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- Representative Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota opposes a change in IRS code to offer tax deductions for breast pumps and complained that First Lady Michelle Obama’s promotion of breastfeeding as an anti-obesity issue amounts to a “nanny state.” [Minnesota Independent, The Grio, The Root]
- Amy DeLong , a lesbian Methodist minister in Wisconsin, is facing a church trial for being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual” and for performing commitment ceremonies for gays. [Advocate]
- “House” actress Lisa Edelstein is starring in a commercial about abortion rights for the liberal organization, MoveOn.org, in which she says, “Decades ago, women suffered through horrifying back alley abortions. Or, they used dangerous methods when they had no other recourse.” The ad ends with Edelstein frantically searching through a closet looking for a coat hanger. [Huffington Post]
- Former Arkansas senator Mike Huckabee, a possible Republican presidential contender, said at an anti-abortion fundraiser on Monday that for him, abortion “transcends all of the political issues.” [CNN]
- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is reportedly recovering nicely at a rehab facility in Houston. But Giffords still hasn’t been told the details of the shooting in Tucson that put a bullet in her head and took the lives of six people, including a staff member and a nine-year-old girl. [Village Voice]
- The Montana state legislature killed a bill on Friday that would have required doctors to make women look at an ultrasound of the fetus before having an abortion or else be fined $1,000. A separate bill which would require young women under the age of 16 to notify their parents before having an abortion is still being discussed. [Great Falls Tribune]
- A Michigan high school has dropped the terms Homecoming “King” and “Queen” to be more inclusive of transgender students who might win those contests. [Feministing]
- A bill that would ban private health insurers from covering abortions and require policy holders to purchase health insurance “riders” at an extra cost was discussed by a Nebraska state senate committee. If the bill passes, Nebraska would become the sixth state to enact such a ban. [Lincoln Journal Star]
- Two people have been charged in the beating death of Tovoyia Owens, a pregnant woman, in broad daylight in Philadelphia last week. [The Grio]
- Bills in the Maine state legislature include one that imposes a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, requires reading a detailed description of a fetus before an abortion, and one that requires parents to “opt-in” before their children receive sex education about birth control at school. [Bangor Daily News]
- Meet Mike Pence, a man on a mission to destroy Planned Parenthood through de-funding because they offer abortions. Never mind that the clinics also save women’s lives by catching cancerous tumors and whatnot. [Politico]
- Here’s a first look at the tour documentary of one of my favorite bands, Le Tigre! [The End Of Being]
- How to make love safely when you have sex with someone who’s been imprisoned. [The Root]
INTERNATIONAL
- Nawa El-Saawdawi, an Egyptian physician, activist and feminist, speaks to writer Rebecca Walker on the situation in Egypt and vows, “We will not let Egypt burn.” [The Root]
- Singapore is restricting the release of “The Kids Are All Right,” an Oscar-nominated film starring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as a lesbian couple with children, due to the homosexuality in the film. [Monsters & Critics]
Original by: Jessica Wakeman