OpEdNews readers may have heard a lot about Rep. Akin's statement and the "war on women." Read one reaction to that here.

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This article was originally posted on the Madison Independent Examiner. There is a slideshow and video available there.

Image courtesy of bartcop.com.

In May, when Democratic National Committee "chairman" Debbie Wasserman Schultz called out the Republican party for " waging a war on women ," many pundits thought it was just political rhetoric. Since then the actions and public statements made by GOP politicians may have confirmed her statement and may ultimately lead to the self-destruction of the GOP in the next election.

The comments last Sunday by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), who is trying to unseat Claire McCaskill (D-MO) from the U.S. Senate are, using an overused metaphor, icing on the cake. In an interview with KTVI-TV over the weekend in which he was questioned about his strict views on abortion, Akin replied that women rarely get pregnant from rape, saying "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down." (See video on the original post at Madison Independent Examiner ).

Legitimate rape? Mr. Akin, are you kidding or completely ignorant? In his defense, Akin later said he meant to say forcible rape , but as the President says, " rape is rape ." Yet Republican politicians seem to want to redefine rape and classify it into categories, which are simply not going to sound very well to rape victims and most women in the U.S.

Here are a few more examples of how the GOP is burning itself up with women voters. Well, at least those who have self-respect and vote with their conscience:

• A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."
• In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (I know this sounds crazy, but it's reality).
• Republicans have a bill in congress that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.
• Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said: Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.
• Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. That is, for humans. Republican Dan Burton, however, has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses . (You can't make this stuff up).

Apparently the GOP is doing all they can to hand the next election to the Democrats and President Obama.

That stands without even mentioning what the Republican National Committee (RNC) has done to one of its own candidates, Ron Paul. Simply do a google search on "Ron Paul delegates" and there is plenty of information on that GOP fiasco. Even Fox News admitted that Romney cannot win without the votes of Ron Paul's supporters. (Link is to a video).

There are t-shirts ready for the GOP convention that read, "Dear GOP, No Ron Paul, No Vote! (signed) A Republican."

The point is that there is a major schism in the Republican party that will probably hand the next election to Democrats. Another point is that one of the 14 defining characteristics of fascism is rampant sexism, as the GOP has been exhibiting for years.

So, what does the GOP do? They pick Paul Ryan as Romney's running mate. Joe Conason reported that a $100 million campaign financing promise from the Koch brothers helped that along. Paul Ryan, worse yet, cosponsored a bill (H.R. 212) with Rep. Akin called the Sanctity of Human Life Act of 2009 , which declares that a fertilized egg is entitled to the same legal rights as a human being.

Not only is H.R. 212 an offense to women, but it is unconstitutional, because Roe v. Wade can only be overturned by an amendment to the constitution . The proposed measure would have permitted the use of Medicare funds only to end pregnancies resulting from "forcible rape." Akin's assertion about "legitimate" rape is really nothing but an attempt to blame the victim.

Renee Davis puts it nicely, succinct and clearly on her web site, Unite Women :

I am a woman, a survivor of rape, and a registered Republican. You have issued an apology for the uneducated "off the cuff" remark you made where you stated "from what I understand from doctors, pregnancy [ as a result of rape] is really rare. If it is a legitimate rape, the female body has a ways to try shut that whole thing down." Todd, I do not accept your apology!

The problem that goes to the core of this issue is that no matter what your apology says, you and your friends have left most of your more moderate members behind and traded us in for a very extreme view.

Number one, women have the right to determine what happens to their body and to not be raped, assaulted, or molested whether that is by a rapist or an elected official who thinks they have the right to dictate what she should do. You and your friends do not want government intrusion into your lives ONLY when it suits your beliefs -- period!

You and your like-minded friends, who do not agree with the Affordable Care Act yell from the roof tops that personal religious freedoms are being infringed upon because it requires women to have access to birth control.

What I find so interesting is those same people have no problem creating legislation that does just that to the women of this country. For example, have you forgotten Todd that little piece of legislation that you and GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan co-sponsored a bill called "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," a bill which, among other things, introduced the country to this bizarre term "forcible rape," as if there is some other form of rape?

Renee continues to list every House "representative" that voted for this form of legislation on her site.

Yet a conservative Republican like Mike Huckabee, who is a paid shill for Fox News, makes an apology for Akin on his program and says " Sometimes Good people are conceived in Rape ."

Let's add some further commentary to that. Romney, by his campaign rhetoric, and Ryan and Akin are proven to be to big supporters of war(s) by their voting records. So, here's another scenario for Huckabee and the rest of the GOP:

That young man was supposed to find a cure for cancer, but he died in Afghanistan. And that young woman was supposed to invent a source of inexpensive, clean energy"but she suffered a traumatic brain injury in Iraq. And that young man buried in Arlington was going to be the father of a new world leader that would have ended all wars and brought peace to this world, except he died in the wars YOU support and fund.

Just as the GOP's argument against women's rights goes, wars murder the future as well. Yes, Americans do consider life really important. It works both ways. Good luck in the polls in November.

Sources:

Chicago Sun-Times

Huffington Post

Washington Post

Salon.com

Talking Points Memo (TPM)

Think Progress

Blog for Choice

Fox News via You Tube

Cafe Press

14 defining characteristics of fascism: The U.S. in 2012

Paul Ryan - Eliminate medicare

Full text of H.R. 212 - Sanctity of Human Life Act

The National Memo

Unite Women -- Renee Davis

Alternet

Authors Website: http://www.examiner.com/independent-in-madison/gregory-patin

Authors Bio:
Gregory Patin is a free-lance writer residing in Madison, WI. He earned a BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a MS in IT management from Colorado Tech. He is politically independent and not affiliated with either the Democrat or Republican party.