Indiana is on the verge of passing HEA 1337, a bill that would insert politicians into the private medical decisions of pregnant Hoosiers—adding shame, stigma and barriers at a time when the most critical need is medically accurate information and compassionate care. 1. Creates financial obstacles for pregnant people who access abortion. HEA 1337 requires a pregnant person to receive an ultrasound at the same time they receive (mis)informed consent. This means that (mis)informed consent appointments are longer. Longer appointments means longer wait times for people attempting to meet the state's 18-hour waiting period requirement. This bill makes it harder for a pregnant person to comply with the law. 2. Shames and demeans patients under the guise of compassion. HEA 1337 mandates the burial and cremation of miscarried or aborted remains. This mandate adds unnecessary shaming to patients choosing an abortion and takes away private decision making from very private medical procedures. To complete this process, a pregnant person would have to complete a form – a form that jeopardizes their privacy by requesting their name. 3. Informs with the intent to coerce. HEA 1337 requires the state health department to develop information about perinatal hospice care for people whose pregnancies have been diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly. This is a hard and heart breaking time for people, and the information they receive should support them in making the best decisions for themselves, their health and well-being. It shouldn't shame them or coerce them into making a particular decision. 4. Adds racist and judgmental prohibitions. HEA 1337 would prohibit abortions done on the basis of the race or sex of the fetus. This relies on stereotypes about marginalized communities to ban abortion for reasons that have no supporting evidence here in the US. The bill would also prohibit abortions based on the potential or actual diagnosis of the fetus having a disability, potentially increasing any trauma or grief the pregnant person and their family may be experiencing. 5. Jeopardizes the doctor/patient relationship. HEA 1337 creates the mechanism to punish doctors if they do perform an abortion based on sex or disability of the fetus. This turns doctors into investigators of their patients’ motives, may make them wary of providing care, and makes patients scared to trust their medical provider. 6. Exposes doctors to harm. HEA 1337 would disclose the protected documents regarding abortion providers’ back up physicians and hospital admitting agreements to all hospitals in the area around an abortion clinic. This exposes physicians’ information with no benefit to patient care. In a political and social climate filled with violent rhetoric and domestic terrorism towards abortion providers, this is a dangerous risk to take with doctors’ information. HEA 1337 sets a dangerous precedent for defining what reasons are or are not acceptable for seeking an abortion and lead only to more restrictions on access to safe, legal reproductive health care. The provisions limit access to abortion. They shame and judge women. They do nothing to improve or protect women’s health. These restrictions are another example of a broader agenda to end access to abortion. Since 2011, state lawmakers across the country have passed more than 280 restrictions on safe, legal abortion. More than in the previous decade (189). Indiana makes up 1/3 of these restrictions making us one of the top four most hostile states to abortion in the nation. The time is now: Urge members of the Indiana General Assembly and Governor Mike Pence to stop this bill, and protect the rights and health care of pregnant Hoosiers.

I am a patriotic American who believes in the fundamental right of a US citizen to know the size of the hands of their potential commanders in chief. I believe millions of Americans agree. Are you one of them?

We would like the City Council to HOLD OFF on moving forward until the following is addressed: - Scale down the design and budget to address trails, parks, traffic and public safety for our small town, not a destination attraction. - Include specific development restrictions to preserve physical and visual lake access. - Bring Lake Effect to a referendum vote.

We are asking our local officials to have the jogging trail renamed immediately. The Park is named after Reuben Ingold, of the Los Angeles Investment Company. Ingold was a wealthy landowner that was responsible for the development of View Park. Ingold inserted racial restrictive covenants into the deeds to the land he sold View Park developers as a means to keep blacks from owning property in the View Park/Windsor Hills Area.

Trump is truly unqualified to run for public office, let alone the Presidency. As a country, we live in the most challenging times since the Second World War. Trump has no military background, foreign or domestic affairs experience. He doesn't understand basic American values, and is an embarrassment to our nation at home and abroad.

As a resident of Pittsburgh , I am personally affected by the state of our democracy. The issue of money in politics and the corporate strangle on our democracy is an incredible crisis, but also an incredible opportunity. When impacted communities unite for change, real progress is possible.

Bill H. 3937 was just filed to create an automatic voter registration system in Massachusetts. It would allow for all eligible citizens to be automatically registered to vote whenever they go to an RMV, unless they opt-out. Automatic voter registration is designed to increase political participation and strengthen voting rights by shifting our voter registration system from an opt-in to an opt-out one, making elections more free, fair, and accessible for all. It’s clearly time for proactive reforms like automatic voter registration to engage every eligible citizen in the political process. In 2015, Oregon and California became the first states to adopt this reform, and we now believe it is time for Massachusetts to join and help lead the charge for a better democracy by adopting automatic voter registration. Please tell your representatives on Beacon Hill to support automatic voter registration!

Kimberly and her younger sister fled Honduras together, after gangs called on the phone and threatened to rape them, and after corrupt police broke into their home, held them at gunpoint, and took their stepfather for ransom. Kimberly and her sister crossed the more than thousand miles from Honduras to America by themselves and now live with their mother and other siblings in a strong and supportive community. But instead of getting a real chance to make their case, they were victimized by an incompetent lawyer who did not even ask if they were afraid to go home, let alone file an asylum application. Now Kimberly and her sister have a removal order – and the lawyer has a Georgia State Bar Association complaint. On the morning of January 27, Kimberly and her little sister were getting a ride to school from their aunt when ICE pulled them over. ICE knew that they were on their way to school but they arrested Kimberly anyway. They lied to Kimberly and told her they just needed to her to review and sign some paperwork. Kimberly got out of the car, her book bag in hand. Kimberly celebrated her 19th birthday in Irwin County Detention Center. ICE has detained Kimberly for more than 5 weeks despite knowing that her new attorney has filed an asylum application. All Kimberly wants is a chance to ask for asylum. No one should be deported before their protection claims can be heard. The vulnerabilities and dangers are particularly acute in the case of children. Yet Kimberly remains under the threat of imminent deportation. *Tell ICE to stay Kimberly’s deportation and release her from detention while she pursues her asylum claim.* Let her go back to school. Let her return to the safety of her family here in Atlanta. Kimberly should not be sent back to danger. *Tell President Obama to stop the raids.* No family should have to go through what Kimberly’s family is going through. To learn more about Kimberly's case and how you can take action to stop the raids, visit http://www.aila.org/infonet/tell-ice-to-stay-kimberlys-deportation.

Honduras has lost one of its most courageous indigenous leaders, Berta Caceres. Caceres was the General Coordinator of the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras. In 2015, she won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her activism and leadership. She was assassinated on March 2. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said: “… this horrific crime demonstrates that no one, not even an internationally known social activist, is safe in Honduras if they speak out against corruption or abuse of authority… The immediate question is what President Hernandez and his government -- which has too often ignored or passively condoned attacks against Honduran social activists -- will do to support an independent investigation, prosecution, and punishment of those responsible for this despicable crime. And beyond that, what steps will the government take to protect the many other Hondurans who have been deemed in need of protection, and to stand up for the rights of people like Berta who risk their lives in peacefully defending the environment and their livelihoods. The answers to those questions will weigh heavily on the Congress’s support for future assistance for that government.” [1] Urge Congress to demand an independent investigation by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/reaction-of-senator-patrick-leahy-d-vt-ranking-member-senate-appropriations-subcommittee-on-the-state-department-and-foreign-operations-on-the-assassination-of-berta-caceres-in-honduras

It is time to do away with SUPER DELEGATES. We the people are able to decide who we want to elect without the DNC trying to thwart our vote. Nullify all Super Delegates or the undersigned registered Democrats WILL re register as independents before the general election of 2016.

Donald Trump considers media personality, Joe Scarborough, a “supporter” and even thanked Scarborough on the air saying, “You guys have been supporters, and I really appreciate it." As the host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough uses one of MSNBC’s most watched programs to support, promote, and even defend Donald Trump’s hateful rhetoric. Just last month, Joe Scarborough admitted to meeting personally with Trump in order to provide him with debate tips. As if that wasn’t enough, Mediaite has reported on how Trump has called Joe Scarborough a “believer” of his campaign and has even asked Scarborough for questions that were not “too hard.” These are just some of the examples that illustrate that Joe Scarborough is not unbiased when it comes to Republican candidate Donald Trump. Donald Trump has become the frontrunner in the Republican Party because friendly “journalists,” like Joe Scarborough, use Trump’s celebrity status to boost their ratings. Instead of asking Trump tough questions about his racist and xenophobic rhetoric, pundits like Joe Scarborough keep Trump happy so he keeps coming back. And while you might expect this “ratings over credibility” mentality on morning Television, the Washington Post recently announced that Joe Scarborough will serve as a regular contributor to their 2016 election commentary and opinion section. This is great for Donald Trump but horrible for anyone who cares about keeping Trump out of the mainstream. It is shameful and irresponsible for The Washington Post to allow Joe Scarborough, a pundit who has set journalistic integrity aside in order to support Donald Trump, to comment on one of our country’s most important elections. The Washington Post should provide its readers with unbiased and thought-provoking coverage of the presidential election, and not give Joe Scarborough yet another platform to defend and justify Trump’s toxic and dangerous rhetoric.

Republican Senators have said they will not consider any of the President's nominees for the Supreme Court vacancy. As far as I'm concerned - no work, no pay.