Top Ten Ways GOP could avoid “War on Women” Label

[unhappycamper]

http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/avoid-women-label.html

Top Ten Ways GOP could avoid “War on Women” Label
By Juan Cole | Jan. 24, 2014

~snip~

1. Stop saying or implying that rape victims don’t deserve the right to abort their pregnancy. Making a woman who doesn’t want to bear her rapist’s child is unconscionable. Some 17,000 rape victims get pregnant every year in the US. The GOP looks like it is on the rapist’s side when it argues that no woman ever has the right to an abortion. GOP candidates are driven to say stupid things about pregnancy from rape being impossible in order to justify this stance, but then they just look heartless and stupid, both.

2. Stop saying that women on the verge of being killed by their pregnancy can’t have an abortion. That is just a form of murder by theology. Religious beliefs of relatively recent historical provenance about life beginning at conception can’t be imposed on the whole of the US by believers. A majority of Americans do not share that theology and the US government can’t establish evangelicalism or Catholicism as a state religion. 14 percent of Americans say they have no religion and 5 percent are not Christians. Only a minority of Americans are Catholics and evangelicals, so even if it weren’t unconstitutional it would be a tyranny of the minority.

3. Stop trying to make abortion de facto illegal. Most young women value their right to control their own bodies; a majority of the American public favors abortion rights, and the Supreme Court found the procedure legal. GOP legislators have managed to make sure no abortion providers exist in a majority of American counties.

4. Stop trying to abolish the Affordable Healthcare Act. Women disproportionately benefit from it. US government statistics show that

“Cost has also been a significant barrier to care for many women. According to one study, in 2010, one third of women spent 10 percent or more of their income on premiums and out of pocket costs. For low income women, that situation is much worse – over half of women who make $11,490 per year or less spend at least $1,149 a year on care. But through the Marketplace 6 out of 10 uninsured individuals can get coverage for $100 or less. ”

[niyad]

1. thank you for posting this--off to greatest with you