It's a clear contradiction, one that's easy to explain. Ryan wants to take credit for being the most extreme anti-choice (including most birth control) candidate, but he doesn't want to explain what, exactly, he meant by 'forcible rape.'
The not-so-secret dirty little secret is that, whatever he meant by 'forcible rape,' Paul Ryan doesn't actually care why, how, and if you were raped, forcibly, legitimately, or whatever, his objective is to force you to carry that rapist's baby to term.
As The Last Word's Lawrence O'Donnell points out, Ryan also assured reporters that, while he may hold one set of views on abortion and rape, Mitt Romney is at the top of the ticket, and 'the President sets policy.'
Perhaps more tellingly, though, he said a ban on abortion with exceptions for rape and incest (an exception which Ryan opposes) is a 'step in the right direction.'
That direction, of course, is a federal law that recognizes personhood at the point of conception, turning abortion, most birth control, and most fertility treatments, into murder. While that position is extreme to many Americans, it is one that is shared by a substantial number of legislators (the people who make the laws), and it's the Holy Grail of the extreme anti-abortion movement. When Paul Ryan says that a ban on abortion with an exception for rape is a 'step in the right direction,' this is the direction he's referring to.
When Paul Ryan explains that 'the President sets policy,' he isn't just explaining why the Romney/Ryan ticket shouldn't be held accountable for his own views, he's also reminding voters that if their ticket wins, he and his Holy Grail of anti-abortion policies will be one heartbeat away from the presidency, from being able to sign into law any crazy piece of anti-choice legislation the US Congress sends his way.
That might not mean much to the kind of voter who is lightly engaged on the issue of choice, who just likes the way the words 'Pro Life' sound together, but you can bet it means everything to a movement that views abortion, and even many forms of contraception, as baby-murder. The problem is, it's tough to get the average voter as worked up about protecting reproductive freedom as it is to excite the Operation Rescue crowd.
What often gets lost in the abortion rights debate is that people on both sides of it largely agree that it would be good if there were fewer abortions, they just disagree on the means to achieve that. The pro-choice side believes in greater access to, and education about, contraception, and in building a society that provides women with the basic support they need to choose to keep a baby, if they want to. The anti-abortion side believes in using the law to make it harder to get an abortion, and even if they're reasonable individuals, end up lining up with people who weirdly oppose contraception.
But most sane people don't view abortion, or the use of the birth control pill, as actual murder, punishable by death. It may sound like alarmism to the moderate mind, but a vote for Romney/Ryan is a vote for that view, whether it's at the top or the bottom of the ticket. Even if Paul Ryan is never called upon to serve as president, does anyone really believe that a President Romney, when presented with a personhood bill by a GOP-controlled congress, will have the political will to veto it?
-
so proud that ryan has become mute on the subject
-
Let's keep the focus on abortion. People don't care about things such as gas prices inching toward four dollars a gallon, whether their job will still be there tomorrow, etc. Yes, abortion is what concerns everyone the most.
-
I wonder what the percentage of republicans are that think the killing of Dr. George Tiller was a justifiable and even a moral act? I'd guess the number would be fairly high (30%?) but don't know the exact numbers. Those kind of people would fit into Tommy Christopher's definition of insane. The problem though is that they also make up a significant part of the republican electorate.
-
That's a notably well-written, well-reasoned piece, TC. I found this passage particularly thought-provoking:
'What often gets lost in the abortion rights debate is that people on
both sides of it largely agree that it would be good if there were fewer
abortions, they just disagree on the means to achieve that. The
pro-choice side believes in greater access to, and education about,
contraception, and in building a society that provides women with the
basic support they need to choose to keep a baby, if they want to. The
anti-abortion side believes in using the law to make it harder to get an
abortion, and even if they're reasonable individuals, end up lining up
with people who weirdly oppose contraception.'I am as anti-abortion as anyone in America. Twice, women close to me have wrestled with the question of abortion. I have done all I could to persuade them not to proceed. My wife and I have help support a teen pregnancy outreach. As a matter of faith, I am devout. As a matter of government policy and law, I am pro-choice. Principally for the reason stated in your last sentence. Making it harder to get an abortion does nothing to prevent an abortion. It simply burdens someone already heavily burdened.
We have had some press in south and central Texas about Texas women border-shopping various abortion-inducing drugs in Mexico and facing some significant dangers in taking the medication without doctor's advice and without clear instructions on dosage and risks. Ms. Maddow even covered this story last night. You have to wonder what end is served when the extremes of either position win out.
Thank you for a good piece.
-
No worries, loads of focus on abortion coming right up in Tampa.
But as you clearly already know if you read the above article, it isn't just about abortion or Ryan alone, it's about Ryan trying to play both sides of the same coin.
He's a lying, squirming, incompetent, dodging every question hypocrite, he doesn't want to explain why exactly he's so proud of his pro life record. Just another 'trust me' moment from the Lyin'Ryan // Romney campaign.
Yeah, just vote for me and after the election I'll tell you what my position is on any issue, right now you can forget it and just go away!!America ain't buying that tripe!!
-
Damn you for your preference for freedom and choice and not forcing your beliefs on others!
-
Thanks for the clip Tommy! Notice Senor ready to pounce at any deviation from the the talking points.
-
Wasn't it Clinton that was so scorned by the right for saying abortion should be rare but legal or something like that?
I explained the same thing about myself here recently only for the idiot trolls too call me a baby killer. I'm anti-abortion albeit perhaps less than you because I believe in the right of ANY woman to choose what SHE wants to do with her body. But I'd rather her not have an abortion it just shouldn't be up to me or ANYONE else. And then of course exactly that is after all the law of the land.
-
There are two issues here that need more said than TC allows:
1) It is not uncommon for pols to state a policy preference, acknowledge they are working toward it (or, more likely remain ambivalent about it, or suggest it's not the right time) but also declare they will follow the law of the land.
Obama has done this on numerous occasions. It is attacked by both sides routinely for a variety of obvious reasons' but it is hardly an uncommon thing.
2) most people don't vote on a single issue basis' so saying 'a vote for Romney/Ryan is a vote for that view' is highly misleading. Most people who vote for Romney/Ryan won't even have abortion cross their mind.
you don't get to vote on each and every policy preference you may hold. You vote for a candidate that (typically) best represents your preferences most of the time.
-
Tommy, the people could care less that Ryan is pro life.
They care about Barrys failed Presidency, the economy and jobs jobs jobs'something the liberal lame stream media is avoiding like the plague! -
The topic, my friend, was advanced by one of your own.
-
Would that the topic itself at long last be moot.
-
So you're against abortion. From the tone of his articles, Tommy would argue that you're pro-rape.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar