Ohio Anti-Abortion ‘Heartbeat Bill’ Is About Ending Legal Abortion Not Saving Lives

image of Linda Theis co-author of Ohio's 'Heartbeat' Bill
Linda Theis
co-author of Ohio’s ‘Heartbeat’ Bill

The recent Ohio House Bill 125, aka the “Heartbeat” Bill, would prohibit an abortion if a fetal heartbeat is detected. This usually happens as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. One common argument anti-abortionists use for needing such laws is to save the lives of unborn children. In a recent newspaper interview, one of the authors of the bill stated the real reason anti-abortionists want the ‘heartbeat’ bill passed. It’s all about ending legal abortion not saving lives.
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What Does Religious Freedom Day Really Mean?

image of the logo for Religious Freedom DayJanuary 16th is National Religious Freedom Day. The day commemorates the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786. The Virginia Statute was the basis of the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution and also can be used to support Jefferson’s idea of the separation of church and state. The Religious Right have of course co-opted the day by mass marketing misleading information about what real religious freedom means in this country. Luckily, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has some help available to tell the truth.
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Member Of Congress Upset She Can’t Spend Taxpayer Money To Proselytize

image of Rep. Diane Black R-TNRep. Diane Black R-Tenn. sent a letter to her 6th Congressional District constituents that ranted about not being able to wish them a “Merry Christmas” and spouting some false ideas about the role of government and religion. The problem is she knew she was breaking Congressional rules in sending out the letter. Like other theists, Black is upset if she can’t tell you how religious she is and she really wants you to pay for the privilege.
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War On Christmas? Not Really…

image of FOX news graphicLike the ubiquitous terror warnings we all enjoyed during the Bush administration, the “War on Christmas” is another conservative dog whistle meant to piss off conservatives and other believers who fall for the false warnings from conservative propaganda machines like FOX “news”. The latest “fire storm” was the lighting of the holiday tree in the capital building in Providence, Rhode Island. The incident shows that efforts to be inclusive in what is a religious holiday, is shouted down by conservative bigots trying to protect Christians privilege.
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President Obama Rejects Citizen Petition To Remove ‘Under God’ From The Pledge

Image of President Obama speakingJoshua DuBois, Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, responded to two recent citizen petitions asking that ‘In God We Trust’ be removed from the currency and ‘Under God’ be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. As I expected, DuBois makes a long reach to justify rejecting the petitions.
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Dangerous Right Wing Republican Stupidity At The Value Voters Summit

Values Voter logo with fine printThis weekend was the annual meeting of the religious right wing of the Republican party at the so-called Value Voters Summit. The name of the event is similar to other ironic names associated with cheap-labor conservatives like “Defense of Marriage Act” and “Clear Skies Act of 2003“. Being it’s election season, the current crop of GOP candidates show up to kiss the ring of the Family Research Council and they say some really stupid crap.
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