The N&O ran a great editorial yesterday, 5/13/11, "INVASIVE LAW, Attempts to legislate ideological and religious doctrine on abortion infringe on privacy rights". Please read it at http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/05/13/1193944/invasive-law.html This is the ironically named "Women's Right to Know" Act, (WRTK).

This WRTK bill, which includes many of the worst laws from across the country all stuffed into one, manages to make illegal abortions seriously faster and easier for patients and for doctors. The bill is patronizing and demeaning toward women. This bill has so many awful parts, it could be known by a variety of more appropriate names than WRTK.

It mandates state sponsored information be delivered by the clinic and mandates waiting periods (24 hours so can think about it plus 4 hours after required ultrasound) implying women don't seriously consider medical procedures and decisions without the state's forcing them to do so. From that perspective, it could be called the "Women Are Stupid" Act.

Or it could be the "Guilt them out of it" Act - since it forces every woman - whether pregnant by rape or incest or needing to abort a wanted child due to serious medical issues - to listen to someone describe the fetus in a mandated ultrasound. The 24 hour and extra 4 hour waiting periods are part of guilting a woman.

Or it could be the "Make abortions prohibitively expensive and time consuming" Act - that would be forcing women to pay for ultrasounds for unwanted fetuses, hundreds of dollars - and also the 24 hour waiting period and the 4 hour waiting period. These waiting periods are inconvenient for every woman, but they could break the bank for poor women - who can't afford to lose 2 full days of work in all cases, but if they have to travel, they also could have the extra expenses of transportation, child care, overnight stay, wages lost.

There is another aspect to this bill that targets abortion doctors. Doctors names must be provided to every patient, civil 'remedies' are included in the act, special new reports from the doctors and clinics are required. These clinics are being burdened more and differently than other medical clinics. This would make it the "Target Doctors and Clinics Who Perform Abortions" Act.

See the text of the house bill at http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H854v1.pdf

And this is only one of a series of terrible bills being discussed in NC right now. Hear more about bad bills and bad budgets at our event in N. Raleigh at 3pm today - "Women Need Us NOW". Contact president@raleighnow.org for more info.

Here are some highlights of the $19.3 billion budget for North Carolina state government for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

Health and Human Services is gutted (especially Smart Start/More at Four and PROHIBITING Planned Parenthood from getting any money or contracts -singling them out) not to mention eliminating state abortion fund, K-12 Education (slashing funds for schools), Community Colleges, UNC System, Justice and Public Safety, and other state agencies (reducing funds to libraries). These are horrifying cuts. Just to K-12 schools—a 49% reduction in Teacher Assistant Positions, a 68% reduction in funds for Textbooks, a 42% reduction in funds for School Supplies,a 100% reduction in funds for Technology and Staff Development, a 21% reduction in Assistant Principal allotments, a 12% reduction in AG teachers.

A list highlighting the cuts can be found at http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/9543379/

There are also some heartfelt editorials about these slashes. See the following
1. Op-ed: Perdue: House budget rotten to the core-Fayetteville Observer
By Governor Bev Perdue, Published: 12:00 AM, Mon May 09, 2011

.. But, under the House budget passed last week - a vote taken without bringing educators to the negotiating table - North Carolina's classrooms, colleges, teachers and children will become the victims of staggering cuts.

(Go to article for more)

2. Durham's teachers went to Raleigh on Tuesday night, rallying in camouflage T-shirts emblazoned with the letters "W.A.R." - Durham Herald-Sun, 5/5/11
We. Are. Ready.

The teachers were there to "stand for education," the shirts (and teachers) said.

In keeping with their theme, it appears that any standing they do will be in the trenches --specifically, a $1.3 billion deep trench. That's how deeply the House cut the state's budget for education before passing the spending bill on a 72-47 vote.

(Go to article for more)

3. Editorial - Keeping taxes low not only goal of government; services needed, too - Wilmington Star-News
Published: Friday, May 6, 2011 at 6:23 p.m.

The horse-and-buggy was a gimmick, but opponents of the deep cuts in the N.C. House’s version of the state budget made their point. Many of the cuts proposed could set North Carolina back many years, particularly in the areas of education and environmental protection. Vulnerable residents also may suffer from reductions in Medicaid and mental health funds.

(Go to article for more)

It is up to us to pitch fits about this brutal budget. Write your representatives.

The current budget being discussed in the NC House calls for a 13.8 % cut for K-12 Public Education. This is a significant cut, especially considering previous cuts from previous years and combined with these cuts represents a reduction in funding of nearly 20%. We have moved from trimming fat three years ago, to amputating limbs in the current budget.

The details of the House budget call for a 49% reduction in Teacher Assistant Positions, a 68% reduction in funds for Textbooks, a 42% reduction in funds for School Supplies,a 100% reduction in funds for Technology and Staff Development, a 21% reduction in Assistant Principal allotments, a 12 % reduction in AG teachers, along with discretionary reductions of over $300 million dollars to be determined by local school systems (Note: Discretionary Cuts give the school system the "discretion" to make cuts from whatever funds they wish and while this gives districts flexibility, a discretionary cut this large guarantees that districts will cut teaching positions).

Despite claims that they protected teacher jobs, these cuts will significantly impact classrooms all over NC since the discretionary cuts will most likely come from the classroom since many school systems don't have anything left to cut. Since these cuts are "discretionary", they allow the House to "wash their hands" of the responsibility for teacher cuts.

With this said, it is time to say, "Enough is enough!" It is not alright to have 40 children in a class. It is not alright to talk about being a "National Leader" in 21st century learning tools when your state refuses to fund technology and staff development for teachers. Most importantly, it is not alright to continually balance the state's budget on the backs of our children.

Please contact your local representative and demand that they fully fund education. Cuts of this magnitude will almost certainly move NC to 47th or 48th in the Nation in per pupil funding, which is not the territory we want to be in if we are going to compete with Colorado, Minnesota, and Washington state for high paying, technology sector jobs.