Here's this week's reproductive rights news brought to you by the women of Our Word (and at least one of the guys!). If you see something you find relevant please email it to me, bayprairie at gmail dot com

Our award this week for worst medical legislator in a lab coat© goes to wild-eyed Mike Foley of Nebraska. Mike is a danger to women.

Foley: "Pro-life" beliefs are driving efforts

After two days of tiptoeing around the issue, Sen. Mike Foley acknowledged Thursday that his "pro-life" beliefs and his disgust with Planned Parenthood are driving his efforts to redistribute funding for women s health services.

'I am "pro-life" to the core, with no apologies,'? said Foley, who said he is working to make sure Planned Parenthood doesn t get state funding.

'They are to abortion what McDonald is to cheeseburgers,'? the Lincoln senator said. 'They do more than anyone else.

'And that s what this is about.'?

::::more below the fold::::

:::snip:::

Foley s announcement on the floor of the Legislature came after a letter he sent to some supporters last week became public.

In the letter, Foley said his budget amendment would 'at least begin to cut into the disbursement of our tax dollars to Planned Parenthood.'?

And he asked people to pray that the amendment would prevail.

The issue goes beyond limiting funding to Planned Parenthood, Foley also acknowledged Thursday. He said he also doesn t want state tax dollars going to other family planning clinics that offer abortion referral and information, even if they don t provide abortions.

Access to family planning services is a basic human right in a first world nation. I guess elements in Nebraska strive for third-world status. Yet even the poorest governments in the world realize the value of, and strive to fund, family planning services to improve the quality of life for the nation as a whole. I guess nebraska might not make that cut. It seems to me that in addition to his "pro-life" patriarchal-dominionist beliefs, Mike Foley also believes good government involves violating human rights. He seems to be one of the conservative extremists. Lets look further at the issue.

A number of senators were incensed by what they called Foley s duplicity: his insistence this week that his primary concern was to broaden the number of clinics that could get the money and provide better distribution of services across the state.

Honesty and integrity is all that senators really have with each other, Sen. Don Pederson of North Platte said during two hours of debate on the issue Thursday.

'I believe we were deliberately deceived,'? he said.

'I m disappointed,'? said Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek. 'I don t think from the comments that one could extrapolate that he was trying to destroy funding for the services already there,'? she said.

'I m afraid I was deceived, and I feel betrayed,'? said Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney, who quoted from the Bible, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness.'? And he repeated the common saying, 'Fool me once, it s your fault. Fool me twice, it s mine.'?

'There won t be a second time,'? Johnson said.

Well lets hope that what Senator Johnson says is true. Of course, in a perfect world there wouldn't even be a first time.

____________

There have been two more deaths reported that involve clostridium infections in women who had recently used Mifeprex in conjunction with misoprostol to abort a pregnancy.

2 more women die using abortion pill

WASHINGTON '