Since today is the anniversary of Roe V. Wade, Tea Party Congressman and U.S. Senate Tom Cotton (R. AR) candidate decided to use today's anniversary as a way to bring in some campaign cash:
http://thehill.com/...
"I am proud to have fought (and will continue fighting) for pro-life legislation in Congress. However, like most of the legislation my fellow conservative House members and I pass, the U.S. Senate blocks those bills from becoming law," the Senate candidate writes in an email to supporters before asking for donations. "This is just another reason we need to take back the Senate from Harry Reid and President Obama's other close allies."
Abortion could become an issue in the race between Cotton and Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
Pryor has been touting his religious beliefs in the socially conservative state, running ads featuring the Bible as a way to show he's different than President Obama and national Democrats.
The senator has a mixed record on abortion — he's said he personally opposes it except in cases of rape, incest or the life of the mother and has voted at times for more restrictive abortion laws like parental notification laws, but at times has voted with those who support keeping abortion legal. - The Hill, 1/22/14
And boy does Cotton sure have a record on him:
http://www.arktimes.com/...
And he's also, as an examination of his record shows, even against birth control pills in some cases. He and his cohorts think the split Arkansas populace — generally supportive of restrictions on abortion, generally opposed to making all abortion illegal — will miss the extremism embodied in Cotton's anti-abortion record (and just about every other facet of his politics). They may be right, particularly if they scream loudly enough and often enough. So a Roe v. Wade anniversary note on the fine print of Cotton's position:
Tom Cotton has sponsored legislation (of dubious constitutionality) that declares constitutional rights begin at the moment of "fertilization." Tom Cotton would grant full constitutional rights — and why not inheritance and earned income tax credit rights, too? — to a microscopic fertilized egg. This personhood legislation is aimed at overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states to outlaw abortion — period. In the meanest of states (and Republicans clearly believe Arkansas is one of them) a woman left brain dead moments after fertilization could be forced on life supports for nine months. Grievous health problems for the mother and demonstrated lack of viability of a fetus would be no match forTom Cotton's determination to put his religion ahead of women's best interests.
The wording of this legislation could be used to ban certain types of birth control pills, including Plan B, or the morning after pill, because some of those pills may prevent pregnancy by discouraging implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus. That, the extremists believe, amounts to murder of a human being. They hold the same view of certain types of IUDs.
The medical community has never thought pregnancy began at fertilization. But this isn't about science. It's about stripping women of medical autonomy and forcing women into unwanted pregnancies, even those that could be prevented within hours after unwanted sex. Tom Cotton's legislation also would inevitably force many women into dangerous pregnancies and to deliver babies that can't survive outside the womb. - Arkansas Times, 1/22/14
Yep, he 's quite a piece of work, right? And this should be no surprise:
http://thehill.com/...
Arkansas’ Republican Senate candidate could have 19 surrogates and counting if Michelle Duggar and her sizeable brood engage in the race, as Duggar suggested they could on Wednesday.
Speaking to The Hill at the anti-abortion March for Life rally, Duggar, the matriarch of the prodigious Arkansas family that’s the focal point of TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting,” said she expects her family to be active in this year’s election cycle.
“We have been and we will continue to be active in our communities, in our state and even on the national level because we believe it’s important to have people that represent our values,” she said.
Asked specifically whether the family would engage in any upcoming congressional races, Duggar suggested it was likely.
“We definitely are going to be active on the local levels and the state level, and then we will pray, as we see the candidates come forward, we’ll just pray that God will give us the wisdom on what to do in that regard, so I wouldn’t be surprised” she said.
Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor is, most observers agree, Democrats’ most vulnerable incumbent.
And while Duggar declined to overtly back the GOP’s only candidate in the race, Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), she didn’t shut the door on the possibility of an endorsement.
“We’re behind the pro-lifers and so you can be sure when there’s a pro-lifer, we’re gonna be behind him,” she said. - The Hill, 1/22/14
Yep, this is what we're up against this year. Pryor may not be my favorite Democrat but I sure as shit don't want Cotton in the Senate. If you would like to get involved with or donate to Pryor's campaign, you can do so here:
http://pryorforsenate.com/