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Abortion Trigger Ban Heads To Governor Lee’s Desk

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A bill that would effectively outlaw abortions in Tennessee if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade is headed to Governor Lee’s desk. Lee has repeatedly promised to support any bill that limits abortion in Tennessee, so the expectation is he will sign it.

It passed the legislature yesterday.

Watch the VIDEO:

Abortion bans like this one are sweeping across the country in preparation for the event that Roe V. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court, with the help of President Trump’s 2 pro-life appointees.Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) said his “minor in reproduction” lets him know “how the process unfolds and enables him to declare “that’s a life.”

Rep. Clark Boyd told Rep. Lynn, the sponsor, that he’s “proud to see her stand in the gap for the unborn.”

The trigger ban would take effect within 30 days if the Supreme Court does overturn Roe v. Wade, which is what many warned about when Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh.

Reps Gloria Johnson and Bo Mitchell expressed concern that the bill would force a woman to carry her rapist’s baby to term, since there is no exception for rape, or incest.

Rep. Johnson said:

“It doesn’t stop abortions, it stops safe abortions… If you don’t think a woman should be in control of her own health decisions, you don’t believe women are equal.”

Rep. John Ray Clemmons also spoke up, pointing out the “hypocrisy” of Rep. Holt & Co. talking  about “science” when they don’t believe in global warming, and calling themselves “pro-life:”while they continue to block medicaid expansion in Tennessee, which has cost the state $7 Billion and counting.

On Monday the Senate rejected a push to revive The Heartbeat Bill, which would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected – as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

They will review the issue this summer and consider it next year. If you have an issue with any or all of this, holler at your reps.

Stop Byrd Protestors Stage 24-hour Sit-In At Governor Lee’s Office | TN Holler

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Rep. David Byrd has apologized on tape to 1 of 3 women who say he molested them as children.

Even after meeting with one of Byrd’s victims, Governor Lee has been silent about Byrd’s presence in the legislature- so Enough Is Enough-TN staged a sit-in at Lee’s office, and ended up spending the night, as state trooper’s threatened the press with arrests.

Watch the VIDEO:

And holler at Governor Lee HERE if you think #ByrdMustGo.

Tennessee Star Attacks Trio of Women Reporters

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The Tennessee Star, the far-right, Koch Brothers-funded “news outlet” has a problem with women – particularly smart, young women – as evidenced by their recent spree of attacks on Tennessean reporters.

In the last week, the Star, which likes to refer to itself as the alternative to Nashville’s daily paper of record, accused the three reporters of bias in their reporting, posted photos of the women taken from personal social media pages, and used language from far-right movements to characterize them.

Amelia Knisely, Elaina Sauber, whose name the Star misspelled twice as ‘Stauber’, and Emily West all cover Williamson County for the Tennessean’s local Williamson section. Knisely covers education, Sauber covers municipal issues in Brentwood, and West covers Franklin city issues.

Staff at the Star, including writer Chris Butler, whom Knisely says called her and “aggressively” demanded her sources on a story, were apparently triggered by coverage of a recent flap over cultural competency training for teachers in the Williamson County School System. Knisely has been covering the story for the last few weeks.

But, it seems no coincidence all three reporters are women, and women who are 30 or under. Although the Tennessean has male reporters covering similar topics for other municipalities, the Star has remained mum on criticizing men.

Last week wasn’t the first time the Star aggressively trolled one of the Tennessean’s female journalists. In August 2018, writer Chris Butler, the same reporter who harassed Knisely last week, wrote a story accusing reporter Natalie Allison of being “chummy” with “left wing activists.”

Those accusations came following protests of private prison giant Core Civic. The Star’s report said “Allison signaled likely coordination with the protestors” citing her use of the protestors’ hashtag during her live tweets of the protests.

The Star posted a photo of an angry-looking woman, with veins standing out on her neck, at the head of the Knisely story, published March 19.  Although the photo is not Knisely, it is meant to imply to readers it is, and abuts a headline accusing Knisely of “rage tweeting.”

Photo intended to represent Tennessean reporter Amelia Knisely, taken from Tennessee Star, March 19.

On March 25th, the Star referred to Sauber and West as “social justice warriors” – a right wing term intended as a pejorative – in a headline and lambasted them for using Twitter to interact with readers about stories. The attack on Sauber resulted from the reporter providing a list of racial incidents that have occurred in Williamson County schools over the last several years as proof the cultural competency training is needed. 

Here’s Tennessean reporter Amelia Knisley describing her conversation with Tennessee Star reporter Chris Butler:

A source close to the group of reporters say at least one has received death threats since the Star’s harassment began.

(another) BAD WEEK FOR WORKING WOMEN

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Republican lawmakers on the House Employee Affairs Subcommittee rejected four bills that would improve working conditions for women and families in Tennessee-all in less than an hour.

Read more

REP. BYRD’S SON RESIGNS FOR “INAPPROPRIATE COMMUNICATION” WITH STUDENT?

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We couldn’t make this up even if we tried: JD Byrd, son of Rep. David Byrd – who has apologized on tape to 1 of 3 women who say he sexually molested them in high school – has just resigned as coach of Jackson Christian boys basketball team, and it seems it was for “inappropriate communication with a student”, according to an email that went out from the principal’s office. (SEE BELOW)

Apple, meet tree.

We’ve left word for the athletic director.

The school president is away on a mission trip.

More on this story as it develops….

 

VIDEO: “HEARTBEAT BILL” FLOOR DEBATE HIGHLIGHTS (Plus Gloria Johnson)

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Watch TN’s mostly male House of Representatives pass the “Heartbeat Bill”, which would force women to carry their rapist’s child to term, after Speaker Glen Casada ignored State Representative Gloria Johnson‘s amendment to offer those women protections.

READ MORE HERE.

#HeartbeatBill #HB0077

SILENCED: Speaker Casada Ignores Female Rep’s Rape & Incest Exceptions Amendment

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Today Tennessee Republicans passed the “Heartbeat Bill”, which would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected – generally around 6 weeks into a pregnancy – by a 67-21 vote, with 7 abstentions.

The bill makes no exceptions for rape or incest, meaning even a teenager impregnated after being raped by her basketball coach would have to carry the baby to term.

Rep. Micah Van Huss, who carried the bill, famously said he “could not find the evil” in that scenario.

The passage of the bill was contentious. Rep. London Lamar stood up and objected, saying as the only woman of child-bearing age she should have more say over what happens to her body than the mostly male TN House.

From Rep. Lamar London:

Rep. Gloria Johnson also stood to talk, and was the only female Rep with an amendment scheduled to be heard, but was ignored, as was her amendment for the bill which would have allowed for exceptions in the cases of rape and incest.

Johnson followed all the protocol to have her amendment heard, and it was on the schedule, but Speaker Casada – who has admitted that he has taken the lead on this legislation in the hopes that it will end up in front of the Supreme Court – adjourned, then came back and ignored Johnson’s amendment.

These bills are unconstitutional, as even the committee lawyer admitted.

Women were outside in the hallway protesting the bill loudly.

 

Here are some other reactions:

State Senator Jeff Yarbro:


State Rep. John Ray Clemmons:

If you believe Speaker Casada silencing Rep. Johnson was wrong, and that women should have a say in what happens to their bodies, holler at him HERE.

HYPOCRISY ALERT: TN GOP To Pass Sex Abuse Awareness Resolution While Silent On Byrd

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Yet another incredible chapter of the Rep. David Byrd saga is unfolding right before our eyes, albeit under the radar.

Rep. Mike Sparks (R-Smyrna) is carrying a joint resolution to be heard by the Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning that “Urges the state to increase awareness of sexual abuse and the substance abuse and crime that result from sexual abuse.”

It passed a subcommittee by voice vote last week.

This is happening while still not a single Republican member of the legislature has spoken out against Rep. David Byrd, who apologized on tape to 1 of the 3 women who have now accused him of sexually molesting them when they were high school basketball players playing for him at Wayne County High School.

Former Speaker Beth Harwell asked Byrd to step down. Current Speaker Glen Casada not only hasn’t done that, he promoted Byrd to chair of an education subcommittee.

Here’s some video of Sparks presenting the resolution to a subcommittee, where it passed by voice vote:


The hypocrisy levels are off the charts on this one. From the Resolution:

“It is vitally important that victims of sexual abuse receive appropriate treatment and care that involve understanding, recognizing, and responding to the types of trauma to help them become survivors and rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.”

It’s almost as if they’re trolling Byrd’s victims and everyone who stands with them, including the women Speaker Casada had thrown out of Byrd’s subcommittee hearing last week for no reason.

All this comes after Casada blatantly lied about ever meeting with the victims, who he proceeded to run ads against calling them fake news.

This resolution rings hollow given the current situation. If you agree, holler at Sparks, and Speaker Casada.

And feel free to join Enough is Enough at Byrd’s subcommittee hearing Tuesday afternoon at 4pm at the Cordell Hull Building.

Fidel Casada: “Your 1st Amendment Rights End At Your Nose”

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Today the Tennessean has a story out from Natalie Allison detailing all the ways Speaker Casada has silenced dissent in recent days, particularly with regard to the admitted sex offender he has appointed to chair of an education subcommittee.

Aside from removing peaceful protestors from that committee, here are just some of the ways the Tennessean reminds us Casada is removing transparency from our legislature:

“Under Casada’s leadership, he’s implemented a rule change limiting debate on the House floor. That led to Casada cutting off the microphones of two Democrats on Thursday as they questioned the speaker.”

Here’s VIDEO of that, in case you missed it:


The Tennessean then goes on to point out:

“Several of his appointed committee chairmen have banned livestreaming from personal devices in meetings. A Casada spokesman has said a similar rule is in place in the House chamber… Last week, Casada hastily left a news conference with the help of state troopers, who subsequently temporarily blocked reporters from exiting the room… In a separate incident, a state trooper was dispatched to a legislative office lobby after a television reporter posed questions to Casada’s chief of staff about Rep. David Byrd.”

Regarding removing the peaceful protestors (watch our video HERE), Speaker Casada again perpetuates the lie that they were a “disruption”.

The Meeting was not in session. The women sat silently when it was. Here’s the proof.

The Speaker then goes on to rewrite the constitution, saying protesting is “good” but:

“in an orderly manner… Your First Amendment rights end at your nose.”

“Your first Amendment rights end at your nose”?

What does that even mean? We don’t remember that part of our country’s original document.

Casada isn’t alone in his efforts to silence the women. Jerry “We All Make Mistakes” Sexton, who engaged with the protestors when the Byrd hearing was in recess, also chimes in in the article, as does Rep. Cameron Sexton, both helping Casada perpetuate the falsehood that the women were a “disruption”.

The women were quiet when the meeting was in session, and as Allison points out in the article the 8×11 pieces of paper they had were within the rules of the legislature.

Here’s the back story on that:

“In December 2017, former House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, implemented a policy that sought to prohibit hand-carried signs and signs on “hand sticks” because they were deemed dangerous… The policy received pushback, including in an online petition, and was altered to allow small letter-sized signs. When the policy was updated in January 2018, Connie Ridley, director of legislative administration, said “large signs on sticks or poles” would be prohibited. The policy has not been updated since then… In recent years, protesters have frequently brought signs with them to criticize or encourage lawmakers to take action on legislation.”

So the signs were allowed, the women were quiet… and these men are completely in the wrong. If you have an issue with dissent being silenced in our country, holler at Fidel Casada HERE. 

EXTENDED VIDEO: What Really Happened At The Byrd Hearing

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There have been many reports about what happened when Speaker Casada had trooper drag peaceful women out of a committee meeting presided over by Rep. David Byrd, who has admitted on tape to sexually molesting high school girls he coached.

Casadas office released a statement saying the women were “disrupting the legislative process” – here’s extended video that proves that statement to be false.

Please watch and share… and the women would like you to know they will be at the next Byrd hearing Tuesday at 4pm at the Cordell Hull building, and would love you to join them.