Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Senator, Says Unplanned Pregnancies Are The 'Choice Of The Women'

Wisconsin state senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said "unwanted or mistimed" pregnancies are the “choice of the women” who should learn "that this is a mistake.”

Grothman recently introduced Senate Bill 507, which would formally consider single parenthood a contributing factor to child abuse if passed into law. During an appearance on the Alan Colmes show Friday to discuss the bill, Grothman hit at women who have children out of wedlock and chastised American culture for encouraging "a single motherhood lifestyle."

"There’s been a huge change over the last 30 years and a lot of that change has been the choice of the women," Grothman said, noting that he thinks "we should educate women that this is a mistake."

"I think when you have an epidemic of this great proportion, people are not so dumb that it’s surprising when they get pregnant," Grothman said of "unwanted or mistimed" pregnancies. "I think people are trained to say that ‘this is a surprise to me,’ because there’s still enough of a stigma that they’re supposed to say this."

Patch reports Grothman's bill has received quite a bit of backlash since it was introduced, prompting one woman to start a petition on Change.org to "Withdraw Senate Bill 507 and end the war on women."

Listen to Grothman's comments below:

(Via Fox News)

(h/t Right Wing Watch)

Comments

[Norman6661]

03:23 PM on 01/01/2013

Tell that to sister Sarah and her Dtr.

[Lu Foremost]

01:49 PM on 01/01/2013

I hope his nuts fall off.

[tenacious n]

07:37 AM on 07/09/2012

Remember Scott Walker who said divide and conquer this is just another way to achieve it. Bring up topics that will inflame the public,divide them then conquer... This is the stratgey of the republican party on many fronts...Be aware.

[NancyPeske]

12:12 PM on 05/04/2012

Good news! A teacher is running against him. Please check out her campaign and donate if you can. http://portwashington-wi.patch.com/articles/lohr-announces-candidacy-against-grothman-to-combat-war-on-women

[Patty McComas Hall]

10:05 AM on 03/18/2012

As someone who worked in child protective services for years I agree with Senator Grothman that a child is at much higher risk for child sexual abuse if the biological father is not in the home. However, instead of pointing the finger at the single mom who is trying to raise her children the best way she can, why aren't we looking at where are the fathers and why aren't they more involved in their children's lives and the MEN (boyfriends, stepfathers) who are doing the abusing. They should be held accountable. senator Grothman it takes two to make a baby!

[coptic777]

06:18 PM on 03/23/2012

Most child abuse is at the hands of women period & they the WOMEN bring in their thug boyfriends who abuse. & no given the stats on crime, drug use, prison population etc. linked to single moms women are NOT doing the best they can. The courts gave women the power over the family ABOVE the man & single moms have failed. You see the problem everyday & know the cause but your female bias will not allow to place blame where it lies. THE WOMAN & THE STATE.

[icwhite02]

05:38 AM on 04/21/2012

As soon as a man fails to wear a condom, the problem begins! Maury Povich has men on his show all the time (last week a guy bragged about 14 kids beeing "blamed" on him! All but 1 of the 5 babies on this show were his, & 10 more to be tested!) who have multiple babies with mutiple women & the problem always is the man crying "They got peregnant to trap me into marriage!" even if he's ALREADY MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE! But they never talk about how they LIED to these women & told them they LOVED them & wanted to BE with ONLY them! But of course the drumbeat of "Personal Responsibility" is only meant for WOMEN to march to! Men aren't expected to love, raise, or even support the babies they create out of wedlock! Is it really a shock to anyone that the PORN industry is the ONLY DEPRESSION PROOF INDUSTRY BESIDES ALCOHOL!
Girls! Really! NO GLOVE NO LOVE!

[Kimberly Owsley]

01:05 AM on 01/02/2013

lol yeah because blaming women alone makes just as much sense as just blaming men. Oh wait, men are responsible for an overwhelmingly vast majority of violent and sexual crimes -- So, it actually DOES make sense to just blame men... What you call "bias" is actually just seeing the truth. Testosterone is the problem. Men who think like you do is an even bigger problem.

[Kimberly Owsley]

10:52 PM on 03/14/2012

Ew, more like GROSSman...

[Richard Corbit]

11:28 AM on 03/13/2012

Never married, eh? Was he a close colleague of Larry Craig? That might explain his apparent..uh..dislike for the female of the species.

[Heidi Herman Gonzales]

11:00 AM on 09/19/2012

Glenn Grothman is 55 years old and still lives at home with mommy and daddy. Glenn Grothman attack on women is purely for the sole purpose that no woman would ever give him the time of day! Glenn Grothman is an angry little man because women see right through him and find him repulsive!

[sskepticall]

05:19 AM on 03/13/2012

Why am I not surprised that this twit has never been married?

[icwhite02]

05:42 AM on 04/21/2012

He's never been married because he's just as UGLY on the INSIDE as he is on the OUTSIDE! Even Don Rickles was a nice enough guy to find a woman who'd love him enough to marry him!

[sskepticall]

09:26 AM on 04/21/2012

Even Don Rickles personna was his ROUTINE....not who he is. He was known to have a very loving marriage.

Grothman is exactly who he appears to be. A loser. A mega loser. It is actually a fantastic benefit to mankind that he has not procreated.

This man is a very angry bully who will attract a certain type of woman who might accept a credit card.

He is a full blown misogynist.

He is certainly the poster boy who what a modern Republican Party member looks like.

The people who keep voting for him must embrace those same attributes.

Are there any women in his district, or do their husbands prevent them from leaving the house to vote?

[susancampbell]

01:09 AM on 03/11/2012

Who is kidding who here? Single Mothers receive more government assistnace that all other groups combined. As a single woman, and college grad. I watched single moms receive govt. assistance for everything under the son, while I being careful, going the long route of college, career, then marriage, received laughs when I needed assistance of any kind. That is right, there is not any assistance for adults who lose their job, except unemployment compensation, and everyone knows you can barely buy grocerys, and gas with that amt. of money. At the same time, my single mom friends were receiving all types of assitance. Please, let the truth come out! As far as unplanned pregnancies, I believe both adults share the blame for the irresponsibility.

[janthewordnerd]

03:52 PM on 03/12/2012

If you don't know the difference between a single mother and a single childless person, you should find out. That will give you a clue as to why there is more assistance available to the former. HINT: There also is no "Women's Protective Services" agency in state governments.

[sskepticall]

05:29 AM on 03/13/2012

Are you saying that if you can only collect unemployment that you aren't still eligible for food assistance or housing?

Maybe you received laughs because you didn’t have an eligible event that is actually in place to protect CHILDREN not the adult. There is no welfare now....did you know that? You can get assistance in this nation and most other western nations to assist children.

The truth is that men make love to women and skip out on them when they get pregnant.

I'm all for publicly provided birth control; a health care system that assists women to prevent pregnancies. Instead there are those that want to tear apart that access because they sit in constant judgment of mostly women while giving men a pass on their behaviors and failures to prevent pregnancies.

I’m all for supporting children who are the innocent victims of adult behavior and I believe that there should be programs to get these mom’s self sufficient and provided affordable health care and day care. Get them to work.

[coptic777]

03:04 AM on 03/15/2012

"The truth is that men make love to women and skip out on them when they get pregnant. "
That is a lie google "Post-Divorce Wealth Gap Was Wrong, Agrees Author" The woman who came up the study that you just made that popular quote admits MEN DO NOT UP & LEAVE THEIR FAMILY. As a matter of fat over 70% of divorces are initiated by WOMEN NOT MEN. That myth is starting to die.

[jamiegrandad]

10:13 AM on 03/10/2012

Single parenthood is not a choice in most cases--it's a fact of life. There are many reasons to being a single parent: Death of a spouse, Christian/Republican wives committing adultery (my case), @$$h_le and/or abusive spouse, or being married to Glenn Grothman, etc. This guy needs to go back into his cave and draw some pictures on a rock and write (if he can) to every single parent asking for forgiveness for his ignorance. Are these neanderthal Republicans trying to alienate every demographic (i.e. women, blacks, Hispanics, and people of intelligence) from voting for them, other than racist white-males and others like them? They seem to be the gift that keeps on giving because it appears they like losing elections.

Before I am jumped on for my "Christian/Republican wives" comment--I know Democratic/Progressive spouse's commit adultery too, but they never made the claim of being the "Moral majority" either.

[sskepticall]

05:34 AM on 03/13/2012

He isn't married. That isn't shocking to me. Knuckle dragging males of any political stripe have a hard time finding someone who wants to share their cave with them.

I'm sure that Great Bend Wisconsin women can find a better candidate that represents them and their daughters and grand-daughters in the state legislature instead of a guy who seems to really really dislike women. Hmmmm.

After looking at him and reading about him...He's the poster child for Abstinence.

[icwhite02]

05:53 AM on 04/21/2012

He's living proof that too much spanking of the monkey can cause INSANITY! as well as BLINDNESS! Did you see how THICK those GLASSES are?

[coptic777]

03:12 AM on 03/15/2012

"Single parenthood is not a choice in most cases" Yes it is just are you really going to keep saying it's the men when women have ALL the reproductive rights? A day after pill, a month after pill & about 13 other options & if she does decide to have the child an receive not just child support but free housing, free food free day care & you are really trying to say there is no incentive on their part they are victims of men?

I challenge you to go to sites for single mothers & read comments where they OPENLY discuss having a child on their own & NOT wanting the father involved ( funny most still asked for child support though) & by the way there is not 1 case in US history where a mother has been jailed for parental alienation of fathers & the courts will not even recognize it even though child phycologist admit it's a problem & it is VERY common that mothers deny visitation & the courts do NOTHING. We are getting tired of this victimization of single mothers when it is clear they & the state are the reason for this.

[Jaques Cous Cous]

09:02 PM on 03/18/2012

The government is now making it harder for low income single women to get the preventative measures they need to prevent pregnancies by going after Planned Parenthood. So first we take away programs to prevent/reduce the number of pregnancies (let us not forget that the Republican party is completely against aborting unwanted babies no matter what the reason even if it will kill the mother), and then we decide that the mother who we wouldn't offer reasonably priced birth control to or let get an abortion is now an unfit mother and we take her baby. And where will this baby go? Where will all of the children who have a parent who died, had a mom/dad who left an abusive parent, who got left because one parent couldn't handle their disability, where do they go?
I am a single parent who was married when I had my children, leaving a marriage that became abusive does not make me unfit.

[Hope Savage]

10:03 AM on 03/10/2012

Ugly crusty old dinosaur. Send him to the home for outdated, irrelevant fascists who are unwanted by everyone else

[ryanwi]

09:19 AM on 03/11/2012

This is Glenn's moment in the sun, so to speak. He's been coming up with these kinds of looney bills for years. It's just that even the Republicans didn't take him all that seriously. With the 2010 election, we ended up with a lot of Glen Grothmans in elected office. It won't last long. New elections are coming.

[ReasonableGuy]

12:09 AM on 03/10/2012

I think Wisconsin Republicans have been drinking bad beer for the last decade or so. Time to send them home.

[icwhite02]

06:08 AM on 04/21/2012

It's the Red Kool-aid that causes ALZHEIMERS!

[Jessica Wisneski]

06:20 PM on 03/09/2012

Single motherhood is not a choice but a reality. You could have a significant other, and it could be a planned pregnancy, and that doesn't guarantee two parents in the picture. Couples get married, have kids, and get divorced; it doesn't mean that our children are abused or neglected. I am a single mother of two who, works full time, goes to school, and raises my children without a father. A father who is not fit to be a dad to my children. They are much better off with him not in their lives because of the type of person he is. Their loved and cared for just as much as a child with two parents may be cared for, and sometimes even cared for more, because the single parent feels sad that their children do not have two loving parents in their lives. So senator I'm am putting this politely, do not comment, or try to make bills regarding certain circumstances that you do not understand or have a first hand experience with in your life. Stick to what you are good at.

[icwhite02]

06:10 AM on 04/21/2012

What he is GOOD AT? Now we have to pay him to make poo-poo?

[itzfatcat]

03:46 PM on 03/09/2012

Well I have no problem with single mothers if they support themselves and their kids and don't demand that I pay their way via government assistance.

[Accipiter]

07:12 PM on 03/09/2012

I suppose you support contraceptives, then? Because that's the best way to prevent these pregnancies. Are you pro-choice also? You can't demand a child be born and then criticize the unwilling mother to pay for it herself.

[grogan1964]

10:57 AM on 03/10/2012

The best way to prevent a pregnancy is not to have sex.

One of my sisters had an unplanned child of which we very much supported. Everyone can make a mistake. However, after the second and third "oops" we stopped supporting her. We only made sure that the children had what they needed directly.

I do not believe in making single motherhood an offense, I think this man above is a whacko. However, young girls’ getting pregnant is a big problem.

Contraceptive availability and affordability are not the issues. Young girls choosing I Phones and getting their nails done over spending money on contraceptives is the problem

[Kara Kramer]

03:36 PM on 01/01/2013

Do you imagine single mothers don't pay taxes a well?
Why do conservatives always talk about THEIR taxes when blue states actually pay more taxes and get LESS assistance.
the average single mother may very well be supporting YOU with HER taxes.
Women DO work now, you know.

[delphinia]

12:21 PM on 03/09/2012

This is the text of the bill. It merely states "non-marital parenthood", without specifying a difference between never marrying your partner, being divorced, or having your spouse die. It also would "emphasize the role of fathers in the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect"...because fathers never abuse or neglect their kids? In essence, it would make leaving your abusive husband a contributing factor to child abuse. http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/proposals/sb507