War on women far from won

The State of the Union response is sometimes thought of as a graveyard for the aspirations of those who give it.

Think back to the last few years. We watched Paul Ryan’s wide-eyed wonk act, felt the crushing ennui that comes with listening to Mitch Daniels and witnessed Marco Rubio’s infamous dry mouth.

All of these people came off embarrassed in the public eye.

This year’s State of the Union response was given by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers,
R-Wash. Rodgers — the only woman in GOP Congressional leadership — is perhaps intended to lead this push to bring back women to the GOP.

Other members of her party, however, aren’t making that easy.

Seventy new abortion restrictions were passed in 2013. More restrictions were passed from 2011 to 2013 following the 2010 Republican wave than were passed during the preceding ten years.
 
Even Michigan, Indiana’s northern neighbor, passed laws restricting insurance coverage for abortions.

Despite the 2013 “How to Talk to Minorities and Women” retreat — at a former slave plantation, no less — Republicans still can’t seem to stop talking down to women.  
Former Republican presidential contender Mike Huckabee claimed Democrats are the real misogynists because they want women to have affordable access to birth control.
He referred to Democrats as “Uncle Sugar,” providing birth control because women
“cannot control their libido.”

According to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., maybe Republicans don’t even need to attempt to appeal to women, as women have already won the War on Women.
 
“The women in my family are incredibly successful,” he said on “Meet the Press.”
If Paul looked outside his own family, he would realize women still make 23 percent less than men do in equal positions and work two-thirds of minimum wage jobs.

One-third of American women — 42 million people — are either on the edge of poverty or are already living in it, according to a report by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress. 

Couple these startling facts with the constant attacks on women’s sexual health and reproductive rights, and it’s clear that Paul’s bogus claim of women’s victory is absurd.
The women of America need a comprehensive push for justice and equality — social, sexual, political and economic.

Despite efforts to soften their rhetoric, it is clear that the Republican Party is not the party for women.

­— estahr@indiana.edu