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The Personhood Mississippi logo (Pic via Facebook) Despite past statements to the contrary, some “fetal personhood” supporters are now admitting that, if enacted, their legislation would likely not only outlaw abortion, but some forms of birth control, as well. Supporters of Mississippi’s “personhood” bill have long argued that it would only outlaw abortion, but many critics say that the vague wording of Amendment 26 (which would give fertilized human eggs legal status) would likely outlaw birth control pills. Speaking with NPR’s Diane Rehm yesterday, Personhood spokesperson Walter Hoye stated that if birth control ends the life of a “human being,” it would indeed be impacted by the measure

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that the department would extend temporary immigration protections for an additional eighteen months for Haitians currently residing in the United States. # In a press release Napolitano announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti beneficiaries effective July 23, 2011 and for an additional 18 months.

In what has become an all-too-familiar refrain among the more radical members of the anti-abortion movement, Personhood Mississippi is comparing abortion rights to slavery. A website touting Mississippi’s Amendment 26 says that, at its core, the “Personhood” movement is about challenging legal decisions: “When a court makes a horribly unjust, immoral, and unconstitutional ruling , it should not be allowed to stand in perpetuity – if so, we would still be treating some African Americans as property because of Dred Scott.” In a blog post on Colorlines , Akiba Solomon writes that the group is perverting black history in its to fight to end abortion.

A new federal funding formula from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta will result in a reduction of $2.1 million in federal funding for the state of Michigan for HIV testing and prevention by 2014. Advocates and health officials warn the cuts could have a negative impact on the state’s public health. “The prevention measures to minimize incidence of HIV also impact numerous other Public Health problems such as sexually transmitted infections, teen pregnancy, cervical cancer, infertility, low birth weight, infant mortality, substance abuse and mental health,” says Renee Canaday, deputy health director of the Ingham County Health Department

The ACLU of Michigan has filed a lawsuit against Genesee County challenging the constitutionality of restrictions on where Michigan residents could distribute petitions to recall Gov. Rick Snyder. According to the ACLU, the Genesee County Parks department told a petitioner that she could only solicit for signatures in a 3X3 area of a 165 acre park in the county and also has a rule requiring those who distribute petitions in public parks to get a permit to do so

Democratic members of Congress balked at being called socialists during a debate on Friday over the Republicans’ proposed budget and the Progressive Caucus’ proposed budget. Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama accused the progressives in Congress of being socialists who are putting America “at risk.” Rep.

Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote to President Obama yesterday urging him to block the impending release of photographs showing

TPM reports that city records from Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, indicate that there is more to the story of her pay cut. On the

Here’s a head-scratching quote from today’s Politico piece on how Republicans struggle to deal with conspiracy theorists who don’t think Barack Obama is a

At today’s just-begun Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Afghanistan, Sen. John Kerry, (D-Mass.), the committee chairman, subtly implored the Obama

Since 2006, the Food and Drug Administration has ignored its own internal regulation and stopped requiring manufacturers of medical devices – such as

A new report shows the state’s general fund took in $5.8 billion in the fiscal year that ended in July, $319.8 million or 5.8 percent more than in the previous fiscal year. The report from the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency notes that total is $45.5 million more than projected by the Revenue Estimating Conference for fiscal year 2011. The REC in March estimated a similar increase in general fund revenue for the current fiscal year: $309.6 million, pushing total revenues from $5.8 billion to $6.12 billion

A round-up report for 2011 found that last year was one of the worst for reproductive health and reproductive rights across the country. The Guttmacher Institute reports that a record-setting “1,100 reproductive health and rights-related provisions” were introduced by state legislators last year

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemns D.C.’s most famous psychic octopus. Rod Blagojevich is not corrupt; he’s just not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Now

An official familiar with the task force’s work cautioned that experienced interrogators on the task force believe that a narrow focus missed the point of interrogation work.

Although Eric Holder has been careful not to say he made a mistake in recommending a pardon for the members of FALN, a Puerto Rican paramilitary group regarded

At last night’s reception for the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s Hold Their Feet to the Fire campaign, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) gave a spirited

Greg Sargent has the scoop on an internal GOP poll that tests the effectiveness of attacks on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) credibility on the

As part of my continuing quest to one-up Laura McGann -- you guys have been reading her great Alaska stuff, right? -- I’ve got an announcement. By this time

Laura Rozen at the Cable has the scoop. This will provide an interesting test of the Clintons’ marriage. Will the Haitian government view Clinton’s envoyship

Joan Walsh points to a video I’d been wondering about -- the footage shot by cameramen who were trailing Andrew Breitbart at CPAC, monitoring his conversations