Kansas Abortion Crackdown: New Bill Says Life Begins At Fertilization.

*Source: RT

Pro-life activists march during the March for Life January 25, 2013. (AFP Photo / Brendan Smialowski)


Kansas joined growing number of American states to impose abortion restrictions Friday by passing a bill stating life begins at fertilization, banning gender-based abortion and prohibits abortion providers from being involved in school sex education.

The Kansas House of Representatives voted 90-30 for the bill, while the Senate approved it 28-10. Both the chambers have Republicans in majority. The bill is now sent to the State Governor Sam Brownback, a strong abortion opponent, who is expected to sign it into law quickly. Thus, the new laws could be in force on July 1. 

Among the bill’s 40 provisions, one denies doctors who perform abortions, as well as their patients, the use of public funds or tax preferences, ensuring no state money is used in the practice of terminating pregnancies.
The bill also demands abortion clinics provide all sorts of information on fetal development to the pregnant woman, as well as on implications the abortion might have.

The most controversial of all things stated in the bill is the declaration that life begins "at fertilization." The victorious bill proponents explain it does not mean abortions are banned altogether, but describe the declaration as “a statement of principle.”

"This fulfills the legislative intent to create a pro-life state," said Kathy Ostrowski, legislative director of Kansans for Life, as cited by Reuters.

However, abortion rights advocates describe tax provisions as appalling and discriminatory and see the Kansas bill as a fresh challenge to the 40-year-old US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized a woman’s right to an abortion.

"It's probably, if not definitely, unconstitutional and it's incredibly mean-spirited," AP cites Jordan Goldberg, state advocacy counsel for the New York City-based Center for Reproductive Rights.

The last two years have seen a dozen states coming up with their own abortion limits.

The most recent before Kansas and the toughest on abortions so far was North Dakota. Its lawmakers passed a resolution, according to which next year’s state ballot will decide whether life begins at conception. If people vote ‘yes’, abortions will be outlawed statewide.

Current North Dakotan legislation is already the toughest in US. It bans abortions as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. A similar restriction is enacted in Arkansas, which prohibits most abortions after the 12th week.

Toddler Terrorist: TSA threatens lockdown over 4-year-old girl

*Source: RT

Meet Isabella Brademeyer: the 4 year-old, 'gun-smuggling high security threat' (photo/Facebook)

The much-maligned Transport Security Authority (TSA) is once again in hot water after it accused an innocent four-year-old girl of attempted gun smuggling as she hugged her grandmother in the security zone.

­In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, Michelle Brademeyer describes the story of her family being detained as potential terrorists by the TSA on a flight out of Wichita, Kansas. The TSA is responsible for screening passengers as they board and disembark from planes.

Brademeyer was passing through security checks with her mother and her small daughter, Isabella. When the older lady triggered the metal detector, and was told to go for a pat-down, Isabella ran over to and briefly hugged her grandmother.

The TSA immediately said Isabella would now also have to undergo a pat-down, in case the grandmother passed contraband to her during the hug.

When the child shouted “I don’t want to,” the TSA declared Isabella a “high security threat,” and said that they would close down the airport if she moved.

Afterwards, the by-now-hysterical four-year-old was taken to a separate room, and told to stop crying. When she could not, the officers called for backup – saying “the suspect is not cooperating.”

Once the girl calmed down enough to be patted down, Brademeyer claims the transport police repeatedly stated that the girl might be carrying a weapon, as they had previously “seen a gun in a teddy bear.”

Neither the grandmother, nor the child had anything illegal on their person.

Eventually, Isabella and the rest of her family were allowed to board the flight.

The TSA has not questioned Brademeyer’s version of events, but refuses to apologize.

“TSA has reviewed the incident and determined that our officers followed proper current screening procedures in conducting a modified pat-down on the child,” said an official statement.

Recent controversial TSA security procedures have included patting down a wheelchair-bound boy, making a woman with a “cute figure” repeatedly go through the body scanner, and forcing a mother to produce a bottle of her breast milk for inspection, before allowing her breast pump onboard.

Brademeyer’s Facebook page has been flooded with hundreds of comments of support from outraged passengers who also claim to have suffered at the hands of over-zealous TSA agents.