I’ve never been to the state of Virginia and after reading about the legislation being pushed over the last few days, that pretty much guarantees I won’t be visiting there anytime soon.
1.The State Senate passed legislation on Thursday allowing private adoption agencies to deny placements that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality. The mostly party-line vote virtually ensures the Republican-backed bill will become law. The House has an identical bill, and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell says he will sign it. If passed, Virginia would become the second state with such a law, which supporters modeled after a similar law in North Dakota.. Senator Jeffrey L. McWaters said his bill protected the religious rights of private child placement agencies, including dozens that contract with the state. Opponents say agencies that contract with the state should not be allowed to discriminate. Senator Adam Ebbin, the only openly gay member of the General Assembly, said the bill would endanger gay and bisexual children by letting agencies place them with parents opposed to homosexuality.
2. We also are seeing House Bill 1, which would grant individual rights to an embryo from the moment of conception, would be a step toward making all abortions illegal. On Tuesday, the House of Delegates passed the measure on a 66-32 vote. The bill provides that “unborn children” from the moment of conception until birth at every stage of biological development “enjoy all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of the Commonwealth, subject only to the laws and constitutions of Virginia and the United States, precedents of the United States Supreme Court, and provisions to the contrary in the statutes of the Commonwealth.” No state has passed such a law. HB 1, sponsored by Delegate Bob Marshall, R-Manassas, now heads to the Senate. If the personhood bill becomes law, it would essentially criminalize all abortions in Virginia.
I find it ironic that the Republicans, who are always screaming for the government to stay out of their personal lives, now want to have a say in mine.
Personal religious ideology has no place in the government. Contrary to popular belief, just because I support a women's right to choose doesn’t mean I am an advocate for abortion. It means I support the right of choice. I believe I have NO RIGHT to force my opinions, ideals, or ideology on anyone else. When you attempt to force your views on others then we are no longer a democracy. Remember Hitler? Mussolini? Stalin? You may scoff, but those men had one thing in common. They believed their ideology was the only true path and destroyed the freedoms and lives of those who disagreed.
I’m disgusted and appalled by the fear mongering and open bigotry that is being embraced. We are pushing ourselves back into the 1950s where woman, homosexuals, and people of color “knew their place”. Are we to go back to hiding our lights under a bush, praying that the world will someday respect and acknowledge us? The all boys club is slowly encroaching on all our rights and we are just standing by, twiddling our thumbs, and hoping that someone will stop them. Well guys, looks like that someone will have to be us.
I don’t know about all of you, but I was granted the right to vote August 20, 1920 and I plan on thoroughly and loudly using that right come election time.
5 comments:
I am fortunate enough to live in Virginia *snort* and I must say I'm not surprised, but I am still appalled, disgusted, pissed, enraged....the list goes on. The sad thing about VA is it is two different states in one. There northern part which is closer to DC (and where I live) is mostly democrats, progressives, independents. The southern part is where you have the conservative, religious right. And unfortunately, that's where all the government business takes place. They don't care about what happens in Northern VA cause we're "communists" and stinkin liberals and we're what's wrong with the Commonwealth. No. THEY are what's wrong with the Commonwealth. This crap alone makes me want to move. I am not happy with what's going down.
Marquetta W-((hugs)) I'm so disgusted by the whole GOP. I can't believe that the government is actually denying people rights. In 2012.
These states have been making it easy for me to decide where we will live post AF. VA is now out, of course TN was, and we have settled on WA. I am appalled at this movement these last couple months. I mean WTF? Birth control should be outlawed. Never before would I have thought I would see this in my lifetime. Not in this country.
The world seems to be getting scarier and scarier as of late.
Twimom227-Yes it does.
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