Here’s a campaign ad that won’t annoy you, if you’ve been waiting for someone to (metaphorically) hit a Republican for taking away your rights or the rights of someone you love.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a new ad Tuesday that makes Alaska Republican Dan Sullivan’s pattern of transferring power over a woman’s private choices to the government a campaign issue. Sullivan is trying to unseat Democratic Senator Mark Begich.
Not only do Republicans like Sullivan want to give government the right to make medical decisions and family planning decisions for women and their families, but they also want a woman’s boss to be involved in her birth control decisions. Seriously.
Dan Sullivan is all about making women have to take it to their boss for approval. He pledged this! Hence, the ad:
Alaska women can’t trust Dan Sullivan.
AUDIO: He’d transfer power over women’s private choices to the government…
TEXT: Government Power Over Women’s Privacy
AUDIO: …taking away a woman’s right to an abortion.
TEXT: Taking Away Women’s Rights
SOURCE: Alaska Family Action, Voter Guide, 6/24/14
AUDIO: He’s pledged to give employers control over birth control coverage
TEXT: Employer Control
SOURCE: National Journal, 8/20/14
AUDIO: Dan Sullivan: A pattern of invading women’s privacy.
TEXT:
Invading Women’s Privacy
AUDIO: Giving the government power over personal choices
TEXT: Government Power
AUDIO: and opposing a woman’s access to an abortion
TEXT: Opposing Access To Abortion
ANNOUNCER: Dan Sullivan is wrong for Alaska.
Sullivan justifies his support for the Hobby Lobby decision because he claims to be pro-life. But of course, Hobby Lobby was fighting so they wouldn’t have to provide certain kinds of birth control, claiming that they could be used as abortifacients. Then science showed up and proved them wrong about 2 of the 3 methods they were objecting to, but the Supreme Court cared as much about facts and science as the Republican Party.
Sullivan not only supports that decision but has also fallen victim to his party’s lies about Planned Parenthood – so yet another alleged “pro-life” Republican wants to shut down clinics whose number one function is providing women with affordable access to birth control.
And if you’re much for facts, then you already know that birth control is the number one way to stop unplanned pregnancies, which also means it greatly decreases the necessity and or opportunity for abortions. Naturally, Dan Sullivan is against this.
In addition, according to a release by the Guttmacher Institute today, “(T)he public investment in family planning services not only helps women and couples avoid unintended pregnancy and abortion, but also helps them avoid cervical cancer, HIV and other STIs, infertility, and preterm and low birth-weight births—all while saving substantial public dollars. Services provided at Title X-supported health centers alone account for more than half the overall benefits.”
I’ve been waiting for Democrats to realize that this is a freedom issue — something Republicans, Libertarians, Democrats and Liberals should ostensibly be in agreement over, were they all being honest about their alleged philosophies. And contrary to dishonest Republican arguments, nobody is “pro-abortion”. That is why smart people fund Planned Parenthood and sex education classes, so that we can prevent the need for abortion in the ways that actually work.
But life is messy and sometimes we have to make choices where there are no good options. In the past, women would be forced to put their life in jeopardy with illegal abortions. That is why they were legalized, so that women could get a safe medical procedure. Making abortion illegal and cutting off access to birth control at the same time are the goals of Republicans. These two things do not say “pro-life”, they say “pro-control”.
Republicans want to use government to impose control over women’s bodies and their family’s medical decisions. Republicans like Dan Sullivan think a woman should have to get the approval of her boss if she wants to use birth control. Thus, Dan Sullivan doesn’t stand for liberty or freedom. He stands for using the government to control the majority of the population.
Ads like this are just the beginning of the Revenge of the Women.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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