Boner Candidate #1: IT GOES A LITTLE LESS TOO FAR
Utah’s six female senators — Republican and Democratic — left the chamber in protest Tuesday, refusing to vote on a bill that requires women to undergo an ultrasound and be presented with video and audio of their developing fetus before terminating a pregnancy. Spanish Fork Republican Sen. Deidre Henderson successfully amended the bill to prohibit the use of transvaginal ultrasounds under the bill, a more invasive procedure than transabdominal ultrasounds. But while the bill went too far before the amendment, she said, the amendment resulted in the bill going “a little less too far.” Henderson and the other female senators, which included one other Republican, spoke in favor of the amendment and then exited the chamber as their names were called for a final vote on the bill, HB364. “It wasn’t planned, but a spontaneous decision to put an exclamation mark on our concerns about the invasive nature of that bill,” Henderson said. “I am very pro-life, and always vote for pro-life bills. But I’m concerned that we are overstepping with government mandates of medically unnecessary procedures.” Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, tweeted out, “Love my sisters in the Senate,” alongside an image of the six women hugging. The male members of the Senate voted 16-7 in favor of the bill, with five Republicans joining the male members of the minority party in opposing the legislation. Read More
Boner Candidate #2: WE’RE MAKING THEM INTO LITTLE HINDUS
Across Alabama, yoga is freely taught at dozens of studios, in Christian churches and inside prisons. But for nearly three decades, it has been illegal to teach yoga — a combination of breathing exercises and stretches with connections to Hinduism and Buddhism — inside the state’s public school classrooms, with detractors warning it would amount to a tacit endorsement of a “non-Christian” belief. That could soon change if lawmakers have their way. One proposal, scheduled for debate in the State House on Tuesday, would allow teachers to guide students during school hours through various stretches. The legislation would permit students to stretch themselves into Child’s Pose or Downward Facing Dog, among other moves. Still off-limits, though: chants, mantras and “Namaste,” which essentially means “I bow to you.” “I think a lot of minds have shifted,” said Representative Jeremy Gray, the state lawmaker who introduced the proposal, referring to his colleagues’ willingness to reconsider their opinions on yoga. (He practices it routinely and has taught it.) “They didn’t really understand it,” he added, “and now they understand it more. Their mothers do it. Their wives do it. It really resonated with them — ‘It can’t be bad if my wife does it.’” Read More
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