Yesterday, Rep. Sue Myrick — wife, mother, and former adulteress who knows something about making life-choice mistakes — voted for, and helped the House GOP pass, an extremely restrictive national anti-abortion law. The so-called Protect Life Act would prohibit women from purchasing health insurance plans that cover abortion under the Affordable Care Act, the new health care reform law. Republican leaders say the bill would ensure that no tax money goes toward paying for abortions, and that no health worker would have to take part in abortions against her or his will.
Here’s what’s really stupid about the bill, besides being a deliberate attempt to slash women’s reproductive rights: the Affordable Care Act already keeps public dollars apart from private insurance payments that cover abortion.
What’s even more insidious is that the Protect Life Act tries to control how a woman spends her own money. The bill would also severely limit women’s insurance plan choices, since most health insurance plans currently cover abortion.
Let’s take a short break here, so we can remind readers — as we do nearly every time some new restrictive abortion law pops up — that abortion is legal in the United States. It’s hard to remember that sometimes, what with social conservatives fighting tooth and nail to restrict access to a legal medical option.
The part of the Protect Life bill garnering the most attention is one that would allow hospitals that are opposed to abortion — Catholic hospitals, for instance — to sit on their hands and do nothing to help a woman who needs an emergency abortion in order to save her life. No wonder, then, that Rep. Nancy Pelosi referred to the Protect Life Act as a “savage” bill that amounts to an “assault on women’s health” — or that pro-choice lawmakers are calling the bill the Let Women Die Act.
Myrick, of course, has been full-tilt into Religious far-right territory for years, and so her vote, although newsworthy, isn’t exactly a surprise. In fact, over the years Myrick has seemingly deepened her commitment to the right’s goal of smacking around anyone who dares disobey its moral directives. Maybe her experience breaking up her current husband’s first marriage produced enough guilt to send her over the edge — I don’t know, I’m just saying — but it’s obvious that Myrick has no empathy for any woman who may be in a bind for having done no more than Myrick did years ago. By the way, other Charlotte-area House members, Mel Watt and Larry Kissell, both Democrats, voted against the measure.
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This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2011.
I agree with sue,and i don’t care what you call me.The left likes name calling it makes them feel smart.
I also agree with Sue. And the person who wrote this article is not only a very poor journalist, but is also so liberal off the deep end that it isn’t funny. Plus he doesn’t have his facts straight. He’s just regurgitating liberal propaganda and stomping his foot like a two year old, because his side didn’t get their way. The “Let Women Die Act?” Come on, surely you can think up a better title. When reading this article, an uninformed person would gather that there are an abundance of women out there about to die because they need an immediate abortion they can’t obtain. NOT TRUE! (And no, a hospital or doctor that doesn’t believe in abortion shouldn’t be expected to perform such butchery.) The majority of abortions are performed on healthy women who are killing their baby for convenience sake, or out of fear of discovery. What the writer is saying in this article is that a woman’s choice shouldn’t come before the act of sex that makes them pregnant. It should come after the fact. What about the life of the child that the woman decides to abort? The baby doesn’t get a choice, so someone such as Sue Myrick has to come along and give them protection and voice. And she is also protecting the taxpayers of American who don’t want their money spent on such practices as killing babies. And NO, not a thin dime of taxpayer money should be spent to end the life of any child. Lastly the writer’s personal jabs at Mrs. Myrick are totally out of line and uncalled for. That’s just plain old bottom-of-the-barrel, trash writing.
To be perfectly honest what this writer has posted is a childish rant, not an article. And if I were his editor, I would fire him for presenting me with such a poor example of journalism.
this is the rant (dare i say diatribe) of an ill-informed, angry person who uses the technique of ad hominem attacking of another individual when their own arguments/facts are found wanting. the logic of the argument of pro-choice relative to a woman’s right to choose an abortion, is really a denigrating argument, as it speaks to the notion that at the point of deciding to have sex, the woman is physically and intellectually unable to make a rational choice at a point in her life when the only individual impacted by her decision making ability is her….which rationally would be the logical point to make a decision rather than waiting to a point when she through a position of power, imposes her will, selfishly, on another…the innocent baby.
“The left likes name calling it makes them feel smart.”
Now THAT’s funny. Read the right wing comments in ANY newspaper or on ANY political website.
1. You are upset about liberals ranting and name calling – but weren’t you just doing the same thing. Even going to the extreme to say you know why most women have an abortion. Have you spoke to every woman who has had an abortion? Have you done any research on this issue? What have you done to help the situation except judge women you don’t even know – a sin in itself. Do you volunteer or contribute to any pregnancy crisis centers? Reach out and adopt this child? Are you going to take care of that young girl who was raped and her baby? What about offering any thing to any of these women in trouble besides your unsolicited opinion? 2. So you don’t think most of these women would end up on some kind of public assistance? Tax dollars pay for that too. Do you really think that trying to make it harder to pay for will stop abortions? Seriously! You can’t get these dads to pay child support, but most will pay for that abortion. Why not they hand over the cash and their done – let that girl be condemned. Social Services is already in over load from child abuse to not enough funding. Whats your solution for that – yeah let’s add more children to that list so we can feel better about ourselves. If she can’t afford the abortion without help then what advice do you have for her about supporting a child? Hey what the hell why not stop food stamps too – I guess if she wanted to feed those kids she should have thought about that before she had sex.3. Are you going to find all the men that participated in the activity that caused this pregnancy? Shouldn’t he have made the decision before the act of sex if he didn’t want a child put on a condom? Why aren’t these “concerned” conservatives trying to pass a bill to force the dads to at least be forced to be there to sign paperwork. I bet you if that was the case we would have far fewer abortions. No they don’t care as long as you conservative tax payers don’t pay for it and you make sure everyone knows how you told these bad women not to do that – then your hands are clean and your self righteous, judgmental and out right hypocritical party can have some one to look down on with your clean conscience. If your mistress got pregnant would you be so moral? We will never know i guess because you don’t even have to be there to murder your child. Why isn’t anyone out trying to make choices for their lives and forcing them to be a father? Why can the man only be made to write a check every month without even knowing the child? If a man has enough money they can have 20 kids without ever changing one diaper. People – If you don’t believe in abortions DON’T HAVE ONE. Let’s try and stop all sin why your at it. I mean why stop here go protest bars, casinos, adulterers, or even lying. Why is this sin so important to you. All sin is equal in the eyes of the Lord. If the Lord doesn’t force our decisions and He guides with Love and compassion Why do you think the government should come in and tell women how to make moral decisions. Obviously your way of force has never worked – maybe you should try something new like – COMPASSION. God bless you all.
This op ed piece is right on the money. Written with too much emotion, perhaps, but right on.
Abortion is legal. And if we have concerns about performing an abortion to save a mother’s life, why haven’t I ever seen a protest when doctors are separating conjoined twins when one may die, so that the one with the best chances may live? We haven’t seen that, because it is a slippery slope to accusing anyone of playing God when they take medicine or treat the injured.
Religion must (and for many of us, it already has) evolved to stay relevant in the modern world.
“Let Women Die Act”…with a headline like that I have already lost interest in this article.