The GOP Anti-Woman Double Down

Bob McDonnell Akin-izes Republican platform, Paul Ryan returns to VA to tout backwards policies

Putting to rest any doubt about conservatives’ anti-woman agenda, Bob McDonnell’s platform committee today approved language opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest. The move brings the official party position in line with Todd Akin and Paul Ryan’s radical anti-woman, anti-family ideology. According to news reports, McDonnell, chairman of the platform committee, applauded the move as “affirming our respect for human life.” The move fits squarely with McDonnell’s own radical record, best exemplified by his support for the widely condemned “vaginal probe” ultrasound bill.

Virginians would be right to wonder whether conservatives are vying for some “Grand Poobah of Anti-Woman Conservatives” prize. Tomorrow, Paul Ryan returns to the Commonwealth, hoping Virginia voters won’t pay much attention to his decidedly anti-family record. Never mind Ryan’s support for federal personhood legislation, his refusal to support the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, or his scheme to end Medicare as we know it. A new report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund lays out that the Romney-Ryan ticket would be a disaster for women across the board.

Details below:

• Romney-Ryan bad for women’s health. The pair have pledged to repeal Obamacare and the accompanying critical protections for women’s health, including eliminating pregnancy and domestic violence as preexisting conditions, prohibitions on premium discrimination, and no-cost preventative health care
• Romney-Ryan bad for reproductive choice. The conservative duo have expressed support (and in Ryan’s case, introduced federal legislation) for personhood measures that would criminalize some forms of birth control and erode access. Romney has gone so far as to say he disagrees with Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court decision protecting contraception access. And Romney has famously declared, “Planned Parenthood? We’ll get rid of that.” Never mind that Planned Parenthood provides low cost reproductive health services include STD screenings, cancer screenings, and family planning services to millions of low-income women.
• Romney-Ryan bad for economic security. Not only would Romney-Ryan cut jobs in the female-dominated public sector (like teaching jobs), but they’d also make no effort to improve women’s wages (remember Ryan’s opposition to the Fair Pay Act, ensuring women are paid the same as men for doing the same job?). Furthermore, Romney-Ryan would continue to block paid sick days and family and medical leave. Their economic policies would raise taxes on middle class families to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy and require low-income women to work but deny any child-care assistance.

While the conservative race-to-the-bottom is still neck and neck, there’s already a clear loser. Us.