If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Yes, America is a religious nation but it is one whose religious convictions have been hijacked by sexual morality issues that have dominated the political landscape for decades.
Remember the "Defense of Marriage" ballot measures? Ah, those were simpler, more innocent days. The dark forces of Old-Time Religion have moved on to a more sophisticated campaign.
Think for a moment about the entire verbal output of all the candidates in the Republican debates of the last few months. Did you hear any candidate say anything at all about women's rights, except to call for cutting them back?
Women of America, lay down your petitions and bumper stickers. Step into a pair of comfy sweatpants and declare your intention to deny any sexual activity until Draconian bills regulating your reproductive choices are dropped in favor of laws that create jobs and improve lives.
We are mothers, sisters and daughters. We are multi-taskers, leaders and advocates. We are care-takers, Governors and executives. We are 51% of the population. Yet still, in 2012, women are seeing vicious attacks on basic rights. How did this happen?
When people think of a cultural conservative like me, especially one who's Roman Catholic, they tend to think about abortion, but that's only part of the story.
I respectfully wonder if the church and political leaders opposed to contraception could meditate on that for a moment, and instead of fulminating against one of the only solutions we have, devote their time and energy towards alleviating this ongoing tragedy of suffering in the world.
The right is staging an all-out assault on women's rights while they have control of the majority of state legislatures, the House and a determined minority in the Senate. The GOP's presidential candidates are promising to join it if they get elected. We can't let them succeed.
It is right to honor the religious objections of faith-based employers, but it is also right to ask why we retain a system where the health coverage employees receive may be limited by those objections.
This week's topics include: Santorum's grumpy old super PAC; the Republican war against women; the birth control debate; legislative rape in Virginia; how contraception laws become abortion laws; Rush Limbaugh's prescription medication, and other items.
Contraception saves lives, prevents unplanned pregnancies, improves outcomes for children and reduces the number of abortions. As an adoption attorney, I know firsthand how difficult and how private these choices are for women.
The agenda of the Republican Party today is focusing heavily on issues that alienate critical Independent voters. This may be intentional, or just a collective stupidity on the part of Republican candidates.
With a series of anti-choice and anti-contraception laws on the books in various southern and midwestern states, the Republican Party is hastily constructing an ideological and legislative Berlin Wall around itself, and Rick Santorum has become the latest poster boy.
What do you call a state whose legislature in one month advances laws allowing unlimited purchases of handguns, declares the rights of personhood from the moment a sperm and egg unite and forces women seeking abortions to have an invasive, unnecessary medical procedure?
Every person who has a body should view this law as a direct assault. So, too, should every person who believes that women are human beings.
Why have Republicans allowed the family planning issue to tie their candidates up in knots in 2012? The answer is in just how outsized the influence of a minority viewpoint can be on a political party, so long as it represents the base of that party's support.
