Kimberly

Arizona’s SB 1070 Immigration Bill Deemed Mostly Unconstitutional Today by Supreme Court

June 25, 2012 By Kimberly 1 Comment

Arizona’s immigration bill SB 1070 has been the subject of much media attention and we’ve reported on the bill here on FFC on several different occasions. The law was challenged and the Ninth Circuit granted an injunction against enforcement of four provisions in the bill. The Supreme Court granted certiorari on the case and the Court’s decision on Arizona SB 1070 was announced today.

The four provisions of the Arizona SB 1070 bill were challenged on the grounds of being preempted by the federal government authority and therefore unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled today that three of those four provisions are explicitly preempted by federal law, and the fourth must be construed narrowly in order to be constitutional.

The three provisions in Arizona SB 1070 deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court are: (1) state law crime of being in the country illegally, (2) ban on working in the state, and (3) warrantless arrest of individuals suspected to have committed a deportable crime. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Judicial Watch Tagged With: Arizona, Constitution, immigration, law, SB 1070, Supreme Court

Women’s History Month: First Women in Law

March 28, 2012 By Kimberly Leave a Comment

Determining women firsts in the legal profession is difficult because at the turn of the 20th century several women across the country were making their way into the profession, each with their own obstacles. Belle Babb Mansfield is often considered the first woman lawyer because she was the first woman to be admitted to the bar in the United States, though she never really practiced law. There were several women practicing law before Mansfield was officially recognized, though they had to practice without official recognition. The recorded history of women lawyers is somewhat scattered and inconsistent. I’ve chosen to highlight four of the early female lawyers though the list is by no means exhaustive but each one has an inspirational story.

An Ode to Hermione Granger: In Four Parts

July 11, 2011 By Kimberly 2 Comments

Incredulously: “You’re Hermione Granger” – Yes, I think in a British accent that would work splendidly. Hermione could easily be the star of Griffandor, Hogwarts, and the wizarding community at large. But, her role as side kick and best bud to legend Harry Potter is not diminished by her lack of mythical world stardom because Hermione is a star, perhaps not to the wizarding community, but she is to her friends, her community and the real muggle world at large.

Hermione does not fit into the binary suppositions of brawn or brain as she demonstrates both deftly and defiantly throughout the series. This ode celebrates her brawn in a series of moments that provide insight and inspiration.

Part I: Punching Malfoy

Sometimes a wand is just too passé, and what you need is a good ole punch in the face. When Hermione turns and punches Malfoy’s lights out for gloating at the demise of Buckbeak (in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), everyone in the theater went crazy. Something about the sheer physicality of the action was thrilling and in the binary power struggle between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix, light versus dark, good versus evil, the brief moment is one of triumph for our champions. Gender is not an issue in this world of Harry, Ron and Hermione as the classic damsel in distress role is distinctly lacking from this trio. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pop Culture Tagged With: feminist, Harry Potter, Hermoine Granger

Abortion On Demand Is A Myth

July 5, 2011 By Kimberly 2 Comments

Roe v. Wade does not have a provision for abortion-on-demand. If you read the actual Roe v. Wade decision, the justices very thoughtfully trace the evolution of ideas on abortion throughout the ages and provide evidence that abortion through the first trimester (previously called “quickening”) overall has been a socially acceptable practice since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, including by the Roman Catholic Church until the 1850s. Further, the decision recognizes that the state does have a vested interest in the pregnancy when it reaches a certain point (though they are unclear on exactly when this point is), and the decision does not give carte blanche authority for women to terminate pregnancies whenever and however they so choose.

Ericka Andersen’s article at the Heritage Foundation, “The International Abortion War on Girls” operates on this false assumption and in a very odd and random way connects the practice of sex-selective abortion with the legalization of abortion. Andersen does not connect how abortion being legal leads to the problem of sex-selective abortion, just that one begets the other. The thing is, one does not beget the other. A person or a couple is not more or less inclined to wish to terminate a pregnancy if the baby is a girl because abortion is legal or available. A couple is inclined to terminate a female fetus or kill a new born baby girl because of social and cultural influences. Abortion does give a couple the option to terminate a female fetus rather than wait until the baby girl is born and then murder her, but abortion is not the problem here. The problem is that many people in many countries, in many parts of the world kill baby girls because of their sex. It is heart breaking and a huge problem, but to blame the availability of abortion for this problem is absurd and a blatant generalization of women who seek abortions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Abortion Tagged With: Abortion, birth control, heritage foundation, myth, sex selective

Reading Roe v. Wade

June 7, 2011 By Kimberly Leave a Comment

In anticipation of starting law school in the fall, I’ve been reading famous US Supreme Court decisions. Have you ever read the ROE v. WADE, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) decision? It is more interesting than I would have thought. Not only did the court look at the history of restrictions on abortion dating back to the Greeks and Romans including an analysis of the The Hippocratic Oath, they defined the idea of “personhood” and determined that the Ninth and Fourteenth amendments implied privacy rights extend to abortion, but only up to a point.

Definition of Personhood

The Constitution does not define “person” in so many words. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment contains three references to “person.” All three refer to a person after live birth. “All this, together with our observation, supra, that throughout the major portion of the 19th century prevailing legal abortion practices were far freer than they are today, persuades us that the word “person,” as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn” (Title IX).

The Rights of Privacy Extend to Abortion

“This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.” (Section VIII) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Abortion Tagged With: Abortion, conception, limitations, personhood, Pregnancy, privacy rights, Roe v. Wade, trimester

An Entreaty to Rational Pro-Life Supporters

May 13, 2011 By Kimberly 9 Comments

It has become acceptable in the US to use violence and intimidation to stop women and men from participating in activities that are their legal right. In Wichita Kansas, where Dr. Tiller was murdered over a year and a half ago, there is not a single doctor who provides abortion services. This is not because there are not any doctors willing to provide the services, but rather because doctors are intimidated and stalked by anti-abortion protesters and are afraid to offer these services.

How is this okay with anyone who respects the Constitution to allow bullying and intimidation tactics to trump the legal rights of American citizens? It truly does not matter what you think about the issue of abortion, if you respect the law and the Constitution then you agree to respect ALL the laws, even the ones you disagree with. We have an entire democratic system in place that allows laws to be discussed, amended and voted on in order to have a democratic, civil society. By trumping the legal system and taking matters into their own hands, anti-abortionists are in effect snubbing the law and making a mockery of our judicial system. And to make matters worse, there are people who have sworn to uphold the law that are participating in this debasement of our judicial system either by standing by and doing nothing or using their power to help in the subversion. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Abortion Tagged With: Abortion, bullying, Constitution, democractic process, Dr. Tiller, intimidation, morality, terrorism

Good Reading: Women of Historical Fictions

May 4, 2011 By Kimberly 1 Comment

One of my favorite ways to experience history is through the historical fiction novel. While all of the details of the story are not technically rooted in historical fact, you get really get a sense of the spirit of the story and the people who populate it, and you get to read an exciting novel, not a dry history book (I do admit a complete literary bias in this respect). The best historical novelists write an afterword that detail where the creative liberties were taken in the story, which are not intended to alter historical facts, but rather to fill in gaps where information is lacking. Some historical fictions are more fiction than others, but in each one you get a sense of the inner being of an historical character that you cannot get otherwise. The following is a list of my favorite historical fictions.

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George With a childhood love of Cleopatra, Margaret George sifts through all of the historical documentation about Cleopatra and constructs an historical novel that has very little embellishment. The love and passion for Cleopatra with which this novel was written comes across in every page and I finished this novel with a new found love and devotion for Cleopatra.

Most interesting to me was the re-claiming of Cleopatra’s character as a strong powerful woman, not the deceitful, conniving seductress that she has so famously been portrayed to be. Also quite interesting was the revelation that Julius Caesar was Cleopatra’s true love, not Mark Anthony. While Cleopatra and Antony were lovers, their relationship only began after the demise of Caesar and while it seems Cleopatra did love Antony, it was not nearly as intimate a relationship as she had with Caesar. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book Shelf, History Tagged With: Anne Boleyn, book review, gaynor arnold, girl in the blue dress, Helen of Troy, historical fiction, Jean Plaidy, margaret george, memoirs of cleopatra, Philippa Gregory, The Lady in the Tower, The Virgin's Lover, women's history

Women’s History Month: Mary Magdalene

March 17, 2011 By Kimberly 12 Comments

Mary Magdalene: prostitute, disciple, wife of Jesus. Many labels have adhered to Mary Magdalene throughout history. Since the time of Pope Gregory I she has been defined by the church as a sinner of the flesh. Another legend claims that she and Jesus were married. This legend even goes so far as to suggest that the holy grail is indeed not a chalice, but a bloodline; the direct blood descendants of Jesus Christ (this legend is recounted in Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and in the more popular fictional texts by Dan Brown).

Whether or not the supposition that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married has any validity, the restoration of Mary’s character from a position of disgrace, to a beloved intimate of Jesus as a disciple is profoundly important. Jesus honoring women, as well as men, as disciples establishes a more balanced harmony between women and men. Regardless if you have a religious background or faith, all of American culture is steeped in a common Biblical mythos. This mythos is generally patriarchal and creates a clear hierarchy between men and women, placing women in the subordinate position. Much of this relies on the assumption that men only can be leaders of the church as it is most commonly taught that there were only male disciples. The re-establishment of the female into sacred texts and cultural mythos is uplifting and rejuvenatory of the female spirit. [Read more...]

Filed Under: History, Religion Tagged With: apocryphal gospels, discipline, jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, mythos, prostitute, Starbird, wife

Women’s History Month: Ursula K. Le Guin

March 3, 2011 By Kimberly 5 Comments

“What was it like, in the Dark Ages when abortion was a crime, for the girl whose dad couldn’t borrow cash, as my dad could? What was it like for the girl who couldn’t even tell her dad, because he would go crazy with shame and rage? Who couldn’t tell her mother? Who had to go alone to that filthy room and put herself body and soul into the hands of a professional criminal?–because that is what every doctor who did an abortion was, whether he was an extortionist or an idealist. You know what it was like for her. You know and I know; that is why we are here. We are not going back to the Dark Ages. We are not going to let anybody in this country have that kind of power over any girl or woman. There are great powers, outside the government and in it, trying to legislate the return of darkness. We are not great powers. But we are the light. Nobody can put us out. May all of you shine very bright and steady, today and always.”

-Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Princess” 1982, Dancing at the Edge of the World

This quote gives me chills each time I read it. The insight and compassion that Le Guin expresses hits at the core of the true meaning to love and support women through the freedom of choice. What strikes me the most is the exacting relevance this quote has at this precise moment in time, when it was originally shared in a speech given in 1982. It really highlights the fact that the fight for a woman’s right to choose is a never ending battle.

If you are unfamiliar with the woman who penned these words, absolutely delightful reading awaits you. Le Guin’s wit and humor are matched only by her insight and social commentary as she traverses many a taboo topic through a variety of genres. Her body of work is vast, covers poetry and prose texts in a variety of modes including science fiction, fantasy, screenplays and essays. I personally enjoy her essays the best, my heart being beset with analysis and criticism, but I have also been enchanted by her science fiction and gotten lost in her poetry. [Read more...]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Abortion, left hand of darkness, poetry, science fiction, Ursula Le Guin, women's history

Birth Control and Pap Smears: Why Do They Go Together?

January 26, 2011 By Kimberly 67 Comments

It is not medically necessary to have a pap and pelvic exam to get a prescription for birth control. The only medically necessary procedure is a blood pressure test. Yet in the US, women are routinely forced to endure a yearly pap and pelvic exam in order to renew the prescription. A recent study shows that 33% of doctors always require the exam and 44% regularly require the exam (from Time article).

In my personal experience, I was literally shouted at over the phone by a nurse practitioner when I requested a month extension on my prescription because I had to change my exam appointment. The woman told me that I had already waited too long to see the doctor and absolutely refused to provide the one month extension (it has been about fourteen months since my previous exam, completely within medical guidelines for the pill). When I shared my experience with the doctor, she sounded surprised and said I should have been given the prescription, but she was not overly concerned about the incident and had no interest in further investigation or remedy.

The proponents of requiring pap and pelvic exams for birth control prescriptions argue that while it may not be medically necessary, these exams are important and women should have them done. In essence, requiring women to have a pap and pelvic exam in order to get a birth control requires testing that should be optional– it is a way to force women to have exams that they otherwise might elect to forgo. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Birth Control Tagged With: birth control, guidelines, medically necessary, pap smear, STD testing, three years, UK, US