This message from
The Progress Report arrived in my email box earlier today. It offers a clear warning to women (and to the men who love and support the women in their lives) about the stakes this year:
The language of the bill stipulates that a woman would have to show her medical records to her employer in order to even be considered for contraceptive coverage. If a woman were using the pill for one of its intended purposes, an employer could choose to stop insuring her, citing “moral objections,” and the woman would have to pay out of pocket for her contraceptive expenses. If an employer finds that the woman has a medical reason to be taking contraceptives (this means the employer would learn of the woman’s ovarian cysts, early menopause, or any number of other medical issues), he can choose to insure her. But if the findings aren’t to his liking, the woman can be dropped.
IT’S HAPPENING EVERYWHERE: In Mississippi, the legislature is looking at legislation that would effectively close the only abortion clinic in the entire state. Kansas is supporting an anti-abortion measure that would cause the Kansas University Medical Center to lose its accreditation. Wisconsin has banned private health insurers from offering abortion coverage. In Idaho, a similar bill would force women to go to crisis pregnancy centers if they wanted an abortion. And Idaho also - along with nine other states - has passed a bill that requires women to have an ultrasound before an abortion.
Contrary to GOP claims, the controversy surrounding health insurance coverage for contraceptives has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on religious freedom. Let us be perfectly clear what the U.S. Constitution states:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion …”
It means church leaders have NO RIGHT to impose church doctrine on citizens, on the followers of other denominations, on citizens of no religious affiliation, or to enlist the aid of government to enforce church doctrine even on their own parishioners. Please note: 97% of Catholic women use contraceptives - thus going against the teachings of their Church. In exercising their freedom to chose whatever healthcare options they deem best for themselves, women deserve legal protection from ecclesiastical overreach and abuse:
The religious freedom argument is a foil used by radical clerics
and social conservatives to bully government into acting as
Enforcer and Inquisitor on their behalf.
Simply stated, this argument represents a direct assault on the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution. Yet, the GOP, in pandering for votes, is all too ready and willing to sellout your rights to the Inquisition. Worst of all, the GOP wants to empower your employer with the right to pry into your medical records, your private affairs, and your bedroom in the name of religious freedom - and dictate what medical treatment can be prescribed by your doctor. Furthermore, the GOP wants to empower THE STATE to pry into your uterus with ultrasound probes - sanctioned by laws that are tantamount to sexual abuse.
Now let us consider the above quote within the context of this story,
Moroccan Girl Forced to Marry Her Rapist Commits Suicide:
Amina, a 16-year-old girl from Larache in northern Morocco, who was forced to marry her rapist, chose to put an end to her life by swallowing rat poison last Saturday. According to al-Masa'a [ar], Amina was raped by a man ten years older than her when she was barely 15. And to preserve what is called “family honour”, Amina's marriage to her rapist, was arranged. A judge approved the marriage.
According to the same newspaper, Amina took the rat poison while she was in her husband's (rapist's) house. When he noticed that her health was deteriorating, he rushed her to her family's home. On the way he did not stop beating her, said Amina to her family, a few hours before her death.
Meanwhile, the American Taliban - radical social conservatives aided and abetted by the Republican Party including former GOP candidate Michele Bachmann, and candidates Gingrich and Santorum - are determined to outlaw all forms of abortion with no exceptions for incest or rape. Only the moist heartless, despotic authoritarians - who stick their noses into everyone's business - find any merit in further victimizing victims by heaping more shame and pain upon them. In short, the GOP has morphed itself into a party of voyeurs, sadists, and born-again rapists.
Here is Bill Posey's voting record on issues of vital concern to women:
Voted AGAINST the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (HR-11)
Voted AGAINST extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program (HR-2)
Voted AGAINST food safety regulations (HR-2749)
Voted AGAINST expansion of anti-hate crimes bill (HR-1913)
Voted AGAINST the Infant Mortality Pilot Program (HR-3470)
Voted AGAINST Planned Parenthood (H-amdt-95)
Voted AGAINST stopgap disaster relief (HR-2608)
Voted YES to authorize the pre-abortion ultrasound requirement (HR-2400)
For years, Republicans have been hellbent on turning back the clock of civilization; turning back hard-won labor laws; turning back the struggles of Suffragettes; turning back civil rights and voting rights; turning an impoverished middle class into an underclass; and turning America yet again into a "half-savage country."
The headlines are grim. Darkness is descending on America … falling on hills, plains, and deserts; falling on farms, villages and cities; falling on the living and dishonoring the dead.
ABOUT THE WRITER: I am a MAN with THREE DAUGHTERS, among other women in my life, whose human rights and human dignity have been compromised by a radical right-wing fringe run amuck. Here is my message to the GOP: If you continue this despicable war against women, then war is what you'll get. And be goddamn careful what you wish for!
