"if a woman wasn’t willing to die in childbirth, she shouldn’t have sex."

[kpete]

According to Mourdock's thinking, a man who forces a woman to have sex with him against her will is a criminal, but a man who forces a woman to bear his child through forced sex should be permitted to do so, because abortion is murder and every conceived child is a gift from God.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all

Margaret Sanger opened the country’s first birth-control clinic, in Brooklyn, in 1916, an action that led to her being arrested and sentenced to thirty days in jail; a march in New York City, in 2004.

At Sanger’s trial, during which the judge waved a cervical cap from the bench, Sanger hoped to argue that the law preventing the distribution of contraception was unconstitutional: exposing women, against their will, to the danger of dying in childbirth violated a woman’s right to life. But the judge ruled that no woman had “the right to copulate with a feeling of security that there will be no resulting conception.” In other words, if a woman wasn’t willing to die in childbirth, she shouldn’t have sex. Sanger went to Queens County Penitentiary. She was sentenced to thirty days.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_lepore#ixzz2Ab4nJ3IR

[chimpymustgo]

1. Thank you for posting this. Lest we forget the roots of these knuckdraggers' beliefs.

[Divine Discontent]

41. yes, thanks! because it's so rich that this was the SAME year, 1916, to Mitt's Navy reference!

He sure seems like someone that would love 1916, eh? ugh!


Get it here-->
http://www.zazzle.com/1916_bigotry_in_2012_snake_oil_bumper_sticker-128946110433350130?rf=238107662556833486

[Sekhmets Daughter]

2. It has always been about female sexuality

and never about the life of a fetus....

[Major Nikon]

10. Control one and you are a long ways towards controlling the other

Yes, it's always been about forced birthing, because if you force women to give birth you also force them into all the negative consequences that birthing provides. So by the proxy of some protoplasm, you can effectively force morality, which was the goal all along.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

19. The goal of "morality" is to control female sexuality.

Surely you've noticed there is no movement to stop men from impregnating women to whom they are not married. The goal of the supposed "morality" voter is to suppress female sexuality, not vice versa. From the men who feel threatened by women who expect sexual satisfaction to the women who feel threatened by the sexually active women they view as competition, it is all about sexual repression.

[Major Nikon]

21. Not anymore

It's just harder from a practical sense to control male sexuality once fornication, adultery, and sodomy laws can no longer be enforced. So the only thing they really have is abortion and same sex marriage laws, along with laws and regulations that govern contraception.

If the people in question could control male sexuality, they would. From their warped perspective they still have control over at least half the equation, which is certainly unfortunate.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

22. They can control male sexuality....

They can start by making it illegal for a male of any age to impregnate a female to whom he is not married...punishable by a minimum of 18 years in prison and 22 if the kid goes to college....DNA testing now makes the he said/she said argument obsolete. So it is not impossible. The fact that they have NEVER tried to control male sexuality indicates that the only goal is to control females, to reduce them to chattel property whose only purpose is to procreate.

***It's just harder from a practical sense to control male sexuality once fornication, adultery, and sodomy laws can no longer be enforced.***

Supports my argument that the only goal is to restrict female sexuality, because the same people who overturned those laws can vote them back into existence....

[Major Nikon]

23. I'm not trying to contradict you

I agree completely that their goal is to control female sexuality. There is no question these people place a greater responsibility for their warped sense of morality on women. I'm just saying that women haven't always been their exclusive target.

The proposed law in which you speak was on the books in many jurisdictions, and attempts at enforcement resulted in various state supreme court decisions which struck them down. Those same laws were also used against homosexuals in many instances.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

27. Yes, now I understand...but let me point out

that the laws of which you speak were on the books and enforced for many decades before they were struck down by the courts. Furthermore, those laws predate the birth control pill and legalized abortions so women had the natural constraint of unwanted pregnancies to restrict their sexuality. In 1879 Connecticut passed a law banning contraceptives, BTW...While there have been some laws passed targeting males, they were mainly used against homosexuals and men who chose to marry or live with women not of their own race....As offensive and misguided as those law were and are, they did not target a perfectly normal behavior....

[bettyellen]

33. It's not any harder to enforce, men had little interest in enforcing it unless

They were going after gay men, people of color, and those who screwed around with women who's families were connected.
Men also choose to set up a system where restraining orders are totally useless and raped women have a very very difficult time getting justice.
I guess you have to be on the outside to see it for what it is.

[Major Nikon]

35. ...or you have to be a big fan of scapegoating

Just sayin'

[bettyellen]

38. Men get total credit for setting up the US justice system

For better and for worse. Women have had very little impact, and do not have equal rights or protections.
It's not scapegoating - it's our shared history.

[Major Nikon]

40. ...and 'they' obviously did so with the full intent of causing more women to be raped and killed

I don't really expect anyone who employs scapegoating to realize what they are doing, much less admit to it.

If your story makes you feel better, I suggest you run with it. Just don't expect everyone to be convinced so easily.

Cheers!

[bettyellen]

42. No, but they've definitely skewed things to consistently give

Their "own kind" more leeway and benefit of the doubt. People of color and women were ill served. What we have now is still a system that while improved, still doesn't treat is as equals.
It's our history, and most people I've met know this. I dont need to convince anyone, they can only brush up and find out for themselves.
This isn't about you or men I know, no reason to take it personally. But it's our history, and impossible to deny if you educate yourself.

[whathehell]

39. Exactly. Thank you. n/t

[Raven]

3. Well then, if a man impregnates a woman and

she dies in childbirth, he's the cause of her death so he's a murderer.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. And by deciding to have sex he accepts that risk, no doubt.

Wingnuts hate it when you follow their 'logic' to its inevitable conclusion.

[Zalatix]

25. Put that on a postcard.

It is the logical conclusion of their arguments.

[dterrell]

5. Ashamed

People like Mourdock make me ashamed to admit that I grew up in Indiana. I hope there are enough sane voters in Indiana to defeat him.

[nolabear]

7. Me too, Man. Welcome to DU!

[donquijoterocket]

13. I certainly

Hope you're right in your hope. The only thing being the cons are just as likely to interpret a Mourdock defeat as a result of his not being conservative enough. I've a long time friend- native of Indianapolis- which he claims is not really part of Indiana,but which he describes as 364 days of boredom and an auto race.I've not seen any polling on this race and do not even really know who this putzes opponent might be. If this were a sane country his remark would automatically have been the kiss of death,but unfortunately I think the cons have driven the nation far enough into insanity he might escape.Same with Akin in Missouri.

[kimmylavin]

6. You know...

For a minute there, I actually thought this was the LATEST comment by a right-wing politician.
That's how ridiculous this whole situation has gotten...

[Brigid]

12. Me too.

The first thing I thought was, Oh shit--Todd Akin shooting off his mouth again? Or is it Limbaugh?

[reusrename]

29. me three

I clicked in to see which idiot was opening his mouth.

[nolabear]

8. Lest we forget...

[lunatica]

9. Sanger fought for the women who already had a lot of children

She did her work in the tenements where poverty was crippling. Women were dying in childbirth after having half a dozen children or more who they couldn't feed or care for. That judge was an ignorant ass. I'm sure he believed that women should submit to their husband's will too, while wagging his finger in their faces about abstaining!

Fuck. What a prick.

[llmart]

37. I remember years ago.....

seeing a movie about Margaret Sanger's life. It was quite the eye opener.

[geckosfeet]

11. Wow. I never knew this. Not sure if I have ever heard of Margaret Sanger before.

Thanks for posting. Not all of us men (this one anyway) are as informed about women's issues as we should be.

[tanyev]

49. Guess who was the treasurer for the first fund drive to start Planned Parenthood?

Prescott S. Bush. Oh, the irony.


Scanned image of original letter at the link. Prescott Bush named in the letterhead.
http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/thefamily/media/thefamily_document007a.pdf

[Brigid]

14. If this is what they want, there is always our secret weapon:

Read "Lysistrata" for further details.

[MadrasT]

15. Uh huh. Exactly where I was going with that. n/t

[AzDar]

16. K & R

[Revolutionary Girl]

17. Thanks for that link.

A fascinating read on the history of birth control in America - a story inseperable from the hypocrisy of the Republican party, past and present.

[mrmpa]

18. I've posted about this before...........

In 1955, my mom & her doctor committed a crime. See post below:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=271947

I have no children, but I have 4 nieces from 19 to 31 years of age. I do not want any of them to the days of their grandmother.

[renate]

44. what a wonderful doctor

That really is inspiring and touching. Just think, more than 50 years after his act of kindness, his goodness is still remembered. That's lovely.

[mrmpa]

50. What's great is that my mom............

wasn't and isn't afraid to tell that story. Her granddaughters know of it also. The doctor was still practicing in the '80's at the same hospital. I may look him up and thank him for my mom's life and mine.

[libodem]

20. That's it in a nutshell

Now if the scumbag molesters would stay out of the pants of little girls....

[undeterred]

24. And if a man isn't willing to pay for a child's expenses and education through college,

he shouldn't either.

[Coyotl]

43. Some children need to be supported for a lifetime.

Think about that before you have sex.

[Mothdust]

26. it's about "mini me's"

And male fanaticism in procreation through dominating women - relates to domination in war / enslavement / power to reproduce, which I don't mind saying is also at the core of homophobia because people who are thought to not contribute to population increase are considered worthless.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

28. Thanks for posting this.

We are going backwards on this issue.

[Iris]

30. My God. As backwards as the Taliban.

I would really hate to see the state of the world if everyone were forced to live the way fundamentals want us to.

[freshwest]

31. They just point their fingers at islamic fundies to say, 'See? We gotta fight them!'

The outerward appearance of difference is a sham. The mindset is the same.

They are bombing abortion clinics and schools for girls, mobs gather to stone women for what one considers a sex crime and harrassing women about their health care.

The international sex trade in women and children, Rush demanding women put their sex lives online for him to view.

Same mindset, different language, country, religion, skin color, whatever. The same.

[SunSeeker]

32. Fundamentalists (Christian, Muslim, Mormon, Jewish) have a lot in common.

All are at war with reality.

[Matariki]

34. It makes me weep with gratitude that our fore-mothers fought so hard for our rights

Rights we most often take for granted.

[Skittles]

36. this sums up the GOP

But the judge ruled that no woman had “the right to copulate with a feeling of security that there will be no resulting conception.”

[jamal49]

45. The REAL Roots of These Knuckledraggers' Beliefs

No one ever seems to make the connection. There is an obvious reason why Richard Mourdock and others of his kind can utter such brazenly misogynistic and anti-women statements about rape and actually believe that what they say is benign, logical, correct and of no great consequence.

Mourdock, Todd Akins, Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney and a host of Republican candidates for public office are Christians of one kind or another (e.g. evangelical, Catholic, Mormon, Pentecostal, or just good, old plain Fundamentalist; the exception being Eric Cantor, who is allegedly Jewish but I digress).

Besides the Resurrection of Jesus, what is one of the other bedrock, foundational beliefs of Christianity? It is the story/myth of the conception and birth of Jesus. To whit:

God impregnated a young maiden (Mary, the Mother of Jesus) against her will and without her knowledge, and then, with the help of one of "God's enforcers" (aka "The Angel Gabriel&quot , coerced, or rather, "convinced" Mary that her pregnancy was a good thing because she (Mary) would be carrying and ultimately give birth to "God's Son" (aka "The Annunciation&quot . By doing so, by accepting her fate submissively and humbly, she would be "exalted" and "blessed" among women and, according to traditional Christian dogma/ideology, set an example for all women to follow gladly for all time.

This myth should be called for what it is: deistic rape. None other than God Himself is getting away with rape and, because He is God, being able to declare that such a rape is "good", not only for the woman (Mary) but for all of mankind.

Therefore, it is no surprise that a Richard Mourdock can blithely state that a conception from a rape is a "good thing" and "God's will", and much worse, that millions of American Christians who take the Bible at its most literal meaning (aka "Republicans&quot can agree wholeheartedly with such a vile perception.

Small wonder that for 2,000 years, such misogyny has been institutional, rampant, acceptable, and why there is still such vehement resistance to women having any control over their physical autonomy or their private, reproductive lives.

In other words, what is good for God's goose is good for God's gander.

[hobbit709]

46. I think the knuckledraggers like Akin and Mourdock should emulate the male octopus

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

47. This needs K-ing and R-ing.

[66 dmhlt]

48. We must remember that THIS is NOT a surgical device ...