Over the past month, Republican Vice-Presidential candidate J.D. Vance has received a lot of criticism for a comment that he had made to Tucker Carlson in a 2021 interview on Fox News, that the U.S. was being run by "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too."
Since then, Vance has only doubled down on those remarks.
Bur while Vance’s assertion is preposterous at best, it seems the statement gains some credence when we stand it on its head? In other words, can bad policies be responsible for childless families. That was a thought conjured up while watching Gabby Giffords speak at the Democratic convention last week. Giffords, as you probably know, was a three-term congresswoman from Arizona. In 2011, she was shot in the head during an assassination attempt. While she survived the shooting, her injuries robbed her of any chance that she and her husband, Ex-astronaut and U.S. Senator, Mark Kelly, had of starting a family. Although Giffords’ assailant, Jared Lee Loughner, had exhibited bizarre behavior in the months leading up to the attack, he was able to purchase the gun right before the shooting, that left 6 people dead, and 13 others injured.
Rep. Jenn O’Mara has a bill that could prevent similar tragedies from happening here in Pennsylvania. Although the Pennsylvania House passed the bill, it has languished in the Republican dominated state senate without any movement whatsoever.
But would-be families are also in danger by the conservative attacks on in vitro fertilization (IVF) – a standard procedure available for couples and individuals who have had difficulty getting pregnant. The U.S. Supreme Court’s abolishment of Roe v. Wade has enabled Alabama’s Supreme Court to determine that frozen embryos are children. As a result, fertility clinics across Alabama ended the procedure. Although the state legislature subsequently passed a law protecting clinics from civil and criminal action if they employed IVF, embryos are still considered to be living human beings.
In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, there have been several attempts to amend Pennsylvania’s Constitution – one to deny, and one to confirm the constitutional right of abortion to women in the state. The amendment to deny a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion fizzled once Democrats recaptured control of the PA House in 2022. The amendment to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right needs to pass two sessions in the General Assembly before the electorate can vote on it. We need more legislators in both the PA House and State Senate to make that happen. That is why the following volunteer activities are so important.
Postcards:
We are supporting two state senatorial candidates this election cycle through postcards: Nicole Ruscitto (SD-37, Allegheny), and Jim Wertz (SD-49, Erie). Nicole’s and Jim’s priorities both include protecting women’s health and defending abortion. Both of these candidates are running against MAGA Republicans Devlin Robinson and Dan Laughlin, respectively.
If you are interested in helping to elect Nicole or Jim by writing postcards, please reply to this email.
And, if you would like to make a contribution to support our postcard effort, you can do so here. Every contribution of $6.00 helps us to purchase 10 postcards with stamps.
Canvass:
This Labor Day weekend, canvassers will be campaigning for Brian Munroe and Ashley Ehasz. Brian narrowly flipped the district two years ago. He has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood, Conservation Voters, and Pennsylvania’s AFL-CIO. The canvass starts at 10am this Saturday, August 31, at 1388 W. Street Road, Warminster. There is a carpool that leaves from High Point Allen Lane at 9am. You can sign up here.
Phone Bank:
Phone bank for Elizabeth Moro in the comfort of your own home next Thursday, September 5, from 4 – 6pm. Elizabeth has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood. Her opponent, Craig Williams, claimed, when he was running for state Attorney General, that there is no constitutional right to an abortion. If you are interested in phone banking for Elizabeth, you can sign up here.
Thanks,
Coleman
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