Republicans have spent far more time trying to end women’s reproductive rights than they have spent on any other issue, since they gained control of the House. Their hate speech, especially that which justifies violence, has led to more than one death. It would have resulted in more death, had not the intended perpetrator acted with a Republican level of incompetence. As if that were not bad enough, Republicans are introducing legislation to give legal cover to such hate criminals.
A man has been arrested after traveling to Madison, Wis. with the alleged intention of killing abortion doctors.
Ralph Lang, 63, was charged by federal prosecutors Thursday for attempting to injure or intimidate a person who provides reproductive health services. He traveled approximately 100 miles from Marshfield, Wis. to Madison on May 25. He is scheduled to appear in United States District Court on Friday.
According to a Madison police incident report:
A 63-year old man was arrested by Madison Police Wednesday night after he discharged a handgun inside his motel room. The round hit two doors, but there were no injuries. The man immediately told motel staff about the gunfire, saying it was an accident. He offered to pay for damages.
According to federal prosecutors, Lang told Madison police that he had the gun "to lay out abortionists because they are killing babies."
He was arrested at 9:51 pm at a Motel 6 just 1.2 miles away from Planned Parenthood: Madison East (CRHC)… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Huffington Post>
Admittedly, this man has to be at least somewhat deranged, but I cannot accept the argument that Republican misogyny is not responsible for setting off nut cases like Lang and Loughner. Planned Parenthood echoes my thinking.
The leader of Planned Parenthood Wisconsin responded on Friday to the arrest of an armed man who had come to Madison allegedly murder abortion providers at one of the group’s clinics.
“Anti-abortion proponents and legislators who vilify the health care that Planned Parenthood provides truly embolden people who think it’s OK to take the law into their own hands,” said Teri Huyck, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. Speaking at a press conference at a police station on the east side of Madison, she said she was referring to legislators both statewide and national… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Progressive.org>
Rachel Maddow interviewed Teri and provided considerable detail to the story.
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As bad as this is, it is even worse that Republicans are trying to provide legal cover to hate criminals like Lang. I owe a big hat-tip to the Politics Plus Princess, Lisa G, who brought the Nebraska bill to my attention.
…Last week, South Dakota’s legislature shelved a bill, introduced by Republican state Rep. Phil Jensen, which would have allowed the use of the "justifiable homicide" defense for killings intended to prevent harm to a fetus. Now a nearly identical bill is being considered in neighboring Nebraska, where on Wednesday the state legislature held a hearing on the measure.
The legislation, LB 232, was introduced by state Sen. Mark Christensen, a devout Christian and die-hard abortion foe who is opposed to the prodedure even in the case of rape. Unlike its South Dakota counterpart, which would have allowed only a pregnant woman, her husband, her parents, or her children to commit "justifiable homicide" in defense of her fetus, the Nebraska bill would apply to any third party.
"In short, this bill authorizes and protects vigilantes, and that’s something that’s unprecedented in our society," Melissa Grant of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland told the Nebraska legislature’s judiciary committee on Wednesday… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Mother Jones>
I disagree with with the author’s description of Christiansen as a “devout Christian”. Rather, his gospel of hate and violence identifies him as a Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian, not a devout Christian.
Now, just in case this did not sink in, if this Republican bill passes, Nebraska residents will have the right to kill people who provide abortion services to women. This is RepubliCare for women.
For the record, I believe that every abortion that takes place is a tragedy, but I fully support the right of women to make their reproductive decisions. RepubliCare for women is wrong. There are better ways to fight abortion than to kill abortion service providers or to drive women back to the days of coat hangers and back-alley butchers. The way that works best is to prevent unwanted pregnancies by providing women with birth control products and education in their use. These are the services that Planned Parenthood supplies, the very services Republicans are fighting to defund.
6 Responses to “More RepubliCare for Women”
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Thanks TC and Rachel for discussing this very serious issue. I had read the link about the Madison man and his handgun going off and meant to forward that to TC as well, but I had deleted and couldn’t find it.
I had my very first visit to PP when I was 16. My parents in their infinite wisdom decided that if they never explained sex to me, that I wouldn’t have it. My bf and I agreed that we wanted to have sex, after he explained to me how it worked. (My reaction was “That’s gross! My mother would never do that!”) He took me to PP where they were extremely professional and not shocked at all by my lack of knowledge about the whole subject of sex (it was not taught it the schools at that time). They answered all my questions (and I had about a 1000 of them), but I knew that if I got pregnant, my parents would not allow me to go to college and would probably send me away somewhere and I wouldn’t be allowed to come back home. We decided on the pill as the best form of BC and I left there with a script for BC pills for a year and a 6 months supply. My bf paid for everything. Before I went in there, I was scared to death, but I came out a much more confident and knowledgeable person, knowing that I had made the correct decision.
My mother, 2 months before my 18th bday, found my BC pills and I will never forget this conversation. Her “Are you having sexual relations with Jeff?” I almost busted a gut over the ‘sexual relations’ part, but knew if I laughed, she would have killed me on the spot. I responded yes and said “I took the proper steps to ensure that I wouldn’t become pregnant and I think that was a wise choice on my part.” She threatened to keep me home from college and tell my father. I told her to go ahead. All my father said was that he was disappointed in me. I said “you’d rather me be pregnant then, since you and mom decided not to tell me how this all worked?” That was the end of that conversation.
I’ve had two abortions in my life and neither one were easy choices. No one wants to have an abortion, but given certain circumstances of life, sometimes it is your only option. Do I regret them, no. Do I think about them, all the time.
These people that want to kill abortion providers or defund PP are parasites on this country. They are nothing but warped individuals who prey on people’s fears and God’s wrath. Killing abortion providers will not stop these brave men and women from doing their jobs. For that, they do not deserve distain, but are equivalent to men and women who fight in battle every day. They put their lives on the line to serve women who have no other place to go. That either South Dakota or Nebraska would take up bills that saying killing these fine men and women is justifiable homicide is abhorrent. Those people do not belong in our state and federal legislatures. Abortion is a legal procedure. They should remember that when thinking of writing bills saying that killing those providers is justifiable homicide. They are among the few fanatics that would take up arms against the fine people at PP. And considering that a lot of the people that work there are volunteers, says volumes about how fine this organization is. I have walked that gauntlet twice and I would do it again for anyone of my friends, sisters, or my boys’ gfs. I even offered to take a neighbor who babysat my children when she got pregnant (she told me first), but I counseled her to talk to her parents first because she was underage and I knew her parents well. Her mother took her to have the abortion. But she told me first because she valued my opinion and I was like an older sister to her.
All that being said, I would gladly apply for a concealed carry permit (I already own a gun) and stand outside the door of any PP clinic to protect the workers and the women coming in. And I would not be shy about it either. It’s only a matter of time before one of these freaks kills an innocent woman coming in for counseling and not an abortion.
I’m very proud at my calm and reasonable response, because yesterday, I wanted to rip that guy’s head off and stuff it down his throat.
Lisa, your personal experience adds depth in a way that no man could. I am so sorry you had no better alternative and honor your grief over it. I expected a much more explosive response from you and hope my coverage of the issue justified your concern.
The “justifiable homicide” bills are a byproduct from the Army of God wackos – and I can’t believe it wouldn’t be stop dead in its tracks (no pun intended) before it could ever be implemented.
Here is an informative interactive map from Crooks &Liars denoting terrorist acts directed at liberal and government targets since July 2008 – and it gets updated periodically:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/violence-directed-liberal-and-govern
Nameless, I would hope so. That Republicans are trying to implement such laws is worse than heinous.
That map is a real eye opener. Even I had underestimated the extent of RepubliCrime.
Some people assume that clinic attacks are the result of lone wolves, when it reality they take place in the context of a much larger anti-choice environment. To understand people like Lang, we need to understand the undercurrent of anti-abortion rhetoric and organizations in the U.S..
I just finished reading THE WICHITA DIVIDE by Stephen Singular, which discusses Scott Roeder’s murder of Dr. George Tiller in the context of the larger anti-abortion movement.
Ahab, I agree. It’s all part of RepubliCare.