The Republican Party's War on Women, the North Dakota Front

This is the second in a series of articles on the subject of women, abortion rights and the Republican Party. 

Republicans continue to say that they don’t have to change their core principles, they only have to change the language they use to get their message out.  One perception that they want to alter is the idea that they are running a “war on women”.  Looking at the news over the past few years, I’d say the Republican Party has a long way to go on this subject.

• Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky): “Talk about a manufactured issue.  There is no issue.” 
• RNC Chairman Reince Priebus:  “It’s a fiction.”

The War in North Dakota

the facts:   First, I want to note that North Dakota has one, and only one, abortion clinic in the entire state.  

Last week, the North Dakota state legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks.  This week, they passed three additional anti-abortion bills.  One bans any abortion based on gender selection, a second bans any abortion based on birth defect.

My views on those first two bans are pretty grey--though I’ll admit that it might not take much to bring me to the conservative side of the argument on abortion based on gender selection--but in the end, it is not my decision and should definitely not be the decision of some stranger in my state capital, someone I’ve never met and who knows nothing about me or my family.

A third bill bans any abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.  While the heartbeat bill does not state what method would be used to check for a heartbeat, members of the legislature acknowledge that they are aware that an intrusive vaginal probe could detect a heartbeat as early as 6 weeks after conception…earlier than some women would even know they are pregnant.

Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple signed all three abortion bills into law on Tuesday, March 26.  When asked about the constitutionality of the bills, Mr Dalrymple replied:  “Although the likelihood of this measure surviving a court challenge remains in question, this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade." 

So the Governor acknowledges that the bills he signed into law are probably unconstitutional under federal law, but he is willing to spend time and resources to push the envelope anyway, while in the meantime, making the women of his state subject to emotional and physical hardship that he may or may not have had any right to impose. 

And just in case anyone would mistake the North Dakota legislature’s stand on abortion as too liberal, they also passed a resolution that defines life as beginning at conception, essentially banning any abortion in the state.  This measure will be put to the citizens of North Dakota on a November 2014 ballot.

I can’t help but think that if our politicians--and in this case I mean Republican politicians--would spend less time trying to circumvent laws that already exist, we’d be seeing a lot more progress in this country.

The Republican War on Women is "fiction"?

WHAT YOU DO SPEAKS SO LOUDLY
 THAT I CANNOT HEAR WHAT YOU SAY