One Man's View About Republicans' War Against Women

I'm a man, and as one, I am appalled that the Republicans are fighting so hard to deny women essential health care benefits. Republicans starting with their presidential candidates and continuing down the line can shout as loud as they want about how they're defending "religious freedom." The question isn't religious freedom. The question is whether women should have access to essential health services, including contraception, as part of the Affordable Health Care legislation Congress passed and President Obama signed. The answer is a definite yes. That sure hasn't stopped Republicans from digging themselves into a huge political ditch with their latest moves designed to deny such health care coverage under the false guise of "religious freedom." Here's a telling passage from the Daily Kos post linked:

Even as they claim it's about something bigger than contraception, you can bet Republicans will keep the focus squarely on that—they want the public debate to be contraception (associated with sex and women's health, and therefore ... icky) against religious freedom (a noble abstract idea and essential constitutional principle). But they're going for something much bigger. They're simultaneously looking to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act, turn over governance to churches—in fact, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is sponsoring a bill similar to Blunt's because of something he heard in church—and give employers yet another way to shaft their workers.

There's one big thing missing in the Republicans' thinking. Do these Republicans really understand that women aren't alone when it comes to their concerns about the threat to their benefits these out-of-touch elephants are pushing? Do they not understand that women have families too, and these families also include men (like, for example, womens' spouses)? Or do they not understand that the American people they claim to represent really want women to have access to health services that include contraception? Check out this poll from that Republican-friendly "news" organization called Fox:

For example, the poll contains a question regarding employer coverage of birth control:

The new Obama health care law requires that employer health plans provide birth control coverage as part of preventive services for women. Catholic and other religious-affiliated hospitals and universities typically have not provided any birth control coverage for their employees, and oppose the new requirement because it violates their religious rights. Overall, do you approve or disapprove of requiring employer health plans to cover birth control for women? Approve 61% Disapprove 34 (Don’t know) 5

As far as I'm concerned, let these Republicans continue to dig themselves deeper into the political ditch. The deeper they dig, the better the chance they will wind up partying like it was 1964 (when GOP nominee Barry Goldwater was trounced by LBJ and dragged down a bunch of Republicans with him) or even 1936 (when FDR won every state but two against Alf Landon. The Republicans have cast their lot for those wanting to deny women essential health care services. Let these elephants rot and die en masse under the heavy weight of a landslide victory led by President Obama.