I don’t know if the “War on Women” Republicans are accused of waging is an overstatement or not, but I do know they are doing things that suggest they have an irrational hostility toward women. It all centers around anti-abortion laws being enacted in Republican controlled state legislatures and a bill the Republican controlled House of Representatives is expected to pass today. The essence of all of these laws passed and/or proposed is to eliminate a woman’s right to choose.
I believe abortion is a serious issue that deserves thoughtful discussion, debate, and action by responsible political leaders. Like it or not, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, but the application of that decision has yet to be settled law. Is it a matter of unlimited freedom of choice or does government have a right and responsibility to place reasonable limits on that choice? People of good will and sound thinking can and do hold opposing views on how those questions should be answered and then made into public policy.
The problem for the Republicans is that people of good will and sound thinking are not leading their fight against abortion rights. Instead they have people like Todd Akin (former Representative from Missouri) and now Trent Franks (R-AZ) leading the charge. But the Republican problem runs deeper than ridiculous comments by the likes of these men. It is, instead, rooted in the disrespect and disdain Republican legislation shows for women. This is the real story about what is happening.
Take one quite unambiguous example. Several legislatures have passed laws that require a woman seeking an abortion to undergo a useless, needless vaginal ultra-sound examination. These laws are wrong on so many levels, but at bottom all of them reflect a complete lack of trust in the ability of women to make this decision for themselves. Forcing anyone to undergo a medical procedure they do not want to have is not only absurd, it runs against the grain of the number one mantra conservatives make all the time, that they don’t want the government telling them how to live their lives. Talk about hypocrisy.
In my most cynical moment I could say that the backlash from women voters Republicans will continue to experience because of these ill conceived and ill-fated laws couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch. But more is at stake here than the crash and burn actions of Republicans across the country. More important is the institutionalizing of an attitude toward women that insists they need men to protect them from themselves, that they cannot be trusted to manage their own lives or make good decisions for their own lives, that when women disagree with men about personal decisions the will of men must prevail.
I don’t know if you have looked at what is going on in and around the world today, especially in our own country, but from my perspective it borders on lunacy to suggest the men who are running things are doing a good job. Quite the opposite, really. The state of the world is an unequivocal argument for having more women in seats of power. Sadly that requires the men who are already sitting there to recognize they need help and to admit that women are intelligent, capable, and without the need to be taken care of by men.
If anyone needs taken care of, needs to have someone make decisions for them because they cannot make good ones for themselves, it is Republican male politicians. Indeed, I think they need the women of America to save them from themselves. Otherwise they will discover when it is too late that having the foolish day in the sun they are having because they hold the power to do stupid things was destined from the beginning to end badly for them. I cannot imagine there will be many women voters around to help pick up the pieces.
linnposts.com 
Your title “Republican Disdain for Women” is extremely insulting because of the ignorance you have. The worst “sin” of Liberals is that they are NOT LIBERAL ENOUGH to see the other side of their personal views, to really listen to the message the “other side” is really sending, and not just “imagine” they have a handle on Republican viewpoints. Republicans come in many shades of grey, some more conservative and some more progressive. You lump everyone into YOUR version . . . and you are wrong to do so!
Phrases like “irrational hostility toward women” is merely YOUR narrow-minded piece of propaganda. Also your terminology “rooted in disrespect and distain” . . . and then you “assume” that YOU have the “real story.” So that makes YOU the ultimate “authoritiy”????
Ultra sounds never hurt anyone. They educate a mother about the living, moving body within her own. IT MATTERS! With information, she will have a better opportunity for TRUTH . . . BEFORE she “chooses”. Then legally she can kill the DNA inside her or choose to bring her baby to term. What is your problem with that! You ATTEMPT to say that this is “telling women how to live their lives” . . . that women are not being trusted to manage their own lives. Don’t think so!! I say that your version of keeping women ignorant of what is growing inside her body is a way of “controling” them to “go ahead and abort if you FEEL you don’t want a baby for any reason whatsoever.”
The law right now is that abortion is legal. So be it. Most Republicans accept that (hard conservatives want to stop all abortions). To me, it is ALL ON YOUR CONSCIENCE–I HOPE YOU CAN LIVE WITH ABORTION FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, IF YOU CHOSE THAT ROUTE. THE “MIGHT HAVE BEEN, THE COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY” thoughts. The suicides that are a result of later regrets.
Personally, I think that YOU are an idiot. Ignorant. Uninformed. Narrow-minded.
I am sure you wanted to say much more, but you certainly said enough to make your position clear. Too bad you decided to get personal at the end. No matter. I still stand by what I wrote. But thanks for your comments, at least up to a point.
OK, so cross off the LAST LINE (PARAGRAPH) AND PUT MY RESPONSE ON YOUR BLOG WITHOUT IT. That should take the “personal” out of it. What you wrote, your total statements, were extremely INSULTING to me, and I responded to explain the discrepancy to you. That not all Republicans are hard-core “right” wing conservatives– they have their opinions, and I respect that. But do you? We do live in a pluralistic society, and NOBODY — right or left — are going to have it ALL “their” way! That is not reasonable. But you seem to think that you can insult one side of the fence and castigate them for views they do NOT all have. I do not see you has having a very fair opinion to relay, because you are undoubtedly one sided ONLY! As I stated up front: Most liberals are NOT LIBERAL ENOUGH!
Too late. Your first comment was posted in full. Sorry. In response to what you wrote the second time, opinions are naturally one sided because they are opinions. The question is whether they have evidence to support them. Given what Republicans are doing across the country and in Congress, I think my opinion is based on their actions. I didn’t make up the example I cited. I didn’t make up what they did today in the House. So the issue isn’t that an opinion is one-sided. It is whether or not it is grounded in evidence. You don’t think mine was. Fine. I can respect your opinion without accepting it as valid. I simple ask for the same courtesy.
Jan I think your comments are spot on.
It is interesting that the small unobtrusive government so loved by the right wing goes out the window with this topic. The right wing has managed to make the discussion about abortion rather than the rights of a woman to control her body. To frame the discussion around this is a loser for them and they know it.
“Right Wing”??? How about “Center Wing”. “Right” and “left” sounds like a preference for oppositional anger/behavior. Most people are Centrists. Half the population is for, other half against, abortion, most riding “Centrist”. Your words ” . . . for THEM and THEY know it.” are terms of division. Women already “control their body” when they choose birth control or not, when they have an abortion or not. Nobody is “controling” someone else’s body with educational information about a process.
Boys like to eat peanut butter; Pete is a boy; therefore Pete likes to eat peanut butter. FALSE: Pete is allergic to peanut butter and could die from it. Same type analogy applies to “Republicans Disdain for Women” ! It does NOT compute as logic, because policies that are introduced against all types of abortions does NOT mean women are “disdained” by men. You are attempting to make a judgement based on an illogical syllogism (look it up). Therefore, your “conclusion” that “Republicans Disdain Women” is seriously flawed, totally illogical.
The fact that one disagrees with someone does not give one the right to call that someone names.
My view on the abortion issue is that it has been blown way out of proportion by emotions and an appetite for a fight over emotional issues. I think Bill Clinton defined the ground rules for addressing the abortion issue quite well several years ago when he said that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. We seem to have forgotten that guidance in recent times. I think it is time for all the combatants on this issue to sit back, take a deep breath, respect the Roe v Wade decision, and go on to more pressing issues (of which America has a huge supply)
Hmm. Some emotions stirred on this one! At least there were more responses than the last time you touched on this topic. My first thought on abortion is always that it is a symptom and second that we humans have killed our infants since our beginnings. Only in the last century has the killing shifted to the womb. To really tackle abortion and womens rights to legal, safe and infrequent ones seriously one must get to the causes, which vary and are imbedded in the fabric of society so therefore are much more difficult to address.
One of the fundamental issues we face is our capacity for self sufficiency (making a living) is some two decades beyond our capacity for self perpetuation (reproductive maturity). The reality is that people WILL have sex so it has to be done in ways that don’t lead to children before they’re capable of caring for them. A nurturing society will care for ALL IT’S CHILDREN by providing every educational and health benefit to secure the well-being of ALL IT’S CITIZENS. When nurturing happens at all levels (personal, family and community) the capacity of every individual toward wise and healthy choices, in safety, is enhaced to its maximum. Capacity is paramount because individual responsibility is always subject to individual capacity. When we create a society that individually AND collectively nurtures all members this issue will decline dramatically; along with sooo many others.
Ultimately, the abortion decision is DEEPLY personal for BOTH the woman and the man and society needs to allow them to value THEIR reconciliation of it, whatever the choice. I have been in this situation myself with my former wife, agonized over it with her, got counseling and we chose to abort. I am satisfied we did the right thing at that time in our lives. I’d NEVER do anything to make this process more difficult for anyone else.