Fetuses Masturbate.  At least, male fetuses do.  (Is that an attention-getting start?)  That according to Rep. Michael Burgess from Texas.  I'll let you guess which political party he belongs to.  In yet another proposed bill to restrict abortions, Burgess argues that fetuses feel not only pain, but also pleasure.  And one pleasure for male fetuses (females are more restrained) is to stroke between their legs.  Just when you think Republicans can't find any more bizarre arguments, they manage to outdo themselves.  And Rep. Burgess was a gynecologist before entering politics. 

The last few days have not been good for the pro-choice side in the never-ending abortion debates.  After a particularly ugly fight in the Wisconsin House, both chambers there have passed legislation, which the governor will sign, further restricting abortion rights.  In my home state of Iowa, which I used to think of as gentle and moderate, Gov. Terry Branstad has signed new legislation that says that if a woman's insurance is Medicaid and she wants or needs an abortion the final decision will be made by . . . Gov. Terry Branstad.  Not a physician and with no particular knowledge about any application, he will be the sole adjudicator on a case-by-case basis.  In Texas, the Republican-controlled legislature announced at the beginning of the legislative session that abortion would be off the table, that they would focus on economic issues.  They did, much to everyone's surprise, until the day of adjournment when Gov. Perry called a special session of the legislature to deal with only one topic: abortion.  Although the special session hasn't gone as smoothly as the Republicans had hoped, the chambers will meet tomorrow (Sunday) to pass legislation which will close 80% of abortion facilities in the state.

The prolonged immigration battle in the Senate is almost as depressing.   The bill is already full of so many obstacles and compromises that even if it passes, it's hardly an overwhelming victory.  The current conventional wisdom is that even if the bill passes the Senate, it needs to pass with nearly 70 votes to get the House Republicans to go along.  This week the bill in the Senate was watered down even more by adding $30 billion for yet more border security--more miles of fence, more border guards.  Republicans who don't want to spend money for anything were willing to spend 3/4 of the amount of the sequester for border security--this despite the fact that immigration from Mexico has been declining and that net total immigration has fallen to zero.  Even with all the changes, if the bill passes the Senate, there is no assurance that the House will go along--and chances look even slimmer after this week when Speaker Boehner couldn't even hold the Republican caucus together to pass the farm bill, which in the past has always been a non-controversial done deal. 

Politics in America these days has been so depressing (climate change is barely mentioned) that I'd adapted a sort of je m'en foutisme attitude.  Instead of being angered or even engaged, I felt as if je m'en fous or I don't give a damn.  (Foutre is actually stronger than 'damn,' but the French use the expression so casually that 'damn' seems adequate.)  I used to say that the worst thing about dying would be not knowing what was going on, how events turned out, who was who.  But lately, I haven't seemed to care much:  je m'en fous.  It's all so bleak that what difference will it make?  But then I hear stories like the ones above, and my interest and anger are revitalized.  And of course this week, SCOTUS will make four major decisions.  Although I'm pessimistic about both the affirmative action and voting rights decisions (will I be able to say "I don't give a damn" if they do turn out badly?), the DOMA case has more direct effects on Mohamed and me and our relationship, so in that case, I definitely do give a damn.