About this new movement for no exception for rape and incest

[Bonobo]

I just had a thought about this insanity that has been creeping up on us regarding the movement to force a woman to bear the children even in the case of rape or incest.

Could it possibly be an attempt by the Republicans to force the issue so far to the tight that they shift us to avoid the main issue and thus force a "compromise".

Hear me out. The last few years have taught the Republicans, in my opinion, that by maintaining a hard line, even a crazy line, they are able to shift the mainstream Democratic position to the right. Think of oil drilling, think of bank bailouts, think of cap and trade, think of health care, think of national defense, think of austerity measure and government program slashing...

Everyone knows that in war, you fight the hardest to claim territory just before you go to the bargaining table, right?

Well I was just listening to Rachel Maddow and for the 2nd night in a row, she is going hard on the issue of how terrible and wrong it is to force victims of rape and incest to bear the children of their rapists. Of course she is right. But is something subtler happening here? Are we losing the big picture, in general, of how it is terribly wrong to force ANY woman to bear a child against her will? Isn't that the larger picture?

Is it possible that we will see more state legislatures and individual politicians begin to compromise on the issue of abortion rights in order to get rid of the demands to force it onto rape and incest victims? Is that the goal? Take an extreme plus position in order to later be able to negotiate for a normal extreme position?

Are we being played in a type of reverse 3-dimensional chess? It is hard to imagine that these INSANE positions are being pushed now by the mainstream Republican party without some larger goal -especially in light of the fact that they KNOW by reading polling that their positions are untenable.

What do you all think? Am I looking through tinfoil or prescription glasses?

[Fumesucker]

1. It's worked for them for over thirty years now, why would they stop?

Half the elected Democrats are now to the right of Ronald Reagan, the Republican strategy of always, always moving as hard to the right as they possibly can has paid off big time.

Fucking Overton Window, how does it work?

[cali]

2. it's not new.

the platform on abortion this year is no different than that of 4 or 8 years ago. those have long been mainstream positions in the R party. for real.

[JHB]

3. It's not new. They're just not trying to hide it anymore.

It's not a tactical move against the Democrats, it's an internal dynamic within the conservative coalition. The zealots driving the movement see themselves as crusaders fighting "evil", and "evil, except for..." doesn't really fit in with that.

The real goal is about controlling sex and people, and to them the pill, women's rights, and the sexual revolution were a descent into hell. They want to bring it back under (their) control, and woe to anybody who gets in their way.