#Banned by congress

[thisisabernieblog]

Funny how this isn't called a war crime in the Western media, but you can just imagine the hypocrisy of Russia was doing it...

[reasonsforhope]

THANK FUCKING GOD

"The Supreme Court on Thursday [June 13, 2024] unanimously preserved access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

The nine justices ruled that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication, mifepristone, and the FDA’s subsequent actions to ease access to it. The case had threatened to restrict access to mifepristone across the country, including in states where abortion remains legal.

Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, and after about six weeks of pregnancy in three others, often before women realize they’re pregnant.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was part of the majority to overturn Roe, wrote for the court on Thursday that “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”

The opinion underscored the stakes of the 2024 election and the possibility that an FDA commissioner appointed by Republican Donald Trump, if he wins the White House, could consider tightening access to mifepristone, including prohibiting sending it through the mail...

Kavanaugh’s opinion managed to unite a court deeply divided over abortion and many other divisive social issues by employing a minimalist approach that focused solely on the technical legal issue of standing and reached no judgment about the FDA’s actions...

While praising the decision, President Joe Biden signaled Democrats will continue to campaign heavily on abortion ahead of the November elections. “It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,” Biden said in a statement...

About two-thirds of U.S. adults oppose banning the use of mifepristone, or medication abortion, nationwide, according to a KFF poll conducted in February. About one-third would support a nationwide ban...

More than 6 million people [in the U.S.] have used mifepristone since 2000. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone and primes the uterus to respond to the contraction-causing effect of a second drug, misoprostol. The two-drug regimen has been used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks gestation...

Biden’s administration and drug manufacturers had warned that siding with abortion opponents in this case could [have] undermined the FDA’s drug approval process beyond the abortion context by inviting judges to second-guess the agency’s scientific judgments. The Democratic administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, which makes mifepristone, argued that the drug is among the safest the FDA has ever approved."

-via AP, June 13, 2024

--

Note: A massive relief and a genuine victory - this will preserve access to the medication used in 2/3rds of abortions last year, for at least another 2 years. (Probably minimum time it will take Republicans to get their next attempt before the Supreme Court.)

Still, with this, a sword that has been hanging over our heads for the last two years is gone. There will be a new one soon, but we just bought ourselves probably at least 2 years. The fight isn't over, but this is absolutely worth celebrating.

[gwydionmisha]

If this is your critter and you have something to say about his vote:

If you can't safely contact them in person, here are some other options:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice. Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/ To get your Critters' numbers to call direct: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

[saywhat-politics]

Republican Representative Eric Burlison of Missouri has introduced a new bill, the Life at Conception Act, which proposes a federal ban on abortion.

The full text of the bill is not yet available, but a press release this week from his office notes, “This landmark legislation declares that unborn children are ‘persons’ under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing their right to life to be legally recognized and protected.”

At a time when Republicans are seeking to narrow the definition of who is a citizen under the 14th Amendment by eliminating birthright citizenship, they are also using the 14th Amendment to extend personhood to fetuses—an indication of who is and isn’t considered a person with rights according to GOP philosophy.

“I am proud to introduce the Life at Conception Act, which reaffirms the original intent of the 14th Amendment by declaring that the term ‘person’ includes all human beings from the moment of conception . . . It is a scientific fact that life begins at conception,” Burlison wrote on his Facebook page.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91268914/bill-banning-abortion-introduced-house-missouri-republican

[twin-fox]

GUYS THIS IS NOT A DRILL

It’s happening. A bill was introduced to the docket in the US Congress. Eric Burlison of Missouri introduced HB 722, life at conception act. It’s a federal abortion ban. This is a very scary bill!

[bootleg-nessie]

I can’t wait for all of the content creators slowly returning to TikTok like doomsday cultists going back to work the day after the world was supposed to end

[davidaugust]

I’ve been concerned that the incoming president will make an end run around Congress, rendering their power moot.

Low and behold, TikTok users may beat him to it as they start using the Chinese app RedNote, using online translators to interact (in Chinese) and are leaving video messages for their personal “Chinese spies.” This app is currently the 3rd most downloaded in the US iTunes Store.

If the US Congress can be circumvented by an army of 17 year olds playing on their phones…guessing they don’t have the power they thought they had. Maybe Congress should learn what the internet and apps actually are before trying to pass laws about them.

They can switch to another app, and another, and on and on.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Emily Singer at Daily Kos:

A group of House Republicans on Monday introduced a bill that would ban medication abortion nationwide and impose a prison sentence of up to 25 years on anyone who dispenses the drugs, which are used in the majority of abortions across the country. "I’m taking a stand against the irresponsibility of the Democrats and working to protect women and girls across America," Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, the lead sponsor of the bill, wrote in a news release. "I’m taking a stand for life because, born or unborn, every single person is uniquely and wonderfully made. It's not merely a political issue; it's a moral duty to uphold the sanctity of life. I am committed to safeguarding the innocent and voiceless in our society.” Ogles introduced the bill along with 18 other House Republicans, including Mary Miller of Illinois, who infamously declared that Adolf Hitler “was right on one thing”; Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who is against abortion but loves AR-15 rifles that are used to blow children to bits in school shootings; and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who believes teenagers should be paid below minimum wage.  Republicans are targeting medication abortion even though 72% of Americans support it, according to a March 2024 Axios/Ipsos poll. Civiqs’ tracking poll also finds that 60% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.  Ogles’ proposed nationwide abortion-pill ban is a reversal of a position he took in 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade to allow states to ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy.

House Republicans copy the Project 2025 agenda in a heinously insane bill sponsored by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) to ban abortion medication nationwide and impose a prison sentence of up to 25 years on anyone who dispenses the drugs. So much for “returning it to the states.” 18 other Republicans sponsored Ogles’s anti-abortion bill.

[gallifreyriver]

Reminder that Zuckerberg actively lobbied with Republican PR firms to make TikTok illegal because he couldn't compete with it.

Reminder that for all its faults TikTok has brought tons of awareness to important issues that barely got any coverage until they blew up on TikTok, and more that still barely got any mainstream coverage even after they did.

Reminder that TikTok has become the largest and easiest place for people to come together and organize, and has 150 million active users in the US.

Reminder that congress, especially conservatives, stand to gain a lot by banning it, because it means less people will hear about all the problematic (fascist) shit they're trying to pass, such as the 300+ anti-trans bills, the bills seeking to make abortion a felony punishable by death, or how they're trying to remove the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). They also get to 'look tough' against China.

Reminder that claims of concerns over data privacy are bullshit, because China could literally just buy our data if they wanted it. Tech companies just like and including Facebook collect and sell our data all the time. China wouldn't need to build an app to get it.

Reminder that banning TikTok sets a precedent that Congress could come for literally any other social media they deem 'a threat' and ban that too. Yes, even your personal favorite one.

Reminder that we should care about this and instead of saying "Good Riddance TikTok!" we should be actively trying to stop this violation of free speech and stop handing more power to fascists just because we personally don't like a thing or think it's cringe. This is bigger than your personal tastes.

Please sign this letter from the ACLU to your members of Congress and urge them to listen. There's also a hearing this Thursday on March 23rd at 10am EST in DC where the TikTok CEO will be testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing will be open to the public and will also be live streamed online.

I don't care if you hate TikTok or think it's "cringe." If you all actually hate Facebook and fascists as much as you say you do, then you won't stand for letting them win this fight to ban it.

[lady-raziel]

alright I’m gonna say it I can excuse a lot in fanfiction but people who write straight abo fics and make the man the alpha and the woman the omega are literally just wrong like you didn’t need abo to write that fic that way please appropriate a different kink genre for that shit

[abbysworldsastage]

I just spent hours making a sweet tea recipe video for RedNote completely in mandarin. I have never spoken mandarin in my life. But the people there are so sweet and patient, and doing so much to make American users feel welcome that I wanted to try.

You guys, they are so kind and supportive!

Fuck the US government and meta for stealing our data and then trying to point fingers at China (senator, I’m Singaporean) while banning an app under the guise of “national security”, all while making it blatantly obvious that it’s due to the youth organizing, and pro-Palestine sentiment.

But I have to say, the US played itself. No matter what the outcome of the tiktok ban, I’ll be having a good time on RedNote. And I think lots of people will be supporting these congress assholes’ opponents in the primaries. Myself included.

[relaxedstyles]

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

While you're at it you may as well uninstall Twitter 😁

We out number that remember that

Just a summary:

Instagram Facebook Facebook messenger delete them right now you don't have to delete your account just delete the app we've got two days to absolute metastock why is that important you may ask the senate just shot down the act that would extend the tiktok band deadline coincidentally randomly super silly a lot of the members of congress actually own stock in a lot of it I just want to get the street they rush the bill to band tick tock within a humanitarian aid bundle and just slipped it in there didn't have to vote on it didn't have to hear any testimonies from Americans that use this app to put food on their table they deny the act that would accident deadline so the people like you and me can find jobs when this does get banned and actually put food on our table all while doing this to increase the stock that they just purchase before this went through am I getting anything wrong here

[thashining]

Are we surprised?

[cleverercorn]

One of the last scrolls I could snatch before Alexandria fell (thank you @jaxwritessongs for gathering this information)

[kisses4kaia]

i had HUNDREDS of challengers edits saved on tiktok what the fuck