Pregnancy From Rape Similar To ‘Having A Baby Out Of Wedlock’
Posted by Michelle Moquin on September 1st, 2012
Good morning!
I know I keep bringing up this subject. But what can I say, it is a constant reminder that we are close to losing our rights unless we women take strong action and support each other.
Another GOP candidate, Tom Smith, downplays the seriousness of rape. When I read comments such as the one below, it just really irks me. I am so tired of men trying to control women’s bodies, and then make light of rape, acting as if it is no big deal, no major violation, that we can wish away the pregnancy..and if not, just deal with it and have the baby.
I mean really there is no difference…pregnancy from rape is similar to having a baby out of wedlock, right? It’s so easy for a man to say such crap off the top of his head because he doesn’t have to worry about being raped, nor ever worry about ever getting pregnant and having to decide what to do, or worry about somebody telling him what to do, controlling his choices. And please don’t write me and say, “Men get raped too”. You know my views on that.
If men are not trying to control what we do with our bodies, the choices that we want to make, then they are trying to take control of our bodies, by sexually assaulting and raping us.
Enough already.
Tom Smith, GOP Senate Candidate: Pregnancy From Rape Similar To ‘Having A Baby Out Of Wedlock‘
Trying to distance himself from the “legitimate rape” comment that Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) made last week, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith (R) stirred up further controversy by comparing a pregnancy caused by rape to “having a baby out of wedlock.”
Smith said Monday at the Pennsylvania Press Club that although he condemns Akin’s comment, he agrees with Akin that abortion should be banned without any exceptions, including for rape and incest victims. Pressed by a reporter on how he would handle a daughter or granddaughter becoming pregnant as a result of rape, Smith said he had already “lived something similar to that” in his family.
“She chose life, and I commend her for that,” he said. “She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn’t have to … she chose the way I thought. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t rape.”
When a reporter asked Smith to clarify what kind of situation was similar to becoming pregnant from rape, the candidate responded, “Having a baby out of wedlock.”
He added, “Put yourself in a father’s position. Yes, it is similar.”
Smith’s comment comes at an inconvenient time for Republicans, who have been scrambling to distract voters from the firestorm of controversy over Akin’s comment last week. Addressing the subject of an abortion exception for rape victims, Akin said that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely become pregnant because “the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down.”
Smith, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in the November election, told reporters that he does not agree with Akin’s remark at all. “He should have never said anything like that,” Smith said.
UPDATE: 8:45 p.m. –
Megan Piwowar, a spokeswoman for Smith, clarified on Monday evening that the candidate’s comments were misunderstood and that the “out of wedlock” pregnancy in his family was not his daughter’s.
“Tom Smith is committed to protecting the sanctity of life and believes it begins at conception,” she said in a statement. “While his answers to some of the questions he faced at the Pennsylvania Press club may have been less than artful, at no time did he draw the comparison that some have inferred. When questioned if he was drawing that comparison, Tom’s answer was clear, ‘no, no, no.’ Tom was speaking to the difficult decision faced by his family, not the nature of his daughters conception.”
*******
Readers: I know that I keep saying this but I just can’t help it. I especially say this to women who can’t seem to get it, “The choices you make over your body are your choices. Vote to have a choice. Do what you want to do with your body and let me do what I want to do with mine. You don’t believe in abortion? Fine. Have all the babies you want. But allow me to make my own choices over my own body. The men aren’t going to change. Be smart, take control – Support women in their right to choose. If we don’t do it now we may never have another opportunity.”
This election year, no doubt, is the most important election, in my opinion, to date. Not only for women but for this country and the world. If you think anything different, you are in for a rude awakening.
I HOPE everyone is enjoying the beginning of the long Labor Day weekend!
Peace, Love, and Freedom of Choice
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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September 1st, 2012 at 9:58 am
He doesn’t even sound or look like he knows what he’s saying or even agrees with the words coming out of his LSOSin’ mouth. Some kind of out-of-body lying type of experience. It must be euphoric bc rethugs love doing that lying thing very much…
I have to go youtube Eastwood’s speech, sounds like I missed a classic.
Enjoy the Labor Day weekend, Luv, Zen Lill
PS Howie hope all is well, missing you as much as all the others here…
September 1st, 2012 at 10:53 am
I live in Finland. It is shocking that a political party finds reception preaching being Wealthy in America is risky. I would rather be wealthy anywhere including America than to be poor. Can it be that white americans are so desperate to remove their black president that they will accept any imagined slight to soothe the conscious when they pull the race level at the polls?
We see the images portrayed by America that your OTWs are pulling down the striving whites. It appears that your political race has turned into race baiting and it is working.
Aada
September 1st, 2012 at 10:58 am
On Wednesday, conservative watchdog NewsBusters posted audio of Chalian saying Monday on a hot mic, prior to a livestream broadcast, that the Romneys were “happy to have a party with black people drowning,” a reference to the optics of Hurricane Isaac heading to New Orleans as the Republican National Convention was kicking off.
The NewsBusters post Wednesday morning quickly gained traction in conservative media circles through Breitbart and The Drudge Report. By early afternoon, Yahoo! News announced it was terminating Chalian, who later apologized to the Republican nominee and his wife.
The firing of Chalian, a well-known figure in the political media world, has been a hot topic as journalists unwind over drinks following the long days covering the Republican convention. Several journalists, in private conversations, expressed sympathy for Chalian while agreeing that he made an inappropriate comment.
Some journalists have spoken publicly in support of Chalian, including PBS’s Gwen Ifill. She tweeted: “One mistake does not change this. @DavidChalian is God’s gift to political journalism. #IStandwithDavid”
Who is David Chalian?
David Chalian is the political director for ABC News. In this role, he helps to oversee the editorial content of all political news across ABC News’ broadcasts and platforms. Chalian co-anchors “Top Line,” a daily political webcast on ABCNews.com and on ABC News Now, the network’s 24-hour digital outlet. In addition, he provides political commentary and analysis for “World News with Diane Sawyer,” “Good Morning America,” ABC News Radio and NewsOne, the network’s affiliate news service.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/david-chalian/story?id=6499665#.UEIsj459l9I
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The point is that when the black President is dissed it is okay. No one gets fired. But diss the white boy and you get fired.
Cliff
September 1st, 2012 at 11:03 am
With all this race derision I like the change of pace the story about the Shaefers in Louisiana. Father and son got in their boat and took it upon themselves to save more than 100 people trapped by the floods.
They didn’t as if those in need were republican, independent or democrats. They are white but they didn’t care what race those in need were they just helped.
So let’s not forget that although there are many racists out there, America still has sons and daughters that make her proud.
Linda
September 1st, 2012 at 11:10 am
It really seems that lies by the republicans don’t matter to the electorate. At least to those that merely vote party or color. I man an independent, so when I heard that House republicans planned from the beginning to obstruct president Obama despite the damage it would do to the country, I checked to verify that charge.
How shocked I was to discover that a group of elected representatives would sabotage those who elected them to serve along with the rest of the nation to further their inspirations for the White House.
They basically said Damn the Country, what’s in it for me. When I brought it up last night in a political meeting, I mostly got shouted down with explanations that it was just politics.
When I left I was ashamed that in the last election I had beed conned into voting for McCain and that party.
Perhaps the people get what they wish for. I know that most of my political partners at that meeting where willing to support a party that put politics ahead of the needs of the nation, I am not.
Jackie
September 1st, 2012 at 11:10 am
I agree, it is interesting that David Chalian gets a lot of press for his remarks against the white party in America. But very little show casing members of that party throwing peanuts in the face of a black american and calling the race animals.
We Greeks are being reminded that America really hasn’t changed that much since the electing of their first black president. Race is still the most important element of that nation.
Βερενίκη
September 1st, 2012 at 11:19 am
Why Student Athletes Are Dying
In the last 12 years, a startling 21 football players in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) died during conditioning workouts. For 11 of these young men, death occurred at the very beginning of training, on the first or second day.
“Though the overwhelming majority of conditioning-related deaths since 2000 among college athletes were among football players, a few conditioning-related deaths have occurred among college athletes who played other sports, too,” I learned recently from Douglas J. Casa, PhD, chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education in Storrs, Connecticut.
He is the chair of the task force of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, which has written the first-ever guidelines attempting to change business as usual when it comes to how conditioning programs are conducted at colleges. The goal is to make students’ health and safety a higher priority.
If you’re a parent of a college athlete—or even a high school athlete, because these problems affect athletes at that level, too—then you’ll want to pay special attention to the new recommendations.
PRESSURE ALL AROUND
The deaths of those NCAA players mentioned earlier were primarily the result of one of three conditions—
———————–
sickle cell trait,
an underlying genetic condition that is benign unless excessive exercise causes blocked oxygen flow to vital organs…
heart defect,
an underlying genetic condition which can lead to sudden death when excessive exercise pushes the heart into overdrive…
or heatstroke,
which can happen to any healthy person who exerts himself/herself excessively.
————————-
Dr. Casa told me that many coaches and athletes on the collegiate level (and even some on the high school level) are pushed too hard by the expectation to succeed—no matter what the cost.
If athletes are out of shape early in the season and if they’re exercising in the late summer heat, that surely doesn’t help matters. The intent of the guidelines is to get coaches to focus more on health and safety.
WHAT THE GUIDELINES ADVISE
There are a total of 10 guidelines. For a full list, click here. In the meantime, Dr. Casa highlighted the most important ones…
Start gradually. Coaches should slowly introduce an increasing number of drills over the first seven to 10 days (when nearly all the deaths occur), rather than introduce all of them on day one.
In addition, the guidelines suggest a work/rest ratio of 1:4—for example, if an athlete does a 15-second sprint, he should rest for at least 60 seconds afterward.
Make sure there is sufficient medical supervision. A certified “strength and conditioning coach,” plus an athletic trainer or a team doctor, should be present at practice during high-risk conditioning sessions (such as sprinting, timed sessions and mat drills). For lower-risk training sessions, the athletic trainer should be on campus and accessible.
Don’t use exercise as punishment. The coach should not make any athlete do 50 push-ups for being late, for example.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Unfortunately, the guidelines are not mandates but recommendations. But the more you raise awareness about them, the safer your child is likely to be. Here’s how Dr. Casa suggests raising awareness…
Write a letter or make a call.
Reach out to the coach, the athletic director and/or the school president or principal to ask whether these new guidelines will be followed.
In case the school is unaware of the guidelines, either e-mail the link above or print the guidelines and mail them. Remind the person that while this is primarily about protecting students’ health and safety, it’s also about avoiding costly lawsuits.
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can also contact your state’s high school athletic association, your state’s high school sports medicine advisory committee and the NCAA.
Make noise. Speak up at public athletic meetings and public online athletic forums, and/or talk to other parents whose kids will be in the school’s sports program. Be sure that they, too, have seen the guidelines.
Talk to your kid. Remind your child to alert the coach if he ever feels dizzy, extremely hot, exhausted, excessively thirsty and/or sweaty, or has muscle cramps, chest pains, trouble breathing or other abnormal physical signs and symptoms.
Source: Douglas J. Casa, PhD, chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education in Storrs, Connecticut. The NATA guidelines were published in Journal of Athletic Training.
September 1st, 2012 at 11:27 am
I’m sorry but as we Greeks watch your political process, it is very clear that race is the driving force behind your Republican Party’s success in the polls.
It does not escape simple logic that even after many of your main media outlets highlighted many serious misleading statements made by both the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates during their inaugural acceptance speeches your potential electorate gave them a boost in the polls.
Why does a candidate become more likable after he has been proven to be a liar unless racism trumps morality in the USA.
Why even bother with the charade of campaigning just go to the polls and vote the color you prefer.
Klytiê
September 1st, 2012 at 11:32 am
I love the confused republican rhetoric on Medicare. They say private health insurance is better than government run insurance. They don’t even want a public option alternative. Then why aren’t they immediately replacing Medicare completely with private health insurance? Don’t they think seniors deserve the best healthcare? If private health insurance is better, why not replace it immediately?
I also love the hypocrisy that they claim Obama gutted medicare and is making seniors suffer, but Ryan included the same cuts in his own budget. If you believe that rhetoric and you vote in favor of Ryan’s budget, doesn’t that mean you WANT to gut medicare? Doesn’t that mean you WANT seniors to suffer?
September 1st, 2012 at 11:33 am
Obama led in the wrong direction?? What exactly was the right direction for that place in time? Of course, now in hindsight, the Republicans would have done things differently.
Most of us are still waiting for them to spill some details about their plans for creating more jobs, improving healthcare, decreasing the debt (feasible plans that don’t burden middle class), but they won’t do this, as the details will be most unpopular with the general electorate!
September 1st, 2012 at 11:37 am
Did anyone see my favorite republican, Chris Christie? He should have been the nominee. That speech was his opening salvo in the 2016 presidential campaign. He must figure Romney is toast.
I could almost hold my nose and vote for Obama. So Chris could run in 2016.
Robert
September 1st, 2012 at 11:45 am
I can see why the Greeks feel the way they do. I read this and thought what’s up with my State representative?
—————————————-
During a trip to Epcot at Disneyworld, Pennsylvania delegate Mark Harris and his wife were shocked and offended to find a Mexican employee working at the amusement park’s American pavilion, which showcases the different cultures in the United States.
According to the couple’s blog, Harris complained to staff that he was “highly offended” that a “person from Mexico” was working in the American pavilion when other nations’ pavilions were staffed by people from each respective country:
The local GOP in Snyder County, Pennsylvania has rushed to disavow Harris’ overtly racist comments. County Commissioner Malcolm Derk told The Daily Item, “Americans are people of any race, color or heritage. Cheers to the individual working at Epcot for showing what a true American looks like.”
According to their website, “Mark and Irene are both pro‐life, believe marriage is between one man and one woman, are for open records and transparency, believe in very conservative principles and the Republican platform.”
The RNC has been marred by racist incidents this week; on Tuesday, two delegates had to be escorted out after throwing peanuts at a black camerawoman and called her an “animal.”
Harris told the AP at the beginning of the convention that he liked how Romney was “hitting all the conservative bells” and “has the potential to be a great president if he keeps going in that direction.”
==================
I’m white, but has something happened that I didn’t get the secretive note on? Why are we so openly intolerant of the OTWs?
Logan
September 1st, 2012 at 11:51 am
I watched Ryan’s speech. The lies he told were absolutely outrageous. I SO wanted to reach through the TV screen and shake the SOB!! I know my blood pressure was above normal. I was surprised to hear FOX TV also critized him for the lies. FOX TV!!!!
===============================
Here are the 6 Worst Lies In Paul Ryan’s Speech
By Aviva Shen on Aug 30, 2012 at 9:36 am
Vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is taking flack on the morning news shows for his keynote address at the Republican National Convention Wednesday night.
His speech was riddled with false claims, so much so that even Fox News wrote, “To anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.”
Here are the most glaring lies from his speech:
1. “A downgraded America.” Ryan blamed the president for the nation’s credit downgrade in August 2011 after Republicans threatened to allow the government to default on its debt for the first time in history. But the ratings agency explicitly blamed “Republicans saying that they refuse to accept any tax increases as part of a larger deal.”
2. “More debt than any other president before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined.” Romney has made the almost identical claim, that Obama has amassed more debt “as almost all of the other presidents combined.” But their math doesn’t add up: when Obama took office, the national debt was $10.626 trillion. It has increased to slightly above $15 trillion.
3. Shuttered General Motors plant is “one more broken promise.” Ryan described a GM plant that closed down in his hometown, Janesville, Wisconsin, and blamed Obama for breaking his promise to keep the plant open when he visited during his campaign. But Obama never made that promise, and the plant shut down in December 2008, before Obama even took office.
4. Obama “did exactly nothing” on Bowles-Simpson. Ryan said, “He created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way, and then did exactly nothing.” In fact, Ryan was instrumental in sabotaging the commission, leading the other House Republicans in voting against the plan.
5. “$716 billion, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama.” Ryan’s favorite lie is a deliberate distortion of Obamacare’s savings from eliminating inefficiencies. Furthermore, Ryan’s own plan for Medicare includes these savings. Romney has vowed to restore these cuts, which would render the trust fund insolvent 8 years ahead of schedule.
6. “The greatest of all responsibilities is that of the strong to protect the weak.” Ryan closed the speech with an invocation of social responsibility, saying, “The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves.”
However, numerous clergy members have condemned Ryan’s budget plan as “cruel,” and “an immoral disaster” because of its devastating cuts in social programs the poor and sick rely on. Meanwhile, Ryan would give ultra-rich individuals and corporations $3 trillion in tax breaks.
——————————————
even Fox said: “To anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan’s speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech.”.
September 1st, 2012 at 12:34 pm
If Obama said “Don not eat the yellow Snow” there would be a Parade of Republicans telling you to eat it and why it’s good for you!
September 1st, 2012 at 12:58 pm
Just so you know I tried to comment on your blog. Concerning Karma and I got this
Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!
Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, cgiadmin@yourhostingaccount.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
September 1st, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Logan maybe I should talk to Mark Harris. I’ve always wondered why so many of the streets in California have Spanish names? Are they taking over? :)
September 1st, 2012 at 1:03 pm
GOP tent has shrunk to a pup tent..camera panning the crowd showing the non-diversity, people clearly understand that and polls are reflecting the same..Romney has 0% of black vote, less than 20% of Hispanic vote and less than 40% of women.
September 1st, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Playing the race card is a full time job for some of you on this blog. I don’t believe that real white people are calling their race bigots. I would like to point out to some of you claiming to be white the lilly white truth.
Just because you have some white blood and can pass for white doesn’t make you white. If you remember Germany found out those like you who thought you could continue to spread your breed amongst us.
All, I’m saying is BEFORE you claim to be white not jus of the white race, check your linage, it it is spotted, then you are not white. You may be a mud, or breed, but you are not white.
Clark
September 1st, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Quu, we will be sending some communications through this medium.
Kybele
September 1st, 2012 at 1:23 pm
The Right is pouring $millions into the Occupy Movement so they can disrupt the DNC. They want the independents to believe that this group is for the Republicans.
They have made deep infiltrations of the Occupy Wall Street movement and they intend to use their influence to embarrass the DNC.
Mike,TM
September 1st, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Ruth, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to read your comments recently. You’ve been missed. Hope Harris and kiddies (all of em’ the teens included) are well and thriving, if you’d like to elaborate on their progress,, I would love to hear it, if it compromises security, yours or theirs I will understand. Please tell Anonz I wish him safety and happiness with his new and old endeavors. Sorry, nothing overly profound to add to any of that, just thinking of you and wishing all of you the very best. – ZL
September 1st, 2012 at 2:57 pm
that ‘anonymous’ was unintentional, I dropped my mac on his head last night and he”s been glitching out ever since…ZL
September 1st, 2012 at 3:15 pm
The way the white media puts pressure on “journalist” to wink at obvious lies by the candidates is they are told that a true “journalist” doesn’t take sides.
That worked well for White America. So they never called George Wallace for race baiting. Or Hitler for the same. However, that standard doesn’t apply if the person is not white.
OJ to this day can’t get fair coverage from those “journalists.” They all have an opinion that he is guilty and are very free to express it without fear of reprisal.
Reverend White is another example. “Journalists” are free to opine that he is a racist or ant-american without fear of being taken less serious as true “journalist.”
As far as I am concerned true Journalist are those that seek to INFORM the public. That means if they know that a person is lying they are obligated to INFORM the public by telling them that they just heard a lie from that person.
So when the media is trying to chastise Chris Matthews and Rachael Maddow, I applaud them for standing up and reporting the lies.
Irene
September 1st, 2012 at 11:52 pm
May I say one more time the ego of men is without compare. Have you ever noticed that most movies on the premium channels never lists the names of the women stars?
L.A. Confidential won a Best Supporting Actress for Kim Bassinger, yet her name wasn’t mentioned in the credits.
I watched “Troy.” Brad Pitt and a few other men’s names but the movie is about Helen of Troy, but none of the names in credits was a female.
Helen
That is repeated all night long in the credits of HBO, ShoTime, etc, etc.
Men they suck.
Unfortunately, some of them can lick so good. That’s why we can tend to get weak and forgive their sick asses.