(Worse Than Usual) Bad Year to Be a Republican: Zika and Abortion

[McCamy Taylor]

The GOP is really fired up about two issues this election year. One is immigration. Fear of the stranger in our midst. Fascism 101. A no brainer for their base (with no brains.) The other is...

Restrooms? Public potties are the number two menace facing our country? What happened to abortion? You know, saving the life of a 16 cell morula (see below):



Zika is what happened. The same women who believe that unwed mothers should be forced to bear the fruit of their sinful fornication absolutely do not want to be forced to give birth to a baby with serious birth defects because of a Spring Break vacation in the Caribbean. Because if God did not want fertile women to vacation at beach resorts He would not have given them bikini wax and frequent flyer miles.

Those of you who are as old as me (as in "as the hills&quot will remember the real reason why the public pushed for legalized abortion. Not grisly photos of women dead in a pool of their own blood from back alley procedures. No, it was another virus, Rubella, aka Germain Measles that turned the tide.

http://time.com/3692652/measles-abortion-1960s/

So, until they come up with a Zika Virus vaccine, expect to hear less than usual from the GOP about ending all abortions for all women for all time in this country. And more from the Democrats about preserving a woman's right to choose.

[niyad]

1. sadly, I believe you are wrong. the gop is continuing its virulent woman-hating,

gestational slaver agenda, no matter what is going on.

[Hortensis]

3. The GOP could, tho, back off and -- magic -- much of the

furor would disappear until the leadership decided to move abortion back to the front burner.

Look what what happened to the outrage over that dreadful menace to freedom, flag burning. McConnell and others wanted to fight Citizens United before SCOTUS based on money as freedom of speech, and they were concerned that trying to send kids to prison for speaking free might look like they didn't believe their own argument. So -- magic -- conservatives stopped being outraged. Fox News and right-wing radio stopped reporting flag burnings and calling for outrage. (And of course pretty much no more flag burning since what would be the point?)

Of course abortion's a far bigger issue, but if Zika threatened their use of abortion to control their electorate the situation could probably be tweaked.

[SheilaT]

2. Unfortunately, it's almost entirely men who are

cutting back on abortion rights. Because they will never be pregnant, they will never bear the real burden of a severely handicapped child.

They also do their best to make sure there are few or no services for the families with handicapped members.

[Overseas]

4. K&R. Zika is really on the move.

I hope it does shake things up.

Guess I'm a bit younger because I remember The Wire Hanger as the enduring symbol of the pro-choice movement. Abortions will always happen and we didn't want women to be forced into horrible do it yourself operations just because they lacked the funds to go elsewhere.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. I read this in LIFE magazine when I was a little kid. Thalidomide.

Early 1960s. There was a woman named Sherri Finkbine who was a TV show host (Romper Room) in Phoenix. Got pregnant and took thalidomide pills her husband had brought back from England. She tried to obtain a therapeutic abortion in Arizona, couldn't get one, her doctor tried to get a court order, and eventually had to go to Sweden to get one. There was publicity and death threats.

From Wikipedia:

She and her husband then flew to Sweden where she obtained a successful and legal abortion, which caused a minor controversy. The abortion panel of the Royal Swedish Medical Board granted Finkbine's request for an abortion on August 17, 1962, to safeguard her mental health.[12] The operation was performed the following day.[1]

The Swedish obstetrician who performed the abortion told Finkbine that the fetus had no legs and only one arm and would not have survived. It was too badly deformed to be identified as a boy or a girl.[13] In 1965, Finkbine had another baby, a healthy girl.[14]

This widely publicised case helped turn the public opinion towards legalized abortion.

[AwakeAtLast]

6. Not in Indiana

Can't obtain an abortion for medical reasons here, of any kind. It was passed after Zika was reported, too.

[Skittles]

7. the GOP does not give a damn about babies, healthy or otherwise

it's all about punishing women

[JosephAlanWatson]

8. $

And $$$

[Skittles]

9. with the Greedy Old Pig party, $$$ is a given as a motive