By George Wilson | The recent Congressional “hearing” of Planned Parenthood was more interrogation than a listening tour. It was political grandstanding of the worst order. Only in the US do we have a “serious” political party who spends their time and taxpayer resources attempting to legislate about their citizen’s sex lives and keep (poor) women in reproductive chains.
One explanation is offered by John Dean in his book, Conservatives without Conscience. He calls them “Authoritarian Conservatives.” They want an authoritarian government regarding personal choices that will enforce conservative values. Never mind that the point of our cherished liberty is to be free from such things. Remember, history in the United States – the authoritarian government of Massachusetts executed a Rhode Island woman in the 1600s for her Quaker religion. We the people enrage these authoritarians by being independent thinkers. Sadly, these types of conservatives don’t realize how incredibly unpatriotic they really are.
There are countries, like the Netherlands, where abortions are almost non-existent. (There will always need to be some abortions for medical reasons). How does Holland accomplish this? They use comprehensive sex education for children, readily available; effective birth control; and a well-funded social safety net that gives parents the security of knowing any children they have will be provided for.
So, all these Republican Congressmen who are appalled by the practice of abortion that they are attacking and threatening the funding of an organization that provides health care for women, 97 percent of whose work isn’t abortion and who don’t use federal funds for the 3 percent of their work that is abortions. Would they support large amounts of funding for sex education, birth control and a social safety net? I doubt they would.
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