I came across the following article outlining Imani Gandy's main reasons for encouraging those who still haven't voted, to do so by November 4th's voting deadline. She makes a lot of sense so I thought I'd share part of it here and perhaps you could share the link with a friend(s) who haven't voted yet.
Following that I've linked to a review of Katha Pollitt's provocative book "Pro - Reclaiming Abortion Rights" challenging the soft underbelly of the "Pro Choice Movement"
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Nine Spine-Chilling Reasons to Vote in These Midterms
October 31, 2014
Election Day is just around the corner.
Hey! Stop groaning! I heard that!
Look, I know you may not want to vote. And I know that a lot of states have made it pretty doggone hard for you to vote. But it’s important that you vote anyway.
Yes, the government is broken. After all, many Americans widely regard this Congress as the Worst One Ever. I mean, just read the headlines: “14 Reasons Why This Is the Worst Congress Ever”;“Is This the Worst Congress Ever?”;“Congress on Track to Be the Worst Ever at Passing Laws”; and so on.
And yes, it’s easy to get discouraged and to think that your vote doesn’t count. After all, somewhere along the way, some politician made promises to you that they didn’t keep. You were pledged candy canes and roses, and all you got were Tootsie rolls and dandelions.
But it could get worse. Don’t think it can’t. ...
1. 20-Week Abortion Ban
Since 2011, 20-week abortion bans have become all the rage. Thirteen states—Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas—have passed them, and others are waiting in the wings to get their shot. These bans are grounded in junk science about how fetuses can feel pain or how they masturbate in utero. (And heaven forbid we come between a male and his God-given right to wank off.) … {there's more here}
2. Personhood
Speaking of crawling into America’s collective uterus, should Tuesday’s election go as terribly as it could, we can expect federal “personhood” efforts to resume with great haste.
Over the past six years, the country has survived scads of GOP attempts to pass personhood bills. Remember back in 2013 when Rand Paul—who is already positioning himself as the next GOP candidate—attached a personhood amendment to a flood insurance bill? We can expect to see personhood amendments attached to errrrrything, should Republicans take the Senate. ...
3. Tennessee Amendment 1
Speaking of voting “No!” on stuff, how about voting “No way, dude!” on Tennessee Amendment 1? See, in Tennessee, there are constitutional protections for abortion rights. But Amendment 1 would remove those protections, paving the way for Tennessee to follow in the footsteps of practically every other state in this country and start passing gnarly anti-choice restrictions willy-nilly. …
4. Republican Control over Filling Judicial Vacancies
Speaking of Texas, guess which state has the most judicial vacancies? Texas. And guess which dudes have been a rather large pain in the taco about filling those judicial vacancies? Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both of whom are from—you guessed it—Texas!
Of the 64 vacancies on federal court benches in states around the country, nine of those vacancies are in Texas federal courts, with two of those nine in the Fifth Circuit. ...
5. Republican Supermajorities
...
In 2012, Republicans gained a veto-proof supermajority in Missouri, and it’s probably going to get worse after Tuesday. Why is it so bad in Missouri? How about the fact that anti-choice Republicans there have done everything they can—including passing 31 anti-choice bills this year alone in an effort to close Missouri’s last remaining abortion clinic and sending a pleading letter to Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster demanding that he enforce the state’s unconstitutional abortion ban—to really stick it to women in Missouri. ...
6. Impeachment Proceedings
Speaking of “show me the way out,” should Republicans take back the Senate, they will likely attempt to show President Obama the way out of office.
In an email to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned that a Republican takeover would likely lead to impeachment proceedings. ...
7. Climate Change
Speaking of Republicans who don’t brain so good, how about those climate change denialists? Eh?
The earth is getting warmer. You know it. I know it. Scientists know it. But you know who doesn’t know it? A hell of a lot of Republicans. Here’s a video that Lee Fang of The Republic Report put together which shows just which candidates have their heads so far lodged up their respective colons when it comes to climate science that they can probably taste the rainbow. ...
8. More Attempts to Repeal Obamacare
Speaking of things Republicans are uninformed about, they’re apparently not so up-to-date on America’s stomach for repealing Obamacare.
I don’t know about you, but I like health care. I especially like affordable health care. (But that might just be my pre-existing condition talking.) Even though I now have employer-provided health care, there was a time when I relied on the Affordable Care Act to keep my brain from exploding. And I know that the ACA has helped a lot of folks out there, too. So no—I don’t want Obamacare repealed. ...
9. Some Seriously Scary Races
Speaking of things that make my pituitary tumor pulse, did you know we could possibly elect a dude in Texas who believes that God speaks to us through Duck Dynasty? Because we could.
Or, did you know we might elect an Iowa senator who reserves the right to use a gun to defend herself, not just from intruders or other ne’er-do-wells, but from the government. …
{for the complete article link here}
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Katha Pollitt’s ‘Pro’ Hopes to Sway the ‘Muddled Middle’ on Abortion Ethics
by Eleanor J. Bader | October 14, 2014
In Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, feminist and writer Katha Pollitt offers a well-crafted defense of abortion as a social and ethical good. While this will likely come as no surprise to most reproductive justice activists, Pollitt’s target audience is actually those who believe abortion should be legally limited. In order to convince them otherwise, she offers a step-by-step deconstruction of the arbitrary restrictions that implicitly declare some abortions as morally permissible and others as not.
Pollitt acknowledges that the anti-choice movement’s relentless fixation on abortion as the murder of innocent human life has resulted in many victories for reproductive rights opponents, notably with regard to public discourse on abortion. …
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Pollitt gave an interview to Lindsay Beyerstein of the Point of Inquire that's worth the listen if you are curious about her book:
Pro-Choice Without Apology, with Katha Pollitt
October 22, 2014
Host: Lindsay Beyerstein
Given the divisive nature of the debates over abortion, the subject is understandably not the best table-talk material. But despite the fact that abortion is normal and often necessary (one in three women will have an abortion before menopause), even those who are staunchly pro-choice feel compelled to hedge their support by making sounds about how abortions are "horrible" and "unfortunate." When both sides of the controversy associate abortions as immoral and shameful, much of the conversation ground is yielded to anti-abortion advocates.
This week on Point of Inquiry, columnist and activist Katha Pollitt discusses her new book, Pro: Reclaiming Reproductive Rights. With clinics closing at record high rates, unapologetically reclaiming women’s reproductive rights may be the best way to keep the conversation — and the clinics — open.
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