Sen. Cathy Giessel this week continued to roll out what appears to be her relatively new position on abortion: She does not support legislation that would bring the question of limits or sideboards on abortion to voters.
In a press conference on Monday, Giessel joined other members of the Senate majority in taking questions from reporters. One reporter asked the group about Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s pro-life statements in his State of the State Address earlier that evening, when he said he wants to make Alaska the most pro-life state in the union.
Currently, the Alaska Constitution has been interpreted by judges to mean that a child may be aborted all the way until birth. There are no abortion restrictions in Alaska, which has no gestation cut-off time in law. Even liberal California does not allow abortions after 24 weeks gestation except to save the life of the mother.
Giessel fielded the question, after Senate President Gary Stevens hemmed and hawed that all bills should get a hearing, even if they were not likely to move from one of the committees.
Giessel was more direct: “Alaska does have constitutional protection for abortion and so I would suspect, although I don’t know this, that he [the governor] would be proposing a constitutional amendment that would put some restrictions on abortion services.
When asked if she would support the matter going to voters, she said, “I personally would not, but we’ll see what happens with the Senate body. We’ll see.”
It’s a 180-degree turn from the bill Sen. Giessel proposed in 2018, Senate Bill 124, which was known as the “Born Alive Bill.”
That bill addressed duties of physicians and health care practitioners when performing or inducing abortions, that if the baby that was being aborted came out alive, they would be required to view that as a person in need of aid and make a reasonable attempt to save her or her life.
That bill died in Senate Finance after receiving a “do not pass” from Sen. Bill Wielechowski in Judiciary. Wielechowski, in the current Senate, controls what bills go to the floor as the chairman of Rules Committee.
Giessel has no core except her own power. If she could gain power by it, she’d claim to be Jesus.
But as morally empty and integrity bankrupt as she is, she was voted back into office.
She must have really been in love with Dunleavy once. Only a scorned woman hates this deeply
I would not categorize pro-life only to human life forms. My what an ugly planet this would be if only humans walked the planet 😉
My God, that shirt/jacket. Lady, crazy patterns make your just rolled out of bed face look worse.
Wonderful, and we are only getting started with this lunatic. Anchorage voters, you get what you voted for. FAFO
I thought that the Governor’s extensive remarks about this topic in his address were very interesting. He explained his rationale extremely well. He doesn’t normally pursue anything he announces, but he devoted so much of the speech to abortion that this could be different. If so then the PFD amount and this matter could be about it for the session. We already know there will be budget increases. If he really pushes this, something he hasn’t done with anything thus far, it could be wrapped up in the mix at the end along with the PFD amount and the CBR vote.
I doubt he has done his homework with this matter as he doesn’t do preparatory work. The army of Assistant Attorneys General will work against him no matter what the Attorney General of the moment does. The two health departments (two of them now, I think) will be against him – completely. (And one should remember how many Alaska births are paid by Medicaid, a health department program and major funding source.) Most other state employees as well as their unions will be against him. The Senate will be against him, almost 100 percent. Speaker Tilton is smart enough to keep this from trashing her majority. The hospital lobby will be against him, as will most of the lobbyists for hire. For the most part the Governor’s Office has only been on the job for ten minutes, so while they will be with him I have no idea how much help they can be.
Senator Giessel’s remark was brief but left no doubt how she sees this matter this session. She could be wrong about the Governor coming up with an amendment to the constitution, but she is being logical. She didn’t imply that she knows that is what he will do. I don’t believe she told us where she stands on abortion as a moral issue: I think she was indicating she feels the legislature and Alaska voters don’t need yet another wrapped-around-the-axle quagmire that has no chance of reaching the finish line given the parties and capabilities. She was addressing the political reality, and no one who saw the election results of last November should disagree with her analysis.
Senator Giessel does not support abortion legislation because as she stated “you can not legislate a change to the Constitutiuon”. Governor Dunleavy was intentionally vague in his pro life statements to stir up his base against the Senate Majority. I prefer Senator Giessels commitment to education funding, responsible resource development and budget, rather than wasting time on legislation that will not survive court challenges..
Bob Dylan wrote and sang a song—–You Got To Serve Somebody—-. “It might be the Devil, or it might be the Lord, but you got to Serve Somebody. Unfortunately we get into the same Boat with them when they are elected to Public Office. Kind of like Guilty of Association by Voting or Not Voting. Sad Alaska, Very Sad what we have become.
Giessel is a nurse…….and a CATHOLIC. What’s with these old women baby killers? Is it witchcraft, devil worship, or some kind of mental illness? Giessel’s primary reason for getting elected back into the Senate is to give Dunleavy heartache. The exact same reason why Lisa Murkowski is in the US Senate……to give Trump heartache. Giessel and Murkowski are just sick old women and power crazed.
So was nurse Cratchit. What’s your point?
Spell check***** Nurse Ratched
She used to be a board member for the Anchorage crisis pregnancy center.
Good to hear that the boy is safe!
He wasn’t until he moved to Canada. His mom is a tyrant in Anchorage, in Juneau, anywhere.
The wicked have inherited the earth.
A chameleon never shows her true colors
But she is trying her very best with that blouse!
Some sort of leftover Star Trek wardrobe outfit with a bit of Orient militant flare. Perfect for her.
Believe me, as a woman, I am Pro-life.
Again, though I am compelled to state the obvious.
Men in Alaska leadership HAVE AN OBLIGATION to eradicate the 57+ percentage of domestic and/or sexual violence against women AND children.
How can we believe in a Governor who touts pro-life while concurrently DOING NOTHING and NOT acknowledging the work that is desperately needed among the boys and men HE is supposed to be a role model over or among?
Governor Dunleavy states the obvious – He wants more children in Alaska.
Well who does not?
More importantly, why is it that woman in Alaska are forced to make a decision of fight or flight?
Stand up, Men of Alaska.
Show me and all of us that your words are containers for power.
That means action.
What is your actionable steps you are going to take to eradicate the men on woman and children violence?
Because your ivory tower does not protect you.
You are complicit until the time you take action.
Anyone can make a speech – what are you doing to make change?
Also, it is interesting that you hold up a family from Barrow instead of your wife’s home region of Kotzebue.
I do recall you were sworn in at her home village.
Stop speaking, start doing.
Prove your commitment to your words.
Because from I hear, are empty words from just another politician who used his wife’s culture to gain his seat, while wearing an empty suit.
Prove me wrong.
Because I really need you to prove me wrong – we all do.
Let me tell you a story. It’s one of many I’ve personally witnessed.
An abused wife was threatened by her husband. Again. Her son intervened on her and was sent to jail for 72 hours. Said woman ran to her daughter. She did not pay bail for her son.
Daughter went to considerable expense to get mom to safety in another state. Again.
Mom swore, again, last time. She was done. Six months later she goes back to the abusive husband. Again.
Son remains out a few thousand for court costs and related issues. Daughter more for getting mom out of state. The people mom stayed with out of state are out the costs associated with getting mom settled in a safe place.
Another story. Woman marries a guy everyone around her told her, repeatedly, is really bad news. Classic bad boy. Inevitable follows.
He refuses to work, go to school, or even do dishes. He pushes her into doing things sexually she doesn’t want to do. They lose one house and struggle to keep another. He isolates her from friends and family. Eventually things get so bad her unusually generous employer pays for her to seek counseling. She goes once. When it’s pointed out she needs to leave this guy, she refuses to see him again.
Dude even robbed his own children.
Been 30 plus years and she’s still there.
I got lots more. Lots.
One thing men know is the risks involved in helping abused women often heavily outweigh the rewards.
It will offend you, but being brutally honest-it’s usually not worth our time.
Too many bad outcomes for the knight in shining armor.
A church I used to attend would only get materially involved if the woman in question agreed to go directly to a shelter. Been burned too many times before.
A good friend of mine, happens to be a nurse, has story after story after story of abused women at the hospital who flatly refuse help. Won’t talk to police, deny anything happened, etc.
She is quite open in her opinion. You can’t save a woman who refuses to save herself. And she is a raging feminist.
So, saying this politely as I can… put a sock in it. Men, especially in today’s society, are not gonna run the substantial risks involved in “ standing up” until the women in question do so first. Then we’ll happy to help.
Women are supposed to be stunning, powerful, brave, empowered, blah blah blah. Act like it.
So hop down off your high horse, hang up your hair shirt, and you actually DO something first.
Convince men you’re actually serious. We’ll be there if you are.
In the meantime, stop wasting time and energy on the useless lump of a governor.
Trudy S says: “Men in Alaska leadership HAVE AN OBLIGATION to eradicate the 57+ percentage of domestic and/or sexual violence against women AND children.”
Interesting construct, that, as women initiate and participate in the festivities just as often as men do. Want to stop violence? Quit being a victim. Arm yourself. Train yourself. Adopt a Golden Rule lifestyle and get on with your life. Don’t expect nor demand anyone else solve your problem. Cheers –
We expected nothing good from Peoples Imperial State Senator Giessel, so we’re not surprised or disappointed.
.
Sure and the devils who paid to install Giessel must be well pleased.
Cathy Giessel has lost her way. It’s sad to see. I am one who trusted her at a moment in time. Very enlightening in terms of people who can turn in ways you never expected or in terms of people who never were who you thought they were. Keep leaning into truth. People are never going to stop attacking it. But it never changes.
I know it’s a cheap shot, but in that pic she looks like a women suffering from prolonged constipation.
I wonder if it’s an outward reflection of her lack of a soul.
When you elect a Bill Walker acolyte to the state senate, she is gonna walk, talk, eat, breathe and sleep all things Bill Walker. This is Cathy Giessel of 2023. At least she is consistent, though infuriating. Cheers –
She’s the Karl Schwabe of Alaska.
Giessel more likely never was prolife like murkowski likely never was a catholic. It was just the IN-thing to be when they first
entered the political arena as a young woman. Alaska men and women don’t need geissal telling the people who to be when giessal doesn’t know herself.
A large number who claim to be Catholic are fair weathered. Only claiming their faith when it is advantageous or to get them out of a jam. They are not full participants in faith.
It is interesting that the response is,
We don’t want to help women that don’t help themselves.
We don’t see the financial value in women to be their white knight, we’ve given them shelters and counseling to heal from being chipped away at.
Thats some sinister points of view.
I am saying to start on your side of the equation.
– that has documented statistics and quit putting a male issue that perpetuates geography, political lines, place in the community, etc.
I believe men in leadership need to start leading men to eradicate the ongoing male on women and children abuse.
Those response are like giving a percocet or oxytocin over and over again without addressing the underlying cause.
The underlying cause IS the fact that there IS over 57% of Alaska women who experienced physical and sexual violence in Alaska in 2022!
This statistic came from a State of Alaska GOVERNMENT funded information-seeking quest.
Here is the disconnect.
Government wants to spend money to find out what is happening.
Then the “leaders” spin-doctor it, or saddly, and more often, IGNORE the information.
Data collection is GOLD.
It is not a personal attack.
Data does not have Personality.
What data does beyond its collection, is data exposes “leaders” into other categories of data.
Are the leaders utilizing readily-available data to serve their constituents interests?
Because, the baseline measure of leadership is to serve those without influence and without power or money.
I certainly was not seeking a white knight to help me.
What I expect and demand is those self-proclaimed white knights to get off the back of their horses and do the work to effect change among other self-proclaimed white knights.
Talk with, mentor, inspire other boys and men that are stuck in a rut of abusing women and children.
Quit relying on the age-old band-aid effect and disregarding your roles by brushing this under the carpet.
There is always the out-lyers in statistics that cannot be changed.
But clearly 57% of women in Alaska being physically and/or sexually abused by Alaska Men in 2022 demonstrates that Alaska leaders are failing.
What that says right now–is that Alaska Leaders allow and breed this behavior.
Alaska is now a safe haven for abusers – especially since it has escalated by 8%!!
Here is the other thing.
Many men that become physical and sexual predators stems from having been victims of sexual and physical abuse themselves.
Women are called victims, men are told to suck it up.
I believe that stigma men who been abused with no way to heal is perpetuating the problem.
White Knight that.
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