GOP Still at War Against Women and Their Health Care

If the GOP were to get their way, we would return to quack doctors, alleys and the Dark Ages

Elections are supposed to be about three things: Choices (the issues); Differences (about candidates and issues); and Consequences (going one way or another). The GOP must have missed the memo on the outcome of the 2012 election - why?

That election was meant to be a referendum on, among other things, the tide of Republican extremism that swept reproductive rights to the edge of existence in many states between 2010 and 2012. Although the TEA "party (which is not really a party at all)" was allegedly given votes in the 2010 midterms to address financial issues, abortion restriction and defunding Planned Parenthood immediately rose to the top of the new Republican priority list.

That was all supposed to end with the 2012 presidential race and Congress races. But, did it? Apparently not.

This "war on women" and their health care decisions is firmly lodged in the GOP and 2012 proves once and for (hopefully) that the GOP's anti-misogynist attitude at the ballot box did not work. Women handily voted for Mr. Obama, vetoed extreme anti-choice candidates, and listed abortion as an important issue in exit polls.

Once again, several states (seen here), and certain GOP members of congress (e.g., Michele Bachmann, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, and a handful of others) are once again calling for the repeal of "Obama-care."

Some of them are continuing to fight the same battles, in some cases putting women’s access at risk, and this story proves my point.

The heart of that story that continues still today even as the GOP seeks to refine or rebrand their message, or should I say, the way they deliver their message (says the RNC chairman: "It's what we say, but how we say it.") ...

"Contraception is under attack in a way it really wasn't in the past few years," says Judy Waxman, the vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center.

"In 2004, we could not find any group — the National Right to Life Committee, the Bush campaign, anyone — that would go on the record to say they're opposed to birth control," adds Elizabeth Shipp, the political director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. Then she concludes: "We couldn't find them in 2006 either, and in 2008 it was just fringe groups. In 2010, 2011, and this year, it's just exploded."

I'll say one thing for the GOP: They don't give up even when clearly they are on the wrong side of history or in a deep hole made of sand while trying to shovel out.