A new report from the Center for Reproductive Rights reviews the losses of women’s rights throughout the states in the aftermath of health reform.

Written by Amie Newman for RHRealityCheck.org – News, commentary and community for reproductive health and justice.

Graphic billboards go up in Texas, anti-choice legislators still trying to defund Planned Parenthood, ACOG opposes Amendment 62 in Colorado, and clinics challenge Louisiana law.

Written by Robin Marty for RHRealityCheck.org – News, commentary and community for reproductive health and justice.

Weekly Mulch: Kicking Our Addiction to AC—Why DC Needs to Step Up

by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger

This summer, Americans are cranking up their air conditioning. At the same time, Senators are letting climate legislation cool its heels in Washington. Ultimately, both of these summer trends are contributing to climate change. Air conditioning dumps greenhouse gases into the environment, and without climate legislation that caps the country’s carbon emissions, America’s share of global carbon levels will only continue to grow.

The Louisiana legislature just passed, and Bobby Jindal just signed, a law permitting people to carry concealed firearms into churches, synogogues, mosques etc. That must mean there’s an epidemic of god-fearing folks being murdered in their pews, or rugs, or something.

A recounting of a chilling story Mac McClelland reported on that has been featured prominently on blogs for the past few week followed by a question — What is the link between this prohibiting of media access and detaining of photographers/videographers to Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) programs?

On July 4th, Americans are supposed to celebrate their independence. We may no longer have to worry about a greedy, distant monarch. But our country is still held in thrall to powerful interests that prize profit over individuals and their freedom—the energy industry comes to mind. As Jason Mark puts it at AlterNet:

At yesterday’s House Energy and Commerce committee hearings with the executives of BP, Exxon, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron, Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) suggested Lamar McKay should commit ritual suicide instead of resigning.

Perhaps you’ll understand my personal frustration and anger with the Obama administration – it’s not just about the failure to stop the gusher and clean up the Gulf. Given the number of institutions in the U.S. with the capability to teach aquaculture, given proximity and access to the ocean, given the wealth of knowledge of these fishers and shrimpers, why is our government not hustling to develop an aquaculture program to replace these jobs?

How long can the Obama administration weather the storm of the orchestrated political shake down by Louisiana’s politicians?

A cap placed over a severed pipe is siphoning some oil from the broken BP well in the Gulf Coast, the company said today.