⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING: W/the impending repeal of #RoevWade and the GOP licking their chops at the thought of criminalizing abortion, possibly preventing pregnant women from crossing state lines & w/out exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother, it's time once again...
...to go down memory lane with 50 actual statements/actions by Republican elected officials & high-profile GOP members on opining on the topics of rape & abortion.
2013: Republican U.S. Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona.
Oh yeah...Franks resigned in disgrace in 2017 after being busted sexually harassing his staff while offering one of them $5 million to be a surrogate mother for his sperm. 48/
2013: Republican U.S. Congressman Michael Burgess of Texas. 49/
Yes, this is an actual quote from him.
2013: Republican state Representative Jodie Laubenberg of Texas. 50/
2013: Republican County Party Chair Robert J. Kearns of Pennsylvania. 51/
2013: Republican Governor Rick Perry of Texas. 52/
There you have it: 50 entries.
Even more jaw-dropping: This only gets us through 2013.
I'm sure others have written about this, but it occurs to me that Godfather Part II came out just a year after the Roe v. Wade decision.
I didn't watch GF2 until I was an adult in the '90s, but I'm assuming this scene was even more powerful at the time?
It's not just that she tells him she had an abortion (he thought it was a miscarriage); she literally describes abortion as being "unholy & evil" and rubs his nose in it by specifying that "it was your son and I had it killed." And of course Michael is Catholic to boot.
Of course Kay wasn't doing it to be cruel--she knew it was the only way he'd ever let her leave (a calculated risk...there was a good chance he would've had her killed instead of letting her divorce him).
I'm just wondering how much this impacted public opinion at the time.
Last week @CMSGov issued new reports putting total *direct* #ACA healthcare coverage at "over 35 million." I noted that it was actually over 36 million if you used the most recent data.
In fact, it turns out that it's actually well over *37 million* as of today.
Besides the Medicaid expansion numbers cited in the CMS report being 6 months out of date, they didn't even include two states at all (Idaho and Virginia)!
Adding those, along w/updating over a dozen other states, brings total Medicaid expansion up to at least 22.5M people.
FWIW, I’ve switched from weekly to monthly updates on these graphs because a) they take a ton of time to compile and b) I think I’ve driven the point home about as clearly as possible by now.
⚠️ Meanwhile, the red/blue county vaccination rate gap CONTINUES to inch upwards every week and is now at its steepest slope and highest correlation since the vaccines first become available. acasignups.net/22/04/25/month…
In some states rapists get parental rights, so if a guy wants to have a kid he’ll now be able to pick a woman, rape & impregnate her, she’ll be forced to give birth and he gets to have custody. Alternately, if she aborts his brother can sue her for $10,000 & split it with him.
In fact the ONLY potential downside for the rapist in this horrific scenario is that there’s a SMALL chance they MIGHT be convicted of the rape. But that’s a really, REALLY tiny chance, especially in some jurisdictions.
🚨🚨🚨 OK, we have ONE CHANCE to TRY to mitigate the damage: Make goddamned sure that you and EVERYONE you know votes Dem UP AND DOWN the ballot this fall, and do EVERYTHING in your power to make sure Dems win at EVERY level, federal, state and local. 🧵 1/
1. HOLD THE HOUSE with enough Dems willing to CODIFY abortion rights into law. Here's swing districts in Alabama - Minnesota: secure.actblue.com/donate/housebl…
1. HOLD THE HOUSE with enough Dems willing to CODIFY abortion rights into law. Here's swing districts in Mississippi - Wyoming: secure.actblue.com/donate/housebl…