Conservative Republicans speak out against the radical Tea-Publicans’ War on Women

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

There was a My Turn column in the Arizona Republic on Sunday by Linda Binder (Lake Havasu): Susan Gerard (Phoenix); and Roberta Voss (Glendale), each a former Republican state legislator.

Each legislator was considered a "solid conservative" Republican in their day, but in today's radicalized Tea-Publican Party would be vilified as a "Republican in Name Only " (RINO), or worse: (choose one) a socialist, communist, Marxist, Leninist, Maoist, secular humanist, "librul" Democrat — disparaging terms used interchangeably without regard to meaning by Tea-Publicans to refer to anyone who disagrees with their radical extremist agenda.

Binder, Gerard and Voss sounded the alarm on the radicalized Tea-Publican War on Women. Stripping health choices from women isn't priority:

Among Republicans there is a history of support for access to health care, including Planned Parenthood, and rejection of the intrusive laws being passed by the more extreme-right members of the party now.

In fact, we Republicans just a short decade ago passed Arizona's state law requiring insurance companies to provide fair coverage of contraception — the very bill these extreme right Republicans now are working to repeal.

The sad thing is, if this new crop of Republicans get their way, more women would be uninsured, medical discrimination against women would be legal again, and women would once again be forced to pay more for health care and get less for their money.

Even the nation's family-planning program — to provide low-income women with birth control and other preventive care — was signed into law by President Richard Nixon and expanded by President George H.W. Bush. Solid conservatives, like Barry Goldwater, supported Planned Parenthood. His wife, Peggy Goldwater, sat on the board of Planned Parenthood in Arizona.

We were proud to serve in our Legislature when we decided that women are capable of making their own choices and doctors were best equipped to determine medical treatment. The contraceptive equity bill that we supported made birth control available to all women whose insurance plans covered other medications.

Bills are pending in the Legislature today that would deprive a woman of her ability to make an extremely personal medical decision and put it in the hands of politicians. Health decisions should be left up to a woman, her family, and her doctor. At a time when Arizona is looking to legislators to help grow our economy and work on shared priorities, they are instead choosing to focus on a narrow social agenda that doesn't put the state back to work and only grows the power of big government.

Arizona can't afford to turn back the clock on advances in women's health. This legislative session has proven to be extraordinarily dangerous for Arizona women. There is a very real threat to access for reproductive health care and information. An unprecedented amount of bills put legislators, not doctors, in a position to make medical decisions. We feel women in Arizona deserve better. When we passed contraceptive equity, we trusted that Arizona women were best able to make their own health decisions.

We urge legislators to focus on the shared priorities that put Arizona back to work and help balance our budget. Taking away the ability of doctors to provide care and women to make decisions about what's best for them and their families does not create jobs, help grow our economy or lower taxes. Focusing on ways to get more government into our private lives doesn't move Arizona forward so we ask that the Arizona Legislature focus on the priorities that get our fiscal house in order.