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Tuesday, February 21, 2006

There's No Such Thing As a Pro-Choice Republican (or Lieberman)



We knew it would happen sooner or later, and I guess it's going to be sooner:
The Supreme Court, at full strength with Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the bench for the first time, opened the next chapter in its long-running confrontation with abortion today by agreeing to decide whether the first federal ban on a method of abortion is constitutional.

The court accepted, for argument next fall, the Bush administration's appeal of a decision invalidating the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.
Everybody who didn't seen this coming raise their hand. Oh, is that you, Planned Parenthood?
"Today's actions by the court are a shining example of why elections matter. When judges far outside the mainstream are nominated and confirmed to public office by anti-choice politicians, women's health and safety are put in danger," said the organization's president, Cecile Richards, in a written statement.
Well, you might have fucking thought of that when you were encouraging people to thank Joe Lieberman for his cloture vote on Alito, sister:
From: "Public Affairs Staff"
Subject: What's Happening! PPC News
Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 23:43:40 GMT

60 Seconds with PPC keeps you updated about Planned Parenthood of Connecticut!
Our goal: help you stay informed and connected to our work in one minute or less. Ready? Set? Read!

SUPREME COURT WRAP UP

On Tuesday, January 31, 2006 the Senate voted to confirm Samuel Alito, Jr. 58-42 as the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice after failed efforts by Senate Democrats to filibuster his nomination. Take time to thank Senator Chris Dodd and Senator Joseph Lieberman for opposing Samuel Alito's nomination. We thank all our supporters and activists for their energy and effort to defeat this nomination.
Holy Joe is quick to dance around and parade his final (and meaningless) anti-Alito vote to prove his pro-choice bona fides, but in an email explaining his cloture vote, he said:
With respect to the filibuster vote, as you may know, I was a member of the Senate "Gang of 14" that last year worked together to save the right of Senators to filibuster judicial nominations. As part of that agreement, I agreed to filibuster only in extraordinary circumstances. To me, this situation did not meet this extraordinary circumstances standard.
I'm not going to waste any more time hammering on Planned Parenthood and NARAL except to say that they do not get it. Pro-choice in this country is going down, all because of people like Joe Lieberman. It will not survive another vacancy on the Supreme Court filled by George Bush and confirmed by this Senate.

Redd and I are adding Ned Lamont to our Act Blue page. Ned Lamont would not have voted for cloture on Alito, and he is a solid pro-choice candidate (I will hopefully have more on this tomorrow). If you care about pro-choice in this country please give to Ned Lamont. Give til it hurts. It saddens me terribly to say this because I have been a big Planned Parenthood and NARAL supporter all my life but until they can show that they understand what is going on and the way this war is being waged they do not deserve your pro-choice dollars.

What's more, their endorsement could swing the election in a heavily pro-choice state, and they are under tremendous pressure to endorse Lieberman. Please contact both NARAL and Planned Parenthood and tell them to support Ned Lamont and prove that they understand that people like Joe Lieberman and Lincoln Chafee are pro-choice only when it doesn't count.

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