2012-11-05 911 Phony proofs: A gallery of faked dead Bin Ladens The real Osama bin Laden … died of natural causes in December 2001. News of bin Laden’s Death and Funeral 10 days ago Islamabad – A prominent official in the Afghan Taliban movement announced yesterday the death of Osama bin Laden, the chief of Al-Qaeda organization, stating that bin Laden suffered serious complications in the lungs and died a natural and quiet death. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, stated to The Observer of Pakistan that he had himself attended the funeral of bin Laden and saw his face prior to burial in Tora Bora 10 days ago. He mentioned that 30 of Al-Qaeda fighters attended the burial as well as members of his family and some friends from the Taliban. In the farewell ceremony to his final rest guns were fired in the air. The official stated that it is difficult to pinpoint the burial location of bin Laden because according to the Wahhabi tradition no mark is left by the grave. He stressed that it is unlikely that the American forces would ever uncover any traces of bin Laden.
Even Fox News reported Bin Laden was dead in 2001 … until it was decided that a live Bin Laden was more useful to the war hawks than a dead one! In 2007, shortly before her own assassination, Benazir Bhutton confirmed that Osama Bin Laden was dead. The above is from the last known video of the real Bin Laden, just weeks before his death. Note the indications on his skin of the effects from dialysis. Every Bin Laden shown on TV since then has been a phony to justify wars, TSA, and the loss of your civil protections. https://www.sott.net/article/253190-911-Phony-proofs-A-gallery-of-faked-dead-Bin-Ladens
2011-05-27 KILLING OSAMA – Amnesty International What the operation to ‘kill or capture’ bin Laden resembles most closely is the kind of targeted assassination mission frequently undertaken by the Israeli Defense Forces and this begs the question, has the US now fully embraced a similar policy? The US has been flirting with such a policy for years – ever since a 2002 drone strike in Yemen killed Abu Ali al-Harithi and five other suspected members of Al Qaeda, including one US national. Since coming into office the Obama administration has greatly ramped up the use of drone strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
Congress is currently debating a new National Defense Authorization Bill that contains language aimed at updating the post-September 11th Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), which provides the domestic legal basis for the US operations against Al Qaeda. New language written into the bill by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) in the bill could potentially greatly expand the existing scope of the ‘war in terror’.
A report produced in the aftermath of bin Laden’s death by researchers from the United Kingdom’s House of Commons Library highlighted this potential danger: “A wider implication is that the killing may be seen as a precedent for targeted killings of individuals by any state, across international boundaries, at least where terrorism is involved.”
If we let the genie out of the bottle by claiming the right to assassinate potential threats to our security around the world, plenty of other states are going to want to do the same. By making assassination politically acceptable the United States is going to be directly responsible for making the world an even more dangerous place than it already is. https://www.amnestyusa.org/killing-osama/
2011-05-21 Bin Laden Death Script and the Needed Trigger for Next Step – Pakistan It has been over two weeks since the orchestrated ever-changing Bin Laden Death. The question of what happened remains the same except it doesn’t seem to matter any longer. The US media is done after making their initial splash, and the majority is left with one conclusion: the SOB is dead, and who gives a da” how it happened. Whether Osama held an AK-47 while using some damsel in distress as a shield, whether there was a real fight or not, whether it was really Osama’s body in an organic edible shell we fed to the endangered sharks, whether the full credit goes to the CIA or the White House or the Pentagon … no longer seems to matter. Dizzy-fying confusion induced by dozens and dozens of lies and discrepancies and denials has given way to post-adrenaline-rush exhaustion. The question of what happened has been classified as moot and irrelevant. Right or wrong I’ll leave that question behind, at least for now, and instead, go back to focus on the more important question — the question of “why and why now”‘
As I stated during the first few days of covering the Bin Laden Death Script, when it comes to DC dirty politics, when it comes to the New World Order machine, and when it comes to US presidents, timing is everything and there are no such things as coincidences:
Considering the mainstream media’s sensationalism and propaganda tactics and their cemented role as an extension of the establishment, one must step back and take in the entire landscape, the context, connections, and of course the timing. Only after that, after putting the pieces together instead of dumbly staring at the images spread before us by the media, we have a chance to get a grasp of the reality-facts; or at least a chance to come up with real questions. https://www.opednews.com/articles/Bin-Laden-Death-Script-and-by-sibel-edmonds-110521-673.html
2011-05-04 Ex-CIA Counterterror Chief: ‘Enhanced Interrogation’ Led U.S. to bin Laden A former head of counterterrorism at the CIA, who was investigated last year by the Justice Department for the destruction of videos showing senior al-Qaeda officials being interrogated, says the harsh questioning of terrorism suspects produced the information that eventually led to Osama bin Laden’s death.
Jose Rodriguez ran the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center from 2002 to 2005, the period when top al-Qaeda leaders Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and Abu Faraj al-Libbi were taken into custody and subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EITs) at secret prisons overseas. KSM was subjected to waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other techniques. Al-Libbi was not waterboarded, but other EITs were used on him. “Information provided by KSM and Abu Faraj al-Libbi about bin Laden’s courier was the lead information that eventually led to the location of [bin Laden’s] compound and the operation that led to his death,” Rodriguez tells TIME in his first public interview. Rodriguez was cleared of charges in the video-destruction investigation last year. https://swampland.time.com/2011/05/04/did-torture-get-the-us-osama-bin-laden/#ixzz1LOE82Rvj
2011-05-04 Questions around operation against Osama bin Laden Amnesty International today asked the US and Pakistani authorities to clarify aspects of the operation in Abbottabad in which Osama bin Laden was killed. The organization specifically requested information on the status and whereabouts of those who were with bin Laden and the circumstances of his killing. “We are seeking information from the US and Pakistani authorities about how many people were in the compound at the time of the operation, what happened to them and specifically what is the status and current whereabouts of the survivors,” said Claudio Cordone, Senior Director at Amnesty International.
According to reports attributed to Pakistani intelligence officials, 18 people were in bin Laden’s compound at the time of the US attack. US officials have said that five people were killed and two women were injured – one of whom was identified as bin Laden’s wife – and that at the end of the operation the injured women were left at the compound along with at least six children.
CIA Director Leon Panetta said on 3 May that US forces had full authority to kill Osama bin Laden but that they were to capture him if he had surrendered. The White House has said that Osama Bin Laden was unarmed but resisted capture.
“Given that he was not armed, it is not clear how he resisted arrest and whether an attempt was made to capture him rather than kill him,” said Claudio Cordone. “Amnesty International believes that US forces should have attempted to capture Osama bin Laden alive in order to bring him to trial if he was unarmed and posing no immediate threat.” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2011/05/questions-around-operation-against-osama-bin-laden/
2011-05-04 Osama bin Laden’s death: aftermath and reaction -Wednesday 4 May 2011 Doubts are continuing to be cast on the accounts of the raid on the house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, that were initially given by US officials.
After White House admissions that early official reports claiming Bin Laden had been armed and cowered behind his wife during the assault were false, al-Arabiya is now reporting that the al-Qaida leader’s 12-year-old daughter, told Pakistani officials US forces captured her father alive before shooting him dead:
In the absence of pictures of the operation that led to the killing of Bin Laden, the photograph of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton supposedly watching events unfold has become one of the iconic images of the episode.
But the CIA director Leon Panetta has made clear that they did not see the shooting of Bin Laden or much else. He told PBS Newshour: Once those teams went into the compound, I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we – you know, we really didn’t know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information. But finally, Adm. McRaven came back and said that he had picked up the word “Geronimo,” which was the code word that represented that they got bin Laden.
SHUT DOWN CREECH, Fall Action October 15-22 (Saturday to Saturday)
Co-sponsored by CODEPINK & Veterans For Peace
Remembering the Ahmadi Family, killed by U.S. drone, August 2021 (Spring 2022, Nonviolent Resistance)
Photo by Michael Kerr Join our 13 year campaign to resist US killer drones….a bi-annual, weeklong peace convergence in the beautiful Nevada desert, to resist drones and militarism at Creech Air Force Base,
a key drone assassination center just north of Las Vegas. Special Event:New drone documentary, Battles Beyond the Horizon, by Kari Barber and Nico Colombant will premier on Sunday Oct. 16 in Las Vegas during our Fall Action. This long awaited film will feature numerous “Creechers,” past and present, as it
“weaves the protests of anti-drone activists and the history of the U.S. military drone program with expert interviews about the ethics of a future with increasingly more robotic warfare.” To include panel discussion with Q & A following the film.
(See attachment FMI)On the website of Creech Killer Drone Base the U.S. Air Force still refers to drone operators as “hunters,” and Creech AFB is proudly nicknamed “Home of the Hunters.” We Say: Human beings should never be hunted. Assassination is illegal and drone assassination is particularly egregious and cowardly, and has resulted in vast civilian casualties. Every human being has the right to due process! Join us this fall, October 15-22, for all or part of the week, as we peacefully oppose these grave injustices, while also making time for joyful camaraderie and desert excursions as well. Bring friends!
We hope to see you at Shut Down Creech, Susan, Virginia and TobyThe New SDC OrganizingTeam
Spring Action, 2022
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Battles Beyond the Horizon
a film by Kari Barber and Nico Colombant
Since the bow and arrow humans have been physically distancing themselves from their actions in war. Now with drones and artificial intelligence, U.S. government attacks are conducted across the world. Decisions are increasingly being made with humans further removed from “the loop.”
There have been thousands of civilian deaths due to U.S military drone strikes, including hundreds of children. What’s next for targeted killing many find even scarier.
The documentary, Battles Beyond the Horizon, weaves the protests of anti-drone activists and the history of the U.S. military drone program with expert interviews about the ethics of a future with increasingly more robotic warfare.
About the Filmmakers:
Kari Barber and Nico Colombant are on the faculty of the Reynolds School of Journalism at theUniversity of Nevada, Reno.
While teaching and raising three boys in Reno, they are also outstanding documentary filmmakers. Their recent work includes Struggle and Hope, about all-Black towns in Oklahoma and an animated short film about grief after losing another son Zinedine.
They have filmed our anti-drone protests at Creech Air Force Base numerous times over the years in preparation for this upcoming drone
Facing a strong primary challenge from pro-choice Jessica Cisneros, anti-abortion Democrat Henry Cuellar secured crucial campaign support from at least 18 Democratic incumbents.
Democratic political leaders are expressing outrage and sadness today after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and eliminated federal protections for abortion access.
“The Republicans are plotting a nationwide abortion ban,” Speaker Pelosi said in her morning press conference following the release of the decision. “They can not be allowed to have a majority in Congress to do that.”
However, Pelosi donated $4,000 in 2021 to support the re-election of anti-abortion Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who earlier this week was declared the winner of an extremely tight run-off primary election against progressive, pro-choice candidate Jessica Cisneros. Cuellar won by just 289 votes.
Cuellar is the only House Democrat to vote last year against the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill to codify federal abortion protections, indicating that he is likely to vote with Republicans on restricting access to abortion. Pelosi made her donations to Cuellar two months after he took that vote.
Pelosi is far from alone among Democrats who have backed Cuellar. This year’s primary is the second cycle in a row that he has faced Cisneros, and both contests were nail-biters. In the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, at least 18 Democratic House and Senate members have donated to Cuellar through their campaigns or leadership PACs, offering him crucial support as he sought to fend off his pro-choice challenger.
Congressional Democrats Donating to Henry Cuellar
Donations by campaigns and leadership PACs or Democratic members of Congress to Henry Cuellar’s campaigns, Jan. 1, 2019 through March 31, 2022.
Table with 3 columns and 19 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 19. Sorted descending by column “Amount”
Donating Democrat
▼ Amount
Official name of donor entity
Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.)
$5,500
THREE RIVERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)
$5,000
JOBS, EDUCATION, & FAMILIES FIRST JEFF PAC
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
$4,000
NANCY PELOSI FOR CONGRESS
Sen. Joe Manchin (W-W,V.)
$2,500
COUNTRY ROADS PAC
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)
$2,500
PROGRESSIVE MAJORITY PAC
Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.)
$2,500
VALLEY FIRST LEADERSHIP PAC
Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii)
$2,000
CASE FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.)
$2,000
MADISON PAC; THE
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)
$2,000
PETE AGUILAR FOR CONGRESS
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.)
$2,000
SYNERGY PAC
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)
$2,000
TED LIEU FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Rosa Delauro (D-Conn.)
$1,250
FRIENDS OF ROSA DELAURO
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.)
$1,000
BRIDGE THE GAP PAC
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.)
$1,000
BUTTERFIELD FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)
$1,000
DEMOCRATS WIN SEATS (DWS PAC)
Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (D-Texas)
$1,000
FIGHTING FOR SOUTH TEXAS PAC
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio)
$1,000
KAPTUR FOR CONGRESS
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.)
$1,000
REVIVING AMERICAN JOBS AGAIN PAC
Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.)
$1,000
SMART SOLUTIONS PAC
In addition to these donors, Cuellar got endorsements from powerful Democratic House leadership members Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). “We’re a diverse party and we have diverse opinions,” Hoyer told reporters in May as he defended his endorsement of Cuellar. “Our platform says we’re a pro-choice party… that does not mean that there’s not room in our party for alternative voices.”
Real quick… We’re one of the only outlets with a dogged focus on following the money, but we need your help to keep going. Please become a member to help sustain Sludge’s work. We’re independent, ad-free, and reader-supported, so we count on your small donations. Please join Sludge as a $5-a-month member today.
Michael E., we have all been taken aback by the events of the last 48 hours, and we know that November 8 might look far away on the calendar right now. But with the amount of work we have to do between now and then to elect candidates who will stand up for abortion rights and fight for working families, Election Day is practically around the corner.
We know these kinds of end-of-quarter filing goals can sound arbitrary, but they are real — and whether or not we meet them has a real impact.
Our on-the-ground and digital organizing has already been key to primary victories for WFP candidates this cycle like Summer Lee, Greg Casar, and Jamie McLeod-Skinner. When corporate interests and Republican dark money PACs poured money into defeating them, we were able to fight back and win because we had dedicated supporters like you on our side.
Training organizers, building WFP state and local chapters, and meeting voters where they are at is how we defeat Republicans and corporate-backed Democrats and change the status quo.
And now that the Supreme Court has stripped women and people seeking abortions of their long-held rights to control their bodies, the stakes of this year’s elections are becoming that much higher.
Here’s the problem: the costs of organizing and reaching voters in all of these races can add up really quickly. In the coming days and weeks, WFP champions like Delia Ramirez and Mandela Barnes are coming down the home stretch in their own competitive primaries.
And while we mobilize in the streets, we need to be ramping up our organizing efforts to help WFP candidates win these important races at the same time, not slowing down.
After troubling decisions from the Supreme Court followed by historic victory for gun safety in Congress, we’re ready to take this fight to the ballot box.
We’ve got some serious grassroots power, and we’re ready to use it.
Michael, this was a life-or-death Supreme Court term. In the span of 24 hours, six justices chose to endanger lives by striking down a gun safety law and taking away the right to safe and legal abortion.
We want to be able to keep ourselves and our communities safe. These decisions from the Court are extreme and show a complete disregard for saving lives.
Our nearly 10 million gun safety supporters have seen their fair share of victories and setbacks over the years. But win or lose, we don’t rest on our laurels and we don’t get discouraged.
Over the past decade, we’ve gone toe to toe with the gun lobby in state houses, city halls, and Congress. We’ve passed lifesaving laws in dozens of states while facing opposition, threats, and federal inaction. Our Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers have proven time and again that they are a force to be reckoned with.
That’s why, after the massive activation of grassroots supporters over the past few weeks, Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass the first significant gun safety legislation in 26 years, which President Biden just signed into law. This is HUGE.
Now we get to work. We vote. And we have a plan.
We’re going to knock doors, make calls, and organize in our communities to register voters and elect candidates who will put public safety first— when they’re passing laws, and when they’re nominating and confirming judges.
With volunteers in all 50 states and DC, we will get out the vote for candidates up and down the ballot, across the country, who will govern with gun safety in mind. And if any of our leaders in office don’t have the guts to stand up to the gun lobby and protect public safety, we’ll replace them with leaders who will.
Thank you for being with us. Now let’s get to work.
Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund
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The Supreme Court has ruled that reproductive health care is no longer federally protected and will now be decided by the individual states.
In Texas, Greg Abbott has already signed a “trigger law” that criminalizes all abortion — with no exception for rape or incest — and goes into effect 30 days following Friday’s decision.
That means that in a matter of weeks, no woman will have control over her body in Texas, a state that already struggles to ensure proper medical care for women and girls and which leads much of the developed world in the rate of maternal mortality. More women face this unprecedented attack on their freedom and their health in Texas than in any other state in America.
So it’s on us to respond and to act. That means standing up to Abbott and fighting for Texas women by winning this election for governor.
Imagine the impact that will have not only in Texas, but across the country.
The state that came up with this “trigger law,” the state that has been leading the attack on a woman’s right to choose for over a decade, and the state that promised bounty hunters $10,000 to turn in those who helped women get an abortion can be the state that elects a governor who will work to ensure that every woman makes her own decisions about her own body and her own future.
Let’s use these next days — between Friday’s decision and the implementation of Abbott’s total abortion ban — to assemble the volunteers and raise the resources we need to win political power. Do not succumb to the temptation to despair or give up in the face of this attack. Turn your anger into action and focus on what will do the greatest good.
The only way to overcome this attack on women and reproductive freedom is to win this election.
The only way to win this election is with your help.
Friday’s news about Roe v. Wade was expected, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. If what you need right now is to connect with loved ones, be in nature, or anything that will help you process your feelings — stop reading this email and take care of yourself. If what you need right now are some concrete actions to respond to this moment, read on below. We are in this for a long haul, and we get through this together — every one of us should step forward and back as we need to so we can keep our movement strong.
Friday was the day we’ve been dreading: The Republican Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. This is where the last 50 years of right-wing mobilization against abortion rights has led us. And the extremists on the Court have told us in their own words where they’re headed next: “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.”
In other words: They are coming for contraceptive access, same-sex marriage and relationships, and every other civil right we’ve fought for through decades of struggle.
There’s never been a more important time for us to take our future into our own hands. On Friday, thousands of people did just that by gathering at hundreds of events across the country to show that we won’t go back. We have the people on our side, and we’ll need to keep up that kind of energy to fight back against MAGA extremists and their radical, reactionary agenda.
Now that the wave of initial mobilizations is complete, we take care of each other, build sustained pressure, and make sure the GOP regrets this forever:
Fine and donate to an abortion fund — especially one local to you or located in a state with a “trigger law” where abortion is now illegal. People may now need to be traveling great distances to access the care they need, and we can provide resources to make that possible while we fight to correct this barbaric injustice.
Sign up to volunteer with Give No Ground. The MAGA extremist platform is out in the open: roll back our fundamental civil rights and further entrench their patriarchal, white supremacist, conservative agenda. We have to stop them this November by electing pro-choice champions who’ll do what it takes (like voting to codify abortion access, expand the Supreme Court, and more).
Give $10 to fund Give No Ground. We just went live with a new round of ads to recruit more activists for this fight; we’re spending hundreds of thousands on texts and calls in key races; we’re building out more tools and resources for the Give No Ground website; and so much more. Grassroots funding is what makes it possible.
Above all, we urge you to find your community and work together to fight for a future where the lives of pregnant people and the LGBTQ+ community are valued and protected instead of subordinated to the whims of a far-right extremist minority. We’re with you in this moment.
In solidarity, Indivisible Team
If you’re like us, the past 48 hours have been a cycle of emotions: fear, confusion, grief — rage.
Each of these are a reasonable response to the unprecedented overturning of a fundamental right which has been upheld time and again over the last 49 years. The Supreme Court isn’t just on the wrong side of history — it’s on the wrong side of the present. 80% percent of this country supports Roe.
Just who the hell are these justices representing, Michael?
In the country that already has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, no paid maternity leave, no universal subsidized child care, and no living wage to help parents afford the costs of raising kids, it is no exaggeration to say: women will die because of this decision.
They want the dust to settle. They want us to think we have no recourse left. They are wrong, and we are ready to show them just what a force we are, when we rise in rage.
Furiously, Women’s March
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This month, I fully intended to write about Sierra Club California’s frustrations with the governor’s energy budget package. But recent events compel me to leave that for another day.
On Friday June 24, the U.S. The Supreme Court issued their decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the court formally overruled Roe v. Wade and reversed nearly 50 years of precedent and end federal constitutional protections for abortion. You can find Sierra Club’s official statement on the decision here.
This long-awaited decision comes just one day after more than 200 people, including Sierra Club staff and volunteers (I was there!), rallied outside the California Environmental Protection Agency to pressure the state to plan for a healthy, breathable future for California communities. A future in which ALL Californians can thrive, and make the choices necessary to do so.
But unfortunately with this Supreme Court decision, many people across the country will have their futures decided for them because their constitutional rights have been struck down.
Some of you may be wondering “why does the Sierra Club care about reproductive rights?” To answer that question, I direct you to this blog post by Sierra Club’s Managing Director, Eva Hernandez-Simmons (seriously, read it). As Eva correctly points out, environmental justice is a key part of reproductive justice.
In California, we’re fortunate enough to live in a state that defends reproductive rights. Since the draft decision was released in early May, the Governor and legislature have committed to ramping up legal protection for abortion providers and increasing resources that expand access to clinics and services. Legislative leaders are also working to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution.
Despite knowing those protections are in place here in the Golden State, my heart aches for the millions who can’t and won’t be able to exercise their bodily autonomy. Twenty-six states across the country either have so-called ‘trigger laws’ that automatically ban abortion upon the decision, or will move quickly to ban abortion.
We can’t take the fact that we live in California for granted. We must stay vigilant and exercise our solidarity as we work to ensure that everyone has the power and freedom to make their own personal decisions. How? By working together to defend reproductive justice as we do environmental justice. By rising to the opportunity we have as Californians to model what progressive values look like and work in solidarity with other states. And by building power in our local communities to secure a future where everyone has the power and freedom to make the choices that are right for them.
Personally, while I may have been born and identify as male, my own identity will never compromise my commitment to fighting for the day where reproductive justice will be restored to all.
While Sierra Club may not be a reproductive rights organization, we will follow the lead of those who are. So if you haven’t already and are comfortable doing so, I urge you to mobilize and make your voice heard. You can find a link to a map of events here.
The overturning of Roe will open the door to further criminalization of Black people. As we continue our fight for freedom, it’s beyond necessary that we have full access to reliable abortion services for all Black people.
Here’s the thing, Michael E.: The Supreme Court has a long history of diminishing the humanity of Black people. This Roe decision is an extension of that.
When the Court makes the argument that certain rights are illegitimate because they are not explicitly named in the Constitution, they are asserting that only white male property owners’ rights are legitimate. We are clear: It is the Supreme Court that is illegitimate. It is the Court that is advancing a deeply regressive view of freedom.
We are infuriated. We are in pain. But we will not be disheartened or deterred from the fight. Here’s what we’re fighting for in response to the decision:
Expanding the Court
Impeaching illegitimate and racist justices
Ending the Filibuster
President Biden to sign an immediate executive action defending reproductive freedom
Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act
They will attempt to divide us, and they’ll damn sure call us radical – but these things are not radical. They are necessary to protect and affirm Black people’s right to thrive.
There are actions we can take to support our communities immediately:
Provide a safe harbor to vulnerable people impacted by this decision
With this ruling, twenty-six states in the country have trigger laws or abortion bans that will likely go into effect or are already in effect. Our communities already struggle to survive police violence, surveillance, and criminalization from the criminal legal system – this decision will only exacerbate those enduring harms. Collectively, our communities navigate unfair targeting, sentencing, and punishment daily.
Knowing that liberation will never come from this Court, we must push forward and continue the work we’ve been doing, together.
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation
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June 24, 2022 Dear health justice advocate, Today, the Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which effectively ends all federal protections for abortion care. As a result, a majority of states will like restrict or fully ban abortion care. Besides robbing women of our fundamental right to autonomy and self-determination, criminalizing abortion will unleash a once-in-a-generation public health crisis. Abortion care is necessary health care, and banning it will cause unecessary suffering and death, especially for our most vulnurable patients. In states that criminalize abortion, PNHP estimates that maternal mortality will increase up to 15% overall, and up to 33% for people of color. The evidence is clear: In one study, states that enacted abortion restrictions based on gestational age saw maternal mortality increase by 38%. Yet another study found that states that enacted the most restrictive abortion laws saw their maternal mortality rates nearly double compared to states that protected abortion access. It’s no coincidence that after decades of improvement, American maternal mortality rates started going up at the same time that many states began restricting access to abortion. Today, the rate of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. has nearly tripled compared to 30 years ago, with Black women nearly three times as likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth than whites. PNHP believes that abortion is essential health care, and should be available to all women regardless of income or location. As physicians and health justice advocates, we cannot sit on the sidelines while patients are denied essential medical services, forced to give birth, or compelled to risk their lives and health obtaining illegal abortion care. Today we must fight for state and national legislation protecting every person’s right to abortion care, including overturning the Hyde Amendment. And, we must fight even harder for a future where all health care — including reproductive care and abortion — is provided without cost or legal barriers to every single person living in the U.S. We must also support the organizations who are at the forefront of these struggles, especially those providing essential abortion care where it is needed most (I’ve provided a list of these organizations at the end of this message). Health care decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor, and nobody else. Please join me in the fight to protect the choice for all women to be able to access essential abortion care in this country. In solidarity,
Susan Rogers, M.D. President PNHP
Abortion access organizations to support: Whole Womans’ Health Alliance: A nonprofit organization committed to providing holistic reproductive care, including abortion care and advocacy to eradicate abortion stigma. WWHA believes every person deserves the compassion, respect, and dignity of being able to safely and legally end a pregnancy. DONATE HERE The Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline: A nonprofit organization where volunteer physicians, PAs, NPs, and midwives answer medical calls about self-managed abortion or miscarriage. DONATE HERE West Fund: A nonprofit organization formed to serve individuals in the West Texas area. West Fund works to make abortions accessible to individuals who need them, including paying for telemedicine abortion. DONATE HERE Plan C: A research-based educational resource for learning about how people in the U.S. can access abortion pills and safely manage their own abortions. DONATE HERE
We are furious. Today, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Given the current composition of the court and the leaked opinion early last month, we all knew today’s decision was possible. And still, it is sickening, devastating, and enraging to witness this gutting of bodily autonomy, women’s rights, and human rights. Layidua Salazar, SFF Program Associate and former Board Chair, ACCESS Reproductive Justice, says: “For me, fighting for reproductive justice is personal, and it is central to my beliefs and to our self-determination. This is the time to show up for communities who will be disproportionally impacted by this decision and to uplift the voices of these communities – young people, low-income, BIPOC, immigrant (both documented and undocumented), and trans and gender-expansive communities. In order to create the compassionate communities, we deserve, all of us have to step up and demonstrate the path forward.” Reproductive rights are essential to racial equity and the ability for everyone to thrive. “Contrary to widely held beliefs, most people who have abortions are already parents. They are mostly women of color, and most are living in poverty,” says Dr. Gretchen Sisson, an SFF donor, sociologist, author, and activist who helped us create our Give Guide: Reproductive Health and Rights. “The freedom to determine if/when you have children, and with whom, is essential to shaping the rest of our lives.” SFF has supported reproductive rights for nearly 60 years, and we will continue to fight. Channel your anger and sadness – support nonprofits organizing communities and providing direct services at this critical moment. GIVE GUIDE: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
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2022-06-24 When Roe fell, this is what Rep. Jim Clyburn, 3rd ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives had to say:
Dylan Wells Verified @dylanewells
Just asked Whip Clyburn about the Dobbs decision: “It’s a little anticlimactic, I think we all expected this. And I’m hopeful, you know I have to read the decision to see exactly the extent to which we can move legislatively to respond to it.”
This ain’t it, Jim.
For the second straight day, a stolen Supreme Court made us all less free. It’s as big of a threat to democracy as January 6th, and we need leaders who will act like it. Clyburn and Pelosi led us into this mess. They’re not going to lead us out of it.
Make a donation to If/When/How’s Repro Legal Defense Fund, to defend abortion seekers who are criminalized by this new decision. 100% of your donation will go immediately and directly to the Repro Legal Defense Fund. The People United hello@thepeopleunited.org
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2022-06-24 Today the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, immediately, severely, and unnecessarily stripping away the rights of millions of people.
It’s shocking, but not surprising. In fact, it’s a logical next step to decades of work that began when the Helms and Hyde amendments were passed post-Roe to deny the right to abortion to poor people, people of color, immigrants, young people, refugees, disabled people — both here in the United States and abroad.
The decision in Dobbs v. Jackson is a distressing development that should put people everywhere on notice that we must do more to defend and advance basic human rights — and luckily there are several ways you can take action right now:
We deserve better than this cruel attempt to curtail our rights. And if we truly mean it when we say we want to win without war, Michael, we must push the United States to advance policies that defend and support human rights. That includes basic access to reproductive healthcare — and that includes abortion.
For too long, U.S. policy has been dictated by an unaccountable, out of touch, largely white, largely male, elite minority — at the expense of everyday people. Make no mistake, this ruling puts the lives of millions of people in danger.
U.S. regulations like the Mexico City Policy (global gag rule), and the Helms amendment have long infringed upon the rights of millions to access reproductive healthcare and live with dignity worldwide. Today’s decision brings our domestic policy more clearly in line with an undemocratic foreign policy that prioritizes profit and power over the preferences and needs of the people, whether here or abroad.
Supporting people to make the choices that work for themselves and their communities is what winning looks like — without harm, without violence, without war.
We hope you’ll join us in this work today.
Amy, Shayna, Sara, and the Win Without War team
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Message from National NOW President Christian F. Nunes 2022-06-24 Dear Feminists, We’ve been ready for this. We knew that with the new conservative majority on the Supreme Court, abortion rights were hanging by a thread. Today, that thread—that lifeline—has been cut. The Supreme Court’s ruling endangers women and pregnant persons with low-incomes, women and pregnant persons of color, women and pregnant persons living in poverty, and women and pregnant persons from disenfranchised communities. Historically, these communities have faced barriers to reproductive health care and have experienced worse health outcomes because of systemic oppressions in the health care system. Sadly, these barriers and this racial trauma continue in our present-day experience. As clinics close and new restrictions that keep quality, affordable reproductive health care are voted into law, the burden of access is exacerbated. Dozens of states will now pass or enact the “trigger laws” already signed into law to make abortion illegal. These laws have nothing to do with women’s health and everything to do with political power, and control over women’s bodily autonomy. But this is only the beginning. Extremists who have pushed for decades to undo abortion rights have announced that they are coming after marriage equality next. And we’ve already seen how determined they are to restrict voting rights and to seize control of how elections are administered. Their attempts to seize control over constitutional rights are boundless. NOW members have always been ready to fight for women’s lives. We’ve marched, lobbied, organized and worked for feminist candidates at every level. In 2022, we must vote for women’s lives—to keep the feminist majority in the House of Representatives—and elect an abortion rights majority, abortion rights majority in the Senate. What’s more, we must flip the key governors’ races and state legislative contests that will determine where abortion rights are protected, and where they are taken away. NOW members will be active wherever grassroots grow—in our communities, through NOW’s state and local chapters, in every election at every level. Please log onto the We Won’t Go Back website to learn how you can take action in your community. In solidarity, Christian
In solidarity, Christian F. Nunes President
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2022-06-24 This morning’s Supreme Court decision is an outrageous attack on the rights of women across this country. It will destroy lives, and it will put countless women in danger.
But it is important — as your governor — I make it clear that in California we are going to protect a woman’s right to access an abortion no matter what the Supreme Court ruled.
This November, Californians will vote to enshrine that right into our state constitution. Because if we cannot trust the Supreme Court to protect the right to an abortion, we will do it ourselves.
Women WILL remain protected here.
We WILL get this passed.
So while I know today is an impossible day, if you are looking for an action you can take to protect women in California, here’s my ask: