Did you catch that last night, ladies? In response to Bob Schieffer's question about abortion and the Supreme Court (Bob! I'm disappointed! Another nine minutes wasted not talking about how to solve the real problems facing the country...), John McCain referred to mothers' "health" in quote marks. He even did the winky finger quote-mark gesture to indicate how little meaning the phrase "mother's health" will have for him in guiding his policies as President. In McCain's mind, your "health" is just a cover phrase stretched to mean whatever bad women want it to mean.Yikes. Yikes yikes yikes. Now John McCain is starting to sound like Joel Dykstra.
You can't argue that "health" as it now stands is used to cover a multitude of sins when it comes to abortion. Anything qualifies if put under the heading "health."
ReplyDeleteThis is being blown up. It was a poor way to express himself, but McCain clearly had a problem with the way the spirit of the law was being circumvented, not a disrespect to women. Better to be fair and look at what McCain meant rather than his delivery. jh
ReplyDeleteAMEN ANON 1132. The airquotes were well placed. We have come to a point where "mother's health" means anything from actual life and death circumstances to "she was unhealthy the night she drank too much and ended up pregnant". I do not mean to say that there are not actual valid reasons out there, just not the ones that we have come to accept.
ReplyDeleteHe was mocking Planned Parenthood and others using the term "health" to justify abortions.
ReplyDeleteYou see how I used it there? Health reasons have little to do with needing an abortion. And if the "health" of the mother was at risk, I know very few women who would place THEIR health before their child. You know!
I think McCain meant that there's a lot of potential legal ambiguity in the term "health." I heard a discussion on SDPB today about that very same term in regards to our own cauldron of cooties, IM11. Prosecutors might use the little finger quote maneuver when speaking of "health" as they try to put honorable physicians in prison.
ReplyDeleteNow, then! As for knowing what's going through McCain's mind, how do you divine this stuff? Can you teach me how to read minds? I'd love to know what Obama is thinking when he flashes one of those disarming smiles and emits one of those little laughs after fending off a verbal assault. (On second thought, maybe I'd rather not know!)
O.K., how about we figure in his fallacious use of the term "pro-abortion"? Find me one person who is truly pro-abortion, and you can have the argument.
ReplyDeleteMcCain's words on the abortion question and his suggestion that a women's "health" is not a genuine concern call into question his commitment to equal rights for women.
I'm not "divining" anything, Stan. I'm going with the words McCain puts on the record. And his denigration of health concerns was a pretty clear shout-out in the extreme language of the fundagelical right. Again, yikes.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else thought the debates were pointless? Neither candidate is directly answering the questions. They're just throwing out canned answers that somewhat apply to the questions.
ReplyDeleteI think that responses should be rated by a panel of judges like a high school debate round. A winner should be chosen. There needs to be some form of punishment for not directly answering questions.
Who is actually pro abortion? Back to my health insurance experience with an abortion clinic (in Colorado to be fair), who incredibly overcharged our member by taking full payment at time of service rather than file a claim and accept our contract amount. They would not return this large overpayment to her despite multiple contacts from our company (me, contract department, and threats of legal). When I suggested the gal was upset by the procedure and young (22), their billing office laughed about it. Believe me, there are greedy abortion clinics who don't care about their patients and are definitely PRO ABORTION for the money. Stop being naive. John Hess
ReplyDeleteO.K., jh, who at that debate table was pro-abortion? Senator McCain didn't appear to be referring to a clinic in Colorado.
ReplyDeletePeople appreciate thoughtful responses and are tired of black and white attacks for political maneuvering. McCain sees problems with the law, which by my own limited experience I suspect is true. But really, even if you support a right to choose (with reluctance I do), how many doctors do you think proudly wait for the day they can give an abortion? It's more than a procedure without consequences. John Hess
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