Rachel Maddow did an excellent segment in which she explains why a constitutional amendment defining conception as the beginning of life(which Mitt Romney supports) would ban many forms of birth control(which Mitt Romney says he is supposedly against.).
Video and Transcript are below the fold.
MADDOW: Mitt Romney has only taken four questions from his traveling
press pool this month. So maybe he is getting a little soft. I say that
because today in Sioux City, Iowa, a woman attending a Mitt Romney town
hall asked him a question about one of his own positions that seems to have
stumped Governor Romney.
It`s sort of weird that he did not have an answer prepared for this.
I`m personally sure that his campaign knows this question is out there,
even just because this show has been e-mailing his campaign trying to get
an answer on this issue for sometime now. And I know that other news
organizations have been asking him too. Other news organizations have
written that they have asked for comment on this issue, too. So they know
there are questions about this.
But Mitt Romney seems to have no idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are on Governor Huckabee`s show a few weeks
ago. And one of the things that you folks talked about, was that you
support a life begins at conception amendment. Now, that would essentially
mean that banning most forms of birth control. Ninety-eight percent of
American women, including me, use birth control. So, can you help me
understand why you oppose the use of birth control?
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don`t. I`m sorry. Life
begins at conception. Birth control prevents conception.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Mr. Romney went on to explain he is anti-abortion and he
wants Roe versus Wade overturned so that individual states can outlaw
abortion if they want to. But this voter in Iowa was not asking about Roe
versus Wade. She was asking about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS: Would you have supported the constitutional
amendment that would have established the definition life at conception?
ROMNEY: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Absolutely. The life begins at conception amendment, these
personhood amendments that Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee now say they
support, these amendments do not just ban abortion. I mean, they do ban
abortion. They ban abortion outright.
But in addition to that, if any fertilized egg is considered a person,
a miscarriage would be cause for criminal investigation as a potential
murder. And as that Sioux City voter asked about, a law like this could
also outlaw some forms of birth control.
People facing the prospect of one of these amendments understand that
it could potentially ban birth control. These images from the rally to
save the pill in Oxford, Mississippi, this week.
Mitt Romney apparently does not understand that this is what he says
he supports, absolutely -- a birth control ban. That is what these
personhood amendments are designed to do. There`s one on the ballot in
Mississippi. That`s what it is designed to do.
But whether or not Mitt Romney understands his own position, thanks to
this awesome hero after voter in Sioux City, Iowa, today, Mitt Romney at
least can no longer avoid the question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know if you want to have some staff look
into this, but hormonal forms of birth control work a little differently
and so they actually prevent implantation, not conception. So it would ban
hormonal forms of birth control, which is what most women use. So, I don`t
know if you want to look into that.
But as someone who uses birth control, this is a terrifying prospect
to me. So, I hope that you can, you know, you look into that, I guess.
So, thank you.
ROMNEY: Thank you. Appreciate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Appreciate that.
Mitt Romney may appreciate that but I don`t think he understands that.
The woman trying to explain to Mitt Romney that his position does mean that
birth control could be outlawed.
Seeing that happen today, in Iowa and seeing that Mitt Romney just
move on and not address what she said about birth control is one of those
moments -- I watched this thing three or four times today. And it just
keep -- what is this -- you know what it is getting at for me? Because one
of those moments in American politics and you look around and you realize,
you know what? Politics is mostly guys. And the media is really mostly
guys. And the way we talk about politics is mostly guys.
And sometimes guy in politics nevertheless talk about uteruses and
sometimes I`m not sure they really get it. So, we have done this one time
on the show before. We got tons of criticism for it. But I think it is
warranted.
Ladies, women who are watching this show, you can take a powder. You
guys can leave for a second. We`re going back to the man cave set. Do we
got the man cave?
All right. I`m just going talk to the fellas here for a second. This
is our virtual man cave set.
Actually, do we have the special -- didn`t would he w dough a special
Mitt Romney edition to make Mitt Romney feel more at home here? Do we have
that?
Oh, yes, Harvard, see? Harvard. Salt Lake City Olympics. Do we have
that one? Oh, yes, there we go. All right. Oh, oh, and a beer. And so
everybody is OK it is near beer. All right, fellas.
This is just for the guys now. It is very simple. This is how a baby
is made. Here is the basic idea. Egg gets produced in the ovary, which
then starts moving on up thanks to your old pal, the fallopian tubes, all
right?
If that egg happens to meet up with sperm, that`s where you guys come
in. If that egg happens to meet up with sperm and the egg gets fertilized,
it heads on into the uterus and attaches itself to the wall in there. If
all this goes well, it emerges about nine months later as a lovely baby --
or in my case, as an angry red screaming thing look that looked like a
(INAUDIBLE) about 14 months old and had black hair that stood out like
this.
Now, here`s the really difficult part -- second beer for this one.
Here`s the really difficult part. Sometimes, people like to engage in acts
that result in sperm getting near these parts and the eggs and everything.
Even though the people involved in those activities would not like to
result in pregnancy.
I know this is a very, very upsetting concept. But we are talking the
vast majority of straight ladies who at some point in their lives want to
do the kind of thing that means you may encounter sperm in these there
relevant parts but despite the fact that sperm is going to be around, they
do not want to get pregnant. It happens. People feel that way.
The most commonly used contraceptive methods in this country, so you
can have sex without getting pregnant, the most commonly used contraceptive
methods in this country, particularly for younger women were be hormone
based contraceptives.
OK, fellas, how am I doing? Put my hand up if you are lost at this
point. I know this can be upsetting. It can be too much.
Here, watch this.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
MADDOW: OK. Excellent, right? Come on. Yeah, all right. One more?
Can we have one more picture? Yes. Vince Wilfork, 330 pounds running the
ball down the field after getting an amazing interception against San
Diego. I know, right?
OK, hormonal birth control. The way most hormonal birth control works
is that it causes changes in a woman`s body so that even if there is sperm
in the right neighborhood, a pregnancy does not result. This kind of birth
control works in a few different ways actually. Up in this part, up here
up north, it works to stop ovulation to stop the production of eggs.
But that is not the only thing it does. It also changes this other
part here to stop sperm from getting to the very important part of the lady
parts where that egg just might be.
It also changes this part, so that if somehow an egg is produced and
if somehow a sperm still does get to that egg, that fertilized egg will not
implant in this part of the body and start to grow into an embryo.
This is how the birth control pill works. It`s how the IUD works.
It`s how the morning-after pill works. This is how that ring thing your
girlfriend told you about that you didn`t totally understand, this is how
that works.
This is how birth control used by the vast majority of American women
works. This is how hormonal birth control works.
This is how birth control works that Mitt Romney told Mike Huckabee he
would like to make illegal when he supports a life begins at conception
constitutional amendment. And that`s why people are making signs like
these in Mississippi.
If that sperm and that egg happened to get in that specific
neighborhood together and that egg becomes fertilized and that`s a person,
then anything that keeps that fertilized egg from being implanted could be
illegal. So, the pill, illegal. IUD, illegal. That ring thing, illegal.
Hormonal birth control, illegal. At least if Mitt Romney gets his way.
And state constitutions are amended to get the government involved in
litigating the secretary second by second legal status of what is happening
in somebody girlfriend`s uterus on Friday night.
So, OK, out of the man cave. But I`m keeping the beer.
Ladies, you can you come on back. I know is awkward to talk about
these things sometimes. Do you believe that this is getting talked about
on cable news at 9:00 on Thursday? I know, right.
But this is what man caves are for. We have to do this even though
it`s awkward. Criticize away.
Right now, Mitt Romney`s stated position is that he would absolutely
support a constitutional amendment to bake birth control illegal. When
confronted with that position today, he said he does not want to make birth
control illegal.
This woman in Sioux City Iowa called him on it. She called him on it
in a purely, factually correct way. And she did notice, by the way, that
he never answered the question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Were you satisfied to your question on birth control
rights?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I mean, the question wasn`t on abortion
rights, it was on birth control. I think is troubling that someone running
for president doesn`t understand how birth control works. I think that`s
part of the problem.
You know, they are campaigning on these extreme bills that would say
life begins at conception and not contemplating the consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Iowa town hall hero. Even if Mitt Romney does not understand
he wants to ban birth control, that woman in Iowa understands that that is
Mitt Romney`s position. Mitt Romney does not seem to be taking questions
from news organizations on this topic. Ever since he told Mike Huckabee he
absolutely would favor a constitutional amendment to ban birth control. He
doesn`t seem to be taking questions from news organizations on this.
But you know what? Mitt Romney does have to take questions from
voters. So ,tonight at our Web site you will be able to find and print
your own copy of THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW man cave not too upsetting guide to
the down-there parts.
You can you print it out. You can keep it in your pocket. In case
you run into Mitt Romney somewhere, maybe can you point out the relevant
parts to him and get him to understand.
