There’s just so much of this nonsense. As a woman, who’s also raising a teen daughter, it’s overwhelming and frightening. It’s also disheartening when issues that directly impact over 50% of the country are dismissed as single-issue votes. Women do not view abortion or contraception as a “pet” issue. These issues directly affect our economy. Having a child is one of the biggest economic decisions for both men and women. If only we treated these issues with the same freak out we display when it came to a gas tax and tax cuts – and, make no mistake, abortion and contraception are a way bigger deal than things like the gas tax and tax cuts. Mainly because cutting/raising taxes won’t make a damn bit of difference to a woman’s (who’s forced to give birth) economy.
And yeah, I’m going to keep writing about women’s issues, mainly because it’s really all the GOP talks about. They link controlling women to every flippin’ bill they pen. It’s almost impossible to discuss anything the GOP puts forth without discussing women – and religion and gay people. All Republican roads lead to controlling sex.
I’m going to deal with Brownback’s comments about what improves the economy first.
“It’s working,” Brownback agreed. “What we want Kansas to be is the best place in America to do two things: raise a family, grow a small business.”
“And we are moving that way,” he continued. “I’ve signed 10 pro-life bills, there’s another one moving through the legislature on ending dismemberment abortions, where you actually dismember the child to abort it. It’s passed the state Senate, it’s going to pass the House, and I’m going to sign it.”
According to Perkins, Kansas was proving that a “pro-family agenda” was “entwined” with economic growth.
“They really support each other,” Brownback agreed. “Frankly, one of the big problems we have in the country is we’re not forming enough families. And that is hurting our economic work and hurting our economic projection because the best place for that child is within a strong family. And if you’re not forming a family unit, you are also slowing your economic performance.”
“So, these things really tie together. And I think we really do a disservice politically when we separate them,” he opined.
The idea that having unplanned/unwanted babies forms strong families is ludicrous. It’s actually one of the main reasons a couple falls apart. Is Brownback really claiming that making abortion illegal (or very difficult to obtain) would result in an improved economy because more women would have to give birth? It sure sounds like it. And I fully expect this idea to become Republican gospel. After all, it would result in women who aren’t mothers being blamed for a bad economy. It’s a natural fit. Sorta like Romney linking single parents for gun violence. And blaming women and minorities is the go-to for the GOP.
And speaking of guns…
As gun rights advocates push to legalize firearms on college campuses, an argument is taking shape: Arming female students will help reduce sexual assaults.
Support for so-called campus carry laws had been hard to muster despite efforts by proponents to argue that armed students and faculty members could prevent mass shootings like the one at Virginia Tech in 2007. The carrying of concealed firearms on college campuses is banned in 41 states by law or by university policy. Carrying guns openly is generally not permitted.
But this year, lawmakers in 10 states who are pushing bills that would permit the carrying of firearms on campus are hoping that the national spotlight on sexual assault will help them win passage of their measures.
“If you’ve got a person that’s raped because you wouldn’t let them carry a firearm to defend themselves, I think you’re responsible,” State Representative Dennis K. Baxley of Florida said during debate in a House subcommittee last month. The bill passed.
The sponsor of a bill in Nevada, Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, said in a telephone interview: “If these young, hot little girls on campus have a firearm, I wonder how many men will want to assault them. The sexual assaults that are occurring would go down once these sexual predators get a bullet in their head.”
Oh, sweet Jebus! Where to begin? “Young, hot little girls?” Really? First, rape isn’t about sex. It’s about power. And it has nothing to do with how “hot” a little girl (OMG! She actually used these words!) is. If you buy into that nonsense, then explain why a 74 year old nun was raped in West Bengal this week.
But this push by the NRA, and gun worshipers along with the GOP, to allow guns on college campuses has nothing to do with protecting women, and everything to do with Guns! Guns! Everywhere! It also ignores the fact that allowing guns on campus also allows the rapist to carry a gun. And since rapists tend to plan their rapes (long and short term) who do you think would be faster on the draw?
And how exactly would arming women against rape line up with Republicans definitions of “legitimate” and “forcible” rape? And given that the conservative view of rape is that “women lie about rape” can you imagine what would happen to a women who actually shot her attacker – and ruined a young man’s promising future?
This mindset also approaches rape as the mostly fictitious “man jumps out of the bushes” scenario. Can you imagine how this would go down if a women shot the frat guy at a party? She would be blamed for drinking and what she was wearing and if she smiled at the poor guy, called a liar and then we could blame everything on rap music. Because everything is women’s, the gays and rap music’s fault. Amirite!
Consider this: If you are tired reading posts about the War on Women, guns, race and bigots, imagine how tired of them I am. I would love to not write about these issues anymore, because that would mean the GOP would have stopped talking about, and legislating them. Instead, Republicans keep making everything about these issues. As a women, who’s also raising a teen daughter, I can’t afford the luxury of letting these things slide – or not prioritizing them. Reproductive rights and sexual assault aren’t side issues to women. They directly, and in many cases immediately, impact our daily lives.