In the days leading up to the Republican National Convention, the only Republican making news was Todd Akin, Missouri’s now infamous member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The offhand pedalling of unsubstantiated facts on a live broadcast was as alarming to the left as it was to the right; Democrats took the chance to champion Obamacare, their support of Planned Parenthood and in all ways being pretty swell towards women (not to mention their giddy support for Akin to run in the election, no doubt ensuring a Democrat seat), while Republicans sharply distanced themselves from the campaign-killing talk that Akin was now renowned for.
Women were now on the political spectrum for both parties in the run-up to the election cycle. The selection of Paul Ryan as running mate for Mitt Romney, in wake of such extreme anti-choice sentiments being news fodder on the eve of the Republicans biggest event, again pushed the issue; just what exactly did the Republicans mean by intending to ban abortion? Did Mitt Romney the Senator agree with Mitt Romney of 1994, who said that the longevity of Roe v Wade signified that ‘we should sustain and support it?’ Or was he Mitt Romney of 2007 who said it had ‘gone too far’? The Mitt Romney of 2002 had not only pro-choice leanings, but wrote in to the National Abortion Rights Action League’s candidate survey, to the tune of “women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government’s.” Well damn. Continue reading