If perhaps you were wondering just how quickly the Republicans–who now control both houses of Congress and the White House–would begin stripping away the reproductive rights of women, we now have an answer: Trump hasn’t even been sworn in and it’s already happening.
Appearing this morning on State of the Union, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was asked directly about details of what would replace the Affordable Care Act. Host Jake Tapper reminded Ryan that many women who are covered by Obamacare are getting birth control free of charge as a result. So he quite naturally asked:
“Is that going to end?”
As is typical when it comes to members of the GOP, Speaker Ryan refused to respond, saying:
“Look, I’m not going to get into all the little nitty-gritty details of these things.”
Translation: You bet your ass it’s gonna end! How dare women expect the government to pay for their birth control in the same way we do Viagra so aging male members of Congress can get it up when they visit their mistresses!
Tapper took Ryan to task for being so flippant:
“With all due respect. I don’t know that the average woman of childbearing years out there who relies upon contraception provided by health insurance mandated by the Affordable Care Act, I don’t know that she would think that that’s just a nitty-gritty detail.”
Ryan:
“You’re asking me details about legislation that hasn’t been written yet!”
How much do you want to bet Ryan already has a draft of the repeal and replace bill on his desk? Put me down for twenty bucks.
Tapper then replied:
“Right, but would that be a principle of whatever replaces [Obamacare]?”
And again, Ryan refused to give a response simply because Tapper had asked a tough question, and also because Ryan knows damn well the CNN host is 100 percent correct:
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals about legislation that hasn’t even been drafted.”
In Paul Ryan and Donald Trump’s America, women would be nothing more than vessels, breeders who serve as incubators for unwanted children the government forces them to give birth to. It’s all far too reminiscent of the Margaret Atwood novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. If you haven’t read it, you should. It shows what this country will look like if we let the Christian right run this country without eternal and vigilant opposition from the left.
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