'It's Part of An Assault on Democracy': Biden Reacts to Texas Bill - MSNBC
Texas state lawmakers plan to vote on an election integrity bill. The bill introduces new procedures and mandates for elections in the state that President Biden says could "disproportionately" target Black and Brown voters. Aired on 05/29/2021.
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so that wipes out any chance of a filibuster like what Wendy Davis did with an abortion bill a few years ago. I can't wait for the end of the session on Monday, but they will have to convene as special session to handle redistricting. The governor can add other legislation to the agenda so our fight for democracy will continue after the end of the regular session.
Welcome to the Texas Group, we don't see you around here very often. 
And of course they're aware of the timing, they're determined to ram this through no matter what. And I decided to post this here since the fact that the president is weighing in speaks to how important this is. And of course the governor is complicit, it sure doesn't speak well for him if he supports restricting the voters from voting! 
It was also the night that the NC legislature introduced the "Motorcycle Vagina" bill. I was up all night organizing. By the morning we had hundreds of women and men protesting at the legislature building. Many of them in Support Planned Parenthood tee shirts because you are not allowed to take signs into the chamber and it was the only way we had to show solidarity.
https://www.msnbc.com/martin-bashir/nc-msna65479
https://www.mic.com/articles/53899/what-do-vaginas-have-to-do-with-motorcycles-ask-north-carolina-republicans
https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2013/07/12/north-carolina-motorcycle-abortion-bill-passes-house-will-protect-women-from-vaginal-organisms-says-supporter/
Motorcycle-Vagina (see also, #MotorcycleVagina and HB695) was birthed by North Carolina republican senator Thom Tillis when he sneakily inserted a section on anti-abortion laws into a new motorcycle safety bill (Sharia Law).
Gynotician of the Week: House Speaker Thom Tillis
By Jacqueline Murphy | July 12, 2013, 10:04 p.m.
https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/blog/gynotician-week-house-speaker-thom-tillis
Even before he assumed the role of House Speaker, Thom Tillis made clear that limiting a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions was a top priority. His priorities became more than clear this week when he played an integral role in maneuvering two bills, both originally unrelated to women's health, amended with some of the most dangerous and extreme abortion restrictions in the country and rushed through with every trick in the book.
Having failed topass their extreme anti-women’s health political agenda during the course of normal business, North Carolina’s legislature drastically amended a bill about Sharia law (seriously) to include every single abortion restriction introduced in the 2013 legislative session – and added new ones that hadn’t been considered. These include targeted restrictions of abortion providers that, if implemented, could dramatically restrict the number of health centers that provide abortion in North Carolina. But that was just the beginning.
Under Speaker Thom Tillis’s leadership, the NC House Judiciary B Committee hosted a surprise hearing on their omnibus abortion restriction—in an attempt to confuse the public—and gutted an unrelated bill, formerly dealing with motorcycle safety, and inserted provisions from the “Sharia law omnibus abortion bill” into it. After Tillis resorted to these trickster tactics, SB 353—which commonly became known as the motorcycle vagina bill—passed the House 74-41. The bill will move to the Senate for a concurrence vote, and if approved will go to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s desk for signature. Check out the chart below for the full run-down:
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Tillis has a long history of trying to craft these extreme and dangerous bills designed to restrict women’s access to health care and virtually eliminate access to safe and legal abortion in the state. In 2011, he helped lead the charge on passing one of the most extreme mandatory ultrasound bills in the country. It’s no surprise he would try and do everything he could to pass another bad bill in the North Carolina House.
7.29.13 – N.C. Governor’s Mansion
https://www.womenadvancenc.org/2021/03/22/womens-history-month-history-of-abortion-in-nc-1973-2020/
I remember several years ago when someone I knew who didn't really follow politics asked me what was the difference between Liberals and Conservatives - and after thinking for a minute, I said that Conservatives want to tell everyone else what to do. 
Of course, that was a few years back - before the horror show that began in 2016 and is inexplicably not only still going on, but getting worse by the day.
And when it comes to the abortion question, I read an article which illustrates this point perfectly. Passing laws that legislate the personal lives of strangers - there was an article I read around the time of the election, think it may have been posted here. There was a guy running for public office - I don't remember his name or party - who was asked where he stood on the abortion issue. And he related an agonizing story from his personal life. Turns out that years ago he and his wife were expecting a very much wanted child. But something went wrong with her pregnancy and the fetus that she was carrying became nonviable. So what needed to be done was to remove it ASAP, since if that didn't happen it would poison and kill her. But no matter where she went, no doctors or hospitals would perform the procedure because it was considered an abortion - which was illegal where they were at time - even though not doing so would result in this woman's death! At the last possible minute, the couple finally found someone they knew who agreed to do it and her life was spared. But this is an example of how it's a heinous thing to try to legislate people's lives. You never know what they might be facing... 
Thanks for sharing that, Rhiannon12866.
And thanks for being my DU friend.
❤
We never know what burdens that anyone else is carrying. And thank you for sharing and for being my DU friend, too - it really does make a difference in these anxious times...
He knows what's at stake and he's paying attention! 
