VIRGINIA HAS CROSSED THE LINE: As we have documented here, 2011 was the year of extreme anti-abortion insanity played out at the state level. Indeed, states passed 80 abortion-restricting laws just in the first six months of last year. This week, Virginia upped the ante and crossed into truly despicable territory when the state House, by a 63 to 36 vote, passed a bill forcing all women to have medically unnecessary “transvaginal ultrasounds” before getting abortions. The Washington Post helpfully explained that this “transvaginal” requirement “would constitute an unprecedented government mandate to insert vaginal ultrasonic probes into women as part of a state-ordered effort to dissuade them from terminating pregnancies.” (This is because the bill requires an accurate reading of the gestational age and the fetal heart rate, which, early in the pregnancy -- when the vast majority of abortions are performed -- can often only be detected by a transvaginal ultrasound.) Read that again: Virginia Republicans just passed a bill that allows the government to forcibly insert rods into the vaginal canals of women, against their will and against their doctor’s wishes, in order to punish them for seeking abortions. In some places, this might be called, um, rape. The House also passed a bill defining “personhood” as a fertilized egg -- and its supporters specifically rejected an amendment declaring that contraception would still be permitted. Make no mistake about it: The Virginia state government is waging war on women, and on men who love, support, and/or have sex with women. The state Senate has already passed the ultrasound measure, and right-wing governor Bob McDonnell -- who is trying his damndest to get himself appointed the GOP Vice Presidential nominee -- has indicated his intent to sign it.
This is happening, people. All of us need to realize that this is more than campaign rhetoric. This is more than Rick Santorum -- who is currently leading the polls among GOP primary voters -- saying that contraception is “not okay” because “it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” It’s more than Mitt Romney -- likely to be the GOP nominee -- affirming that he “absolutely” would support a constitutional amendment giving personhood rights to an egg. This is more than the GOP leadership vowing to pass a bill allowing any employer to refuse to provide health coverage for contraception because of personal “moral” objections. The GOP could not be any clearer that they are stridently opposed to women’s liberty and equality -- that they are opposed to the tools that ensure that women can pursue careers, plan for the future, and aim for a life beyond wifery and motherhood. How many of these retrograde bills do they have to pass, how many of these obscenely offensive intrusions on our liberty do they have to endorse, how many times do they have to promise to overturn our fundamental right to decide when we have children, before we realize that one entire half of our political party system hates modern women?
I’M NOT LETTING THIS ONE GO: Whatever you think of Rachel Maddow, she has been arguably the most unflagging voice in the media reporting on the Right’s dedication to elimination abortion rights. Last night, she interviewed a Virginia state delegate about the vaginal probe bill. Watch it here (starting at 3:30).
MORE ON A DEPRESSING, PATHETIC THEME: Today, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing examining Obama’s contraception rule. In apparent total blindness to optics, Chairman Darrel Issa called a slate of witnesses -- all male -- and refused to allow the Democrats’ witness, a woman, to testify. The witness is a Georgetown law student who would have testified about a friend who lost an ovary after being denied contraception prescribed as medication. But really, what relevant perspective on the issue of access to contraception could she possibly have? The Democrats, especially the female members, strenuously objected to the all-male witness list and to Issa’s “autocratic regime.” Ed Kilgore comments: “Regardless of how you feel about the underlying issue, you’d have to agree Issa handled the situation as though determined to make his opponents’ most important point: in a dispute between government regulators and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the millions of women affected by the ultimate outcome aren’t being heard. Literally. Thanks, Darrell. You saved us all a lot of time.” (You can hear that witness’s story here.) Speaking about this issue today on MSNBC, Santorum’s billionaire funder Foster Freis displayed the same insight and compassion that makes Santorum such a likeable candidate: “On this contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s so inexpensive. You know, back in my days, they used Baer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.” Now if you’ll excuse me, the smoke coming out of my ears is setting my apartment fire alarm off.
Correction: Only the first two panels of witnesses excluded any women. Eventually the committee did hear from two women, both of whom objected to Obama's contraception rule.
CONGRESS REACHES A DEAL ON TAX CUT: Congressional Democrats appear to have scored a major victory this week, as Republicans agreed to a deal to extend the payroll tax cut for a year -- though they refused to offset the costs with higher taxes on the wealthy. “The bipartisan agreement also revamps unemployment insurance, reducing the maximum duration of benefits in states with high unemployment to 73 weeks, from the current 99. Currently, fewer than half of states are eligible for 93 weeks or more of unemployment insurance, with just 18 states getting the full maximum of 99 weeks. The roughly $30 billion price will be picked up by the sale of radio spectrum licenses and the federal worker benefit changes.” The deal includes essentially all of the Democrat’s “must-pass” legislation for this year; getting it done now is a substantial victory, especially because it cuts the chances of GOP hostage-taking, a particularly potent weapon as we get closer to the election. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the Tea Party members of the House will actually support the bill. If not, it could add to what’s been a very rough week for Speaker Boehner.
GOP UPDATE: We’re in a bit of a lull right now; the next primaries aren’t until Feb. 28, in Michigan and Arizona. Rick Santorum continues to rise in the polls, capitalizing on his victories last week. Shockingly, nearly every poll has him leading in Michigan -- where Romney grew up and where his father served as a popular governor -- by fairly substantial margins (he’s up by 15 points according to one poll). Romney’s sinking numbers are pretty remarkable. His favorability ratings have absolutely tanked since voting began in January (he’s now at 34% favorable, 54% unfavorable), and he is hemorrhaging support from independents. (Meanwhile, Obama’s numbers are steadily ticking upward: One poll has him at a 54-45 favorability rating,and his job approval numbers have been steadily improving since last summer.) Romney isn’t taking this lying down, of course. He and his SuperPac are currently outspending Santorum in Michigan by a 29-1 margin. He knows that a loss there would be absolutely catastrophic for his campaign. Jonathan Chait points out that the Santorum campaign is laughably unprofessional and seems barely up to the task. So for Romney to be forced to chase this man around the country is, as Josh Marshall put it, “inherently demeaning and diminishing. It’s like struggling to land a one pound fish or searching for the way out of a paper bag. People see you doing that and you just look weak and feckless, even pitiful.”
Fun Video of the Week: Sen. Scott Brown faces a grilling on his support of Roy Blunt’s “conscience” exception to contraceptive coverage. This is great journalism.
Must Read of the Week: Is the contraception fight another Terry Shiavo moment for the GOP?
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