Paul Ryan's Roe v. Wade Bombshell and Why Women Need to Wake Up

There's been talk among the pundit class and elsewhere that Mitt Romney has been narrowing the gender gap in some states because of his utter lies and disingenuous statements during last week's debate and the follow up.  Particularly because of Romney's dishonesty on what he would really do with respect to abortion and the availability of contraception.  Last night, Paul Ryan exposed Romney's dishonesty on this issue for all to see.  While I am not pro-abortion, I do believe that it should be safe and rare.  Outlawing abortion completely and shutting down agencies that provide contraception and abortion counseling is not the answer.  Yet that is precisely what Romney/Ryan will seek to do either legislatively or through the appointment of Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.  It ought to be a clear wake up call to women: if you want religious extremists and angry, chauvinistic men making your most private health care decisions, vote Republican.  If not, you had best get yourself to the polls and vote Democrat.  Michelle Goldberg looks at Ryan's bombshell for women in a piece in The Daily Beast.  Here are highlights:

Abortion was discussed only briefly during Thursday night’s vice presidential debate, but the exchange about it was, I think, an important moment, because it drove home the likelihood than a Republican victory in November will mean the end of Roe v. Wade.

 In the last week, as Mitt Romney has cultivated a new, more moderate image, it looked like he was having some success catching up to President Obama among female voters. Neither reproductive rights nor equal pay figured in the first presidential debate, which almost everyone agrees that Romney won. When it was over, Romney continued his lurch to the center. Contradicting everything he said in the primary, he told an Iowa newspaper that he knew of “no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.” While his spokeswoman walked it back, conservatives, happy that Romney finally seemed to be winning, didn’t demand any loud mea culpas. A person paying only sporadic attention to the campaign probably wouldn’t realize that Romney has pledged to work toward a wide-ranging abortion ban.

In general, Americans are ambivalent about abortion, but they don’t want to make it illegal. By speaking in religious terms, Biden was able to combine his personal opposition to abortion with a strongly pro-choice stance. In his own life, he says, he accepts Catholic doctrine. “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.”

Ryan, by contrast, reminded the country that he opposes abortion in all circumstances, and that Romney intends to severely restrict it. “[I]f you believe that life begins at conception … That’s a principle,” he said. “The policy of a Romney administration is to oppose abortion with exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.” When Raddatz asked him if abortion-rights supporters should fear a Romney administration, he sort of harrumphed, and then responded, “We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people through their elected representatives in reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process should make this determination.” In other words, they want to overturn Roe.

Ryan was admirably clear about his ticket’s intentions. None of this, of course, will be news to those who have followed the campaign closely. In general, though, swing voters haven’t been. It will be interesting to see whether women start moving back away from Romney after hearing what he and Ryan have in store. 

The fundamental difference between the Democrats and the Christofascist dominated Republicans is that Republicans - including Romney and Ryan - believe they DO have the right to force their religious beliefs on everyone else.  And that mindset isn't focused solely on women.  Gays are particularly within the scope cross-hairs if one takes the time to look at the GOP party platform which was largely written by far right religious extremists.Voters need to not allow themselves to be lulled by Romney's lies and debate performances.  What he and Ryan would do in office is what really matters and to understand that plan, one need only look at the GOP platform which is the most extreme in over 50 years.