My parents always said "stop when you are ahead." Seems Republicans can't.
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) faced scorn and ridicule from members of his own party this week after expressing his belief that rape victims don't need to have access to abortion because "legitimate rape" rarely results in pregnancies. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called his comments "wrong, offensive, and indefensible" and was just one in a chorus of Republicans calling on Akin to drop his U.S. Senate bid.
While many Republicans may not have used Akin's blunt wording, his sentiments are not unusual in the GOP. Just two days after he made his remarks, the party voted to incorporate strict anti-abortion language into its platform, with no exception for pregnancies that result from rape or incest.
So which is it? Do Republicans "scorn and ridicule" his view or believe it?
There are more than 40 House and Senate candidates besides Akin -- including Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the man who has been tapped as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate -- who want to ban abortion access even for women who have been victims of rape or incest.
Guess we have our answer.
In 2010, Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle received a significant amount of national attention when she told young rape victims to make "a lemon situation into lemonade" -- the "lemon situation" being the rape, and the "lemonade" being giving birth to, and raising, the child. Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck stated, "I don't believe in the exceptions of rape or incest," and backed a constitutional ban on abortion.
Rotten lemons made for horrible lemonaide. Seems the Republicans are rotten to the core.
What world are these Republicans living in? It's okay to cut spending on anything that helps poor families but family planning, which would help all of us, including the poor, isn't okay. It's an evident truth that a fetus is entitled to life no matter what, but not evident that if we are paying into Social Security, working for a living, supporting ourselves and our families, trying to stay healthy that we deserve to have decent lives, lives that are not filled with the worry that a rape or an accidental pregnancy or a pregnancy where the fetus has a serious, possibly fatal problem, will be forced to completion to serve some ridiculous quasi political/religious ideology with no basis in reality.
ReplyDeleteThese Republicans have a ridiculous, unrealistic view of life, especially women's lives. We are the ones who become pregnant. We are the ones whose bodies bear the risk. Most of the time we are the ones who stay home and shoulder most of the child rearing work. We are paid less, we are taken less seriously, and now, like children we're being told that the Republican party has a serious candidate who believes that a legitimate rape cannot result in pregnancy and it is against the Republican party platform to allow women to control their bodies.
We are living in the 21st century, aren't we? Or has alchemy and magic made a comeback? That's what all of this sounds like to me and, I'm sure, to many others.
GOP SAYS THEY WANT SMALL GOV. Then they stick their noses in uterus's and people bedrooms with discrimination against gays. They contradict themselves and try to shove religion down our throats.
ReplyDeleteNo.....the 'truth' is that the repugnant stand on abortion is the 'some' of them disagree as to whether a mother's life should be saved over that of the fetus......other than that they want no abortion for rape or incest.......I suspect that even saving the mother's life comes down to male selfishness......even they know that once the fetus actually becomes a baby someone needs to raise him and therefore some repugnants find a reason to let the mother live.
ReplyDeleteOnly a very small part of the republican party stands with Americans on this issue......Ryan co-sponsored a bill with Akins which forbids abortion for rape and incest......the republican party is in complete chaos as the two factions fight for control....Romney is not a strong enough leader to stand firm on this issue with regard to rape and incest. Nancy
ReplyDeleteSharron Angle is the DEVIL.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Akin's daughter were RAPED by a big black man how he'd feel about the no exception rule. I mean no disrespet to the black people. I only point this out because i'm sure Akin's is a racist.
ReplyDeleteGOP = American Taliban.
ReplyDelete