Iowa’s GOP Proposed Platform: The Tea Party Vision For Subjugating Women

This is not a surprising document. It’s a Tea Party bonanza and another petrifying example of why Democrats need to gain control of the government in the next election.

As an activist for women’s rights, I am only going to focus on the issues pertaining to women and abortion rights. I urge you to read the entire document, as this is what the Tea Party wants ALL of America to look like. They have a decent shot at taking this country over and it’s up to the citizens to make that decision in the voting booth this November. You can view the document in it’s entirety here.

Please take a look at these propositions, share them with young women you know and explain how it can affect their lives now and in the future. I have selected a just a few for you to read:

1.4 We disagree with Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs. Bolton as “settled law.” Under the tenth amendment, these Supreme Court decisions have no authority over the states.

1.6 We oppose the use of public revenues for abortion, and call for the elimination of government funding for all organizations, such as Planned Parenthood which advocate or support abortions.

1.9 We believe in “conscience-clause” legislation so that no physician, pharmacist or healthcare provider can be penalized for refusing to prescribe, dispense or participate in the procurement of an abortion or anything contrary to the conscience of the health care provider.

1.10 We support an Iowa “Women’s Right To Know Law” requiring informed consent—including a three day waiting period and a mandatory ultrasound—before any elective abortion services may be provided. “Informed Consent” means that abortionists must offer to the pregnant woman, prior to the abortion, complete factual information about the complications of abortion, the biological development of the unborn, fetal pain, and the availability of alternatives to abortion.

1.14 We support legislation that would prohibit organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, from entering public school facilities for the purpose of promoting abortion.

When was the last time you saw Planned Parenthood or any organization promoting abortions? And, although the Tea Party would have you believe otherwise, tax dollars, do not now, nor have they ever been spent on abortions and there are no plans to include abortions among publicly funded medical procedures.

While any women choosing to have an abortion should understand the risks involved, mandating an unnecessary ultrasound and allowing a pharmacist or health care professional to deny a women birth control is a judgment based on a religious belief.

The choice of abortion is not a pleasant one for any woman. It’s not something we aspire to nor do we wish to use it as a form of birth control. It is however, legal. If you become pregnant and choose to terminate the pregnancy, you still have that option. The Tea Party wants to eliminate your choices by dictating their personal and religious beliefs and making them law.

Republicans currently dominate the House. If they keep the House, or take hold of the Senate or Presidency, we are not going to make the progress that will save this country from financial ruin and the theft of our individual freedoms. As it stands, we have choices. Those choices are in danger of being taken away.

I have spoken to many young women about the threat to their rights. Sadly, the ones I have talked with are not informed and a few have expressed the feeling that so much corruption plagues our voting system that voting makes no difference. To that I say, VOTE ANYWAY! What would happen if nobody voted? What if only members of the Tea Party voted? By choosing to not exercise your right, you are throwing your choices away. If your rights are stripped because you gave up, you will have no one to blame but yourself and you WILL have to suffer those consequences for a long time to come.

I ask again that you take a look at all that is proposed in this document. Is this the America you wish to live in? You have a voice. Use it and VOTE!!

Chloe Viening-Butler: My Body Is Mine

My body is mine: it has born three children and received lovers (I don't feel the need to say how many). I have given my body willingly to those people: turned over a piece of myself and allowed myself to be vulnerable. Most of the time, I have been rewarded, in turn, with what I give. When I haven't, it has been my choice and mine alone to either give without expectation of reciprocity, or to shut down the interaction. But like everything that belongs to a specific person, my body can be stolen, violated, hurt and vandalized. It can be mistreated. And it is my responsibility to protect it. This is not new: I have always had to protect myself and my body and the rights we share, between us. My mother had to do so. Her mother had to do so. So did your mother and her mother and her mother before her.

So why is the hard work of our past generations of strong, vocal, activist women being undone? And how? Reproductive rights, equal pay, access to sexual education, laws protecting us from sexual discrimination and laws protecting our right to nurse our children... these are all being slowly- or not so slowly- weakened and broken down- the pieces swept under the rug- the corpses burned. Little by little at first, and now in greater and greater chunks, the long proud history of womens rights is being taken apart by the GOP.

I am not complacent. Neither are most of the women I know and love. We care about our bodies and our rights and we are ready to fight to protect them. How did we get here? Each of these damages, big and small, had to be enacted by the politicians our country somehow elected into office. Each of these decisions had to be thought of, written, supported, presented by someone who wanted them to happen. But with most of them, I saw a news story on a website or a feed on my Facebook wall and thought "what the fuck?? How did this happen??" They snuck up on me. Many were already bills or laws before I knew they were even being considered, many in other states, where my vote holds no sway. So what can I do? What can we do?
 

Stay informed. Gather more information, research it independently when you can, and discuss it with others: real life friends, Facebook "friends", forums, college groups and anyone else with whom you feel comfortable doing so. Talk to the other side and try to understand where their hearts and minds are on the subject. Often, the pseudo-anonymity of an online conversation can make it easier to both speak your thoughts and run your mouth. Keep both facts in mind, along the way.

Participate. Write to politicians, sign petitions, attend rallies and protests, join groups, and create pieces of visual art and/or written work upholding your beliefs, your anger, your fears, your needs, and your expectations. Don't ever let the bastards forget that you exist.

Spend Your Money Wisely. Know how the stores, products and services you frequent spend the money you give them. Know how they treat their employees and the earth. Know the way their advertising affects the overall image of women. Know the messages their products send to people, both male and female alike, about the worth, expectations and value of women. Know where their higher ups spend their money politically. Money talks. Money votes. Money makes big decisions. Money guides cultural trends. 

 

And most of all:
VOTE. Vote Democratic, vote Republican, vote Independent. Vote for whoever you feel best represents, considers and is willing to protect your needs, rights, interests and beliefs. Encourage your friends and coworkers to vote. Encourage your sister to vote. Encourage your mom to vote. Get your aunt to the polls, if she doesn't have a ride. Don't let it slide when a woman says to you "I don't vote. My voice doesn't make a difference." Speak up! Tell her how to speak up for herself. Don't let yourself or the women you love become voiceless, forgotten non-citizens.

To keep our rights, we must protect them, and the best way to do that is to become a presence and play the demographic to it's fullest. When the female vote is strong, the elected officials must listen to it's voice, or they don't stay elected for very long. Don't listen to the news politispeak about red state/blue state, female state/male state, white state/black state/Latino state. Don't let them tell you where you matter on their maps. Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you believe, whatever you want: Your vote matters. Your voice matters. Your rights matter. Now more than ever.
My body is mine. Your body is yours. But we are all intertwined and we are all responsible. Take the tools our mothers and grandmothers won for us and use them. Because, as Maya Angelou said: "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

Chloe Viening-Butler
Grand Rapids, Michigan

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My Name Is Kimberley And I Am A Liberal Slut



Kimberley A. Johnson



A while back, I wrote An Open Letter To Rush Limbaugh From A Liberal Slut.

I posted it on my blog and was surprised  when, only an hour later, it had received over 3,000 views.  I knew it would strike a chord with many viewers, but had no idea how fast it would circulate.  Shortly later, two political websites, Addicting Info and Politics Anonymous, invited me to join them as a contributor.  Though unexpected, I welcome and appreciate this opportunity.  (Thank you Rush!) 

I have been passionate about politics since the 2000 Bush v. Gore fiasco, when I watched our country start to painfully unravel.  I always considered myself an armchair activist -- until last week, when I received an email from another former armchair activist, Susan McMillan Emry.  Like me, Susan was also outraged by the GOPs relentless assault on women.  In response, she established RTSV United and immediately started its Rock The Slut Vote campaign.  After reading my Rush Limbaugh blog, Susan researched my website and the books I've authored, and asked me to be the RTSV spokeswoman.  After a 90-minute phone conversation, we agreed to join forces against the war on women.

America has many problems.  There are fights, divisions and issues that will require long battles ahead.  The war on women is not one of these battles.  We ALREADY fought long and hard for our rights decades ago and there's NO WAY IN HELL we will sit back and let anyone take them away!  Especially not the GOP with their blatant agenda to manipulate, dictate and control not just our lives, but all three branches of the government.

Like so many women, we are outraged.  When Susan and I decided to work together, we knew my experience collecting stories from real people for my reality books would be invaluable.  I quickly invited women (and men) to join this blog to share their insights on how the war on women has impacted their lives.  Two submissions are already posted and the response has been genuine and enthusiastic.

The GOP strategy against women is failing miserably and yet they stubbornly INSIST they are standing on terra firma.  Thinking Americans, including centrists and sane Republicans, agree the Republican party has lost its marbles.

Despite what the GOP tells you, there IS a war on women.  And you know what?  There are millions of strong, intelligent, capable, angry women out there who will fight them tooth and nail.  You know the old saying, "Hell hath no fury!"

I realize I will receive some unfavorable comments from both men and women.  Despite our differing ideologies, women's rights are everyone's rights and we will fight the good fight on everyone's behalf.

If you have friends or family who are not informed or interested in politics, I ask you to start a conversation about any issues that directly affect them -- whether its birth control, equal pay or any other issue or freedom under attack.   Help them get informed and urge them to vote this November.

Thank you for reading and join us as we Go Forth, Raise Hell, And Rock The Slut Vote.

Author Kimberley A. Johnson on Facebook.

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I Am Embarrassed To Be A Woman In America.

The second post from an "embarrassed" woman. Thank you and keep your opinions coming!

I am terrified, I am stressed and my peace of mind is threatened. I am disappointed and appalled. I am embarrassed to be a woman in America. The whole world is watching and the whole world is gasping in shock and horror with us.

Here the nation that delves right in to fight for civil rights for citizens of other nations, the nation who host the United Nations and the nation that claims to be free is now the nation waging a war on its own people.
The nation that used to be a leader in progression, that used to set the standard, has regressed and has violated their own constitution. We used to be the example for others to follow, we used to be the nation of hope. Now we are our own worst enemy.

Any nation that oppresses a group of its people is weak. Only a nation that empowers every single member is strong.

Our government has changed the laws on rape; they have changed the laws on conception of life; they have changed the laws on a woman's freedom of choice. They have violated the offices they serve and their oaths when they took office. Every one of these laws they have changed have demeaned and undermined women and bound us to their notion of what they think we should be. They have slotted us as unworthy creatures; unworthy of making our own decisions; unworthy of protection against violators; unworthy of access to healthcare and access to life; unworthy of fair treatment and fair pay. They have rendered us powerless to defend ourselves.

Or so they think.

That was their goal. How could we stand by and do nothing? How could we extinguish hope for women worldwide that the world is progressive? The women of America are better than that. We will not sit idle while you strip us. We will fight for our rights just as we have done in the past and we will win because we know we are worthy.

I am worthy to make my own choices and I am worthy to fight my own battle and I will do everything I can to make sure other women in America believe that same thing.

We are worthy and our voices and wills are strong.

Stascia H.

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Keep Rocking The Slut Vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roxanne Hardisty Westphalen - I Am Appalled At The Republican War On Women

The first post! Thank you Roxanne.

I am appalled at the Republican War on Women! I am a 57 year-old woman and I thought this bullshit was over with in the 80's after we STRONG women marched, paraded and burned our bras in the 70's! I am mortified that young women in the United States have to RE-DO all that has been done before!

I don't NEED contraception or an abortion but, I have granddaughters that I am willing to fight for—and they are too young to know. I hope that by the time they are young ladies, all of this Republican crap will be over and done with. I want them to have the safest care available and I don't want them to EVER have to go to a dark alley to get treatment, if necessary. They deserve better - WE ALL DESERVE BETTER!

I am disgusted at their rhetoric taking away our freedoms. I am even more disgusted that they have used religion to make a mockery of God. I am a Democrat, a Liberal and a Christian and I resent that they use MY God to take away the rights of women and demean women as they have done.

They have compared us to livestock. They have suggested that we stay in abusive marriages with the message “Try to remember when and why you fell in love, in the first place.” They have blocked the Equal Rights Amendment (that has NEVER been done before!!!). They have suggested we carry dead babies inside of us until "nature takes it's course." They have suggested we carry unwanted babies resulting from rapes and incest. They have suggested we not use contraception—just keep shooting out those babies!

I have this question for them: If we stay home, barefoot and pregnant, who the hell is going to support us? You've made it clear that you will decrease every form of assistance available and frankly, a lot of women make more money than their spouses now-a-days!

I am so SAD that our country even have these conversations!!!! It's archaic! It's inhumane! It's too cruel for words!

Good luck, my strong female friends - and those amazing men who support all of us!!!

ROCK THE SLUT VOTE - and rock it HARD!!!!

Sincerely,

Roxanne Hardisty Westphalen

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