In Florida to rally for a group seeking to defeat Florida Amendment 6, which would, if enacted, restrict women’s reproductive rights, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, had a few descriptive words for Mitt Romney:
“[Mitt Romney is] the most undemocratic, anti-equality, authoritarian, extremist candidate I have ever seen, and there is the most distance between what he says and what he does.”
Mr. Romney has a new ad out, an ad that attempts to hide his extremist positions.
It features a woman who clearly lies about Romney’s positions, and then claims that she voted for Obama in 2008. The problem is well, that while you can find sites which back her up, they do so either in error or in order to deceive. The truth is in what Mr. Romney himself has recently said.
On the issue of contraception, we can look to the Blunt Amendment to determine whether or not Mr. Romney supports the use of contraceptives.
The Blunt Amendment allows your boss to decide for you whether or not you will get access to contraceptives through your health insurance. That’s right. And Mitt Romney said himself that he supports the Blunt amendment (@14:46 on the Maddow video).
“Of course I support the Blunt Amendment.”
On the issue of a woman’s right to choose, abortion, Mitt Romney has said very recently (September 2012) that he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would strike down Roe v. Wade:
“But I am pro-life and will intend, if I’m president of the United States, to encourage pro-life policies. [...] And I hope to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that will follow the law and the constitution. And it would be my preference that they reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore they return to the people and their elected representatives the decisions with regards to this important issue.”
Romney also said that he would sign a bill which banned all abortions (@11:33 on the video):
“I’d be delighted to sign that bill.”
“Delighted.” Rachel Maddow on Romney’s severely conservative positions(the segment on these issues starts at approximately 09:04):
A Romney administration would end abortion, would take away our right to choose what we do with our own bodies.
No exceptions for anything. Not rape. Not incest. Not the life of the mother.
Factor this in with Romney's stance on the Blunt Amendment -- which would make it more difficult for you to obtain contraceptives since he will allow your boss to decide whether or not you could obtain contraceptives through your health insurance.
This is what Mitt Romney really supports. This is what the Republican War On Women is about. This is what it will mean to women if Mitt Romney is elected.
If you’re undecided at this point, you need to think hard about your options, and then go to the polls and vote for Barack Obama. Not to do so will affect you, your children, and your grandchildren in ways you can’t even begin to count.
The most long lasting consequence of this election will be the fact that if Mitt Romney wins, he will appoint at least two, possibly three, Supreme Court justices. And, Romney has said that he will appoint justices who would rule to strike down Roe v. Wade.
This would mean another entire generation of a very conservative Supreme Court, with all of the relentless backward progress that would bring. Just the thought makes me sick.
Back on the campaign trail in Wisconsin on Friday, Joe Biden talked about the Republican plan for the future of women’s rights:
“If anyone had a doubt about what’s at stake in this election when it comes to women’s rights, and the Supreme Court, I'm sure they were settled last night.
It was made clear last night that they don't believe in protecting a woman's access to health care. It was made very clear that they do not believe a woman has a right to control her own body. These guys have a social policy out of the fifties.”
Mr. Biden begins speaking at 1:34. Watch:
Vice President Biden is referring to statements made by both Romney and Ryan, but especially to what Paul Ryan said during the Vice Presidential Debate on Thursday night, where Ryan said called rape and incest “methods of conception” again. Ryan also said that Romney would appoint Supreme Court justices who would vote to reverse Roe v. Wade (at least two justices are likely to retire during the next four years, one of them a liberal). You can read the transcript of the debate, and/or watch the full video.
[….] Romney could [will] likely still support anti-abortion rights legislation.
The Obama Campaign:
It’s troubling that Mitt Romney is so willing to play politics with such important issues. Women simply can’t trust him.
My take. Mitt Romney will, as we already know, say and do anything in order to get elected. Anything. And, if we didn’t already know that, we sure should have figured it out when he chose his running mate. Paul Ryan is rabidly anti-women.
UPDATE: Last month, Romney was so against abortion rights, he said he would appoint Supreme Court justices who would reverse Roe v. Wade:
“But I am pro-life and will intend, if I’m president of the United States, to encourage pro-life policies. [...] And I hope to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that will follow the law and the constitution. And it would be my preference that they reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore they return to the people and their elected representatives the decisions with regards to this important issue.”
At a fundraiser in New York City, President Obama told the crowd that Republican congressman, Todd Akin, who made some seriously ignorant comments on rape and abortion, “somehow missed science class”:
“The interesting thing here is that this is an individual [Todd Akin] who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology but somehow missed science class.”
Ryan and Akin largely agree when it comes to abortion rights. Both believe abortion should be illegal even in the case of rape and incest. Both were co-sponsors of H.R. 3, the 2011 bill that would have limited the federal abortion coverage exemption only to victims of “forcible rape” and women whose physical health was in danger from her pregnancy, closing a supposed loophole in health-of-the-mother exemptions conservatives have been crowing about for years.
“Well, you can make the argument that if she doesn’t have this baby, if she kills her child, that that, too, could ruin her life. And this is not an easy choice. I understand that. As horrible as the way that that son or daughter and son was created, it still is her child. And whether she has that child or doesn’t, it will always be her child. And she will always know that. And so to embrace her and to love her and to support her and get her through this very difficult time, I’ve always, you know, I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you. As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life. We have horrible things happen. I can’t think of anything more horrible. But, nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation.”
- The GOP’s far right Evangelical dope, Rick Santorum, calls a pregnancy which occurs because of a rape, “a gift in a very broken way”.
In a statement he wrote yesterday, the 39-year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, President Obama defended the landmark decision:
“We must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman’s health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters. I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right. While this is a sensitive and often divisive issue- no matter what our views, we must stay united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnant woman and mothers, reduce the need for abortion, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption. And as we remember this historic anniversary, we must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”
In Florida to rally for a group seeking to defeat Florida Amendment 6, which would, if enacted, restrict women’s reproductive rights, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, had a few descriptive words for Mitt Romney: 
In a 
Recent Comments