The South Dakota voters have shown not once, but TWICE, that we support a woman's right to choose what is right for her body in regard to pregnancy, yet bills keep being introduced in attempt to ban or limit abortion. The newest is an attempt to remove holidays and weekends from the "eligible days" of the already absurd 72-hour waiting period before a woman can obtain an abortion. This makes the procedure nearly impossible to schedule, as there is only one clinic in the state that performs abortions. The legislators need to stop wasting taxpayer time, money, and resources in this endless battle that has already been fought and defeated.......TWICE. Stop stifling the voice of the voters, and accept what we are telling you: South Dakota is a pro-choice state and wants to remain that way!

You've already gerrymandered the districts at the state level to safely keep seats for your party intact and ensure wins in the state legislature and in the House of Representatives in DC but now are planning to win the 2016 Presidential elections the same way via redistricting the maps in WI, OH, PA, FL, MI, VA which are all controlled by gop legislatures and went to President Obama. In WI and PA, state reps openly admitted that Voter ID laws "would have made it easier to give the election to his opponent but in WI where we do not have Voter ID yet, that d/n happen and in PA where they DO, it d/n happen either so all these states are looking at now changing the district maps of the EC after almost 20 years!!! CHEATING!!!

Rights of Citizenships

As someone who is on SSD and has Medicare supplementary due to medical disability, I simply, along with millions of Americans who rely on our social safety nets for our very existence ,not to mention SS does not add ONE DIME to the deficit, STOP PUNISHING US!!! I have to take NINE RX medications a month to live and as it is, paying for my meds a month before our commercial insurance ded/coins is satisfied for other medical expenses, bills to keep our household basics and mortgage paid, we're always broke before the next payday. Without my SSD and MC, we'll lose our home!!! Cut the deficit on someone else's backs for a change!!!

NC Gov. McCrory says he wants to "change the basic formula and how education money is given out to our universities and our community colleges, not based on how many butts in seats but how many of those butts can get jobs." This would clearly affect a student's ability to follow their dream and will give NC too much control over their education and future. This would limit a person's ability to pursue basic happiness in a career by eliminating funding for majors in fields such as Gender Studies, English, Art, Dance etc. Tell him NO!!!

Debate is raging over next steps for immigration reform. One thing we know for sure is that something must be done. Working families are answering the call and taking the lead to make sure a roadmap to citizenship for 11 million aspiring citizens is included in any agreement. Immigrants aspiring to be citizens are Americans in all but paperwork. It’s time we modernized our immigration laws to catch up to that reality. It’s time to win citizenship for all, and it starts with your name right now.

In a nation that is continually working to eradicate bigotry and inequality, comments such as those made by Lauderdale County High School Head Football Coach Bob Grisham in the public classroom about LGBT Americans and the First Lady should not be tolerated. A coach's and instructor's influence is key to the shaping of a young person's world views and character- Grisham's comments do not reflect character that will advance our nation's youth. We must send a message to our public employees that we stopped tolerating this type of bigoted speech 50 years ago.

Under the "winner take all" method, there have been elections where the candidate who wins the popular vote fails to win the electoral college vote. The "winner take all" method is the cause of excessive political spending and severe tensions in a few battleground states. This petition seeks to reduce to role of money in elections.

We have not raised the minimum wage in Hawaii in 7 years. While our cost of living is higher than almost any other state, our minimum wage is behind 19 other states. Our people have a hard time getting by and most work two jobs. Raising the floor will help a lot of families do a little better.

Unfortunately, the ideal of streamlining mental health treatment can be turned on its axis by forces beyond our control. Taking the subway one stop past sanity, the state of Texas has decided to be tightfisted; free falling to dead last among all 50 states in mental health expenditures. In turn, this has tipped the scale in favor of astronomical numbers of people needing services juxtaposed to fewer professionals with lower pay and benefits. Waiting lists have swelled unabated in some areas. Psychiatrists, case managers, and those in the trenches are having difficulty shouldering the load of mental health patients that get services. These unappreciated professionals are dedicated, self-sacrificing, and compassionate yet their pay and benefits barely rise above the threshold of most janitorial jobs. Even the most skilled service coordinators, with time management creativity, can’t clone themselves to be at 50 places at once. Pinched for time, the franchise mentality has taken hold as patients are rushed through the psychiatry drive-thru, each receiving a therapeutic happy meal. Mc-therapy is taking the place of measured, time-spent, palliative modalities that foster better outcomes. Feeding the soul/psyche is immeasurably more complex than feeding the body. Meager spending and the DSHS paradigm shift to Resiliency and Disease Management has resulted in turning away droves of people who do not fit neatly into the diagnostic trifecta: schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, and major depression. People with personality disorders, dissociative disorders, and anxiety disorders are dumped cargo; jettisoned out of public services with no safety parachute. Paying little homage to mental health care has a price tag; one of them being the Texas penal system is the new makeshift hospital for mental health consumers. Emergency rooms and hospitals also absorb the overflow, but what never seems to factor into this is the immense human suffering that results. Why are people left in the unforgivable throes of mental illness with no relief in the state of Texas?

Stacey Campfield (R) Knoxville, proposed law SB132, to "breaking the cycle of poverty" by reducing Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits for children not making “satisfactory academic progress” in school.

Organized Stalking and Electronic Harassment of innocent citizens in Connecticut. These crimes need to be acknowledged and dealt with rather than ignored or treated as symptoms of psychosis.