As we continue our review of what we heard from the far right in 2012, check out more outrageous notions about abortion, birth control and sex. You can read more quotes from 2012 and previous years here.
“Republicans being against sex is not good. Sex is popular.”
— Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist, on his party’s war on birth control
“You can’t make anybody watch, okay? Because you just have to close your eyes. As long as it’s on the exterior and not the interior.”
— Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, dismissing concerns about proposed legislation in his state that would require a transvaginal ultrasound for a woman seeking an abortion. Texas has a similar law on its books.
“I don’t think anybody is against providing health care for women. What we’re opposed to are abortions. Planned Parenthood is the main organization that does abortions, so we kind of blend being anti-abortion with being anti-Planned Parenthood.”
— Texas state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, admitting that abortion politics are behind restrictions on funding for the Medicaid Women’s Health Program
What does it say about the college coed Susan Fluke [sic], who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex.
— Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, attacking Georgetown University law school student Sandra Fluke after she testified before members of Congress to speak in favor of contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans
“Back in my days, we used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”
— Mutual fund manager Foster Friess, a supporter of Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum, wading into the debate over birth control
“In the vast majority of these cases, these are matters of lifestyle convenience.”
— Virginia House Delegate Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah County, defending legislation that would require an ultrasound procedure prior to an abortion by arguing that most abortions are conducted merely to serve a woman’s lifestyle
“What you see is what you get, and he stands on the same foundation that I stand on. He acknowledges God in his life, and without God, where would we be? He’s not like some pastors who think they own their church. He acknowledges those around him. And his wife is a great asset. She’s submissive to him, as she should be.”
— Patty Whetsell, a Republican activist in South Carolina, talking about Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential bid
“[T]eaching children about contraception is comparable to telling kids not to do drugs, then showing them how to ‘mainline’ heroin.”
— Utah state Sen. Margaret Dayton, co-sponsor of Utah legislation that would have allowed school districts to drop sex education and required abstinence-only instruction in those schools that kept it
“I believe if we pass out condoms at schools we’re saying, ‘Yeah, we’re teaching you about abstinence, but we know you’re not going to pay attention to it, so here’s a condom to make sure that you don’t get pregnant.”
— Marty Rowley, a Republican running for the Texas State Board of Education in District 15, discussing his support for abstinence-only sex education in public schools and falsely implying that sex ed is about passing out contraception
I pity the spouse of that person. Obviously not very clever at certain things!
Let’s not forget that Rep. Mike Kelly, the US congressman from Pennsylvania’s third congressional district, on August 1, 2012, the day that women gained access to contraception without co-pays through their private insurance policies, said:
“I know in your minds you can think of a time when America was attacked. One was December 7th — that’s Pearl Harbor Day. The other is September 11th — that’s the day the terrorists attacked. I want you to remember August the 1st, 2012, the attack on our religious freedom. That is a date that will live in infamy, along with those other dates.”
That’s one of the worst of 2012, IMHO.