I have friends and family who will be voting for Mitt Romney on November 6th and I will not alienate them by discussing our political differences, but I have to question if they understand what is at stake in this election. There are issues common to almost every election; the federal deficit, unemployment, health care, and social security, but in this election there is an issue that, for me, stands above all the others and that is women's rights. I do not want a president whose policies will catapult women back in time. I remember the 60s and 70s when women fought for equal pay, when the Supreme Court made the decision to legalize abortion in Roe vs Wade, and legislators passed laws making it a criminal offense for a husband to abuse his wife. I have advocated for and counseled women who have been raped and abused and I fear that if the Romney Ryan Republican ticket wins, a chauvinistic backward view of women and women's issues will resurface.
Romney has said he will overturn Roe vs Wade and has endorsed a "personhood" initiative treating a fertilized egg as a legal person. That could lead to murder charges for an abortion, even to save the life of a mother. He has promised to withdraw all federal funding of Planned Parenthood, which, contrary to popular belief, provides numerous health services to women, including HIV/AIDS testing and cancer screening. The unfortunate result of defunding could be that more women may die of cervical and breast cancer and AIDS.
I have followed the Republican's war on women since the start of this election year, beginning with Rick Santorum's extreme stance on birth control. Santorum said, "One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country....It's not okay. It's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be." The fact is that 99 percent of sexually active women in the United States have used some form of birth control and Santorum wanted to ban all contraception.
Romney recently endorsed Republican Richard Mourdock in the Indiana Senate race with a widely publicized web video declaring, "With so much at stake, I hope you'll join me in supporting Richard Mourdock for U.S. Senate." On October 23, 2012, Mourdock said, "And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Four out of five Americans believe that a woman should be able to get an abortion if her health is endangered, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape.
And then there is Todd Aiken's outrageous comment, "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," he said. "But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child." His entire statement is preposterous, but the most insulting word here is "legitimate".
Given these views by Republicans running for office this year, I believe it is fair to say that there is a Republican war on women and I urge everyone to think about these issues when they enter the voting booth on Tuesday. These issues affect men and women alike. I know not all men subscribe to these radical Republican views and they do care about the reproductive health of their wives, daughters, girlfriends, friends, and family members.
Women, when you vote, think about how you feel about your rights. Men, think about all the women you love.
