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Paul Ryan: A Legitimate Danger to Women’s Rights

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Photo of Paul Ryan
I have to admit, I was pretty shocked when Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate.  I’d been almost positive his veep candidate would be female, in large part because Romney’s ratings among women are pretty abysmal.

Playing that card failed miserably for John McCain four years ago, but believe it or not, Sarah Palin almost seems sort-of-kind-of-at-least-a-little-bit acceptable when you take a closer look at Paul Ryan.

I knew relatively little about Paul Ryan when the news broke, other than that he’s a Congressman from Wisconsin and something of a golden boy in the Tea Party.

I received a forwarded e-mail from my mother today, however, that concerned me.  Deeply concerned me.

Now, the subject line was “5 Facts About Paul Ryan and Women”, and since I know what side of the political spectrum my mother hails from, I wasn’t surprised by its existence.  I get mass e-mails from all directions of politics (someone–I’m pretty sure it was my brother despite his denials–signed me up for Rick Santorum’s mailing list), and it’s always interesting to see rhetoric at work, to observe two completely different spins on the same issues, the same numbers.

In other words, I read all political mailings with a grain of salt.

Usually.

The e-mail I received today, though, a forward from Ultra Violet, was a bit different. It had the usual hard-swinging, attention-catching lines, but it also included footnotes … in other words, the wild accusations against Paul Ryan’s political stances on women’s issues are well-documented.

1. He voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Think women deserve to earn the same pay as men for the same work? Paul Ryan doesn’t. And the pay gap costs women and their families close to $431,000 over their lifetimes.

In a nutshell, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is, as its name suggests, legislation intended to ensure that women have the same compensation opportunities as their male colleagues. It is, to be fair, very complex and not as clear-cut as Ultra Violet would have you believe.

That being said, The National Review admits that “many conservatives question the existence of a wage gap in the first place” and that “instead of helping workers, the Paycheck Fairness Act could actually make their jobs harder by increasing costs to the businesses that hire them.”

2. He opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest. It’s not just that Paul Ryan has voted 59 times against a woman’s right to choose—which he has. He would even rather let a woman die than allow her to have an abortion. He’s supported a bill to allow hospitals to refuse to provide abortion care to a woman, even if she could die without it.

Yes, this is also true. Frightening as hell, but true. In fact, Paul is not averse to women being prosecuted for having abortions. Prosecuted.

From The Daily Beast:

This disregard for the exigencies of women’s lives—the dismissal of their choices as amoral exercises of “arbitrary will”—was thrown into high relief during his 1998 run for congress against Democrat Lydia Spottswood. Both candidates backed a ban on so-called partial-birth abortion, but Spottswood believed there should be exceptions in cases where a woman’s life or health is endangered. “Ryan said he opposes abortion, period,” reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He said any exceptions to a ‘partial-birth’ abortion….

… ban would make that ban meaningless.”

During that campaign, Ryan also expressed his willingness to let states criminally prosecute women who have abortions. According to another Journal Sentinel article, he “would let states decide what criminal penalties would be attached to abortions. Ryan said he has never specifically advocated jailing women who have abortions or doctors who perform them, but added, ‘If it’s illegal, it’s illegal.’”

On a personal level, I was raped when I was in my early twenties. To be forced to carry a pregnancy to term never mind the other emotional baggage that goes along with that seems cruel in ways I cannot express in words. Furthermore, I have seen firsthand women forced to terminate desired pregnancies or else face death (for the baby as well as the mother) as the only other prospect with conditions such as HELLP Syndrome.

Prosecute, you son of a bitch? Seriously?

3. He *really* wants to get rid of Planned Parenthood. Representative Ryan has repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood, which would leave millions of women without access to comprehensive reproductive health care and preventative services.

Seriously, why is it that the words “Planned Parenthood” seem synonymous with “abortion” to so many people? Are they totally unaware of the other works of this savior to many, many women regarding things like, say, cancer screening?

Yup, Paul Ryan, let’s just lump Planned Parenthood in with the idea of pregnant women running amok aborting fetuses for the hell of it, you ignorant twit.

4. He would criminalize some forms of birth control. Happy about free birth control? Representative Ryan sure isn’t. Not only is he adamantly opposed to the health care law’s requirement that insurance companies cover birth control, he actually supports legislation that would outlaw some forms of birth control.

From Tres Sugar:

Paul Ryan is strongly opposed to the free-contraception mandate included in Obama’s healthcare reform.

I am so disgusted by the hypocrisy of a great many radical conservatives. Contraception=a way for people unprepared to have children for whatever reason to take steps to avoid pregnancy. Embryo=A life that we should go to any lengths to bring to fruition. Abortion=Killing a baby. And then, once those unwanted babies born to women totally incapable of caring for them come into the world, God forbid you raise taxes to provide for those lives you were so adamant about “saving”, leaving them instead the prospect of poverty, abuse, and continuing vicious cycles.

I mean, Paul Ryan wants to get rid of Pell Grants, too … so now you can only go to college if you’re born wealthy?

5. Also, he’d outlaw in vitro fertilization. Seriously. That same bill that outlaws some forms of birth control could also make in vitro fertilization illegal. Can’t have kids naturally? Too bad.

From The Examiner:

One in eight American couples of reproductive age are currently considered to be infertile. While not all individuals who experience issues with conception will require IVF, the number of people who would be affected by Ryan’s bill is considerable.

Nearly 5 million babies have been born world wide utilizing this technology . IVF’s origins date back approximately 35 years. During that time, techniques for the procedure have improved, with rates of multiple births declining and access to care increasing.

Though expensive, In Vitro Fertilization has given millions of men and women the opportunity to become parents, who would not have been able to do so otherwise. One of these is New York native, Ilene Campbell. Says Campbell, “I can’t believe in this day and age a potential Vice President would come out against family values in this way. My son may not have been born, were it not for this technology and a wonderful doctor.” Campbell, whose IVF-conceived son turns 5 years old next month, was a modern miracle for the 31 year old, who suffers from endometriosis. When asked who she plans to vote for, Campbell merely laughed and gave her son a hug.

I know many, many people that have resorted to IVF. Some of these identify as Republicans, some as Jane Q. Housewife, some as lesbians.

One of them is Mitt Romney’s son, Tagg.

I can’t imagine any of them being anything other than appalled at Paul Ryan’s public platform on the subject. I mean, is a child any less a life because it was conceived with the assistance of science to people so dedicated to having a family that they would go to any length, any expense?

As far as I’m concerned, there is enough truth out there regarding how dangerous Paul Ryan is to women to raise a lot of eyebrows. Rhetoric is one thing, but facts are another, and there’s not enough hurried wordsmithing or backpedaling in the world to change the damage Paul Ryan has already done.

This man is not just a potential speed bump on the feminist road … he is a disaster waiting to happen.


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