Did someone accidentally set their clock back to 1954?
This fits in nearly all the recent threads below, yet it's so outrageous that it seems to deserve a thread to itself:


"Arizona legislators have advanced an unprecedented bill that would require women who wish to have their contraception covered by their health insurance plans to prove to their employers that they are taking it to treat medical conditions. The bill also makes it easier for Arizona employers to fire a woman for using birth control to prevent pregnancy despite the employer's moral objection.

Under current law, health plans in Arizona that cover other prescription medications must also cover contraception. House Bill 2625, which the state House of Representatives passed earlier this month and the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed on Monday, repeals that law and allows any employer to refuse to cover contraception that will be used "for contraceptive, abortifacient, abortion or sterilization purposes." If a woman wants the cost of her contraception covered, she has to "submit a claim" to her employer providing evidence of a medical condition, such as endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome, that can be treated with birth control.

Moreover, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the law would give Arizona employers the green light to fire a woman upon finding out that she took birth control for the purpose of preventing pregnancy.

"The bill goes beyond guaranteeing a person's rights to express and practice their faith," Anjali Abraham, a lobbyist for the ACLU, told the Senate panel, "and instead lets employers prioritize their beliefs over the beliefs, the interests, the needs of their employees, in this case, particularly, female employees."

The sponsor of the bill told the committee that it is intended to protect the First Amendment right to religious liberty.
[www.huffingtonpost.com];

Hello, American Taliban.

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"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences." ~ Brian Eno

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Grace62
Moreover, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, the law would give Arizona employers the green light to fire a woman upon finding out that she took birth control for the purpose of preventing pregnancy.

And of course it would also justify paying women less than men, since the resultant vulnerability to pregnancy thus imposed by the employer would make women employees less stable and less able to devote their full attention to the job, etc.

Is there something in the water in Arizona?

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"So be proud to be a decent American instead of just a w'anker whipping up fear!" - Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland

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davester
Is there something in the water in Arizona?

Too much sun maybe?

They're also about to pass this:
"A bill establishing an armed, volunteer militia to patrol the Arizona-Mexico border for undocumented immigrants and drug traffickers will be debated by the full House."

Read more: [www.azcentral.com]

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$tevie
Hello, American Taliban.

if some political party were smart, they would start using this exact terminology.

Arizona, making Florida look less crazy.


Thank You.

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Grace, your comment about how arizona is 'about to pass this' is a bit premature. It passed out of committee on January 28. It just came out another committee

[www.azleg.gov]

Neither house has debated it, much less voted on it. One hopes there is a potential for less crazy.

Also they only provided $1.4M for it, which barely pays for beans, much less bullets. Most of the sherrifs are against it (of course.. what professional LEO wants a bunch of armed @#$%& running around thinking they have arrest powers ? )


ED: Neglected to comment on the 'proposed bill'. Of course it's stupid. And one hopes it won't become law. And I don't see how it can survive even the sort of Constitutional challenge that even a high school mock court could present.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2012 03:25PM by cbelt3.

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cbelt3
Grace, your comment about how arizona is 'about to pass this' is a bit premature. It passed out of committee on January 28. It just came out another committee

[www.azleg.gov]

Neither house has debated it, much less voted on it. One hopes there is a potential for less crazy.

Also they only provided $1.4M for it, which barely pays for beans, much less bullets. Most of the sherrifs are against it (of course.. what professional LEO wants a bunch of armed @#$%& running around thinking they have arrest powers ? )


ED: Neglected to comment on the 'proposed bill'. Of course it's stupid. And one hopes it won't become law. And I don't see how it can survive even the sort of Constitutional challenge that even a high school mock court could present.

Good point, maybe sanity will prevail, though that hasn't been an Arizona strong point.
Since they plan to run this with volunteers I don't think the budget will be an issue.

Used to, you could count on crazy bills getting stopped in time. Not anymore with the Republican-controlled statehouses. Anything is possible.

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Spock
Arizona, making Florida look less crazy.


Thank You.

More like Arizona is giving Florida cover to act their usual crazy.

Hell, people don't even talk about California crazies anymore...

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Live from Berserkeley, California | Originally from the City of Brotherly Freakin' Love