bapifar01: This week in the War on Women

Bad and ugly:

It's bad enough that New Hampshire has voted to defund Planned Parenthood. But check out this asshole's reasoning:

New Hampshire?s Council rejected the contract in a 3-2 vote, arguing that taxpayers should not fund abortions or so-called irresponsible behavior. ?I am opposed to abortion,? said Raymond Wieczorek, a council member who voted against the contract. ?I am opposed to providing condoms to someone. If you want to have a party, have a party, but don?t ask me to pay for it.?
As digby says:

I know that the issue of abortion rights isn't popular, even among progressives, many of whom just want it to go away. Polling shows that many young women are, shall we say, less than animated by it and don't see any real margin in fighting for it. But it's important to realize that the right to abortion isn't just about pregnancy, it's about a woman's freedom to control her reproduction at all. These people believe that women should not have sex unless they are prepared to be pregnant. This is far more related to primal images of the evils of female sexuality than it is to specific religion.
Everyone assumes that women's rights can't go backwards now that women are in the workforce and have achieved such prominence in the world at large. But these primitive, archetypal beliefs are extremely well-embedded in the human psyche and thinking society can't go back is extremely short sighted. Women are not equal if they do not control their own bodies and they are not free if their natural human sexuality is considered frivolous "partying" unless they are prepared to procreate.
And the antis know they're winning:

In a newly published statement, John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, writes that increases in anti-abortion legislation, anti-abortion campaigns targeting minorities, sidewalk counseling and crisis pregnancy centers, combined with attacks on Planned Parenthood, are all evidence of the ?beginning of the end? of abortion rights in the U.S.
Fox gets its sexism on.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is a coward:

Missouri doctors and hospitals will face new restrictions and penalties for performing late-term abortions after Gov. Jay Nixon announced Thursday that he would let legislation backed by anti-abortion groups take effect without his signature.
The law is part of a trend among states to limit abortions past the point when a fetus may be able to live outside the womb. Missouri's proposal leaves it to doctors to determine viability on a case-by-case basis, unlike new laws in several other states that bar most abortions after 20 weeks.

He won't veto the bill; he won't sign the bill. He'll just sit back and let his state pass this anti-woman legislation while trying to pretend he has nothing to do with it. But he'll give the antis an assist by defending this heinous bill:

Although people have differing views on this issue, it's important that we work together to provide accurate health information, promote personal responsibility, protect women's health, and improve foster care, adoption and child protection services.

Yeah, it sure would be nice if legislators were interested in providing accurate health information, promoting personal responsibility, protecting women's health, and improving foster care, adoption and child protection services. Of course, this bill does none of those things; it's just another in a long line of bills to deny women access to safe and legal health care. Nice job there, Governor.
Who thought this was a good idea?

The same folks who first asked Americans, "Got Milk?" in ads that have become part of popular culture are out with a new and far edgier pitch.
The question this time, put to stressed-out husbands and boyfriends is, "Are you a man living with PMS?"

The campaign from the California Milk Processor Board is mainly online and can be found at the cheeky URL: EverythingIDoIsWrong.org. The milk promoters' proposition this time around: "Milk can help reduce the symptoms of PMS," so stock up, henpecked males everywhere.

See, it's funny 'cause everyone knows women are such raging bitches, especially when they're on the rag. So men should stock up on milk to protect themselves from the evil PMSing hags they live with. Hahaha.
Fetus fetishists rejoice over a new law in Pennsylvania to issue birth certificates for stillborns.
About that mancession ...

During the job-killing economic contraction of 2007 to 2009, men accounted for about seven in 10 positions eliminated. It was deemed the "mancession." But since the anemic recovery started in June 2009, men have picked up about 768,000 jobs and women have lost a further 218,000, according to a much-discussed Pew study that came out last week. It has turned into a "hecovery."

And now for some good:

California Gov. Jerry Brown signs the FAIR Education Act:

Yesterday California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act into law, which will require that school curricula and textbooks include information about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans. Governor Brown stated that the law "revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books."
In case you missed it, RH Reality Check reported that the racist, anti-choice billboards in Oakland have been taken down.
This is really cool: Richard Scarry?s Best Word Book Ever got an equality make-over. Some examples:

First, the book took out two stereotypical visual references to ?Indians? [...]
Second, they added a reference to Channukah alongside Christmas [...]

Finally, they made several changes regarding gender. Dad now helps with meals [...] Jobs are no longer segregated by gender (the pilot is no longer ?handsome,? the ?baggage man? is now a ?handler,? and the ?pretty stewardess? is now a ?flight attendant?)

The changes were actually made in the '90s, but a reader recently noticed the difference between the version he was raised on and the version he was reading to his children. Go take a look.