Reading is Fundamental: GOP on Women’s Reproductive Rights
I have had, as you can undoubtedly guess, many conversations with friends regarding the things that are important to me during this election cycle. One of the things that I keep hearing from my friends who support McCain/Palin is there is seriously no way that Roe v. Wade will ever be overturned. That they cannot believe such a thing would ever happen. They seem shocked.
When I state that Palin opposes abortion in the cases of rape and incest, I’m told that I shouldn’t believe everything I read in blogs. People, start researching your candidates! I am not making this stuff up, bloggers aren’t making this stuff up.
And you know, if that’s not good enough for you, why not read the full GOP Platform:
Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.
We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.
We have made progress. The Supreme Court has upheld prohibitions against the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. States are now permitted to extend health-care coverage to children before birth. And the Born Alive Infants Protection Act has become law; this law ensures that infants who are born alive during an abortion receive all treatment and care that is provided to all newborn infants and are not neglected and left to die. We must protect girls from exploitation and statutory rape through a parental notification requirement. We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion. Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life. We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.
Okay, so maybe you aren’t that deeply concerned with abortion. Maybe you don’t care about the reproductive rights of women. Maybe you are deeply opposed to abortion. Well, here’s the catch. When you teach abstinence only, and do not support contraceptives, it leads to disaster. Abstinece only does not work. Oh, of course they’ll support education, you say.
Again, from the GOP Platform:
We renew our call for replacing “family planning” programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior. Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases,including HIV/AIDS when transmitted sexually. We oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for abortion and contraception.
What about the right of a pharmacist overriding your right as a patient when your doctor has prescribed birth control?
The health care profession can be both a profession and a calling. No health care professional — doctor, nurse, or pharmacist — or organization should ever be required to perform, provide for, or refer for a health care service against their conscience for any reason. This is especially true of the religious organizations which deliver a major portion of America’s health care, a service rooted in the charity of faith communities.
And just to be clear, kids, this doesn’t only cover contraception. It opens the door to denying health care to anyone who lives a lifestyle that is not approved of. And you know, sure, don’t force someone to provide a service that they aren’t comfortable with. But to then say they don’t have to refer you to someone who will? How can anyone with a working brain be okay with that?
Let me say this, one more time, in case you haven’t been listening. The GOP does not care about you, your choices, or your family. Or anyone’s. They never have, and they never will.
Because the UN has no mandate to promote radical social engineering, any effort to address global social problems must respect the fundamental institutions of marriage and family. We assert the rights of families in all international programs and will not fund organizations involved in abortion. We strongly support the long-held policy of the Republican Party known as the “Mexico City policy,” which prohibits federal monies from being given to non-governmental organizations that provide abortions or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. We reject any treaty or agreement that would violate those values. That includes the UN convention on women’s rights, signed in the last months of the Carter Administration, and the UN convention on the rights of the child. For several reasons, particularly our concern for US sovereignty and America’s long-term energy needs, we have deep reservations about the regulatory, legal, and tax regimes inherent in the Law of the Sea Treaty.
This is only the beginning. Next time, perhaps I’ll talk about the assault on same-sex marriage. Maybe I’ll discuss healthcare. Or maybe it’ll be statistics on taxes and debt from the party that allegedly wants to lower your taxes while spending too much of your money on things that no one needs. Oh hell, maybe we’ll just talk about how Palin supports ariel hunting and gets excited over shooting wolves.