Peaceful Protestors Arrested

Ladies, do you think your civil rights are the same as gun rights activists?  Let's compare.

On January 18, 2010, gun rights activists marched on Richmond, Virginia, to support laws that would allow concealed guns on school property, in courtrooms, and in houses of worship.

A pro-gun, pro-states rights rally at the state Capitol this morning drew roughly 1,000 people who were encouraged afterward to file into the General Assembly Building to lobby their legislators. (Richmond-Times Dispatch)

Some in the crowd were carrying weapons.  Riot police were not called and no one was arrested.

On March 3, 2012, women's rights activists marched on Richmond, Virginia, to protest laws that would force a woman to have an ultrasound before having an abortion.  Most of the protestors were women.  When women walked around police officers telling them they could not protest in front of the Capitol, riot police were called. 

Disobeying police orders is often a good way to get in trouble, but things spun out of control remarkably quickly, as the video shows. The protestors, remaining peaceful and chanting, "This is what democracy looks like!" march up to the building, plant themselves on the steps, and lock arms. Suddenly, the handful of cops are supplemented by a squad of heavily armored riot police. After them come combat-fatigued, masked officers with what appear to be shotguns and automatic rifles. (the Atlantic)

Riot police "controlled" the crowd by holding plastic shields, and 31 protestors were arrested for trespassing. (Video) 

Since the Capitol is public property, how were they trespassing?  And if the gun rights advocates were allowed to protest at the Capitol building, and were even invited inside, why were the women's rights advocates not allowed on the Capitol steps?  Both groups appeared to be peaceful, however, as far as we know, none of the women's rights activists were carrying guns.

What is obvious from the 2010 and 2012 events is the extent Gov. Bob McDonnell and his conservative legislators will go to get what they want.  They use their power to silence those who do not agree with them.  Is this democracy?  Is this the kind of leadership we want in government?

Virginia Governor McDonnell Blinks on Ultrasound Bill

According to a Washington Post story, some Virginia legislators had no idea how invasive an ultrasound can be.  REALLY????  They didn't even think to Google it?

Some Virginia Republicans are demanding pregnant women seeking an abortion go through a medical procedure that they know nothing about.  They want government to dictate what doctors should do, but are ignorant of medical procedures and have complete disregard for the patients, who, by the way, are all women.

Whether you believe abortion is moral or immoral, government should never be allowed to interfere in the doctor-patient relationship. Years ago, forced sterilizations were the result of government interference in the lives of men and women.  From the 1930s into the 1970s, state governments approved the sterilization of men and women legislators believed would be incompetent parents (Compulsory Sterilization).

Sterilization continued in North Carolina into the 1970s, but in every state government officials targeted not only the mentally disabled, but the poor, mainly people of color, and those the state considered "promiscuous".  This is what can happen when government demands medical procedures based on the religious, moral, or personal beliefs of those in power.

Virginia's Governor McDonnell said he would sign the bill until Democrats noted that doing an ultrasound against a woman's will is equivalent to rape with a foreign object and violates Virginia's object sexual penetration law.  While this may have caused McDonnell to blink, he needs to reassess how this bill violates the doctor-patient relationship and forces big government into the examination room. This bill is simply bad legislation.