Republican politicians frequently tout the phrase 'War on Women' as a war being waged against women by Democrats, all the while passing laws (approximately 400 passed or in progress) which discriminate against women, some of which discriminate against us in the most personal and private of ways. It's been easy for the GOP to do so over the years as American women have not fully been paying attention, especially to this particular election. According to polls taken over the last several weeks, many American women are still undecided and have yet to fully research the candidates and their policies on women.
Many of us, for various reasons, have not had the opportunity to learn much about Mitt Romney, a high ranking clergyman in the Mormon church, or his hard core far religious right running mate, Paul Ryan. Many are unaware of the radical bills Ryan has co-sponsored with far right fundamentalists like Todd Aiken. Most women are probably also unaware Richard Mourdock, the Indiana candidate Mitt Romney recently endorsed, still fully endorses and financially supports, believes victims pregnant by rape should not be allowed an abortion because pregnancy by rape is simply "something God intended." At least the man didn't call it "legitimate rape" like Akin, Paul Ryan's buddy.
A lot of women, especially young women, will not have the time outside of work and family life to get to know the candidates during these last election days. Some will depend upon the input they gathered from the debates, if they had a chance to watch. Most of the younger women are not even aware of the War On Women going on in the political background, as they missed the WOW held back in the 1950's and were babies during the one that went down in the seventies. The young women of today generally don't know the lyrics to Harper Valley PTA or that Republican politicians are trying to outlaw access to birth control pills yet again.
Many women, even Americans in general, are not fully aware of Mitt Romney's own spiritual beliefs or the history of his very young church. It was certainly news to most of us to learn the Morman founder, Joseph Smith, was arrested for treason against the United States of America. But then, research takes time, something most American women have very little of, especially now that more women are working outside the home, working longer hours and harder just to keep afloat during the final throes of the RIP (Republican Induced Recession), a recession the GOP has tried to prolong for political purpose and one from which we recover in spite of their efforts.
Many women, young and old alike, have no clue Republican leadership believes it is the business of strangers (think old, white, fat, balding and far religious right male politicians) and not our own most private, personal business when, in determining our individual reproductive and economic future, we decide whether or not to use the birth control pill.
Banning birth control pills or making them less accessible sounds unthinkable to those of us with any commonsense, doesn't it? Birth control pills being banned by Republican men who like to complain about welfare costs and "welfare queens" makes even less sense. One has to wonder why Republican men even try. In most part, the men of the GOP feel called upon by their particular brand of God to declare they should be privy to and have the right to claim power over the most personal, private body parts of all females and further, they claim the right to make private, personal decisions for women with whom they hold no vested interest. They want to make life altering decisions for women not their own wives or their own underage daughters, for families they are not a part of and for females they have never met nor support. Sounds like a personal problem to me. Sounds like these men need to get a life other than ours. It seems these Republican politicians need to read the Constitution as well.
Maybe women should ask these Republican fool busybodies just who should pay for all those additional children? Let's ask these old political farts just who the hell should go to jail for non-support when the younger generations of men are unable to afford all the extra children born because of little or no access to birth control. How many young American men will end up serving time as a Class D Felon because of family interference by self righteous politicians? How many divorces will satisfy the GOP? Just how much poverty do Republicans want to create? Heh, the GOP is more than willing to create a problem, they just don't want to accept any responsibility for the outcome.
What does the Republican religious right's fear of women controlling their own private lives have to do with Mitt Romney? Everything. How does Romney factor into this War On Women? The crux of the matter is that time and time again Mitt Romney has stated issues such as birth control, which involve separation of church and state, should be left entirely up to the individual states. We all understand how this will play out in the south. In other words, depending on where a female resides, her reproductive freedom will end or begin at a state line. That is not equal rights as a citizen of the United States, states that sometimes forget they do not hold the power to take rights away, only the power to expand upon them.
Sounds far fetched? Not really, once you understand that in Romney's mind and according to his religion (a religion slightly older than Scientology and one which barred blacks from joining long after the Civil Rights Act passed), he believes females cannot enter heaven on their own merit but instead must rely solely upon a direct invitation to heaven from her husband or father. If females are second rate in his chosen heaven, they certainly won't be equal on earth. Mitt Romney believes, per his deeply held Mormon faith, that if he is highly successful as a man he will earn an extra nice planet to rule over as a god himself in heaven, a god possibly as big if not bigger in status than their own current half human God. Talk about misplaced male ego ;)
American women, more so now than ever before, have a chance to shape this county with their vote and bear the responsibility to try. The direction our nation will take will be one towards theocracy or religious freedom. It's up to us girls to do what Republican men have failed to do. It's up to us to ensure through our election process equal rights for ourselves, our daughters and our grand daughters. It is imperative we ensure at least a chance of a viable financial future for young families through access to birth control. It's up to American women to protect each other from the likes of the GOP religious fundamentalists and their ilk such as Mourdock, Aiken, Ryan and the enabler, Bishop Mitt Romney.
It's time to vote, ladies.
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