SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Kansas Governor Writes 'JESUS + Mary' on Notes for Anti-Abortion Bill
"According to the Supreme Court, laws need to have a secular purpose in order to be constitutional under the separation of church and state."
Apr 23, 2013
Next to the extreme anti-abortion bill Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) signed into law on Friday were notes on which he wrote JESUS + Mary at the top and further down that it was a bill that would create "a culture of life," an Associated Press photo reveals.
Brownback's handwritten notes prompted Steve Benen to write at The Maddow Blog:
I don't mean to sound picky, but in the United States, according to the Supreme Court, laws need to have a secular purpose in order to be constitutional under the separation of church and state. When a governor writes "JESUS + Mary" at the top of an anti-abortion bill, it makes me wonder if maybe, just maybe, the policy's purpose isn't entirely secular.
Summarizing the bill, Democracy Now! reports:
The law declares that life begins "at fertilization," blocks tax breaks for abortion providers, and prevents them from taking part in sex education at public schools.
But "Perhaps the most outlandish part of the bill," Gawker reports,
is a section requiring doctors to warn patients about the possible health effects of abortions, including telling them that abortions can lead to breast cancer - a claim the United States government says is completely false.
NARAL Pro-Choice America slammed this most recent attack on reproductive rights.
"As politicians in states continue to race to the bottom by blocking women from accessing legally protected medical care, Gov. Brownback just reached a new low," said Ilyse Hogue, NARAL's president.
"Brownback's signature indicates his disdain for women, by making it clear that he think politicians know better than they do about their families and their lives. This governor and his fellow anti-choice politicians in the state house have shown how out of step they are with modern American values--most Americans believe women know best how to run their lives and their families."
"This is why elections matter," stated Hogue. "Brownback, along with 35 other governors, are up for re-election in 2014. We will do all we can to remind women across this country of these relentless attempts to take away their constitutional rights."
____________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Next to the extreme anti-abortion bill Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) signed into law on Friday were notes on which he wrote JESUS + Mary at the top and further down that it was a bill that would create "a culture of life," an Associated Press photo reveals.
Brownback's handwritten notes prompted Steve Benen to write at The Maddow Blog:
I don't mean to sound picky, but in the United States, according to the Supreme Court, laws need to have a secular purpose in order to be constitutional under the separation of church and state. When a governor writes "JESUS + Mary" at the top of an anti-abortion bill, it makes me wonder if maybe, just maybe, the policy's purpose isn't entirely secular.
Summarizing the bill, Democracy Now! reports:
The law declares that life begins "at fertilization," blocks tax breaks for abortion providers, and prevents them from taking part in sex education at public schools.
But "Perhaps the most outlandish part of the bill," Gawker reports,
is a section requiring doctors to warn patients about the possible health effects of abortions, including telling them that abortions can lead to breast cancer - a claim the United States government says is completely false.
NARAL Pro-Choice America slammed this most recent attack on reproductive rights.
"As politicians in states continue to race to the bottom by blocking women from accessing legally protected medical care, Gov. Brownback just reached a new low," said Ilyse Hogue, NARAL's president.
"Brownback's signature indicates his disdain for women, by making it clear that he think politicians know better than they do about their families and their lives. This governor and his fellow anti-choice politicians in the state house have shown how out of step they are with modern American values--most Americans believe women know best how to run their lives and their families."
"This is why elections matter," stated Hogue. "Brownback, along with 35 other governors, are up for re-election in 2014. We will do all we can to remind women across this country of these relentless attempts to take away their constitutional rights."
____________________________
Next to the extreme anti-abortion bill Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) signed into law on Friday were notes on which he wrote JESUS + Mary at the top and further down that it was a bill that would create "a culture of life," an Associated Press photo reveals.
Brownback's handwritten notes prompted Steve Benen to write at The Maddow Blog:
I don't mean to sound picky, but in the United States, according to the Supreme Court, laws need to have a secular purpose in order to be constitutional under the separation of church and state. When a governor writes "JESUS + Mary" at the top of an anti-abortion bill, it makes me wonder if maybe, just maybe, the policy's purpose isn't entirely secular.
Summarizing the bill, Democracy Now! reports:
The law declares that life begins "at fertilization," blocks tax breaks for abortion providers, and prevents them from taking part in sex education at public schools.
But "Perhaps the most outlandish part of the bill," Gawker reports,
is a section requiring doctors to warn patients about the possible health effects of abortions, including telling them that abortions can lead to breast cancer - a claim the United States government says is completely false.
NARAL Pro-Choice America slammed this most recent attack on reproductive rights.
"As politicians in states continue to race to the bottom by blocking women from accessing legally protected medical care, Gov. Brownback just reached a new low," said Ilyse Hogue, NARAL's president.
"Brownback's signature indicates his disdain for women, by making it clear that he think politicians know better than they do about their families and their lives. This governor and his fellow anti-choice politicians in the state house have shown how out of step they are with modern American values--most Americans believe women know best how to run their lives and their families."
"This is why elections matter," stated Hogue. "Brownback, along with 35 other governors, are up for re-election in 2014. We will do all we can to remind women across this country of these relentless attempts to take away their constitutional rights."
____________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy