Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I have written a number of posts for the Turley blog about The GOP’s war on women and proposed extreme anti-woman legislation which has been sponsored by members of the Republican party (here, here, here, here, here, and here). In a piece for Mother Jones, Stephanie Mencimer said that Paul Ryan has a “long history as a culture warrior”—and that people are taking “a fresh look” at it since Mitt Romney named Ryan as his running mate. I thought I’d do some investigating of my own to find out more about the Wisconsin “culture warrior’s” position on women’s issues.
According to Laura Bassett, Rep. Ryan “voted to defund federal family planning programs, authored a budget that dismantles Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, all of which disproportionately aid and employ women, and voted multiple times to prevent women in the military from using their own money to pay for abortions at military hospitals.”
Sylvia Casablanca, a medical doctor and holistic psychotherapist, wonders if Ryan will now “head the conservative war on women.” Casablanca wrote in a VOXXI article that Ryan “sounds, thinks, acts, so much like Rick Santorum!” She added that both men have spent much of their public lives “battling the things that matter most to women.” She continued, “He [Ryan] has been opposing contraception, eulogizing women who quit successful careers to be stay-at-home moms (like their own wives have done), and vowing to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal the Affordable Care Act. And, Ryan voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.”
Casablanca feels that Ryan’s stance on the issues mentioned above are “zilch” compared to his “support of a federal ban on abortion in all circumstances, including incest and rape.”
In her Mother Jones article, Mencimer also wrote the following:
What isn’t so well known about Ryan’s record, though, is that one piece of legislation he supported is so extreme that it would have turned Romney’s children into criminals.
The Sanctity of Human Life Act, which Ryan co-sponsored, would have enshrined the notion that life begins at fertilization in federal law, thus criminalizing in vitro fertilization—the process of creating an embryo outside of a woman’s womb. In IVF, doctors typically create multiple embryos and then only implant the healthiest ones in the woman. Some of them stick and become babies, and some don’t. The embryos that don’t make it to the womb are either frozen for later use or destroyed. The Sanctity of Human Life Act, if passed, would make all those embryos “people” in the legal sense, so if they aren’t used or don’t become babies after being implanted, they would essentially become murder victims under the law.
H.R. 212: Sanctity of Human Life/Personhood Bill
Sponsor’s Summary: To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization.
Excerpt from the text of H. R. 212:
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) FERTILIZATION- The term ‘fertilization’ means the process of a human spermatozoan penetrating the cell membrane of a human oocyte to create a human zygote, a one-celled human embryo, which is a new unique human being.
(2) CLONING- The term ‘cloning’ means the process called somatic cell nuclear transfer, that combines an enucleated egg and the nucleus of a somatic cell to make a human embryo.
(3) HUMAN; HUMAN BEING- The terms ‘human’ and ‘human being’ include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, beginning with the earliest stage of development, created by the process of fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent.
Link to MSNBC Hardball Video: Revisiting Ryan’s extreme pro-life positions: Chris Matthews talks with Kate Michaelman, former head of NARAL, and Politico’s Maggie Haberman about Paul Ryan’s extreme pro-life stance, and his support for a federal ‘personhood’ law.
In addition, Rep. Ryan is a cosponsor of some other “extreme” anti-woman legislation that has been introduced in Congress. To wit:
H.R. 3805: Ultrasound Informed Consent Act
Sponsor’s Summary: To ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion.
H.R. 3: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
Open Congress Summary: This bill would make permanent and expand the Hyde amendment restrictions on the use of federal funds for abortions. It seeks to prohibit even indirect funding streams that may potentially come in contact with abortion services. For example, it would deny tax credits to companies that offer health plans that cover abortions and it would block anybody with insurance that covers abortions from receiving federal subsidies or medical cost tax deductions, even if the abortion portion is paid separately with personal funds. Women who use tax-free Medical Savings Accounts would have to pay taxes on the costs of abortions.
H.R. 358: Protect Life Act aka “Let Women Die” Bill
Open Congress Summary: Amends the new health care law so that no federal money could be applied to health insurance plans that cover elective abortions, even if the abortion coverage is paid for entirely with private funds. It also states that a federal agency can not force a health care provider that accepts Medicare or Medicaid to provide abortion services, even in cases when the mother’s life is endangered.
From Human Rights Watch:
US: House Vote Puts Women at Risk
Bill Would Permit Hospitals to Let Women in Need of Care Die
(Washington, DC) – The United States House of Representatives approved a bill on October 13, 2011, that would put women’s lives at risk, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill, if it becomes law, would reverse longstanding federal policy requiring hospitals to provide life-saving care regardless of expense, Human Rights Watch said.
The Protect Life Act, HR 358, would amend the healthcare reform law to grant hospitals far-reaching powers to deny patients abortion care, without any exception for emergency situations. US law currently requires hospitals receiving federal funds to provide emergency care to anyone in need up to the point at which they can be stabilized or transferred, if the original hospital is incapable of providing the care they need.
“The misnamed Protect Life Act is about allowing women to die if they need an emergency abortion,” said Meghan Rhoad, women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is a vicious attack on women’s rights and on the most basic right to life.”
The Paul Ryan Vision: Ban Abortion, Defund Contraception, Outlaw In Vitro Fertilization
What do you think about Paul Ryan’s position on women’s issues?
SOURCES
Paul Ryan: the ‘Personhood’ Crocodile? (Huffington Post)
Paul Ryan Sponsored Fetal Personhood Bill, Opposes Family Planning Funds (Huffington Post)
Paul Ryan, new head of the Republican war on women? (VOXXI)
Bill Press: The Paul Ryan-Mitt Romney ticket: trouble for GOP (Newsday)
Sandra Fluke: 8 Points on Ryan’s Voting Record on Women’s Issues (Politic365)
Rep. Paul Ryan Supported the “Let Women Die” Bill (Blog for Choice)
How Did Your Representative Vote on the “Let Women Die” Bill? (Blog for Choice)
See How Your Lawmaker Voted on the “Let Women Die” Bill, H.R.358 (Prochoice America)
Sandra Fluke: Paul Ryan on women’s issues — so bad it’s unbelievable … but true (Lean Forward/MSNBC)
Five Reasons Why Paul Ryan Is Bad For Women’s Health (Think Progress)
The Paul Ryan Vision of America: Ban Abortion, Defund Contraception, Outlaw In Vitro Fertilization (Democracy Now)
List of Bills Sponsored and Cosponsored by Paul Ryan (Open Congress)
idealist707, Thanks. Believe me, I know how this echo chamber works. There are a few folks here I enjoy, yourself among them. I’ve upset the comfortable applecart, c’est la vie!
Funny, I just took a pause from watching Rachel Maddow’s latest show. She, now, is comparing Akin’t position versus Ryan’s. That is at 14:20. This is only one segment on a show dedicated to the whole abortion issue.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#48746354
You’re probably right elaine….. Dumbness knows no degree….race….or social economic variable…..or in this case political party affiliation……
AY,
I think there may be a lot of people who didn’t know that this same abortion language has been included in the Republican platform before. The Akin story has brought this all out into the light now.
Elaine,
Bron is from the i just was not clear enough club……I was misunderstood which based on his writings of past are just misnomers……. I still have a bridge to sell….. But he is not buying that…..
Bron,
From this morning’s Boston Globe:
Republican plank opposes all abortions
By Callum Borchers
http://bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2012/08/21/gop-platform-committee-would-ban-abortion-even-save-woman-life-adding-furor-over-senate-candidate-offensive-remarks-rape/z8RUoesNCeEfX5N0BXqWtJ/story.html
Excerpt:
The Republican platform committee approved language on Tuesday seeking a constitutional amendment that would ban abortions with no exceptions for rape, incest, or danger to the life of a pregnant woman, a position Democrats quickly labeled the “Akin Plank,” after embattled Representative Todd Akin of Missouri.
The wording of the GOP’s call for a “human life amendment” is no different from what the party approved in 2004 and 2008, but proponents and opponents alike greeted it with renewed zeal two days after Akin said he “understand[s] from doctors” that rape-induced pregnancies are “really rare,” and that “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
The remarks by Akin, a Republican trying to unseat Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, placed abortion and rape at the center of the national political scene. Akin rejected calls from presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and others in his own party to withdraw from the race, requesting “forgiveness” in a new TV ad and allowing a Tuesday deadline to pass without removing his name from the ballot.
GOP leaders worry that Akin’s refusal to leave the race will help reelect McCaskill in a close contest that could determine which party has a majority in the US Senate.
Akin’s remarks put a light on the platform’s call for a ban on abortion that otherwise might have drawn little attention. The Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus, noted that the absolute abortion ban “is the platform of the Republican Party; it is not the platform of Mitt Romney,” though the former Massachusetts governor has said in the past that he endorses identical language.
I come here after sleeping through most of your evening hours to catch up. I start at my last post where I stopped.
What do I find, A mounting argument between Nick, Elaine and Shano, and maybe others too.
As near as I can tell, they have at worse spoken sloppily, and/or misread what is written, looking for insults, and increasingly being uncivil to each other with grove accusations at the last leading to “go to hells” from all. Was this “CÍVIL TURLEY’S” blawg I was at?
Now I would NEVER do such things, so I venture to suggest to them to find the comment that angered you, read the five previous comment to get context and correct content. Then read forward, looking for your and the others mistakes. Particularly your own. I guarantee they are there.
I won’t stand in judgement on your respective parts. But I would like to thank Nick for opening a new source of sorrow for me to investigate, the infertile couple. And the difficulties of finding adopters for children here in America. Or even to find folks to help those organizations who would help the process for the mothers and the babies.
It maybe was not the right point to bring it up. It seems so. Your passionate statements can be misinterpreted. Most of what we say can, for that matter. Jeez, yes.
Both Elaine and Shano are VERY compassionate and passionate persons, but they are slso human. And hasty readers, which we all are. Only polymaths are perfect as OS points out.
Not a snart, just a joke.
I noted how you oldtimers congregated around Elaine (mostly) dealing out strokes to calm down and bring an end to the bad atmosphere. I approve, not that you care. But maybe Nick was worth some consideration there too.
My reading says so. But extablished buddies come first, I understand how it works.
Nick, stop looking at all the faults here. Won’t get you anything but your own misery. Note them and go on.
Adapt. And I am giving advice again. Hubris.
Was it GeneH who said that “taking your theory and looking for supporting evidence was not science” (as I remember it)? Damn good advice for us all who come with preconceptions. You’ll likely find the proof you expected to be here.
OS
I’m no fool. The first thing I would do is hand him ALL my money and ask if he would like the pin number on my ATM card.
Curious, most polymaths are scary in one way or another.
A mild suggestion; if Gene ever offers to play Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit with you for money, don’t take him up on it.
Gene,
I repeat. You’re one scary guy.
Interesting.
But scary.
Very enjoyable, Elaine. Thanks for the links. And as an aficionado of catchy titles? “Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing” is a gem sitting atop a luxurious and intricate setting.
“The music smells like foxes,
crisp as heated metal
searing the nostrils
or humid as August, hazy and languorous
as a looted city the day after,
when all the rape’s been done
already, and the killing,
and the survivors wander around
looking for garbage
to eat, and there’s only a bleak exhaustion.”
Oh please. A woman after my own heart. That kind of deft verbal artistry simply makes me fall in love for the first time all over again. If I were a bit more contemporaneously compatible with the author? I might have to travel north with armed with bouquet and candy to declare my affections.
Elaine,
I believe that same plank has been in past Republican platforms. I would be surprised if it doesn’t stay in.
Otteray,
They are the tools at hand…to the extremely wealthy–just like some of the Democrats.
Gene,
Here’s an excerpt from Atwood’s poem “Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing”
by Margaret Atwood
The world is full of women
who’d tell me I should be ashamed of myself
if they had the chance. Quit dancing.
Get some self-respect
and a day job.
Right. And minimum wage,
and varicose veins, just standing
in one place for eight hours
behind a glass counter
bundled up to the neck, instead of
naked as a meat sandwich.
Selling gloves, or something.
Instead of what I do sell.
You have to have talent
to peddle a thing so nebulous
and without material form.
Exploited, they’d say. Yes, any way
you cut it, but I’ve a choice
of how, and I’ll take the money.
I do give value.
Like preachers, I sell vision,
like perfume ads, desire
or its facsimile. Like jokes
or war, it’s all in the timing.
I sell men back their worse suspicions:
that everything’s for sale,
and piecemeal…
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16369
After giving the matter some thought, I have come to the conclusion the GOP believes in neither democracy or a republican form of government. They merely use the tools at hand to accomplish their goals.
Gene,
I used Atwood’s poem “You Begin” as the model for the wedding poem that I wrote for my daughter and son-in-law.
Here’s how the poem begins:
You begin this way:
this is your hand,
this is your eye,
that is a fish, blue and flat
on the paper, almost
the shape of an eye.
This is your mouth, this is an O
or a moon, whichever
you like. This is yellow.
Outside the window
is the rain, green
because it is summer, and beyond that
the trees and then the world,
which is round and has only
the colors of these nine crayons.
This is the world, which is fuller
and more difficult to learn than I have said.
You are right to smudge it that way
with the red and then
the orange: the world burns.
You’ll find the entire poem and hear an audio of Atwood reading it at the following link:
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16789
Elaine:
Atwood was as prescient as George Orwell.
Elaine,
I’m afraid my Atwood experience is limited to her novels, but next time I’m in the mood to read some poetry, I’ll check her’s out.
Gyges,
Is the libretto of that opera written in Canadian? It is Atwood’s native tongue after all. 😉
Gene,
I enjoy reading her poetry too.