Like a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, The Family Research Council, the hell-born fruit of James Dobson's evil loins, crawls out of its dank grave to make news again. Except this time, it's not to slither up and down GW Bush's leg, or polish Dick Cheney's shoes.
This time, this pack of fundamental-cases are doing the happy zombie walk for Democrats.
The Family Research council isn't usually in the business of praising Democrats. But it's giving props to 19 House Dems for writing to Speaker Nancy Pelosi to say that healthcare reform must avoid ushering in government-funded abortion.
It will be fascinating to watch how the abortion-rights community responds as more and more abortion opponents raise the issue, now that President Obama's healthcare reform drive is running full-tilt.
Here's the letter:
June 25, 2009
Dear Honorable Pelosi:
As the debate on health care reform continues and legislation is produced, it is imperative that the issue of abortion not be overlooked. Plans to mandate coverage for abortions, either directly or indirectly is unacceptable.
We believe in a culture that supports and respects the right to life and is dedicated to the protection and preservation of families. Therefore, we cannot support any health care reform proposal unless it explicitly excludes abortion from the scope of any government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan. We believe that a government-defined or subsidized health insurance plan, should not be used to fund abortion.
Furthermore, we want to ensure that the Health Benefits Advisory Committee cannot recommend abortion services be included under covered benefits or as part of a benefits package. Without an explicit exclusion, abortion could be included in a government subsidized health care plan under general health care. The health care reform package produced by Congress will be landmark, and with legislation as important as this, abortion must be addressed clearly in the bill text.
Furthermore, funding restrictions save lives by reducing the number of abortions. The Guttmacher Policy Review, a leading pro-choice research organization noted "that about one third of women who would have had an abortion if support were available carried their pregnancies to term when the abortion fund was unavailable."
Thank you for taking the time to consider our request. By ensuring that abortions are not funded through any health care reform package, we will take this controversial issue off the table so that Congress can focus on crafting a broadly-supported health care reform bill.
Respectfully yours,
Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK); Bart Stupak (D-MI); Colin Peterson (D-MN); Tim Holden (D-PA); Travis Childers (D-MS); Lincoln Davis (D-TN); Heath Shuler (D-NC) Solomon Ortiz (D-TX); Mike McIntyre (D-NC); Jerry Costello (D-IL); Gene Taylor (D-MS); James Oberstar (D-MN); Bobby Bright (D-AL); Steve Driehaus (D-OH); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH); Charlie Melancon (D-LA); John Murtha (D-PA); Paul Kanjorski (D-PA); and Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA)
Please tell me it isn't so that the only reason Democrats got elected into so many offices was because dozens of neocons started calling themselves Democrats just to infiltrate the Progressive Movement and shut us down from the inside out!
The fact is ... abortion is settled Constitutional law. I would guess that there are as many people who want abortion wiped off the medical books as there were nutcase christians who wanted creationism taught as official science academia. The difference between then and now is that the nutcases are showing up with D's before their names.
Our Demcoratic leaders need to push back on this bullshit, and push back hard. It's clear to me what is occurring. The same thing that happened when neocons couldn't stop NPR from publishing stories against republicans, or make PBS stop doing Frontline programs against the religious nuthatchery: They lied on their resumes and got jobs there so they could start switching the power off from the inside. They're trying to do the same thing to the Progressive Movement. They're trying to get their evil work done by dressing like progressives and then sneaking into the master control room and hitting as many red buttons as they can hoping to short circuit the progress.
And after our Democratic Leadership is done making mince meat out of these phony pricks ... we need to start sending armies of teachers into Texas, Oklahoma, and even the removed-from-reality regions of my own State of Michigan ... teachers who earned their certificates by studying the sciences, not by attending fucking Heritage Christian University. And then they need to start TEACHING. We'll never reach the adult neocon Witch Hunters in those Stepford communities. But perhaps we can get to the kids. We can teach them about science ... about religious dogma and how it affects progress and twists realities ... about climate change and diversity. We need to start pulling these poor kids brains out of their parents' sick clutches like we would rescue a runaway from a Salt Lake City compound that wandered off looking for a second opinion.
And we need to start yesterday.
UCH! Dobson's company is WINKING at us! It's like being hit on by Walter Brennan at a Teabagger party!
Make it stop.
.