Todd Akin – Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)
I’m a man. I’m a Catholic male. I’m a Catholic male that leans to the right on the political spectrum. As such it’s easy to assume that I’m pro-life, and you would be right. In my male-born ignorance, I believe in the right for life, so you can imagine my joy in hearing about Missouri Rep. Todd Akin saying that pregnancy in cases of rape is rare. Way to go! You tell them!
This is really getting embarrassing.
Really? What the hell is going on? Are republicans becoming stupider? Oh, of course he misspoke. Yeah, I call bull-shit. You let your beliefs out for the world to see, and you are rightly being maligned for it. Really? I mean today’s republicans are making us look foolish, ignorant, and in many cases just plain mean-spirited.
I am of the belief that you should not try to legislate morality on the world, and unfortunately the right has become a bastion of evangelical conservatives wanting to legislate everything having to do with our bodies, especially a woman’s body. I do not believe in abortion, but I think there is more going on in the world to worry about than a woman’s right to choose. I believe women (and men, you lousy bastards) have a right to access contraception, and that insurance should provide, but I do not believe the government have the right to mandate contraception when it is against one’s religion. I guess that means I’m a weirdo in that I think this is a matter of personal choice and not some suit over in some Washington office.
Here’s the problem. There exists a clear and necessary distinction between church and state. There is nothing worse than a theocracy on the government stage. Church should not enter into the political stage, since it seem that the worst abuses of power happen when people allow their religious beliefs dictate their political choice. Anyone remember the inquisition? Yeah, nothing goes wrong when church is in charge.
I know that our personal and religious beliefs shape us, and as such shape how we choose to vote. But why the narrow focus on abortion and contraception? Could it be because the republican party is intellectually bankrupt on how to correct the more pressing issues facing us today? How about the economy, job growth, and the global economics? What about Israel and Iran going back and forth? Syria? Nah! Let’s talk about vaginas, but not say vagina, because that’s naughty. Women are obviously too stupid about their bodies that they need a man to tell them what to do with it.
It’s amazing that their mothers have not punched them in the throat. I think I would.
I’m against abortions. You can argue with me about it, but it’s no use, so let’s agree, I won’t argue your belief if you allow me mine. So what say we compromise instead and stop trying to legislate it out of existence and try education? Abstinence is a sure-fire way to prevent an unwanted pregnancy so yes teach abstinence, but people are going to have sex anyway. People shouldn’t have sex out-of-wedlock, but it’s going to happen, and the next way to prevent pregnancies is contraception. I’m sorry, but condoms, birth-control will lower the need for abortions. Perhaps we should try teaching our children about this. It’s not ideal, but it is a pragmatic and necessary solution.
And to the idiots in the republican party: Shut Up! You really sound like idiots, opening your mouths about things you have not business talking about. Stop trying to legislate morality, and start trying to fix the socioeconomic mess we are in. If you believe abortion is wrong, then come up with a reasonable and articulate argument against it. Stop spouting off quasi-scientific nonsense that anyone with half a mind can tell is bullshit. You are only weakening your position.
I have to ask though: Why is the republican party so obsessed with sex? Repression? I just think it’s funny when they spend so much energy talking about it, speaking against sex, homosexuality, and the such, and then they are found in some sort of scandal involving such. I don’t know, but I’m embarrassed by it. I just wish there was an intelligent and articulate republican in office that was not some evangelical nutcase. Unfortunately, it seems nutcases are all that are in line for office nowadays.
Violence and rape should not be taken lightly. Rep Akin’s comment only seem to trivialize this problem. Rape and incest are a real problem, and even if I don’t like it, abortion shouldn’t be taken off the table for these cases. The morning after pill should be made available for these women.
The first thing that needs to change, however, is this misogynistic view that many in the republican party have. Women are roughly have the electorate, half the population. Women are just as capable as any man to do whatever task that needs to be done. Women don’t need protecting from themselves. If women need any sort of protection, it’s from the idiotic beliefs there morons espouse. And call me crazy, but I think they have a better grasp of their bodies then you have, Rep. Akin. Please shut up. You really are embarrassing me.
And that goes for the rest of the republican party.
Related articles
- Todd Akin’s other belief on abortion (salon.com)
- Akin’s Abortion View: More Widespread in GOP Than You Think (thedailybeast.com)
- Romney camp distances themselves from Todd Akin’s ‘legitimate rape’ remark (forgets they are Todd Aiken) (freakoutnation.com)
- Rep. Todd Akin: Morning-after pills should be banned (rawstory.com)
- “Legitimate” Rape Does Cause Pregnancy (brutereason.net)
- Paul Ryan’s pro-life views in spotlight after Todd Akin’s rape comments (guardian.co.uk)
- Catholic church implores Congress to overturn Obama birth-control mandate (thehill.com)
- “I’m A Catholic, But Women Need Access To Contraceptives” (andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com)
- Legitimate Insanity (lennemi.wordpress.com)
Amen. That goes for the homophobic contingent of the party as well. Every time a politician or religious leader makes an anti-gay comment, I just sit back and wait for a cocaine-snorting-male-prostitute scandal to surface. Repression breeds irrational behavior. (We have different opinions on abortion, but I’ve already used this month’s allotted time in other places for that particular topic. Thanks for recognizing that it’s a complex topic.)
I thought about the whole homosexual angle, but that really is a different topic. I just have the feeling that those that protest the most are the ones hiding something, mostly from themselves. As for abortion, a reality based sex-ed program and available and affordable contraception would minimize this hot topic. But that’s just my opinion.
Absolutely! And I’m glad you stayed on topic.
Hey there! I found this post because you linked to mine. I just wanted to say that I think it’s really admirable that you’re disagreeing with your political compatriots on this one. We may disagree on whether abortion is morally wrong or not, but we agree that we can’t answer that question for others. (And actually, I too used to consider abortion to be morally wrong, but I tried to get myself out of the mindset that my beliefs ought to be law.)
Anyways, great post! I have tons of respect for you despite our political differences.
Thanks for reading, commenting, and especially for the respect! I think respect is lacking in today’s world. Whatever differences in political beliefs, I’m glad to speak to you. I do admit that I am uncomfortable with the notion of imposing one’s own belief systems on other people. I think it’s foolish and antagonistic and ultimately leads to the breakdown of common and civil discourse. I’m a big believer in personal choice, for myself and for others.
hello, i am new to this site. I just had to comment arent we already imposing our personal beliefs on others by the laws that already exist. We already have laws against murder and child abuse in this country. I am sure there are people in this country who believe we should be able to murder someone if it suits their needs or steal if it is really needed.The problem is that when someone wants to take a life or steal or commit any other cruel behavior to another, they will think twice about committing the act if they think there is a chance they will get caught or have a consequence. Just something to think about we already are a society of morals and rules against chaos, the best way is not condone the behavior with the law allowing it, however we must educate all concerning their bodies and mind. When i say educate i mean tell exactly what happens to a woman’s body with contraception ie risk of blood clots, varying cancers, hormone issues, libido problems, depression and weight gain. Next we should teach exactly what happens during every type of abortion to the woman and the baby, the pain to both and the future physical and emotional problems with potential for drug and and alcohol abuse due to guilt on behalf of the woman. Next the psychological problems that come to women and men who are sexually involved in uncommitted relationships, especially to the younger more immature people. Of course not all people feel that way so if they want to screw everyone let them, unless they are going around giving out diseases and mental abuse to others.(but so far i dont think we can legislate against that, yet. LOL!)The STD problems and then the financial ramifications of having an unplanned pregnancy. Finally, government has got to stop rewarding unmarried women for having baby after baby with no job, no education and no spouse!
Much of your argument is a strawman fallacy. While your point seems valid on the surface, it really has little to do with the point at hand. I live in an area that loves to legislate morality. For example, I can not buy a beer at a restaurant or grocery store. What harm am I doing to others in society by having a beer with my dinner? (I am talking about moderate alcohol consumption, not excess, there are laws concerning excess) Your examples of murder, child abuse and theft have a direct negative impact on others in society. If a woman chooses to use the pill, she takes the risk of the side effects. Those possible side effects do not have a direct negative effect on her neighbor.
Arthur, I wish that I could be as generous as you in giving her credit for her point seeming “valid on the surface.” There’s a lot of unChristianly judgmentalism in her statements, not to mention the lack of logic. Just to take her pill argument as one example, should we also deny coverage to women for all medications that may have side effects (especially when those side effects have been disclosed and pros/cons weighed in discussions between the patient and doctor, plus the additional information–in actual conversation/consultation–that pharmacists provide when the prescription is dispensed?) A friend of mine was on a birth control pill for a while as treatment for endometriosis, a disease which was excruciatingly painful and could have left her unable to have children if it remained untreated. She now has three children after undergoing treatment for the disease. Not that it matters (it’s really none of our business), but all three of those children were conceived inside her very loving marriage. There is so much misinformation being spouted by the anti-abortion campaigners who willfully dismiss medical and scientific facts in order to advance their agenda of trying to control women. I suspect that the above commenter means well but has been unknowingly manipulated by the lies spread by those who want to take away women’s rights to make decisions (along with their doctors) about what medications they take. The evidence of their deceit is clear when we look at how they don’t make arguments that other types of medications (i.e., cholesterol medication, Tylenol, etc.,) should be banned. They only care about side effects when it suits their agenda, and then they act like they care about women’s psychological well-being (as indicated by Sally’s repetition of those same talking points) before going on to pass judgment on those same women (re-read her last sentence).
Found your post through reader and was delighted to read a post filled with common sense. Well written, well thought out. You are correct in your statement that church and state must be separate and governmetn should not legislate morality. One of the primary reasons why people fled to the American colonies was to escape home countries run by whatever religion was in power at the time.
Thank you.
I wonder how long it will be until the republican party fractures into multiple parties. With the far right demanding ideological purity there doesn’t seem to be much room for those who don’t believe in legislating morals. They really need to form the theocracy party since that is what many of them want. That way the fiscal conservatives (I mean real ones, not the pitiful excuse for fiscal conservatives we have had the last couple decades) can have the republican party