MAGA Fascism hits speed ramp...pt 3!

The best example of political overreach is DeSantis’ authoritarian anti-woke policy downsizing public education. It’s now bleeding out programs designed to deal with festering problems children are dealing with that need attention.

1.  Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and South Carolina push Death Penalty for Women who’ve had Abortions: Imagine this being the first question asked by reporters in elections. From “personhood” abuse charges, to homicide charges that will “explicitly target medication abortion and self-managed abortion;”

The bills have been introduced in states such as Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Some explicitly target medication abortion and self-managed abortion; some look to remove provisions in the law which previously protected pregnant people from criminalization; and others look to establish the fetus as a person from the point of conception.

“This exposes a fundamental lie of the anti-abortion movement, that they oppose the criminalization of the pregnant person,” said Dana Sussman, the acting executive director of Pregnancy Justice. “They are no longer hiding behind that rhetoric.”

Laws that establish fetal personhood also bring the risk of opening pregnant people up to battery and assault charges for endangering a fetus. Such charges have already been documented in hundreds of cases, using criminal laws championed in recent decades by the anti-abortion movement that recognize fetuses as potential victims.

…one in Arkansas, allow a partner to file an unlawful death lawsuit against a pregnant person who has had an abortion.

“The ways in which pregnant people could become a mere vessel for an entity that has separate and unique rights is becoming closer and closer to reality.”

2. Florida NO PLACE for Social-Emotional Learning, that supports Students shaken by COVID aftermath. Also…

The longstanding practice is largely aimed at improving students’ skills in areas such as self-management and social awareness — competencies that research has tied to stronger academic outcomes and improved student behavior.

In a memo Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz called on districts and charter schools to do a “thorough review” (of) Purpose Prep.

Diaz: “Edgenuity/Imagine Learning’s divisive and discriminatory content branded as ‘social-emotional learning (SEL)’ has no place in Florida’s classrooms.” The memo didn’t make clear what language or topics were considered “divisive and discriminatory.”

Social-emotional learning saw a massive spike in interest after the pandemic, as many districts … looked for tools to support students and families who were shaken by COVID and its aftermath.

3.  So much for Election integrity, Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia back out of ERIC: Why? Red states want to remove “the requirements to encourage voter registration.” Surprised? 

That plan, prepared by one of the most powerful lobbying forces on Tennessee’s Capitol Hill, lays out a vision for a dramatic expansion of taxpayer-funded, privately operated charter schools into every part of the state — including suburban and rural areas that have not been targeted by school privatization forces. SCORE is made up of the state’s wealthiest people, billionaires and millionaires who think they know what’s best for Tennessee’s school children, along with funding assistance from billionaire Bill Gates.

J.C. Bowman, executive director of another teachers group, Professional Educators of Tennessee agreed, “Who’s the largest employer in most rural communities? It’s the school system. Most of the parents will tell you they support their community schools.”

Tennessee Education Association’s Jim Wrye added, “There is a real cultural pride and academic pride in these places, that somebody saying we’ll do it for you is kind of insulting in that way. There’s no doubt about it. And school consolidation, when you close the school, you kill the town.”

The law eliminates requirements for the state to verify the age of children younger than 16 before they can take a job. 

Federal officials have discovered hundreds of violations in meatpacking plants and after press reports emerged of children working in hazardous occupations around the country. The Labor Department fined Packers Sanitation Services, a subcontractor for meatpacking plants, $1.5 million in February for illegally hiring children, some of whom sustained chemical burns after working with caustic cleaning agents.

Other states are also considering loosening child labor protections. A bill advancing in Iowa would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work certain jobs in meatpacking plants and would shield businesses from civil liability if a youth worker is sickened, injured or killed on the job. 

A former liberal radio talk host who likes to ask the “follow-up question” at Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com