Blog of Rights

Alexa
Kolbi-Molinas

When Did Pregnant Women Lose the Ability to Make Decisions for Themselves?

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 12:00am

In March, a Florida judge virtually imprisoned a pregnant woman at a hospital in order to force her to stay on bed rest and to undergo any and all medical treatments deemed necessary to save her fetus. In June, a federal judge in Maine sentenced a pregnant woman living with HIV to spend the duration of her pregnancy in jail solely because she was HIV-positive and pregnant (her sentence was later vacated). And just last week, the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in a case where local probation officers admitted they threw a probationer who failed a drug test into jail because she was pregnant; if she had not been pregnant they would have taken less drastic measures.

Locked up for Being Pregnant and HIV-Positive

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 12:24pm

I'm going to do things a little backwards here... Ordinarily, I would give you what is called a time served sentence, and...your time in prison would effectively end today....[However] I'm inclined to keep you in jail, given your medical condition and the medical condition for your child, to prevent your child from being born HIV positive. And my inclination is to sentence you until September 15, which is a time after your due date, so that you can continue to receive the necessary medicine up to the time of your delivery.

The Honorable John A. Woodcock, Jr., District Court of Maine, May 14, 2009

Proposed Bush Administration Rule Fails to Strike Balance Between Religious Liberty and Access to Health Care

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 11:04am

(Originally posted on ACSBlog.)

Last Thursday, the 30-day public comment period closed on a controversial rule proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would expand the ability of institutional and individual health care providers to refuse to provide services to which they have a religious or moral objection.If implemented, the rule could severely undermine access to reproductive health care, as well as other health care services for traditionally marginalized communities.

Bubba And His Poor, Pitiful Women

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 12:10pm

Yesterday, a video leaked of Mississippi Representative Lester "Bubba" Carpenter (pictured above) gloating that he and his anti-choice cronies had passed a bill that could effectively put an end to safe, legal abortion in the state of Mississippi. The money quote:

It's going to be challenged, of course, in the Supreme Court and all — but literally, we stopped abortion in the state of Mississippi, legally, without having to — Roe vs. Wade. So we've done that. I was proud of it. The governor signed it into law. And of course, there you have the other side. They're like, 'Well, the poor pitiful women that can't afford to go out of state are just going to start doing them at home with a coat hanger. That's what we've learned over and over and over.'

But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere."

And now everybody's reaching for their smelling salts because, oh my, a politician trying to outlaw abortion doesn't care if women die. You know what I say? Finally. Finally, someone willing to speak the truth. Finally, someone is willing to drop the bullshit about health, safety, and a "culture of life" and admit that he'd rather women die than abortion remain legal.

Arizona Stands Against Racism. [Insert Laughter]

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Courtney Bowie, Racial Justice Program at 2:23pm

Apparently, Arizona lawmakers were concerned you might not believe they were committed to fighting racism. So this week, the state of Arizona took the important step of enacting a law, the first of its kind, that seeks to protect communities of color from one of the biggest threats facing them today...women of color.

Just so we're clear: I'm being sarcastic. The state of Arizona is not.

Clarification On Facts vs. Fiction

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 5:20pm

On June 10 we published a blog post called “Facts vs. Fiction on the Military’s Abortion Ban.” In this piece, we were responding to misinformation about efforts by the Senate Armed Services Committee that we strongly support to remove the ban on private funding for abortions on military bases. It looks like we have a little more misinformation to respond to.

In Memory of Dr. George Tiller

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Talcott Camp, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 3:37pm

A year ago on Memorial Day, we lost a true friend to women and a true American hero: Dr. George Tiller. While Dr. Tiller's death was violent and borne of hate, we know — from the witness of his patients and family — that he lived a life of love, compassion, and courage.

The person who murdered Dr. Tiller, Scott Roeder, never once denied that he killed Dr. Tiller; he admitted to years of planning and to finally stalking Dr. Tiller to his church on May 31, 2009, and shooting him there, in front of friends and family, as he handed out programs for that Sunday's church service. But in spite of all that, Roeder still argued that he should be found to be less culpable — that he should be treated more leniently for his crime. Make no mistake: Roeder was not arguing that the killing was an accident, that he misunderstood the circumstances in the church that morning, or that he was suffering from mental illness or delusion at the time of the shooting. Roeder was arguing that he was less culpable for Dr. Tiller's murder because he honestly believes that the constitution should not protect the right to abortion. In other words, that vigilantism is ok if you really mean it.

State Legislatures Full of Akins

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 6:49pm

So much has been said about Rep. Todd Akin in the past few days and yet there’s so much more I still want to say. But I won’t (except for a little bit at the end) because, Todd Akin is just a piece of the story

War Against Women Rages On in the Federal Courts

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 2:00pm

It’s been an interesting few weeks for women’s rights and health in the courts. First, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state can force a doctor to tell a patient that women who have abortions are more likely to commit suicide than those who continue the pregnancy even

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