General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho else here thinks the GOP should change their platform from "pro-life" to "pro-fetus"?
GOPhers like to call themselves pro-life. But if they are truly pro-life, then why do most of them favor the death penalty? And for a party that supposedly values the sanctity of life, some of them actually vote against an anti-rape amendment:
http://www.republicansforrape.org/legislators/
IMO, all they are is pro-fetus, since they care more about fetuses than they do about whether or not a woman has the means to take care of a child once it is born.
bongbong
(5,436 posts)Since the issue is not about abortion at all, they should change "pro-life" to "pro-wedge issues that incredibly stupid and racist Nazi-lovers rally around"
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,810 posts)because a fetus is in the later stages of development. These folks are pro-zygote. They care more about a fertilized egg that hasn't even undergone cell division yet than they do about the woman who is carrying it.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)I call them what they are. Anti Choice.
Downwinder
(12,869 posts)That will fit better with the rest of the platform.
meow2u3
(24,768 posts)The rethug party wants to legalize rape and punish the victim for having the misfortune to be overpowered by some brute twice her size, just as the backwards thugs in the Middle East do.
Freddie
(9,273 posts)Because woman are just containers for zygotes, not like, you know, real human beings and all
Ednahilda
(195 posts)And the ones who spend time blocking clinics are "Thugs for Jesus".
reformist2
(9,841 posts)ladym55
(2,577 posts)If they WERE pro-life, then they would be at the forefront of making sure children and mothers have access to affordable health care ... children would not be living in poverty ... children would not be going to school hungry ...
Republicans ... all about life from conception to birth. After that, starve 'em, stick 'em in prison, and execute when possible.
avebury
(10,952 posts)ljm2002
(10,751 posts)pansypoo53219
(20,987 posts)eppur_se_muova
(36,281 posts)The idea that conception leads to people seems to elude them.
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)...The GOP platform plank calling for an amendment declaring that human life begins at conception first appeared in their 1976 platform, and it's been adopted in every subsequent
The 1976 platform had a strong plank supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA:
The Republican Party reaffirms its support for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Our Party was the first national party to endorse the E.R.A. in 1940. We continue to believe its ratification is essential to insure equal rights for all Americans. In our 1972 Platform, the Republican Party recognized the great contributions women have made to society as homemakers and mothers, as contributors to the community through volunteer work, and as members of the labor force in careers. The Platform stated then, and repeats now, that the Republican Party "fully endorses the principle of equal rights, equal opportunities and equal responsibilities for women." The Equal Rights Amendment is the embodiment of this principle and therefore we support its swift ratification.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25843
The 1980 platform said this about the ERA:
We acknowledge the legitimate efforts of those who support or oppose ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. (Underlining added for emphasis.)
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25844
And in 1984:
The Republican Party has an historic commitment to equal rights for women.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25845
That's how much their position has shifted in less than one generation.
The 1976 platform added the anti-abortion plank in order to appease the rapidly energizing religious right. It worked, and we got Ronald Reagan just a handful of years after Nixon's disgraceful resignation. The shift to the ridiculous right didn't stop there, but that's where it started. The right got a huge boost in nationalistic (or patriotic if you prefer) fervor from the 1976 bicentennial celebration, with all the parades, flags, ceremonies, etc.