Dan Lipinski, One Of The 3 Blue Dogs Who Helped Kevin McCarthy Pass An Anti-Choice Bill Yesterday

Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 36, Trent Franks' so-called "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act." It passed 237-189, every Republican but Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and Charlie Dent (R-PA) voting YES, and every Democrat except 3 far right Blue Dogs voting NO:

• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
• Dan Lipinski (Blue Dog-IL)

The bill would make abortion after 20 weeks illegal in every state-- so not just red hellholes like Mississippi, Alabama and Missouri, but normal states where normal people live. The basis for the bill is a GOP fairytale that a fetus can feel pain after 20 weeks. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, whose entire career going back to his days in the state legislature have been about disadvantaging the voiceless, the vulnerable, and the marginalized claims this bill "will protect the voiceless, the vulnerable, and the marginalized. It will protect those children who science has proven can feel pain."

But how does a political party which is at war with Science make that kind of a determination? Science sure doesn't agree. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said it considers the case to be closed as to whether a fetus can feel pain at that stage in development. "The science shows that based on gestational age, the fetus is not capable of feeling pain until the third trimester," said Kate Connors, a spokesperson for ACOG. The third trimester begins at about 27 weeks of pregnancy."

Wendy Reed is the progressive Democrat running for the Central Valley congressional seat McCarthy operates out of. With no help whatsoever from the DCCC or the Democratic Party, she is trying to hold McCarthy accountable for his terrible "leadership."

"Kevin McCarthy puts Micah Pickering's face on the politics of abortion, and should be ashamed of himself for using that charming child for political purposes. It is ironic that Kevin advocates medical care for extremely premature babies like Micah while voting to deny basic medical for 9 million children under CHIP and millions of other American children. But he can assert such hypocrisy because his bill has nothing to do with premature births or health care. Kevin's sole purpose is to exempt states from federal protection of safe and legal abortion. He says that 'thousands are killed at the age Micah was born' but that is simply untrue. Estimates are between 100 to 600 abortions performed after 20 weeks gestation, primarily due to fetal abnormality or death, or risk of maternal death. In truth, Kevin has no concept of the pain that families feel in these tragic situations, and he appears to have no concept of the pain his legislative and budgetary agenda are causing millions of Americans and American children to feel every day. Kevin has no right to talk about the 'millions of Micahs' who deserve our love. Yes, Kevin, there are millions of American children who deserve your love and care through legislation and budgeting, so where is your heart?"

Meanwhile, the DCCC doesn't just fully support the anti-Choice Blue Dogs in the House caucus, Lujan and Pelosi have publicly announced that they are working to recruit more Blue Dogs to run for Congress as Democrats. As it turns out, the DCCC is financing reactionaries with their Republican ideas in districts where Bernie beat Hillary in the primaries. Remember this when the DCCC asks you for money to help save Choice.

Most of the members of Congress I spoke to yesterday about the bill said something like what Carol Shea-Porter told her New Hampshire constituents about why she opposed the bill: "This legislation is dangerous to the rights, health, and safety of American women. This bill attempts to put the government between women and their doctor based on inaccurate and unscientific claims. Pregnancy is usually a joyful time, but for some families it poses dangerous health risks and extremely difficult decisions that should be made between a woman, her doctor, and her loved ones, not politicians."

Chicago hack Dan Lipinski is one of the only consistently bad Dems from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party with an effective challenger for 2018. Marie Newman has built a strong grassroots campaign and she isn't letting Lipinski get away with anything. This morning she informed IL-03 voters about Lipinski's latest anti-choice vote. Her campaign was quick to remind anyone who hadn't read the news that Lipinski voted to ban a woman's right to an abortion if the fetus she is carrying has reached 20 weeks gestation. She told them that he "does not understand the numerous studies that show that some women who are raped cannot seek help without further being traumatized. Putting a woman who already has been victimized in a position that requires her to jump through hoops before she can have a doctor provide treatment further victimizes her. This is not fair to any woman survivor. The women in our district won't stand for this and I will always stand with and for them." If you'd like to help Marie replace a Republican with a "D" next to his name on the ballot, please click on the thermometer on the right and consider making a contribution.

Meanwhile, of course, one of the Republican hypocrites who voted for the bill without a second thought, anti-Choice nut Tim Murphy (R-PA) told his mistress to go get an abortion after he impregnated her. Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, texted him,"And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options." There are 3 Democrats trying to win the nomination to run against Murphy in the prohibitively red (PVI is R+11) district in the southwest corner of the state-- Mike Crossey, Pam Iovino and Robert Solomon.


UPDATE: Bye-Bye Tim Murphy

After a spanking from Paul Ryan today in Ryan's office, Murphy announced he's retiring, possibly to spend more time with his wife and/or his mistress.