Posted on 11/11/2012 8:55:29 PM PST by SquarePants
First off, let me say this. I am completely, unabashedly and unapologetically pro-life. That being said, I was somewhat dismayed by the reports of the 2012 election featuring the largest gender gap in history. Given multiple national polls showing that people do not support abortion, it remains an issue, and it remains an issue that the GOP does not handle well.
I remember watching the VP debate between Biden and Ryan, and being hugely disappointed in how Ryan handled the abortion question. You can watch a video of it below, but, if I may paraphrase Ryan's answer in general terms, he stressed how important his faith was in coming to his pro-life position. Biden then rambled on about how much he supports a woman's "right to choose." The net result is that Biden generally came across as a rational, compassionate, caring sort - which is not what he is at all, while the impression of Ryan that the underinformed voters ultimately got was that he would be the sort of person who might just be capable of supporting any sort of position informed by his religious views.
Of course, Senate candidates Akin and Mourdock also had cringe-worthy comments on the abortion issue as well. Arguably, poor handling of "women's issues" cost the GOP two Senate seats and possibly the Presidency. So what's the problem? Why does the GOP insist upon conveying the most important message of civilized society - the message that every life is valuable - in such consistently inarticulate fashion? What kind of an approach would serve to neutralize the issue at the voting booth, and bring election results in line with national polls on the matter?
Well, as to why the GOP is so incompetent at communicating the value of life, I'm not really sure. They certainly know it's an issue that will be raised by Democrat candidates and the progressive, state-run media. They certainly have the time and resources to prepare for it. Honestly, I have no idea why the GOP can't positively deliver the pro-life message, but I do know what their message should be.
The GOP message should be, "The abortion issue has nothing to do with religion. Mine or anyone else's. The senseless and societally counterproductive promotion of abortion as an acceptable solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancy has led to a culture where the value of a life can be quantified, and that's wrong. Abortion is a human rights issue, and a civilized society has several undeniable obligations. Primary among them is the right to life. This is not an opinion informed by my religious beliefs. This is an opinion informed by common sense. Every life has value, and a civilized society protects life. It's that simple."
The GOP needs to stop hinging their abortion discussions on religion, and their public policy positions on faith. Frankly, it makes the pro-life position look fanatical, when it is anything but. The GOP needs to have confidence that their position is informed by reality, and by the conviction that a society is judged, ultimately, by how they treat the least among them. And most Americans support candidates who promote the future of our nation and stand up for using our government programs in the manner they were intended - which is to protect and provide for those who cannot protect or provide for themselves.
If they were smart, the GOP would position themselves to call out the pro-abortion Democrats for the hypocritical simultaneous support of the contradicting position on Human Rights. Real concern for human rights and promotion of abortion can't exist together. That's not fanatical. That's Realville, USA.
So give them a real war on women.
Help their cohort get as many abortions as possible. Give them free tubal litigation as an upgrade.
In 40 years, their numbers collapse at the polls and they will realize (too late) what the whole point of the exercise was.
Some people need to get what they want, good and hard to cop a clue.
White females voted for Romney, 55-45. It wasn't a gender gap.
Nor can Obamacare and the right to make decisions without 3rd party interference that was established in Roe. The Republicans have not challenged the false Dem rhetoric that says Obamacare keeps a woman in charge of her health care decisions. NO ONE is in charge of their health care under Obamacare!
I'd like to see the Republicans point out the Dem's hypocrisy of supporting Roe's privacy/autonomy while totally destroying it in Obamacare. Then I'd like to see someone take it to the courts. How is it a woman can make a decision to abort without 3rd party interference but can't independently select her insurance benefits? Or decide for herself what premium she's willing to pay? How is it that her physician can discuss abortion without interference from 3rd parties but other procedures she may want require him to adhere to guidelines established from comparative effectiveness research and other bureaucratic red tape? Is there a right to privacy or not? A right to autonomous decision making or not? I'm sick of the Republicans letting the Dems get away with this nonsense while claiming the other side has a war on women.
I think the real problem’is this.
We allow one special protected class of citizen to legally murder another, if it desires, for any reason. We call them pregnant women. We cannot say we are a civilized society if one citizen can legally murder another. If anyone else does, we punish them. Except the pregnant woman. Or the abortion doctor, if the woman wants abortion. Dad causes miscarriage, jail. Drunk driver causes miscarriage, jail. If the woman wants the baby anyone who kills it before birth is punished.
We can’t claim to be civilized if one class of person gets to play God with another person’s life. This must be addressed.
By dating. Men who continue to date her and are not having sex with her, probably are pretty decent fellows, nothing has changed except that the females are so easy today.
LOL, I have used that kind of argument before to shock liberals.
It is funny how dirty so many liberal good deeds and gifts to the populace sound when you say something like, ‘well, OK, but let’s try an experiment, let’s take a five year moratorium on abortions, except for the Jews, they can abort all the Jewish babies that they want, or let’s ban partial birth for whites, but preserve the “right” only for blacks.
They must be something different than “rights” and “freedoms” if people recoil at them when you put it that way.
There’s another issue associated with making abortion illegal that the pro-abortionists bring out. The question of punishment.
If you make abortion illegal at some stage, what should the punishment be for the abortionist and for the mother who has her unborn baby aborted? If it’s a life like any other, than does an abortion constitute first degree murder, with its associated penalty?
I’ve never heard a good answer to this question by any pro-life person. It is crucial that we have an answer to this that we can confidently defend.
“Personally I think the GOP aught to stop speaking about abortion, get themselves elected and then DO something about abortion.”
Great solution!
So if you were running for office and somebody asked your position on abortion, you would answer “I don’t want to talk about it”?
And then you would get elected????
“Ridiculous! Where does the entire notion of right and wrong come from...if not from God and His wisdom?”
Whose God?
Do atheists have a concept of right and wrong? Do aborigines? Did the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians have a concept of right or wrong?
My personal belief is that a strong charge against the abortionist would be enough to eliminate most instances of the act.
Read the OP, read the responses. Glad to see people realizing that pro-life/pro-choice defining talking points are no longer working for the GOP.
My opinion is, if you’re a male and asked ‘the question’ the appropriate response is: “I’m a male, not my decision to make” and that “Abortion is the most expensive means of Birth Control”.
“Even the stones will cry out for justice”.
50 million children, opticks. 50 million and counting.
Just like slavery was once a state decision. Until conservatives get this right, we will lose. The humanity of the unborn isn’t dependent on which side of the state line they stand.
...say this, and then shut up:
Republican: “Fortunately, pregnancy resulting from forcible rape is rare. As a US Senator I will continue to support pro-life legislation that comes before the Senate. At the present time, the right to abortion is the law of the land and that ruling can only be changed by the Supreme Court. There is certainly nothing a single senator or congressman - - or even the entire Congress, for that matter - - can do to overturn a ruling of the Supreme Court, even a ruling with which I and many millions of other Americans profoundly disagree.”
“I will support judicial nominees, including appointments to the Supreme Court, who respect the United States Constitution not as a “guideline”, or a meaningless “living document”, but as the framework for the limited government intended by the nation’s founders; a serious legal document that guarantees the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
"My hope is that someday soon Roe v. Wade will be overturned - - by the Supreme Court - - and decisions about abortion can be returned to the people; that is, to the states and to the communities where those decisions belong.”
Scumbag Democrat news mouse: “But, do you believe...”
Republican: “That’s all I have to say about the matter. Now let's discuss things I CAN try to do something about with my vote in Congress - - things like restore America and reverse the continuing economic disaster.”
” “I’m a male, not my decision to make” and that “Abortion is the most expensive means of Birth Control”. “
I used to be pro-abort. That’s exactly what pro-aborts say, that ‘it’s not a man’s issue’.
Why should we take advice from pro-aborts? Go vote for the democrats.
What you said.
The broader battle against socialism and government control of individual life is being sunk because of this.
From 2002 - 2006 we (the Republican Party) had control of the House, the Senate, the Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court. Why wasn’t abortion made illegal?
I think the GOP response to the abortion issue should have been ... “That’s not what this election is about. The economy is in shambles, unemplyoment is too high, the debt is too high, gas prices are too high, ...”
The media snookered them into the abortion issue and skewed it all to make the Dems look compassionate and the GOP look hardline.
I am pro-life, but not to the point where I would let a woman with a tubal or ectopic pregnancy die. This is a completely crazy position. Ectopic pregnancies happen in the first few weeks of pregnancy in about 1% of all pregnancies. It is extremely rare for a child to be born from extopic pregnancy. Without treatment resulting in abortion, the woman may die. If folks are so extreme that they would let this happen, then the male who initiated the pregnancy should die with the woman.
We lost two Senate seats because of extreme positions on abortion. Enough said.
Worked for Obama ....
“Let’s see your birth certificate.” “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Lets see your college transcripts.” “I don’t want to talk about it.”
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