Monday, August 13, 2012

Paul Ryan: The Sh*t Has Hit The Fan

I’m choosing to do a separate post on volunteering for swing states today because, well, it’s a little special.

We've just heard that Paul Ryan (Wisconsin) is the VP pick. If this race for the White House was a hurricane, we’ve just hit a CATEGORY  FIVE. Wisconsin is a swing state and a very important one.

It’s never been more important to help the Democratic Party. Three hours of your time between now and November 6 can make THE difference if we all pitch in. It’s not just about Obama winning. The House and Senate need to have a majority. When Republicans took the House in 2010, they got busy. In the first three months of 2011, they introduced 916 measures related to reproductive issues. This is WHY we need a full Democratic majority or we women will continue to be attacked by the GOP for the next four years and they WILL win.

Wisconsin Democrats: WEBSITE  VOLUNTEER

Think Progress just did an article titled: Five Reasons Why Paul Ryan Is Bad For Women’s Health. I have highlighted these reasons below. Please have a look and if you have not read the blog where I provide links on how to volunteer in the key swing states please click HERE.

1. Ryan co-sponsored a “personhood” amendment that would give legal rights to a fetus starting at conception. Ryan joined 62 other Republicans in co-sponsoring the Sanctity of Human Life Act, an anti-abortion measure declaring that a fertilized egg “shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood.” This would outlaw abortion, some forms of contraception and in-vitro fertilization.

2. Ryan supports banning all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest. In addition to his support of the personhood amendment, Ryan won his congressional seat in 1998 by emphasizing his opposition to all abortions without exceptions. But this puts him at odds with Mitt Romney, who has said he would allow exceptions in cases or rape and incest.

3. Ryan voted to ban abortion coverage from being included in the state health insurance exchanges. The Stupak amendment that Ryan backed would have prevented women from purchasing plans that cover abortion services through the exchanges set up under Obamacare — even when using their own funds.

4. Ryan compared Roe v. Wade to the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision. “Twice in the past the U.S. Supreme Court—charged with being the guardian of rights—has failed so drastically in making this crucial determination that it ‘disqualified’ a whole category of human beings, with profoundly tragic results,” Ryan wrote in 2010. After the 1857 case, Dred Scott v. Sandford, “the second time the Court failed in a case regarding the definition of “human” was in Roe v. Wade in 1973,” he added.

5. Ryan has supported defunding Planned Parenthood. In 2011, he voted for an amendment that would block Planned Parenthood and the health care organization’s affiliates from receiving any funds in a 2011 continuing appropriations bill.