Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
I don’t think Barry Goldwater would recognize Conservatism or his Republican Party if he was alive today. Conservatism used to mean belief in safe and sound economic spending and freedom for all from governments getting too large and too restrictive on personal freedoms. Recently we have seen Republicans offer up a brand new and dangerous definition of rape in an attempt to restrict abortions and to restrict government money being used to pay for them. Now we are seeing another Republican attempt to restrict the use of contraceptives under the guise of ending the alleged use of Federal funds to pay for abortions.
A recent article outlined the legislation proposed by Rep. Mike Spence of Indiana to eliminate the entire $327 million dollar budget for Title X. Title X is a program that provides funding for women’s health and family planning costs. “The measure would eliminate all $327 million in funding for Title X, a family planning program that began 40 years ago under President Richard Nixon. And while Planned Parenthood receives millions of dollars from the program, Title X funds cannot be used for abortion services. The money is to be used for noncontroversial family planning services, mostly for low-income families.”
Rep. Spence and his fellow Republicans are trying to defund Planned Parenthood because it receives millions from Title X funds to assist women in their family planning and health matters. In order to try to end abortions without testing the strength of Roe v. Wade in the courts, the sponsors and backers of this bill don’t care if low-income women suffer by not getting the health care that they so desperately need. Many of these same legislators also backed the repeal of the Affordable Health Care act which would also assist low-income women get affordable health care.
The proposed legislation would end all monies from Title X and the effects of those funds drying up could be catastrophic for women. “The pro-abortion-rights group NARAL said the legislation would lead to more unwanted pregnancies by cutting funding for contraceptives. “The new anti-choice House leadership now wants to take away birth control and cancer screenings from millions of American women and men,” said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL. “While these politicians attack abortion coverage from every angle, they now want to deny funding for birth control, even though that’s the best way to prevent unintended pregnancy. Americans will not stand for this blatant hypocrisy.” ‘
Is it just me or do I detect a pattern here? What do these mostly male Republicans have against women? I was thinking of writing an article asking when America will have its own “Egyptian” moment, but maybe I should ask when will American Women have their “Egyptian” moment?
Source: Raw Story
Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
Craig:
What Buddha said.
Blouise:
Thanks for the tip – I know I should know better than to feed the trolls but I kinda get a kick out of the anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-women folks spinning their wheels trying to justify forcing their morality on everyone else. Then they whine about everyone else doing it to them. If it weren’t so laughable, it would be pitiful.
I think I’m done with Craig at this point, any way. It’s getting old and getting boring. Need to find some new entertainment 🙂
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Mike S:
I bow to your common sense, reason and clarity.
Science.
Stamford Lib said: “Any man who believes they have the right to dictate to a woman what they can and cannot do with their body, particularly when they purport to be champions of the right of privacy, is a coward, hiding behind fake machismo in order to justify their piggishness. My comment stands.”
If assertions capped with psychoanalysis with a twist of conjecture meant anything, I guess you’d have something.
We disagree as to whether the unborn are living persons…by simply appealing to your belief otherwise, you have merely made a statement of faith.
Well, I believe the unborn are living persons. What makes your statement of faith any more weighty than mine?
Elaine and Blouise,
I did see that story about the Georgia Rep. who wants to set up the uterus police! This stuff is crazier than fiction.
Mike S.,
As usual, well said. This attack on women’s rights is based on religion and is a small example of what the American Taliban looks like. The Religious Right wants to return to the days when women were second class citizens. If that Georgia Rep. doesn’t convince you of that, nothing will.
Stamford Liberal,
I see you are engaging the “troll” … don’t get too attached for he doesn’t maintain an identity for long … usually there are three personalities … my favorite was the “jailbirds” … my second favorite was the “mercenaries” … my least favorite was the “mormons” (the verb in this case is purposely singular even though the noun is plural)
I like putting him on a camel and sending him to the Biker Bar
Elaine M:
Thank you for the link! As Blouise did, I forwarded it to a few of my girlfriends.
“Millions of women have miscarriages–through no fault of their own. It is a heartbreaking experience for most of them. Imagine the “uterus Police” investigating every miscarriage–and assuming women who suffer miscarriages may be guilty of a crime???”
I’m always told by the anti-choice anti-women folks that miscarriages are part of “gods” plan. Going by Bobby Franklin’s logic, I guess that means god will be served with a few hundred-thousand arrest warrants every day.
Blouise,
IMO, there are too many politicians in this country who are batshit crazy! I can’t keep up with all the stories about nutty folks like Rep. Franklin and the bills they propose. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE???
I am weary of the anti-abortion, anti-birth control and anti-woman haters of this world. My religion believes that life begins at birth, when the breath of God gives life to the child. Why should another’s religion, that believes differently get the right to decide the issue?
In Christianity and in Islam that are reasons why this misogynistic mindset exists. Many of those given voice by Constantine at the Council of Nicaea, were believers in the idea that women were evil temptresses and so through the history of Christianity there has been in many quarters a strident anti-women theme. As for Islam, even though their Prophet had a more advanced view of womanhood for his time (though very far from perfect), after his death the age old tradition of keeping women in their place and with it multiple wives for the well off, remained. Judaism too has its’ strain of the Mid-Eastern cultural bias against women.
Many men fear women for the “power” they hold over them. In my opinion these are the men most likely to have bought into the myth that one’s sexual success defines manhood. How can they really love, or even sexually satisfy a women when they fear them psychologically? They secretly suspect and in fact they are bad lovers, simply because you cannot really have good sexuality, if the object of that sexuality, is perceived as someone to be feared/loathed?
So where does that leave men like this? It leaves them trying to punish women for their own sexuality and trying to control there reproductive choices. At the same time I suspect that many of these men, with their psychological undertone of misogyny, take secret pleasure in their efforts to force women into being second class citizens, lacking the right to control their own bodies.
Now it is true that many women too are anti-abortion and anti-women’s rights. How that fits in to my mind is that first we have the male-dominated fundamentalist propaganda, which they have bought into. Secondly, it might be their own fear, or dissatisfaction with their sexuality. Thirdly, for them it may well be the Stockholm Syndrome.
In the pantheon of the anti-abortion movement, only the RCC to its’ logical credit believes that government assistance should be provided to unwed mothers. The Fundamentalist Christians in this country don’t want any assistance given and in that they expose themselves for the frightened misogynists they are. They care about babies up until their birth and then support governmental and social neglect of the child once it is born.
This issue has never been about right to life and indeed some of the greatest supporters politically of the anti-abortion movement are totally amoral in their private lives. The issue is the need for males to completely dominate women as a means of alleviating their deepest fears.
Craig:
“I did come up with that quip by my lonesome-”
Mommy must be very proud of your “creativity.”
“I don’t think that, nor anything else I’ve said, displays any form of “machismo”.”
Any man who believes they have the right to dictate to a woman what they can and cannot do with their body, particularly when they purport to be champions of the right of privacy, is a coward, hiding behind fake machismo in order to justify their piggishness. My comment stands.
Abortion is a decision to be made between a woman and her doctor – that’s it. Not a decision to be made between a woman, her doctor and the bohunk standing there like a fool spouting of their definition of morality.
“I’m not sure how you know you know this since you don’t know where I got my information…but somehow you “just know” (my wife has a uterus, and she’s not sure how you miraculously “know better”, either).”
How nice. You’re wife is just as “bright” as you are. Congrats.
“If they performed as many abortions as they claim (305,310) and the average cost is $450 (this is a reasonable estimate), then that equals: $137,389,500
Total revenue: $374,700,000
Divide $137,389,500 by $374,700,000 and you get your percentage: 36.7%”
I appreciate the link, thanks. But, keep in mind that since the price of abortions can range, your calculations are a bit skewed. And, good. PP makes money. What company isn’t in business to do so? Or are government subsidies only supposed to be for companies that you approve of? LOL. At any rate, and as I’ve stated before, regardless, I am a firm supporter of ALL services provided by PP.
“If I wanted to really demonize PP, I think I would have come up with a different number than 36% of their revenue comes from abortion…maybe I should have said 95% instead…but what we know is that 36% of their revenue comes from abortion. Yes, they offer a myriad of services, and although abortion makes up a small percentage of a meaningless measure it makes up the lion share of their profitability (the other large portion is government money). Follow the money.”
Money that undoubtedly goes back into PP in order to provide free services for women unable to pay for them. You know, those lower income women who cannot afford insurance nor private doctors. In my mind, that is a good thing.
“Part of PP’s services include adoption referrals…which was a fraction of 1/% of their service offerings…keep in mind, you (and PP) want us to think they offer a buffet of services…abortion makes up 3% of their services, but makes up 36% of PP’s revenue…certainly adoption, being a small fraction of their service offerings (like abortion) would be nearly a third of their abortion rate (if the numbers were commensurate)…no. PP’s own “fact sheet” (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/fact_ppservices_2010-09-03.pdf)lists their TOTAL number of adoption referrals as 2,405 for year 2008. for every 130 or so abortions PP provides, they give 1 adoption referral.”
PP is in the “health services” business, not “adoption referral” business. But, given this information, I would think that even one less abortion would be enough to make you as giddy as a school girl. Instead of looking at this as a positive, you complain – waaa. Typical.
“There’s money in abortion…perhaps that’s why PP offers condoms with a higher rate of failure than many other kinds?”
There are a whole host of reasons why women prefer condoms to birth control pills, none of which you are privy to. Unless, of course, you can read minds. If so, do a little research and report your findings. I’ll wait with bated breath … lmao.
Elaine,
Sent your above link to a couple of “activist” friends in Georgia and received an immediate “Thank You” response.
I’m reposting the last paragraph of that excerpt of the Daily Kos article I posted above. I think EVERY woman should read it!!!!!
“It gets worse. Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated. If the woman can’t tell how it happened, than those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened. Hospitals are required to keep records of anyone who has a spontaneous abortion and report it. Yup, we’ve been waiting for someone to suggest this–and Franklin has.”
**********
Millions of women have miscarriages–through no fault of their own. It is a heartbreaking experience for most of them. Imagine the “uterus Police” investigating every miscarriage–and assuming women who suffer miscarriages may be guilty of a crime???
Swarthmore mom,
I looked up that story:
From Daily Kos (2/17/2011)
GA Legislator Wants to Create The Uterus Police to Investigate Miscarriages
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/02/17/946257/–GALegislator-Wants-to-Create-The-Uterus-Police-to-Investigate-Miscarriages
Excerpt:
They do this every session in the state legislature here in Georgia. Someone introduces a bill that would make abortion a criminal act. And, yes, this year is no exception. This year’s legislation was introduced by House Republican Bobby Franklin ( [ the same guy ]who wants rape victims to be called “accusers”). Franklin is one of the more, ahem, colorful members of the legislature, bless his heart. According to him, SCOTUS had no right to rule on abortion and thus GA can do whatever it damned well pleases. Oh, and you’d better be able to prove your miscarriage was natural or face felony charges/.
Franklin’s H1 basically says that GA has a duty to protect all innocent life from the moment of conception until natural death (yet he also proposed a bill last session that would forbid the CDC from requiring mandatory flu vaccinations in a pandemic; apparently preventing massive deaths from a pandemic don’t come under the heading of protecting life). He announces that we all know life begins at conception, and that abortion is “prenatal homicide”. Furthermore, he states that a fetus is (or should be) a person under GA law, and thus entitled to equal protection under the law (yet gay adults shouldn’t be allowed to marry, according to Representative Franklin, under that same equal protection clause in the GA constitution).
But not content with ignoring federal law on t he matter, he proceeds to take on the SCOTUS and Roe v. Wade. Just because SCOTUS can’t define when life begins, doesn’t mean that GA can’t,s since we all know it begins at conception. Because some idiot like him, who graduated from a damned Bible college and who isn’t a lawyer, obviously knows more about constitutional law than the Supreme Court. According to he esteemed but not terribly smart Mr. Franklin, the federal government is only allowed to handle five crimes–and murder isn’t one of them (yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds). Since abortion is murder of a “pre-natal human being” GA can and will criminalize it.
According to this law, any human intervention other than delivering a living fetus is a crime. Every physician must make an equal effort to save the life of mother and fetus, but if the fetus does die after such an effort, it isn’t a crime. It allows an exception for spontaneous abortion AKA miscarriage–but only if there is no human intervention involved.
That banging sound you hear is me beating my head against the stone wall of sheer stupidity.
It goes on to state that any attempt to remove a fetus from the mother except to facilitate a live birth is murder. The doctor MUST do everything to save the life of both fetus and mother, but if the fetus doesn’t survive despite this, it’s not a crime. Abortion is now a form of murder.
I can see so many issues with this bill.
There are situations where you can’t save the life of both fetus and mother.
* What if the woman learns that she has cancer and must terminate the pregnancy in order to get treatment? No exception for that in this bill.
* What about a case where the woman is hemorrhaging, the bleeding can’t be stopped and the doctor must save her and abort the fetus? No exception for that.
* What if she has a partial miscarriage, and is bleeding heavily. Must she wait until her body naturally ejects the dead fetus, even though carrying a dead fetus can lead to septic shock? Doesn’t sound like there’s an exception for that.
* What if it’s an ectopic pregnancy? You cannot save the fetus and the mother in such a case.
* What if the woman is told she’s carrying an anecephalic fetus with only a brain stem which will be non-viable outside the womb? Must she carry that fetus full-term?
It gets worse. Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated. If the woman can’t tell how it happened, than those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened. Hospitals are required to keep records of anyone who has a spontaneous abortion and report it. Yup, we’ve been waiting for someone to suggest this–and Franklin has.
Link to the Bill:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display.aspx?Legislation=31965
Stammering Liberal,I did come up with that quip by my lonesome-
I don’t think that, nor anything else I’ve said, displays any form of “machismo”. I bet about half of all abortions destroy what would otherwise grow into a woman (complete with uterus and all). I think murdering little girls is contrary to a woman’s health…it doesn’t take a vagina to know that, regardless of how long my arms may (or may not) be or whether my knuckles suffer callauses from constant dragging.
Stammering Liberal: “I could very easy (sic) take your stats as fact – but I know better.”
I’m not sure how you know you know this since you don’t know where I got my information…but somehow you “just know” (my wife has a uterus, and she’s not sure how you miraculously “know better”, either).
Look at PP’s 2008 report (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/AR08_vFinal.pdf)
If they performed as many abortions as they claim (305,310) and the average cost is $450 (this is a reasonable estimate), then that equals: $137,389,500
Total revenue: $374,700,000
Divide $137,389,500 by $374,700,000 and you get your percentage: 36.7%
If I wanted to really demonize PP, I think I would have come up with a different number than 36% of their revenue comes from abortion…maybe I should have said 95% instead…but what we know is that 36% of their revenue comes from abortion. Yes, they offer a myriad of services, and although abortion makes up a small percentage of a meaningless measure it makes up the lion share of their profitability (the other large portion is government money). Follow the money.
Part of PP’s services include adoption referrals…which was a fraction of 1/% of their service offerings…keep in mind, you (and PP) want us to think they offer a buffet of services…abortion makes up 3% of their services, but makes up 36% of PP’s revenue…certainly adoption, being a small fraction of their service offerings (like abortion) would be nearly a third of their abortion rate (if the numbers were commensurate)…no. PP’s own “fact sheet” (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/PPFA/fact_ppservices_2010-09-03.pdf)lists their TOTAL number of adoption referrals as 2,405 for year 2008. for every 130 or so abortions PP provides, they give 1 adoption referral.
There’s money in abortion…perhaps that’s why PP offers condoms with a higher rate of failure than many other kinds?
Saw where some republican rep in Georgia wants miscarriages investigated.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky2gylhdXRA&w=480&h=390]
Craig
Did you come up with that all by yourself? How cute, but, I’ve been called far worse by people much smarter than you. Yawn.
Since you were too busy foaming at the mouth over one aspect of PP’s services, you missed the point of my post. What was the point? Allow me to reiterate – PP provides infinitely more services than abortion. I merely pointed out this very simple fact.
See, PP provides a myriad of services specifically for women, you know, those breasts-vagina-hormone thingy’s we’ve got going on. Specific services that are not available from standard issue docs-in-a-box and services not needed by men. In particular, PP provides said services to women who cannot afford private healthcare, nor can they afford a private OB/GYN.
I could very easy take your stats as fact – but I know better. I would like to see where you got your information from. And, preferably verifiable and from reputable sources. Although, it is highly unlikely that said stats will change my opinion of PP. But, feel free.
In closing, until you suddenly and miraculously sprout a uterus, I will view your opinion as one from a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal with an overly inflated ego, an overly inflated sense of self and an embarrassingly inflated sense of machismo.
Lottakatz:
I wasnt joking. I am in favor of the 13th amendment and would not want to repeal that one. We dont want to enslave liberals, we just want them to understand that we are not their slaves.
Lottakatz:
I wasnt joking. The 13th amendment is a good one. We dont want liberals to be slaves, we just want them to learn that the rest of us are not slaves.
Stammering Liberal,
Try to get the talking points straight…PP likes to talk about how abortion only accounts for 3% of its services, not 6%.
Also, you need to follow the money. Just because a particular service (i.e. baby murder) accounts for only “6%” of “service offerings”…that doesn’t mean the income associated with it is commensurate with that percentage.
Abortion makes up 36.7% of PP’s revenue…6% sounds pretty silly when you use a real measure…when you say 6% (or 3%) and compare it to the actual revenue from abortion, it’s clear such a number is a misdirection.
PP’s bread and butter is the blood of children. It accounts for approx $367,000,000 of their $1,000,000,000 in total revenue. PP is acknoweldged by all to be the largest abortion provider in the U.S…since Roe v Wade America has “legally” aborted 50 million+ children…and PP can be thanked for the lion share. But hey, your talking point says PP offers a buffet of services…pretty weak, and there is the blood of 50 million children crying out for justice.