Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Radical Right Wing Republican Assault Not Just Confined to Unions As They Wage War on Women

Have you seen this MoveOn ad? It encapsulates the sustained Republican assault on women, slashing basic essential services for pregnant women, preschool kids, Headstart. It's a generational assault not only on women but on our future as a nation and the future of our children. Did you know that for every dollar invested on a child's Headstart program, society gets back nearly nine dollars in return?


The stakes are high and this is the GO/TeaP/Oligarch's endgame. If you are, or know any woman who (a) is pro-choice but too 'busy' to vote because of the simplistic and wrong belief there's 'no real difference between the parties;' (b) believes in a woman's essential and LEGAL right to make the choice without government interference, regardless of one's individual stand on abortion; or (c) votes Democratic but wanted to 'send a message' or give Republicans 'their turn' as encouraged, e.g. by MSNBC libertarian dingbat Dylan Ratigan — PASS THE WORD: This is about our futures, it's about the hard-fought gains achieved by women, unions, all of us. Fundamentally, it's about what kind of nation we are prepared to accept; what nation we will become. It's time to push back in a serious way, to get involved in politics, in a serious way, and not allow the extremist, reactionary and destructive right wing to occupy the space left by your apathy.

FIGHT BACK. MoveOn compiled this PARTIAL list of the "Top Ten Shocking Attacks From The GOP's War on Women." It's mindblowing. If this doesn't get you off the block ...

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women's access to abortion care, they're actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't yet. Shocker.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.

5) In Congress, Republicans have a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.


7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress just voted for a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can't make this stuff up).

This video from the Lawrence O'Donnell show needs no introduction. Just watch:

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