Paul Ryan Mocks 'War On Women' At Private Fundraiser

Laura Bassett

At a private fundraiser in Naples, Fla., on Thursday, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan mocked the so-called "war on women."

"Now it's a war on women; tomorrow it's going to be a war on left-handed Irishmen or something like that," Ryan told the crowd of donors, according to Shushanna Walshe of ABC News.

Democrats began using the "war on women" rhetoric in late 2011 to describe an unprecedented legislative focus by Republican lawmakers during the last two years on limiting women's access to abortion and contraception. Ryan has cast 60 votes on abortion and reproductive rights issues during his time in the House of Representatives, and all of them were deemed "anti-choice" by women's health advocates.

In addition to passing or proposing laws that would limit abortion rights, mandate ultrasounds, allow employers to deny women birth control coverage and defund Planned Parenthood, Republicans have repeatedly come under fire during the past several months for making inflammatory comments about women's health. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" for advocating for contraception coverage, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said victims of "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant, and Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) said on Thursday that there should be no abortion exception for the "life of the mother" because "with modern technology and science, you can't find one instance" in which a woman would actually die from a pregnancy.

Republicans, in response, have long claimed that the "war on women" is a figment of Democrats' imaginations and that women's issues are "shiny objects of distraction" Democrats are using to take the spotlight off the real issues this election.

Rich Beeson, political director for Mitt Romney's campaign, echoed Ryan's sentiment in an interview with ABC7 News on Thursday, calling women's reproductive rights and equal pay "small things" that are not important to voters.

"Barack Obama four years ago said, 'If you don't have something to talk about on the issues you talk about the small things,'" Beeson said in response to a question about women's issues. "And that's what we're seeing from the Obama campaign ... They don't have an issue to run on, they don’t have an agenda for the next term, so they want to talk about the small things and distract America from the important things of restoring and strengthening the middle class and putting America back to 

By Amy Gehrt, GateHouse News Service

October 16. 2012 11:01AM                  

Amy Gehrt: Veep debate reveals hints of GOP ‘War on Women’

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan squared off on a variety of domestic and foreign policy issues during last week’s debate, from clashes over the economy and taxes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it was an exchange over a war of a different sort — the GOP’s “War on Women” — that perhaps may have swayed undecided voters the most. Near the end of the debate, moderator Martha Raddatz broached the topic of abortion, framed in the context of each man’s Catholic faith and personal beliefs. Ryan was first to respond, saying, “I don’t see how a person can separate their public life from their private life or from their faith.”

He then channeled running mate Mitt Romney and did a little acrobatic flip-flopping, saying “the policy of a Romney administration will be to oppose abortions with the exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother” rather than stating his own, far more draconian, beliefs regarding abortion, before veering into a rant against Obamacare — couched, of course, in the guise of an “assault” on Americans’ religious freedom.

“Look at what they’re doing through ‘Obamacare’ with respect to assaulting the religious liberties of this country. They’re infringing upon our first freedom, the freedom of religion, by infringing on Catholic charities, Catholic churches, Catholic hospitals. ... And with respect to abortion, the Democratic Party used to say they wanted it to be safe, legal and rare. Now they support it without restriction and with taxpayer funding.”

Putting aside the fact that Ryan’s opening salvo in the abortion discussion seems to essentially be an admission that he can’t separate his personal religious beliefs from his obligations as an elected public official — a clear violation of the right to separation of church and state that is guaranteed under the First Amendment, the very same amendment Ryan cites — Ryan also had his so-called facts wrong. Again.

So let’s clear a few things up for the fact-challenged. First, a ban on federal funding of abortion has been on the books since Congress passed the Hyde Amendment in 1976. The only exceptions are for victims of rape or incest, or to save the life of a mother. That ban was reaffirmed by an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, by the way.

And, as Biden himself pointed out in his response, “Let me make it absolutely clear: no religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic Social Services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy Hospital, any hospital, none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact.”

The vice president also spoke of his personal viewpoint on conception, formed through church teachings, while offering support for other Americans’ right to choose for themselves.

“Life begins at conception in the church’s judgment. I accept it in my personal life. But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman. I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that women, they can’t control their body. It’s a decision between them and their doctor. In my view and the Supreme Court, I’m not going to interfere with that.”

It seems pretty clear who really respects Americans’ right to religious freedom, and who is merely giving it lip service, doesn’t it?

It isn’t just about religious freedom, either. The legality of abortion itself could be on the line. A Romney/Ryan ticket is widely believed to pose a threat to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling — something Ryan himself obliquely referred to during the debate, saying “We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision.”

With four justices in their 70s, as Biden noted, “the next president will get one or two Supreme Court nominees. That’s how close Roe v. Wade is.”

Whomever wins the White House will hold the fate of a host of other women’s issues in his hands, too. In the past two years alone, there have been nearly 2,000 anti-choice provisions introduced in legislation. Among other things, Republican lawmakers have attempted to redefine rape, supported a bill that would let hospitals watch a woman die rather than perform a needed abortion and tried to take away all federal funding for Planned Parenthood. South Dakota GOP members even attempted to make it legal to murder doctors who provide abortion care. Even the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act has been stalled in Congress — all because protection was expanded to include gays and American Indians.

Voters are being faced with an important choice this election cycle, and the outcome could very well change the course of history. So before you cast your ballot, ask yourself this question: Do you want to go back to the ’50s-era social policies of the past, or do you want a future where all Americans — regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation — will truly be treated equally?

How quaint – columnist Kathleen Parker argued that female voters are not some monolithic group who swallow the “war on women” nonsense, but are more concerned about their families and jobs in this election cycle (Oct. 12 Opinion).

There is most definitely a war on women in America. The most crucial battle is being waged against reproductive rights. This battle takes center stage because everyone understands that if a woman cannot control the number of pregnancies in her life it affects her ability to move back into the job force, find affordable and quality day care, continue her education and achieve financial security.

Republicans and the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan ticket are united in their desire to deny women this freedom with such measures as eliminating access to contraceptives and defunding Planned Parenthood. In state legislatures across the nation and Congress, the Republican Party has proposed a record number of anti-abortion measures while supporting misogynist candidates like Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., who believes women have a biological fail-safe button to shut down a “legitimate rape.”

The war on women includes such outrageous laws as forcing women to endure invasive vaginal probes to giving birth to a rapist’s child. And what female voter could possibly ignore Republican politicians who sanctimoniously impose their religious beliefs on women’s reproductive health care?

Other important bills that would protect women have been blocked by conservatives. The tea party Republicans in the House thwarted the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, while the Paycheck Fairness Act was not even allowed to come up for a vote. This act would stop employers from the discriminatory practice of paying women less and hiding this fact by prohibiting employees from discussing their salaries.

Conservatives like to crow how America is the light bearer

Republicans and the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan ticket are united in their desire to deny women this freedom with such measures as eliminating access to contraceptives and defunding Planned Parenthood. In state legislatures across the nation and Congress, the Republican Party has proposed a record number of anti-abortion measures while supporting misogynist candidates like Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., who believes women have a biological fail-safe button to shut down a “legitimate rape.”

The war on women includes such outrageous laws as forcing women to endure invasive vaginal probes to giving birth to a rapist’s child. And what female voter could possibly ignore Republican politicians who sanctimoniously impose their religious beliefs on women’s reproductive health care?

Other important bills that would protect women have been blocked by conservatives. The tea party Republicans in the House thwarted the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, while the Paycheck Fairness Act was not even allowed to come up for a vote. This act would stop employers from the discriminatory practice of paying women less and hiding this fact by prohibiting employees from discussing their salaries.

Conservatives like to crow how America is the light bearer for equality and freedom around the world. The war on women is the ugly underside of American politics, and it cannot be covered up with Parker’s claim that women care more about jobs. There are far, far more important things in life than a paycheck. As Margaret Sanger stated so eloquently: “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”

Female voters are determined to defeat any candidate who stands against a woman’s most fundamental right – the right to determine her own well-being.

Amy Gehrt may be reached at agehrt@pekintimes.com. The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the newspaper.

Vickie Sandell Stangl of Andover is president of the Wichita chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/10/19/2537263/vickie-sandell-stangl-war-on-women.html#storylink=cpy

By Donald P. Condit

Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – The Catholic Bishops threw a quick yellow flag at Vice President Joe Biden after his debate with Cong. Paul Ryan. Biden’s run-in with the Catholic Bishops over the “facts” of Obamacare once again revives the important question of how voters sort out the “non-negotiable” matters of conscience against political and policy issues.  

The vice president falsely described the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)mandate, which forces employers to pay for abortion causing drugs, sterilization, and contraceptives, this way:

“With regard to the assault on the Catholic church, let me make it absolutely clear, no religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic Social Services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy Hospital, any hospital, none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay or contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide.

“That is a fact.”

The bishops pointed out that Biden was not, in fact, dealing with the facts.

In their statement, issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, they said that the HHS mandate contains a narrow, 4-part exemption for certain religious employers which was made final in February but does not extend to “Catholic Social Services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy Hospital, any hospital” or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served.

The statement continued, demolishing Biden’s blatant attempt at disinformation:

HHS has proposed an additional “accommodation” for religious organizations like these, which HHS itself describes as “non-exempt.” That proposal does not even potentially relieve these organizations from the obligation “to pay for contraception” and” to be a vehicle to get contraception.”

They will have to serve as a vehicle, because they will still be forced to provide their employees with health coverage, and that coverage will still have to include sterilization, contraception, and abortifacients.

They will have to pay for these things, because the premiums that the organizations (and their employees) are required to pay will still be applied, along with other funds, to cover the cost of these drugs and surgeries.

Kyle Duncan, general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, similarly corrected the vice president in observing that Biden’s “facts” are exactly the reverse.

“Under the mandate, nearly every Catholic hospital, charity, university, and diocese in the United States — along with millions of institutions of other faiths — must refer for, must pay for, and must act as a vehicle for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs,” Duncan said.

“If they do not, they face millions in fines. That is a fact. “

In the debate, Congressman Ryan’s thoughtful question — “why would they (faith based institutions and employers) keep suing you?” — was overshadowed by Biden’s disrespectful theatrics.

As a further, and actual, matter of fact, more than 100 plaintiffs are suing the Obama administration to protect their First Amendment rights of freedom of religion. On Oct. 12, thirteen states and The Catholic University of America, The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, D.C., and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington filed a brief in support of Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College challenges to the HHS mandate.

For many on the Catholic left, the confusion of “non-negotiables” in Church teaching with matters of prudential judgment has become all too common. Ryan’s own bishop, the Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino, addressed the subject in the diocesan paper for Madison, Wis. The church, Morlino wrote, regards abortion as an “intrinsic evil” (meaning always and everywhere wrong, regardless of circumstances).

In sharp contrast, Morlino said, on issues such as how best to create jobs or help the poor,

“there can be difference according to how best to follow the principles which the church offers.”

John Kennedy, president and chief executive officer of Autocam and Autocam Medical in Grand Rapids, Mich., understands the difference. He has courageously filed a suit in federal court against the mandate. His firm, which employs around 700 people in the United States, would face nearly $25 million per year in penalties for non-compliance without judicial relief if he failed to comply.

“This law requires me to violate my beliefs by paying for controversial products that cause abortions, and it does nothing to improve access or eliminate cost for essential medications like insulin and heart medication,” Kennedy said.

The Obamacare mandate would have a devastating effect on some of the biggest charitable groups helping the poor and the sick. For example, Catholic Charities West Michigan in 2009 served 26,000 individuals and families — 80 percent of whom were non-Catholic. Penalties for non-compliance would likely result in the loss of 300 professionals and 3,000 volunteers serving thousands in the 11-county Diocese of Grand Rapids.

Saint Mary’s Health Care has served patients and families in western Michigan since 1893. This 2,500 employee and 344-bed acute hospital and associated care facilities would similarly face insurmountable financial penalties with subsequent irreplaceable loss of community service with fines of $100 per employee per day.

Considering the extent of benefits and services these employers, health care entities, and charities provide to women and children promptly discredits any objection to the HHS mandate as a “war-on-women” over birth control pills costing under $10 per month.

We should hope that other federal judges follow the example of Colorado U.S. District Judge John L. Kane Jr, who in July granted injunctive relief for the Newland family’s business, Hercules Industries. This 265-employee manufacturer of HVAC equipment sued the federal government “to protect its right to administer its self-insured employee plan for its 265 full-time employees in a way that comports with the family’s religious faith.”

Founding Father John Adams, if he were around today, might remind Vice President Joe Biden that “facts are stubborn things.”

Dr. Donald P. Condit, MD, MBA is an orthopaedic surgeon. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame he attended the University of Michigan Medical School, his  studies focused on economics and the ethical allocation of scarce health care resources. He is the author of A Prescription for Health Care Reform.