Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul is in the headlines again for saying something that enrages people on both sides of the aisle.  This time it was in response to a question he got from CNN‘s Piers Morgan about what his position was on abortion in the case of rape of the mother.

The exchange went as follows:

MORGAN: You have two daughters. You have many granddaughters. If one of them was raped — and I accept it’s a very unlikely thing to happen. But if they were, would you honestly look at them in the eye and say they had to have that child if they were impregnated?

PAUL: No. If it’s an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room. I would give them a shot of estrogen or give them –

MORGAN: You would allow them to abort the baby?

PAUL: It is absolutely in limbo, because an hour after intercourse or a day afterwards, there is no legal or medical problem. If you talk about somebody coming in and they say, well, I was raped and I’m seven months pregnant and I don’t want to have anything to do with it, it’s a little bit different story.

But somebody arriving in an emergency room saying, I have just been raped and there is no chemical — there’s no medical and there’s no legal evidence of a pregnancy –

MORGAN: Life doesn’t begin at conception?

PAUL: Life does begin at conception.

MORGAN: Then you would be taking a life.

PAUL: Well, you don’t know if you’re taking a life either, because this is an area that is — but to decide everything about abortion and respect for life on this one very, very theoretical condition, where there may have been a life or not a life.

Ron Paul has a tendency to enrage his critics on the Right and Left with things like this.  Morgan decided for the next segment of the interview to dwell on what an “Honest Rape” was (he meant the case where someone lies about being raped in order to get free abortion services).

Those on the Right found his comments interesting because he basically said that since we don’t know if the woman is pregnant yet we can assume she isn’t and give a shot of estrogen which would forgo any chance of the woman getting or staying pregnant.

Do you think Ron Paul is right on this one?  Does life begin at conception?

Watch the interview for yourself and decide what Dr. Ron Paul meant.

Ron Paul’s Position on Abortion in Cases of Rape is Confusing [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

On January 1st, a new set of laws will go into effect across the country. The 2012 laws include measures to protect children athletes, to curb binge drinking, and to educate students about gay history.

Here are some of the laws that will go into effect in 2012. 

2012 Laws About the LGBT Community - Starting January 1st, same sex civil unions will be legalized in Delaware. Gays and lesbians in Delaware will be able to get the same state rights as married couples.

California has also passed a law that will require schools to teach students about gay history and the contributions that the LGBT community has made to society.

2012 Immigration Laws – Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina have all passed laws that will make it harder for illegal immigrants to work.

California also passed a law involving illegal immigrants, but California’s law will make it easier for illegal immigrants to receive private financial aid to attend public colleges.

2012 Penalty Increases – Tennessee has increased the penalties for both child rape and gun use. A minimum sentence of 25 years will be implemented in cases of child rape. Penalties for people who fire a weapon into an occupied home have also increased in an effort to curb drive-by shootings.

In Illinois, people who have been convicted of first degree murder will be added to a public database, similar to sex offenders, when they are released from prison.

2012 Alcohol Laws – Utah is banning happy hours. Utah has passed a new law that bans any daily drink specials.

2012 Athletic Laws – Colorado will require football coaches to bench athletes who may have suffered a head injury. The law also requires for players to receive a medical check before they can return to the game.

2012 Abortion Laws – In New Hampshire, girls seeking an abortion will be required to first tell their parents or a judge. In Arkansas, facilities that perform more than 10 nonsurgical abortions a month must get licensed by the state Health Department and will be subjected to inspections by the department.

2012 Traffic Laws – In Illinois, motorcyclists will be able to ride through red lights. The law states that a rider may proceed through a red light after waiting a reasonable amount of time.

These are just some of the new rules that will go into effect on January 1st. What do you think about the 2012 laws?

2012 Laws Ban Happy Hours, Require Gay History is a post from: The Inquisitr

Earlier this week, a somewhat understandable firestorm erupted over whether Apple’s Siri personal digital assistant on the iPhone was seriously burying female-centric results on the service, or perhaps whether Siri had been developed entirely by dudes and thus overlooked certain female concerns.

The issue arose when several blogs noted that Siri amusingly would link you up rather effortlessly with prostitutes if you asked for “a blow job,” and was similarly helpful when the request was for marijuana or Viagra or several other excellent additions to a bachelor party. But when the question was about birth control or abortion services, Siri all of a sudden didn’t want to know you. Asking the device for assistance in locating an abortion in cities like Washington DC and New York City returned results for the mortal enemy of Planned Parenthood, Crisis Pregnancy Centers- places that provide free pregnancy tests and counseling but always try to steer a pregnant woman away from choosing abortion.

The situation led many to conclude the results were some sort of a secret agenda on the part of Apple, and many asked if Siri was pro-life. But the company has issued a denial, chalking the strange results up to the product still being in “beta” mode and thus not yet returning perfect answers. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris says:

“Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information, and while it can find a lot, it doesn’t always find what you want. These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone. It simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better, and we will in the coming weeks.”

Have you found Siri to be lacking in other areas that do not suggest a pro-life stance?

Siri Pro-Life? Apple Denies Anti-Abortion Bias on iPhone 4 is a post from: The Inquisitr

Presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Sunday made his talk show rounds where he shot down the idea of anyone getting an abortion. When asked about his stance Cain responded:

 “I am pro-life from conception, period.”

Cain also revealed that even in cases of incest, saving the life of the mother and rape abortion should not even be considered a choice for women.

Cains pro-life stance appears at least in part to be a personal choice and not a political motivation as he told CNN in an interview:

“What I’m saying is, it ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make,” and “Not me as president, not some politician, not a bureaucrat. It gets down to that family. And whatever they decide, they decide. I shouldn’t have to tell them what decision to make for such a sensitive issue.”

After making his pro-life remarks Cain went on to attack Planned Parenthood by claiming that the organization has 75% of it’s facilities in predominately poor black neighborhoods in order to target abortions for poor black women.

Speaking of the organizations president Margaret Sanger he said:

“She didn’t use the word genocide,” but “she did talk about preventing the increasing number of poor blacks in this country by preventing poor black babies from being born.”

Cain also revealed during his interview:

“There are a lot of centers that offer sincere counseling, rather than Planned Parenthood claiming to be the centers, when in fact they would rather for the young lady to come in and say they want to get an abortion and facilitate that,” he said. “Plenty of centers out there genuinely do that. What I’m saying is, Planned Parenthood isn’t sincere about wanting to go try to counsel them not to have abortions.”

Do you believe that Cain’s stance on abortion will ultimately alienate pro-choice supporters who find his all or nothing approach to be too far to the right?

Herman Cain Says No More Abortions Then Attacks Planned Parenthood is a post from: The Inquisitr

Idaho currently has what the state calls a “fetal pain” law which makes it illegal for a female to have an abortion after the 20-week mark and now that law is being challenged by Jennie Linn McCormack, an Idaho female who used pills to terminate her own five-to-six month pregnancy last year.

The law was enacted because that’s believed to be the point where a fetus can experience pain and now it’s being challenged by Jennie Linn after she was charged under the law. Under Idaho law any female who takes pills or otherwise causes her own abortion can be met with fines and possibly even face prison time.

McCormack was charged with the “crime” after aborting her pregnancy, however a judge later dismissed the case which could still be retried if prosecutors choose to once again file charges.

McCormack wants class-action status for her suit, which also challenges the lack of abortion providers in her region. McCormack argues that women are only allowed to receive abortions from licensed physician in the state, however a lack of providers in certain areas puts an unfair burden on woman who have no easy access to abortion providers.

The suit argues that the 20-week fetal pain abortion ban is unconstitutional because it also bans abortions for women who’s health may be in danger due to a problem pregnancy and because it bans abortions before a fetus is viable at 22 to 23 weeks.

Do you think the 20-week ban should be abolished or at least offer special circumstances when a patients health is at risk?

Woman Sues Idaho, Asks For End To “Fetal Pain” Abortion Law is a post from: The Inquisitr

As a women’s right to choose advocate I believe a female has the right to do with her body what she chooses, that’s why today’s Google Search result irked me. While no longer displaying, for a short time today typing in the word “Murder” would return the Wikipedia page result for “Abortion” as the second link on the front page of Google search results.

The abortion as murder result quickly trended on Reddit where users were quick to point out that it was more than likely a Google-bombing incident in which many users took the opportunity to create the result out of thin air, but it’s still a disturbing result that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.

Our favorite “mistake” on the search engine still came when people would type “White people stole my car” and the search engine would return “did you mean: Black people stole my car.” Even computers can be racist these days.

At this time no specific anti-abortion group has taken credit for the results page, however the term is no longer appearing under “Murder.”

Without getting all preachy (this isn’t a post about whether it’s right or wrong) what do you think about the result? My bets are on a group of anti-abortion activists working together to create the results we see in the photo at the top of this post.

“Murder” Search On Google Returns Abortion Result is a post from: The Inquisitr

Alisha Arnold, one half of the couple running the site BirthorNot.com and ostensibly crowdsourcing the decision on whether she and her husband should abort their baby just before the legal limit for abortion kicks in, has been fired from her job for the negative implications the stunt has had on her company.

The Eagan Minnesota software company TempWorks distributed a memo to staff confirming that Arnold was terminated by the company for publicity surrounding the “debate” (several news outlets have since quoted Pete Arnold as saying the couple never would have gone through with an abortion, though his wife is adamant she would have) and furthermore, TempWorks has forbidden all employees from maintaining relationships with Arnold on sites like Facebook. It’s an employer mandated de-friending!

A news outlet local to the Arnolds spoke with a local labor law expert, who said the company is legally within their rights for both mandates:

We showed the memo to a University of Minnesota Labor Law Professor. William McGeveran told us private companies do not have a legal obligation to proect the free speech of its employees.  He also says employees might not like it, but the company can also tell its employees who they can and cannot be friends with on Facebook and other social networking sites. If employees do not like the restrictions, McGeveran says they have the option of leaving the job.

Arnold, who was referred to by the company as a “grave threat,” told press she was “shocked” and “didn’t expect any of this.”

Woman behind BirthorNot.com fired from job for behavior on internet is a post from: The Inquisitr

A married couple who live near Minneapolis- both of whom are 30- are seemingly crowdsourcing the decision of whether they should abort their baby or allow it to come to term and be born.

As Gawker points out, this is 99% likely not to be exactly as it appears. It has to be an attempt to draw attention to something, but exactly what the point is has not yet been revealed. The poll on the site, sponsored by PollDaddy, is currently leaning toward the “don’t abort” side, but when Gawker posted the tale, the results were skewed far more in favor of the “do abort” option.

Interestingly, the couple have not given any reasoning for what would be a relatively late-term abortion (20 weeks) other than that they are not sure they’re “ready” to be parents. Gawker broke down possible reasons the couple, Pete and Alisha Arnold, created the site:

1) It’s is an idiotic prank. Pete and Alisha are intent on becoming famous any way they can, and they’ve hit on an outrageous way to get media coverage. But if this all was a prank, wouldn’t they have gotten the word out before now? They’ve been blogging since September.

2) This is a pro-life stunt. Pete said he’s a non-practicing Catholic, while Alisha is a Methodist. Although the Arnolds describe themselves as political independents with Libertarian leanings, Alisha likes Glenn Beck on Facebook, and a Google search turns up an old pro-Bush comment Pete made on CNN. (Pete said he voted for Bush in 2000, but not in 2004.) Could this site be a confused parable to illustrate the peril of putting an unborn baby’s life in the hands of voters?

3) It’s true. Pete and Alisha are actually going to choose to have an abortion based on an Internet poll.

You can view the spectacle at the Arnolds’ website, BirthorNot.com. This isn’t the first time social media has participated in an abortion- a woman made headlines a few months back by live tweeting her medical abortion. What’s your take on the whole thing? Attention whoring? Performance art? Political statement? Could anyone possibly be considering a second-trimester abortion for the lulz? I’ll posit a theory touched on but not fleshed out by the Gawker analysis- this is to draw attention to later, elective abortions, with which many Americans are more uncomfortable than earlier or medically necessary pregnancy terminations.

[Gawker, BirthorNot]

Couple crowdsources abortion decision on their website… vote now? is a post from: The Inquisitr

A woman named Angie Jackson created an inevitable firestorm of controversy this week when she decided to live-tweet her medical abortion.

Jackson, 27, hit up her own blog, YouTube and Twitter with the ongoing details of her in-progress abortion, sparking an outpouring of support from the feminist blogosphere while anti-abortion activists did their anti-abortion dance. Comparisions were predictably made to Penelope Trunk’s miscarriage tweet, and the question was again raised as to whether the social media experience of abortion helps or harms women experiencing a crisis pregnancy.

I should disclose here that I have changed my mind considerably on the issue of abortion in the past decade. While I did, in the past, espouse an anti-abortion viewpoint (though less political than ethical, I never picketed a clinic or anything- my feeling was more that resources to promote birth control and assist struggling mothers were a better focus) I am currently relatively gray on the subject. I believe it should be safe and legal, but I think that to gloss over the experience does women a disservice and creates unnecessary friction between factions who would be better served having a productive dialogue on the issue. I don’t believe that as a feminist I have to accept every party line on the subject, and I don’t believe in solidarity for solidarity’s sake. I’ve heard and read abortion stories that were moving, sad, engaging and informative. That said, I don’t think this is one of them.

Via the magic of the internet, this very common experience (more than 35% of American women are said to opt for the procedure at least once in their lives, and 47% of abortions are obtained by women who previously had an abortion) has inspired pockets of support and advocacy, activism and of course, criticism. In the days following Jackson’s abortion, she received threats against herself and her son, a result she admits to being “naive” in not anticipating. But the idea of the issue of first person abortion stories being underrepresented on the internet is also somewhat naive- there are thriving, non-judgmental grassroots communities of women across the internet who not only talk about their abortions and crisis pregnancies, but remain largely under the radar and insular and exist in a relatively serene space of women educating other women. (Livejournal’s Vagina Pagina springs to mind.)

I think this particular instance, due in no small part to its sensationalism, is not doing the demographic of women of reproductive age a favor. When someone with so narrow a worldview and clear an agenda elects herself the voice of a group of women (Jackson’s handle of choice seems to be “AngieTheAntiTheist”) it is inevitable that the bulk of women who could be spoken for are not. Furthermore, as a feminist myself, I find Jackson’s assertions that she would die (I hear this a great deal more than is statistically possible- the vast majority of abortions are not life-saving) and that she was using two forms of birth control to be grating. With those repeating epithets, she’s lashing out her own judgment at women who have experienced a crisis pregnancy. Apparently, Jackson is a pretty, pretty princess different than the rest of us who just found ourselves on the wrong end of a pink line on a stick.

I can’t get past the fact that she is saying on one hand her actions don’t need justification while constantly spilling forth justifications for her actions. Which is it? If you refer to Penelope Trunk’s earlier, brief mention of miscarriage and abortion, she didn’t even hint at the reasons she found herself miscarrying at work and or seeking an abortion- she just said it, indicated that women often find themselves in that situation, and left it at that. Trunk paints an image of a woman who is in control of her life and her decisions, and not seeking anything (validation, dissent, a stage) from the community at large. Jackson followed up with a Twitter drama fest that seems to indicate the whole #livetweetingabortion thing was more about herself and her own experiences than breaking down social taboos.

When Trunk found herself at the center of a controversy because of her tweet, even pop-feminism blog Jezebel was critical that “anti-choicers” would have a field day with her candor:

And, unfortunately for everyone, now that this has gone national, the context and way in which Trunk framed this confirms the worst and most fantastical ideas of the anti-choice movement: that women (especially career women!) who have abortions all do so casually and callously on their lunch breaks, the way one might get a manicure. If Trunk thinks she’s done anything to help women in Wisconsin get better access to abortions (her defensive post asks readers to donate to Planned Parenthood), she obviously doesn’t know anything about how the anti-choice movement works.

But Jackson, on the other hand, does not possess that kind of matter of fact, in control voice. She sounds reactionary, unsure, angry and laden with emotional baggage. She offers a tremendous amount of detail as to the whys and hows of her abortion, but the conflicting backstory again seems to paint a crisis pregnancy as needing justification. What ever happened to “I’m a woman, sometimes women get pregnant and this is not always convenient” being all the reason we need? IUDs (with a success rate of over 99%) don’t have to fall out, children don’t have to be “special needs,” and lives don’t have to be in danger every time a woman gets pregnant at the worst time. The core issue here is that it’s nobody’s business. I’m all for destigmatization, but I am certainly not all for being expected to have a “good enough reason” to avoid being labeled irresponsible or stupid, nor do I support cloudy facts that don’t represent the reality a lot of women face.

As a woman and as a feminist, I’d much rather be spoken for by Penelope Trunk than Angie Jackson. What do you think? I’ve embedded Jackson’s video below- do you believe her use of social media during her abortion helped or harmed women in the same situation?

Is liveblogging your abortion enlightened or exhibitionistic? is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Super Bowl won’t air until February 7th, but one of the CBS approved ads for that date is already drawing criticism before it even airs. The commercial uses Tim Tebow, the evangelical QB from Florida who’s heading to the NFL draft this season as he spews pro life rhetoric alongside his mom.

According to a report by USAToday the commercial plays out at such:

…it’s a pro-family spot with Tim and his mom, Pam, sharing her personal story exemplifying their opposition to abortion. She ignored doctors advice to abort a potential problem pregnancy and, resting on her faith, carried Tim to term. According to Associated Press, Tim Tebow told reporters Sunday he was honoring his “courageous” mom and holds a religious conviction against abortion.

The issue among critics? The subcontext of the full ad sends the message: I love my family more than you love yours and God honors my choices, not yours.

It’s hard to see those exact messages based on the synopsis of the ad, so we’ll have to wait until the Super Bowl airs to see the full context.

Adding to the objections is the organization standing behind the ad, advocacy group Focus on the Family, which has a history of speaking out against gay marriage, reproductive rights education (other than abstinence) and the opposition to legal abortion.

The move seems odd on the part of CBS executives who stopped an ad from airing in 2004 because of the ads liberal message from the United Church of Christ towards gays in the church, a move CBS officials thought would alienate conservatives.

CBS message delivered loud and clear, it’s okay to insult part of your viewing audience, but only if you agree with the ideology yourself.

Super Bowl Ad Featuring Tim Tebow, Pro Life Message, Draws Criticism is a post from: The Inquisitr

An as of yet unnamed (presumably pending familial notification) anti-abortion activist has been gunned down outside a high school in Owasso, Michigan. (UPDATE: The victim has been identified as Jim Poullion of Owasso.)

Classes at the school, about 20 miles west of Flint, had already begun when the 7:30 am shooting occurred. A suspect has been taken into custody, seized at home at 8:15 am. Police report that the suspect is also being investigated in connection with another homicide.

While the school was immediately put on lockdown, students are now being permitted to leave with a parental escort. Although the victim has not been named, sources have told press that he or she is “well known” in the area.

[Source: MLive]

Anti-abortion activist Jim Poullion gunned down in front of Owasso school is a post from: The Inquisitr

This just popped up on the feeds – CNN has managed to grabbed the first interview with anti-abortionist Scott Roeder the accused killer of Kansas doctor George Tiller.

Roeder would not admit to CNN’s Ted Rowlands that he killer tiller but said if convicted the “entire motive was the defense of the unborn”

BREAKING: CNN gets first interview with anti-abortion killer of Dr. Tiller [VIDEO] is a post from: The Inquisitr

For that special man in your life, who perhaps has presidential ambitions, or would single handedly like to “sow the seeds of hope”, you can buy Obama Condoms at this site.

For those who had not considered whether you were left leaning, right leaning, or maybe kinked was important in the bedroom the Practice Safe Policy people had this to say:

WE DECIDED LONG AGO (SOMETIME AFTER SUPER TUESDAY) THAT IT WAS TIME FOR THE PEOPLE OF THIS GREAT NATION TO START FOCUSING ON THE IMPORTANT ISSUES OF THE DAY, LIKE POLITICIANS AND THEIR SEX LIVES. SO WE CREATED OBAMACONDOMS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO JUST CAN’T DECIDE WHEN TO WITHDRAW, AND WHEN TO STAY IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL.  

OBAMACONDOMS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO WITHSTAND THE MOST RIGID ASSAULT, LIGHT ENOUGH TO PENETRATE THE DEEPEST TRENCHES, AND THEY’RE OPRAH APPROVED!* 

THESE ARE UNCERTAIN TIMES. THE ECONOMY’S A BALL- BUSTER AND THE SURGE WENT FLACCID! BUT NOW THERE’S OBAMACONDOMS, FOR A CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN! 

* NOT REALLY

The site also sells Palin Condoms for when an abortion is just not an option, and McCain condoms, although for some reason no one, not even the Republicans wants those.

Imaging President Elect Obama have sex, is kind of like imagining your parents doing it; none of us really want to go there. I do hope they sent Obama a box because I can see him picking the Obama packet off the presidential night stand, and asking Michelle Obama, if she is ready for a change you can believe in.

Obama Condoms: Protecting the Presidents Men! is a post from: The Inquisitr