While YouTube has started deleting videos promoting false information on abortion, the South Carolina Senate introduced a new bill that strives to block Internet users from talking about abortion truthfully online.
Known as the “Equal Protection at Conception—No Exceptions—Act,” the bill would ban any website from hosting or publishing any information about accessing or self-inducing abortion “knowing that the information will be used, or is reasonably likely to be used, for an abortion.”
Specifically, the bill restricts “providing information to a pregnant woman, or someone seeking information on behalf of a pregnant woman, by telephone, Internet, or any other mode of communication.” That includes restrictions against providing abortion referral services, including to doulas performing abortions, as well as hosting or maintaining a website that’s “purposefully directed to a pregnant woman” living in South Carolina. Less specifically, the bill notes that further restrictions will apply once the law becomes enforced.
The law is not designed to prosecute pregnant people—the one linked here does that—but instead expands the web of punishment by targeting the people who attempt to “aid and abet” an abortion. If it’s passed, felony charges could be brought against anyone who violates, attempts to violate, or threatens to violate the law by a range of stakeholders, including the state attorney general, solicitors, the father or grandparents of the unborn child, or the parents or legal guardians of pregnant minors. The punishment for the crime is the same for anyone who performs or induces abortion “knowingly or intentionally”: imprisonment “for not more than 25 years if the unborn child dies as a result of the violation” or “not more than 20 years if the unborn child is born alive despite the violation.”
In addition to these restrictions, the bill paints abortion providers as an organized crime syndicate that must be regulated as such and abortion pills as a street drug that senators predict will be trafficked like fentanyl.
No one’s sure yet if the bill will stand, even if it manages to get through the state legislature and to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster’s desk to sign. Wired reported that any states restricting access to abortion pills would face challenges from the Food and Drug Administration, which has defended the legality of mail-ordering pills. And President Joe Biden says that pharmacies not filling abortion pill prescriptions violate civil rights laws. There are also First Amendment concerns. The Washington Post reported that “there’s broad uncertainty about how courts would interpret such bills,” but legal scholars say that regardless, the South Carolina bill will likely be “a harbinger of other state measures, which may restrict communication and speech as they seek to curtail abortion.” The bill notes that if any section is deemed unconstitutional, the rest of the sections will remain valid unless also successfully challenged in court.
McMaster and state senators sponsoring the bill did not immediately respond to Ars’ requests for comment. Because the legislation is not yet active, a spokesperson for online civil rights nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation tells Ars that they do not yet have an official position on the bill.
Proposed abortion laws broaden political divide
SC’s proposed “No Exceptions” Act is the most recent in a dizzying array of proposed laws seeking to regulate abortion more stringently since the Dobbs decision. Some states, like Louisiana, tried and failed to make abortion punishable by death, while Republicans in Idaho announced their party platform wouldn’t make abortion exceptions for pregnant people whose lives become endangered. The Washington Post reported that more Republicans are ready to do away with rape or incest exceptions, too.
A recent viral tweet also caused a stir by calling attention to a stalled North Carolina bill introduced last year that declared abortion would be treated like first-degree murder, punishable by death, and made provisions so that lethal force could be used to prevent someone from seeking an abortion. That’s seemingly not a looming reality right now, but it does show how extreme proposed laws can go to disregard the life of the pregnant person when restricting abortion.
Meanwhile, Congress is currently debating the “My Body, My Data Act” introduced last month, which attempts to restrict companies from sharing reproductive health data that could serve as evidence in states enforcing stricter regulations. Last month, President Biden said he would also support making an exception to the filibuster so that Democrats could more easily pass legislation protecting abortion access nationwide.
Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion.
This is Texas now: While the Lone Star State has long been a bastion of Republican politics, new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades.
Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas’ most far-right political candidates — helping reshape the state’s Republican Party in their worldview.
Read the full article. It’s really something and yes, the word “oligarchs” is used.
"In their sermons they paint a picture of a nation under siege from liberal ideas
" 'The cornerstones of our government are crumbling and starting to come apart," Wilks declared in a 2014 sermon. 'It's because of the lack of morality, lack of belief in our heavenly Father' " 2/2
” ‘The cornerstones of our government are crumbling and starting to come apart,”
But he totally misconstrues the reason. It’s because people like him are buying politicians and judges and media and infrastructure and health care and everything needed to sustain life and society.
In other words, more rich people destroying America so they can strip it down and sell it for parts, leaving the rest of us to live in a fascistic, impoverished, environmentally devastated husk of what once was.
In other words, they oppose the will of their own God. Who they ‘believe’ gave everyone free choice. If people are walking away, that’s on them. If you try to force them to stay in the churches, you’re doing something that God is responsible for.
Blasphemers and wannabe gods, that’s what these preachers are. All of them.
Wow they are not even allowed to tell you where to find the information or what shelf the books are on. Talk about paranoia from the party of small government. This is the party that claims cancel culture and censorship. What a police state where you cannot even talk publicly about some subjects to your own family without risk of losing a lot of money. I am reminded of the old USSR and East Berlin. Hugs
Oklahoma City-area library employees were told Thursday to steer clear of offering any advice about abortion to patrons seeking information about the procedure in the wake of multiple abortion bans in the state.
It’s unclear if library employees would face lawsuits under Oklahoma’s House Bill 4327 or Senate Bill 1503, which allow private citizens to bring lawsuits against someone who performs an abortion or “aids or abets” someone in getting an abortion.
But the new Metropolitan Library System policy is an example of the confusion and fear surrounding Oklahoma’s multiple laws and how they may be interpreted.
A report by Vice cited an email and meeting notes that told employees they couldn’t discuss abortion or help with any abortion-related searches. This guidance was a placeholder until legal counsel had formed official guidelines, Metropolitan Library System Director Larry White said.
White emailed library employees Thursday morning and said they can provide factual information about abortion — what the procedure is, for example, or what Oklahoma laws say about abortion. But employees should not offer opinions, medical or legal advice, or “actively assist anyone in breaking the laws of Oklahoma,” according to White’s email.
White said the library is balancing protecting staff and complying with state law with its responsibility to provide information without censorship. White said employees raised concerns about their civil liability and said he doesn’t know if helping a guest find out where to receive an abortion would be considered aiding or abetting.
“That’s a question we do not know the answer to being that this is a new law,” White said. “There are no cases, there’s (nothing) … about how it’s going to be applied. … Being that we would be providing factual information, I don’t know that there would potentially be a problem, but … there is that possibility.”
The library is also “tightening” its technology security and record keeping to ensure anonymity to anyone using its computers.
“Legal advice suggests that if a guest uses our public technology in our locations to access information on this topic on their own, we shouldn’t bear civil liability for those actions,” the email from White said.
The Metropolitan Library System consists of 19 libraries throughout Oklahoma County, with branches in Oklahoma City and neighboring towns like Bethany, Edmond, Midwest City, Del City and Choctaw.
‘An example of the tremendous fear’
Oklahoma is operating under several overlapping, and in some cases contradictory, abortion bans.
The state’s multiple laws include exceptions that allow doctors to provide an abortion in the event of a medical emergency, but different laws have different definitions of a medical emergency. That can mean confusion for health care workers and devastating consequences for patients, said Rabia Muqaddam, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The laws also create confusion among people who work outside of health care, she said.
“What can they do in their communities? What can they tell people who are their family and friends? What can they tell people they come across in their professional life?” she said. “I think the library policy is an example of the tremendous fear and lack of certainty there is about sharing information related to abortion care.”
Some of that uncertainty comes from language in two of Oklahoma’s abortion laws, House Bill 4327 and Senate Bill 1503, which allow private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who performs an abortion or “aids and abets” someone in accessing an abortion.
The laws don’t define what counts as aiding or abetting.
“The problem really is, no one really knows what you have to aid and abet to come within the ambit of the law,” Muqaddam said.
New Oklahoma City library guidelines meant to reflect employees ‘neutrality’
Since Oklahoma’s law halting abortions went into effect, White said he’s not aware of library staff fielding any questions about abortions or abortion services.
But the possibility of that — including any persons or groups asking for information just to report library employees — prompted White to create guidelines employees could follow.
The library is a “neutral source of information,” White said, and the new guidelines regarding abortion information reflect that. But he’s not certain whether that would shield the library and its employees from lawsuits.
“We don’t know for sure that even if we just give answers to factual questions that we would be beyond reach of something,” White said.
Bill Young, the public information manager for the state Department of Libraries, said the department isn’t aware of other state library systems that have established guidelines on the issue. The state department may provide its own guidance in the future, but Young encouraged local library systems to consult their library boards and legal counsel for official guidance.
“(Oklahoma City’s) advice is a reflection of how librarians, as information professionals, approach reference questions every day,” Young said in an email. “We do not provide legal or medical advice.”
Vice also reported that an email was sent to some Metropolitan Library System employees that said those who disregarded the guidance and were sued would lose their job. White said he doesn’t know who sent that email and that he never said employees were in danger of being fired.
“The purpose of these laws is to generate fear in addition to banning abortion, and to chill people in supporting even the people that they love and care about in accessing health care,” said Muqaddam, with the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is among the groups challenging Oklahoma abortion laws. “It’s unfortunately, I think, going to be an increasing problem in Oklahoma if we’re not able to get these laws blocked.”
The groups are challenging both HB 4327 and SB 1503, as well as a century-old law revived by Oklahoma’s “trigger” ban.
The day Roe v. Wade was overturned, Oklahoma leaders quickly set into effect the trigger ban, which allowed the state to reinstate a 1910 law that made performing an abortion a felony, except to save the life of the mother.
In August, another state law is set to go into effect that would also classify performing an abortion as a felony, but with harsher penalties: up to 10 years in prison or fines of up to $100,000.
That one, Senate Bill 612, is also being challenged by reproductive rights organizations.
Florida school board candidate Alisabeth Janai Lancaster suggested doctors who prescribe hormone blockers to trans children ought to be lynched, and was met with applause. Wos breaks it down on Rebel HQ.
I do not support robbing people, but what Pastor needs such wealth? WTF, how are these people helping those in need? Seems they are only helping the Pastor and his family get really wealthy. Hugs
Three thieves were caught on tape barging into a Brooklyn church on Sunday where controversial bishop Lamor Whitehead — an ally to Mayor Adams — was preaching and snatched $400,000 worth of jewelry off of him and his wife.
Whitehead, the Rolls-Royce-driving bishop, was preaching at Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry on Remsen Ave. near Avenue D in Canarsie about 11:15 a.m. Sunday when three masked bandits stormed into the church, the pastor and cops confirmed.
Whitehead made the news recently when he tried to orchestrate the surrender of the man accused of fatally shooting Goldman Sachs researcher Daniel Enriquez on the Q train, to the mayor. After alerting the media, he showed up at the precinct where the suspect was to turn himself in wearing a thick gold chain and Fendi blazer.
Three thieves robbed a Brooklyn bishop and his wife during a sermon. The masked bandits made off with $400,000 worth of jewelry. https://t.co/5HKRaxfg2S
The mayor keeps strange company. His friend Bishop Lamor Whitehead served five years in prison for identity fraud and grand larceny — then this week nearly negotiated the accused subway shooter’s surrender to the mayor himself
I’m calling it, no doubt in my mind that this is a stunt. Not an actual crime, but a planned event. Ok, so I don’t know that, but damned if I’ll trust anything a preacher claims.
I’m feeling so foolish that I went to 10+ years of higher education when all I had to do to become shamefully rich legally was to become a religious bullshit artist with no education or skills other than conning and swindling.
The man is a fraud. Sadly this is typical of Mayor Adams’s circle of local support; remember he still has pastors in his administration who cavorted with the Kill The Gays crowd in Africa. I don’t feel sorry for his losing $400,000 worth of jewelry. Still, robbery is a serious crime and I never want to make light of it.
“We [Hungarians] are not a mixed race, and we do not want to become a mixed race either” – this is what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said during his address in Central Romania today.
Beforehand, he slammed Western European countries and politicians for encouraging illegal migration and mixing their population. He said that Western-European cities were lost to the non-European population.
“In a spiritual sense, the West has moved to central Europe,” he said. The two halves of Europe are locked in a battle, he said. The West has rejected central Europe’s desire to allow each nation to live as they like, “and they continue to fight central Europe to change us to be like them,” he said.
Read the full article. Tucker Carlson is surely thrilled.
Although Orbán’s spokesman was live tweeting this speech, for some reason he forgot to report on the PM’s rant about Hungarians not wanting to get mixed with other races.🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/oc8awXnzcB
CONFIRMED: PM Viktor Orbán is speaking alongside Donald Trump at #CPAC 🇺🇸Texas. In the US&EU we are dealing with the same ppl: faceless, ideologically trained bureaucrats sitting in Washington DC&Brussels. We can only succeed in this fight if we are oraganized and stick together. pic.twitter.com/GpJTkJp0rw
August 4, Dallas, CPAC is having this man as a speaker. Will potential candidates boycott CPAC? Or do they support pure race ideology? @GOPLeader or @HouseGOP
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) July 23, 2022
From the article. Notice the same talking points Fox and right wing media hosts use. He needs more white babies, so he has tried to criminalize the LGBTQ+ and of course no abortions. Hugs
Orbán said Hungary’s greatest challenge was that deaths still outstripped births, with no change of the tide in sight. “Our situation has improved but there is still no turnaround, and without a turnaround, Hungary and the Carpathian basin will sooner or later be “repopulated” away from us,” he said. Migration has divided Europe, he said. “The West is split in two”, with one half comprising countries where European and non-European peoples live together. “Those countries are no longer nations,” he said.
Hungarians are one of the most mixed peoples out there. The most closely related ethnic groups from the Urals have visible Asian features, and many Hungarians themselves look Eurasian. Not to mention Hungary’s significant Jewish and Romani minorities and lots of intermarriage over the centuries, but of course he’s dog-whistling and saying that only white Hungarians count.
Linguistically, Hungarian is part of the Finno-Ugrian family, wihch makes them related to the Estonians, Finns, Ugrians and other peoples of northern and far eastern Europe. That does not m ake a race.*
Not to mention the intermarriage and casual bastardy that took place dluring their migration to what is now Hungary.
* I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: There is no biological basis for the concept of “race”. No one can tell from your DNA whether you’re Hungarian, Sweedish, Turkish or Chinese.
Hitler must be looking up from Hell at the USA, Hungary, the world with so much envy wishing he had social media, Fox News, and other propaganda outlets to run 24/7/365 and brain wash the morons to cheer their own demise.
The world was a racist, sexist, homophobic hellscape when I was born and nearly 8 decades later the world is still a racist, sexist, homophobic hellscape. I’m gonna take a step way back into the past and wonder “when will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?”.
All year long, Ron DeSantis has been traveling around Florida handing out oversized checks as he takes credit for President Biden’s infrastructure bill, which DeSantis opposed and both Florida Republican Senators voted against.
Scottie's Playtime 
