Last Friday the Kansas Legislature approved a bill that would prohibit health insurance companies from offering their customers coverage for abortion procedures, unless the woman’s life was endangered by continuing the pregnancy.

GOP Representative Pete DeGraaf, who also is a pastor, called for the prohibition even in cases where a woman is pregnant as a result of rape.  A female colleague of Rep. DeGraaf argued that this would be further punishment of a rape victim, to which he replied:

“We do need to plan ahead, don’t we, in life?”

She responded, “And so women need to plan ahead for issues that they have no control over with pregnancy?”

DeGraaf retorted, “I have a spare tire on my car.  I also have life insurance. I have a lot of things that I plan ahead for.”

If any Stinquers want to take a break from smashing their heads on their desks, DeGraaf’s Web site lists his office number as 785-296-7693, his home phone as 316-777-0715, and his e-mail as pete.degraaf@house.ks.gov.  You’ll also note that the first-term legislator has sponsored a bill to create “covenant marriages” in Kansas.

[Kos]

While we were all awaiting the Rapture — say, how’d that work out? — former pizza magnate Herman Cain formally announced his candidacy for Preznit:

We don’t need to rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, we need to reread the Constitution and enforce the Constitution… And I know that there are some people that are not going to do that, so for the benefit of those who are not going to read it because they don’t want us to go by the Constitution, there’s a little section in there that talks about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Oops! But hey, we took Herman’s advice and found something in the Constitution that says “three fifths of all other Persons”. What’s that about?

Lecturing Americans To ‘Reread’ Constitution, Herman Cain Confuses It With Declaration of Independence [ThinkProgress]

Give them credit for consistency: “Are U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal natural-born citizens of the United States, and thus eligible for the presidency?” [WND]

“A new Arbitron report shows Rush Limbaugh’s ratings down 33% from a year ago and Sean Hannitty down 28% over the same time period. Meanwhile, more centrist personalities — Don Imus in the morning and John Batchelor at night — were both up from a year earlier.” [Political Wire]

At the end of a long, fascinating and well-reported article on Roger Ailes and Fox News, New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman drops this nugget:

Last week, Ailes turned 71. He’s spending considerable time thinking about his legacy. It bothers him that he’s still regarded as an outsider. “He doesn’t want to be hated,” a GOPer who knows Ailes well said. “It really bothers him. You can’t gross a billion a year and retain an outlaw sensibility forever.”

What’s the deal with conservative terrorists and their legacies?

Read more »

Like a red-letter edition of the Good Book, here are the words of the Prophet on The Day After:

• “Flabbergasted”
• “It has been a really tough weekend.”
• “I’m looking for answers.”
• “But now I have nothing else to say. I’ll be back to work Monday and will say more then.”

Looks like somebody’s already back to work — the Rapture’s gone from their website.

Harold Camping “flabbergasted” world didn’t end [SF Chronicle]

Today would have been Harvey Milk’s 81st birthday and in a fitting gesture, the nonprofit Trevor Project, which provides suicide prevention counseling services to LGBT youth, opened the Harvey Milk Call Center at 575 Castro Street, which was the home of Milk’s camera shop and campaign headquarters in the ’70s, and where he occasionally received calls from gay youth seeking hope and validation.  The San Francisco call center will handle overnight calls to the Trevor Project’s suicide prevention hotline.

And in another fitting present for Milk, the WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS San Francisco Giants announced that the team will be filming a video for the “It Gets Better” campaign to prevent gay suicides and to stop bullying of LGBT youth.  They are the first professional sports team to do so.

[Bay Area Reporter: Trevor Project Opens SF Call Center]