GOP must stand for Government Owned Pregnancy
by Don Lacey on Oct. 26, 2012, under Abortion, Arizona Families, Atheism, AZ Politics, Campaign 2012, Christian Self-Righteous Arrogance, Christianity, Critical Thinking, Education, Ethics, Faith, Freethought, Government, Logic, Reason, Religion, Responsible Government, Sanity, Separation of Church & State, Supreme Court
It’s very difficult during an election season to not delve into politics and our self imposed rule here in the FreeThought Arizona Blog is to try and stay away from pure politics. However, when politicians from one particular party are seemingly duty bound to impose their religious beliefs on others, that position must be discussed here.
Most of the GOP candidates are “pro life” and would criminalize abortions. However, MSNBC reports that there are 12 GOP Senate candidates that hold the position that they would not make an exception even for victims of rape or incest. Twelve! There are only 100 senators so that means if they all win there will be at least 1 in 8 senators holding this extreme position. These people are so convinced that their religious convictions are right that they feel that they can in good conscience dictate to the victims of rape that the government has the right to make them criminals if they choose to end their unwanted pregnancy.
In a way, this discussion represents a “de-facto” win for the Religious Right. They have moved the discussion to their side so much that they are able to concentrate on just the extremes. In their world, Roe V Wade is already gone. Let’s remember that it’s still the law of the land and move the discussion back to where it should be. Women still have a choice in this country and it should remain that way. If your religion forbids that choice, that’s fine for adherents to your religion. Most people regardless of religion believe that abortions should be legal, safe, and rare. In a properly educated society with access to birth control, unwanted pregnancies along with abortions would be rare. In Sweden, they believe that every child should be wanted and have much better statistics than we do.
The GOP Senate candidates that have been reported to hold the position that rape victims must be forced to carry their rapists’ babies to delivery are: Richard Murdock (IN), Rick Berg (ND), Michael Baumgartner (WA), Pete Hoekstra (MI), Tom Smith (PA), Todd Akin (MO), Josh Mandel(OH), Deb Fischer(NE), Ted Cruz (TX), John MacGovern (VT), Wendy Long (NY), and John Raese (WV).
While we’re thinking about a women’s right to choose remember the next president will probably appoint a judge or two on the Supreme Court. Something to consider before pulling the lever…
