If Not War, Then What Would You Call It?

It should come as no surprise that Reince Priebus -- Chairman of the Republican National Committee -- is fully unaware of the onslaught of attempts by Republican legislators in state legislatures and in Congress to limit and/or strip away the rights of women to make their own choices about what they do with their body. It turns out that in his eyes, the whole thing is a fabrication:

“If Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that the Republicans have a war on caterpillars then we would have problems with caterpillars.”

So... There you have it. The constant barrage of laws and policies designed to strip away already existing rights, marginalize others, and basically take women's complete liberty and freedom away from them is something the Democrats came up with.

Let's just see...



Here's just some of the evidence that Mr. Priebus may have missed:

• Georgia - HB 954, a fetal pain bill, passes the Legislature, and criminalizes abortion after 20 weeks using the thinly-veiled and completely inaccurate idea of "fetal pain," which has been scientifically disproven. In the process, Republican Rep. Terry England compared pregnant women carrying stillborn fetuses to the livestock on his farm. All six sponsors in the House: Republicans, including one woman. One sponsor in the Senate: Republican.
• New Hampshire -  HB 1659, the totally misnamed "Women’s Right to Know Act," passes the NH House. It essentials add an unnecessary 24-hour waiting period for getting an abortion, and forces doctors to lie to women wanting an abortion, telling them they will increase thie rrisk of contracting breast cancer, a fact unsupported by scientific evidence. Sponsor Rep. Jeanine Notter: Republican
• Idaho - Forced ultrasound bill, SB1387, is passed by the Senate, only to die in House, after House leadership determined not to take it up. Primary Sponsor, Sen. Chuck Winder: Republican.
• Arizona - HB 2036 is passed by the Senate; it would ban abortions after 20 weeks, but make that definition even more restrictive by trying to claim that gestational age is based on the date of a woman's last menstrual cycle, which goes against all biological knowledge of human reproduction. Primary sponsor, Rep. Kimberly Yee: Republican.

Personhood amendments. Abortion restrictions. "Conscience" clauses. Birth control restrictions. In almost all cases, brought by Republican legislators or groups allied closely to the Republican Party, working to reshape American society to bring it into line with religious beliefs and "Christian values," in all cases aimed at restricting the inherent freedom a woman has to regulate her body in the way she chooses.

Barbarism.

What's next? Tests for witches? Requiring the word "obey" in marriage vows? Uterus registrations? Pregnancy inspectors?

Mr. Priebus may wish to continue to view the world through his privilege-tinted glasses, but the fact is that women make up roughly 51% of the population, and forgiving those women who wholeheartedly have given themselves over to religious fever and are dead set against allowing all women equal freedom, the fact remains this: they are watching. They are watching Republican legislators begin a wholesale assault on their rights to reproductive freedom all over the nation. They are raising their voices against the onslaught of invasive and intrusive measures designed to deter them from making a decision that is solely theirs to make. They are marking those legislators for removal. And they are gaining help from those of us in the male portion of the American citizenry who do not wish to see our mothers, our daughters, our wives, and our friends treated as chattel and placed in reproductive bondage by a tiny, odious fraction of the population that is attempting to live in the 10th Century and is trying to drag us along with them.

Be warned: whether you want to acknowledge the war or not, it is active, it is real, and after a fanatical blitzkrieg, the forces of freedom and liberty are about to take the field and push you back. We shall not stand by and allow you to denigrate more than half our nation. We will not allow you to dehumanize women -- cis or transgender. We will not allow you to perpetuate your backward, intolerant, ignorant thinking and promulgate it as truth. We will allow no woman to be a slave to bigotry and misogyny. Call it what you will -- the battle is joined, and you will lose it.