Memo: Meet the GOP Extreme Team

From the Democratic Party of Virginia:

May 19, 2013

Yesterday Virginia Tea Party Republicans made history when they nominated the most extreme statewide ticket this Commonwealth has ever seen. From banning birth control and forcing women to report miscarriages to police, to comparing Planned Parenthood to the KKK, there is no arguing that Ken Cuccinelli, E.W. Jackson and Mark Obenshain are further outside the Virginia mainstream than any slate of candidates either party has ever nominated.

The Democratic Party of Virginia and concerned Virginians from all political points of view spent the last week informing voters about Ken Cuccinelli’s dangerous and extreme “personhood” agenda to ban birth control and roll back women’s rights. As the memo below demonstrates, E.W. Jackson and Mark Obenshain are the two most perfect candidates Tea Party Republicans could have nominated to walk in lockstep with Cuccinelli’s dangerous crusades.

E.W. Jackson: “Planned Parenthood Has Been Far More Lethal To Black Lives Than The KKK Ever Was.” In September 2012, E.W. Jackson posted a video in which he called on the black community to end their “slavish devotion” to the Democratic Party. In the video, he said: “The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions. Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.” [Bishop E.W. Jackson Message to Black Christians, 9/8/12]

E.W. Jackson Would “Permanently Defund Planned Parenthood.” According to his website, E.W. Jackson said he sought to “permanently defund Planned Parenthood,” saying: “It is an act of grave injustice to force citizens to pay for the destruction of unborn babies, whether through state or federal taxes. All funding for abortion and the organizations that provide them must be halted.” [Jackson for Lieutenant Governor, accessed 5/18/13]

E.W. Jackson: Gay People Are “Perverted” And “Very Sick.” In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson’s appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said about gays and lesbians: “Their minds are perverted, they’re frankly very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally and they see everything through the lens of homosexuality. When they talk about love they’re not talking about love, they’re talking about homosexual sex. So they can’t see clearly.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12]

E.W. Jackson: Homosexuality “Destroys Families, It Destroys Societies; It Brings The Judgment Of God.” In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson’s appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said: “Homosexuality is a horrible sin, it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies; it brings the judgment of God unlike very few things that we can think of.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12]

E.W. Jackson: Homosexuality Tries To “Poison” And “Sexualize” Children. In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson’s appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said of homosexuality: “Look, it also attempts to poison our children, divide them from their parents and the teaching of the church and basically turn them into pawns for that movement so that they can sexualize them at the earliest possible age. It really is insidious and I agree with you, it is a super sin.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12]

E.W. Jackson: Gays And Lesbians “Want To Destroy” Culture; Said They Were Forcing Christians To Change Their Beliefs. In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson’s appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said of homosexuality: “They’ve got to transform the culture in order to make their lifestyles fully acceptable to everyone. I used two words to describe what they’re trying to do: authoritarian and totalitarian, and I believe that. I believe that they are of a mindset that says we want to destroy in any way we need to anyone who dares oppose this agenda, that’s a very, very dangerous approach. They don’t just say tolerate us and you may think we’re wrong and that’s okay; no, it’s not okay for you to even think that or to believe that even if you do so because of sincerely held religious beliefs, you better either change your beliefs or prepare to suffer persecution and that’s just where they’re coming from. They are using every tool in the culture in order to get it done, every business that will go along with it, every TV show, they got plenty of support from Hollywood, they’re using literature, magazines, you name it, they are continuously telling us this is good, this is right, this is okay.” [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12]

Jackson: Democratic Party Represented “Godlessness” And “Anti-Christian Bigotry.” In October 2010, Right Wing Watch reported: “All four speakers criticized the Democrats while praising the Tea Party. Bishop Jackson maintained that the Democratic Party represents ‘godlessness,’ and stands for ‘fiscal irresponsibility, moral relativism or amorality, anti-Christian bigotry, and a foreign policy of surrender and appeasement.'” [Right Wing Watch, 10/4/10]

Jackson Said That Gay Marriage Is Like “Spitting In The Face Of Every Bible-Believing Christian In America.” In August 2012, Charisma News reported: “Later this month when Democrats make same-sex marriage part of their official Party Platform, the former practicing attorney says they will be spitting in the face of every Bible-believing Christian in America: ‘They will be saying, “We don’t care what you think, what you believe, or what the Bible or the God of the Bible says. We know better than God.”‘ [Charisma News, 8/8/12]

Mark Obenshain: A Record of Mean-Spirited Attacks on Women’s Rights

Obenshain Co-Patroned “Personhood” Bill With Cuccinelli. Obenshain has repeatedly supported “personhood” legislation that would outlaw all abortion and many common forms of birth control. [HB2797, 2007; HB1, 2/23/12]

Obenshain Introduced A Bill That Would Require Women To Report Miscarriages To Police. “Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, made himself a lightning rod for criticism by introducing a bill that would require a woman to report her miscarriage to police with 24 hours.” [SB 962, 2009; Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 1/28/09]

Obenshain Introduced Bill Requiring Women to Report Miscarriages to the Police

In 2009, Sen. Mark Obenshain introduced legislation that would require women to report miscarriages to the police within 24 hours or face a Class 1 misdemeanor. According to the Virginia Legislative Information System, the bill “Requires that when a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion, the mother or someone acting on her behalf, within 24 hours, report the fetal death, location of the remains, and identity of the mother to the local or state police or sheriff’s department of the city or county where the fetal death occurred. The bill also specifies that no one shall remove, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any remains without the express authorization of law-enforcement officials or the medical examiner, and that a violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor.” [SB 962, 2009]

HEADLINE: Bill would require police report of miscarriage in Virginia [Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 1/26/09]

Virginia Lawyers Weekly: Obenshain Bill Would Require Women to Report Miscarriage to Police within 24 Hours

In January 2009, Virginia Lawyers Weekly reported, “Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, made himself a lightning rod for criticism by introducing a bill that would require a woman to report her miscarriage to police with 24 hours.” [Virginia Lawyers Weekly, 1/26/09]

Obenshain Opposed Bipartisan Transportation Bill. Obenshain voted against Bob McDonnell’s bipartisan transportation funding package. [HB2313, 2/23/13, 4/3/13]

Obenshain voted against of adding sexual orientation to Virginia’s non-discrimination policy. [SB66, 3/9/10]

Obenshain Sponsored Bill To Outlaw Abortions After Twenty Weeks. In February 2012, the Daily Press reported: “Sen. Harry Blevins, R-Chesapeake, abstained Thursday, thereby killing a measure before the Senate Education and Health Committee that would have outlawed elective abortions in Virginia after 20 weeks. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, would have made elective abortions after 20 weeks because he said there is medical evidence that a fetus can feel pain at that point in its gestation. The measure would have allowed abortions after that point if the mother’s life or health is threatened.” [Daily Press, 2/2/12]

JMU Board Of Visitors Member Obenshain Supported JMU’s Decision To Stop Providing Emergency Contraception To Students, Said That “We Don’t Provide A Full Range Of Abortion Services”

In April 2003, the AP reported: “In response to a complaint from a state legislator, James Madison University will stop providing “morning after” birth-control pills at its campus health center. The state-supported college’s board of visitors voted Friday to stop dispensing the emergency contraception pill after receiving a letter from Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas, criticizing the practice. Board member Mark Obenshain, who is running for the state Senate in the 26th District, characterized the pill as a type of abortion. ‘We don’t provide a full range of abortion services,’ he said. He said students who want the pill can still get it from off-campus sources.” [AP, 4/19/03]

Obenshain Said Emergency Contraception Was A Form Of Abortion, Moved For JMU To Stop Selling It. In April 2003, the Richmond Times Dispatch reported: “At the meeting, board member Mark D. Obenshain moved that JMU cease selling levonorgestrel, according to school spokesman Fred Hilton. Hilton said a clear majority of the board approved the motion but an exact vote count was not taken. Obenshain said yesterday that causing the discharge of a fertilized egg constitutes a type of abortion. A public university should not support the use of such a drug through mandatory student fees, he said. ‘One of the effects of the pill is to cause the destruction of a fertilized egg,’ he said. ‘Do people categorize that as having an abortion effect? Yes. Do I? Yes.'” [Richmond Times Dispatch, 4/22/03]

Obenshain Moved For JMU To Stop Providing Emergency Contraception After Bob Marshal Petitioned Him. In April 2003, the Washington Post reported: “But according to JMU board member Mark Obenshain, now leading the charge against the eight-year practice, the board had no idea the pills were available until Del. Robert Marshall, a Manassas Republican and abortion opponent, sent a strongly worded letter of complaint to JMU President Linwood Rose. Marshall also contacted Obenshain, a Republican lawyer and abortion opponent from Harrisonburg seeking election to the Virginia Senate. Marshall has since raised similar objections at other state schools.” [Washington Post, 4/24/03]

Obenshain On Emergency Contraception: “No One Can, With A Straight Face, Suggest That This Pill Is Not An Abortion Agent.” In May 2003, the James Madison University Breeze quoted Mark Obenshain talking about emergency contraception: “No one can, with a straight face, suggest that this pill is not an abortion agent.” [James Madison University Breeze, 5/8/03]

Obenshain: JMU Board Was “Absolutely Right In Voting To Discontinue The Irresponsible Distribution Of The Morning-After Pill.” In May 2003, the James Madison University Breeze reported: “Obenshain said he ‘appreciated the opportunity to talk with two very well-spoken students today about the distribution of the morning-after pill and my vote to stop the Health Center’s distribution of this drug.’ Obenshain said the board was ‘absolutely right in voting to discontinue the irresponsible distribution of the morning-after pill, and I continue to stand by that decision.'” [James Madison University Breeze, 5/8/03]