please don\u2019t give me this \u2018don\u2019t speak ill of the dead\u2019 stuff - 1) I\u2019m not speaking ill, I\u2019m stating facts, and 2) public figures are public figures, and their obits reflect their legacies and so we should be honest in our accounts of their legacies. Not offensive but honest— (@)
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Citing Israel's "blatant" human rights violations in Gaza, Ireland's second-highest-ranking official said Wednesday that the country will join the South Africa-led genocide case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Irish Tánaiste Micheál Martin—the equivalent of a deputy prime minister in other parliamentary nations—said that Ireland decided to intervene in the case after analyzing the "legal and policy issues" pertaining to the case under review by the United Nations' top court.
"It is for the court to determine whether genocide is being committed," Martin—who also serves as Ireland's foreign and defense minister—said in a statement. "But I want to be clear in reiterating what I have said many times in the last few months; what we saw on October 7 in Israel, and what we are seeing in Gaza now, represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale."
Martin continued:
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The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough. The U.N. Security Council has demanded an immediate cease-fire, the unconditional release of hostages, and the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale. The European Council has echoed this call.
South Africa's case—which is supported by over 30 countries, the Arab League, African Union, and others—incisively details Israel's conduct in the war, including the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, mostly women and children; the wounding of tens of thousands more; the forcible displacement of 90% of the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people; and the inflicting of conditions leading to widespread starvation and disease. The filing also cited numerous genocidal statements by Israeli officials.
On January 26, the ICJ issued a preliminary ruling that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and ordered its government and military to prevent genocidal acts. Palestinian and international human rights defenders say Israel has ignored the order, pointing to more than 30,000 men, women, and children killed or wounded in Gaza since January 26.
A draft report
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As Republicans on Wednesday set their sights on a key seat opening up in the U.S. House of Representatives, the chamber's senior Democrat on the congressional Joint Economic Committee put out a blistering takedown of a top GOP budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
Congressman Don Beyer (D-Va.) took aim at the 180-page "Fiscal Sanity to Save America" plan released last week by the Republican Study Committee (RSC)—which includes about 80% of GOP House members—following proposals from Democratic President Joe Biden and House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).
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RSC proposals to "dramatically weaken healthcare," Beyer noted, include turning Medicare into a voucher plan and rolling back Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provisions that cut costs for seniors; repealing tax subsidies for the Affordable Care Act and the law's protections for people with preexisting conditions; and transforming Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program into block grants to states.
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Biden's budget blueprint—released as he prepares for an electoral rematch against former Republican President Donald Trump, who infamously cut taxes for rich people and corporations—proposes a 25% minimum tax for individuals with wealth of more than $100 million, along with ending capital income tax breaks and closing other loopholes.
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