Many Republicans have claimed that the “War on Women” is a fictional idea that Democrats have made up to distract voters. If this is the case, someone may want to inform U.S. Senate candidate and Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and ask him to shut his mouth.
Mourdock has joined the ranks of men with outrageous and vile opinions of rape who have considered it necessary to announce their views to the world. It seems that people such as Mourdock, U.S. Rep. Todd Aiken and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan are all trying to outdo one another with these comments.
During a Senate candidate debate against U.S. Rep Joe Donnelly on Oct. 23, in response to whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest, Mourdock said, “I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
Last time I checked, pregnancy was a biological process; God has nothing to do with it. Keep your religion out of places it does not belong.
For each horrendous comment about rape, abortion, pregnancy, etc., there is another from a Republican who swears the “War on Women” is purely made up to detract attention from “real issues.”
In June, Eric Fehrnstrom, one of former Gov. Mitt Romney’s top aides, said, “Democrats use all sorts of shiny objects to distract people’s attention from the Obama performance on the economy.”
ABC News reported that Ryan, at a private fundraiser in Florida held near the beginning of October said, “Now it’s a ‘War on Women’; tomorrow it’s going to be a war on left-handed Irishmen or something like that.”
This recurrence of sexist statements, with the added bonus of denial from the same group of people, is ridiculous. How can it be said that there is no “War on Women” when people from the same side are the ones attacking women?
I do not believe all Republicans are part of this attack; sexism does not belong to a specific political party. What I do believe is that it is ludicrous for any representative to state that women’s rights are a “distraction,” and it is incredibly worrying for an aide to believe my rights are “shiny objects.”
If you truly want to end the idea of the “War on Women,” stop fighting. Stop telling me I should be happy about a pregnancy after being raped, I should carry a stillborn to term, I should not use contraception, a zygote is a “person” or not all rape is legitimate; as President Barack Obama said, “Rape is rape.”
Do not tell me I am being distracted; I am a young woman who is paying very close attention to what is going on in America, and telling me that caring about my rights is “distracting” is not only pointless, it is also demeaning. If you do not give me respect, do not expect me to give you my vote.