Tag: petition

Politics | A majority of Americans support protecting abortion survivors, but it’s a hard sell in Congress WASHINGTON—Republicans are trying to gather enough signatures to bypass House Democratic leadership and vote to protect babies born during attempted abortions. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., introduced a discharge petition Tuesday for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a measure that would mandate that babies who survive attempted abortions receive medical care. Providers who failed to care for those babies would face criminal and civil penalties. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., introduced the bill in February. In an Fox News op-ed, Wagner and Scalise noted that “86 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Democrats, and 75 percent of independents support this legislation.” Three Democrats co-sponsored the bill. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, co-sponored the bill but hadn’t signed the petition as of Thursday, and Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, signed the peition but did not co-sponsor the bill. The care of abortion survivors also garnered national attention after Virginia Gov. Republicans introduced the Born-Alive bills in Congress shortly after Northam made his remarks. A Rasmussen poll conducted March 12-13 found 69 percent of Americans said they believe doctors should be required to care for a child who survives an abortion and 20 percent said they were not sure. “We call on all members to join the majority of Americans and recognize that a child born alive, even if she has been marked for abortion, has a right to life that should be protected.” The last time a discharge petition made it successfully to the floor was in 2015.

The Independent Group of MPs has been challenged by the petitions site Change.org about their plans to register as a political party called Change UK. The breakaway group of former Labour and Tory MPs is to formally register as a political party in time for potential European elections, and has said the former Conservative MP Heidi Allen will be interim leader. It is understood Change.org is seeking legal advice and contacting the Electoral commission. “This new party is using the language of Change.org. In a statement on Twitter, Change.org said it was “totally independent of party politics” and said it was seeking advice on how to challenge the branding. “It’s said that imitation is a form of flattery. The group will register as Change UK – The Independent Group. “A new party will shake up the two-party system and provide people with an alternative that can change our country for the better,” Umunna said. “This is what Change UK will be aiming to do at any European elections if our application for registration is accepted in time.” Allen said she wanted to attract support from across political backgrounds. Three Tory MPs joined the group two days after the Labour MPs defected, saying they believed their party was being held hostage by hard Brexiters.

An online petition calling for the UK government to revoke article 50 and remain in the EU has reached more than 4m signatures, becoming the most popular to be submitted to the Parliament website. The petition, which was started in late February by “frustrated remainer” Margaret Georgiadou, has gained momentum very quickly, and has now reached just over 4m supporters, adding 2.5m signatures in less than 24 hours. Brexit: hundreds of thousands expected to march for people's vote – live updates Read more It gathered momentum shortly after the prime minister appealed to the British people to back her in her standoff with MPs from all parties. The number of signatures continued to rise on Saturday, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to gather in central London to march for a “people’s vote” on Brexit, asking for the public to be given the power to make the final decision. On Thursday, the parliamentary petitions website crashed several times as so many people were trying to access it at the same time. The error message “bad gateway”, which displayed when the website was overwhelmed, even started trending on Twitter. Conspiracy theories also appeared from both sides, with some saying the site’s troubles were a plot to prevent further signatures. Others claimed that a small proportion of signatures from overseas IP addresses – including one from North Korea – meant the petition had been “hijacked by bots”. In fact, 96% of the signatures were from the UK. The House of Commons petitions committee said: “Anyone who is a UK resident or a British citizen can sign a petition.

California businessman Tom Steyer is putting some of his billions into an ad campaign calling for Donald Trump to be impeached, along with petition for impeachment that now has over 1.5 million signatures. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC…

President Trump is urging supporters to sign a petition declaring that they believe in standing for the national anthem — his latest effort to put pressure on the NFL over players who kneel in protest during the anthem. Add your name below to show your patriotism and support," says the petition by the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a fundraising group. The petition was also promoted by the Republican National Committee on Twitter and its website. It does not say how many signatures it has garnered so far. The petition came days after NFL team owners, executives and players met in New York, where they decided that the league would not implement a rule forcing players to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner." Goodell said he understood the concerns of the players — who are seeking to draw attention to racial injustice and police brutality — but he hopes the league can bring the total number of protesters down to zero. The decision came amid a prolonged feud between Trump and the NFL that began last month when he called on football teams to fire players who took a knee. The president has called the protests disrespectful, and has urged supporters to walk out of games when players kneel during the anthem.