What We're Reading - August 20
Spread the word
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Good morning, everyone! The Women are Watching bus tour kicked off this past Saturday in Concord, New Hampshire before continuing on its journey to upstate New York. Meanwhile, across the country, things are heating up as out-of-touch candidates like Reps. Paul Ryan and Todd Akin continue to garner national attention for their extreme positions on women’s health. Here’s what we’re reading this morning…
Great coverage (and photos) of the Women are Watching bus tour in upstate New York. “Planned Parenthood [Action Fund] national bus tour stops in Syracuse to boost pro-choice candidates” – “Syracuse, N.Y. -- An estimated 100 or more people, with many dressed in pink, gathered this morning at a ‘Women are Watching’ rally in Hanover Square, an event organized by the national Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Syracuse was stop number two in the action fund’s 11-state, 17-day, ‘Women are Watching’ bus tour of battleground states in the November elections. Tour organizers say its purpose is to let women know what’s at stake when it comes to women’s healthcare, including birth control. A pink bus brought the tour to downtown Syracuse, and anyone who signed a Women are Watching petition got a pink T-shirt. Many donned them on the spot. A number of local speakers urged voters to support candidates who would safeguard a woman’s right to control her own reproductive health and who would support continued funding for Planned Parenthood. They said Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would imperil those things.”
New TV ad targets Congressman Ryan’s extreme and dangerous positions on women’s health. “Paul Ryan targeted on women's issues” – “Paul Ryan co-sponsored a federal ‘personhood’ amendment. He voted to defund Planned Parenthood. He opposes all abortions, except when the life of the mother is at risk. And he supports a federal bill requiring women to get an ultrasound before an abortion. If this sounds like an ominous ad from the Obama for president campaign, something like it could soon be coming to a TV near you. These are among the positions the Wisconsin congressman has taken in his career that Democrats are bound to highlight in the weeks ahead in ads, press conferences and rallies as they try to widen President Barack Obama’s lead among women over Mitt Romney in polls. Picked just a week ago as his vice presidential contender, Ryan is poised to become a key part of that strategy for both the Obama campaign and women’s groups hoping to energize their voters and those who might have been considering Romney. For all the attention on how his budget roadmap changes Medicare, Democrats see Ryan’s record on issues related to women as an opportunity to yoke Romney, who has flip-flopped on abortion rights in the past decade, to positions the presumptive GOP nominee staked out during the Republican primaries.”
Shocking comments from Missouri’s resident Chump, Rep. Todd Akin. “Todd Akin On Abortion: 'Legitimate Rape' Victims Have 'Ways To Try To Shut That Whole Thing Down' (VIDEO)” – “Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) justified his extreme opposition to abortion by claiming that victims of ‘legitimate rape’ rarely get pregnant. In an interview with KTVI-TV on Sunday, the GOP Senate nominee was asked if he supported abortion in the case of rape. ‘From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare,’ said Akin said of pregnancy caused by rape. ‘If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist. ’ Akin won a three-way primary on Aug. 7 for the rights to a November battle against incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). McCaskill was ‘stunned’ by Akin's Sunday comments. ‘It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape,’ McCaskill added in a statement. ‘The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive.’”
