by Jeremy Leaming
Some snarky pundits, typically those on the Right, might give short-shrift to the ‘war against women,’ but for those grappling with reality, it’s not a mere talking point.
Beyond the Right’s obsession with micromanaging women’s health care concerns, there is the disconcerting attempt, as this blog has already noted, to scuttle or seriously slow the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the reauthorization legislation in February, but some Senate Republicans, such as Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley have groused that the reauthorization is troubling because it seeks to provide help to even more women, the LGBT community and immigrants. The New York Times editorial board blasted Republican opposition to the measure as “driven largely by an antigay, anti-immigrant, agenda.”
Tony Perkins, head of the shrill, frequently over-the-top Religious Right outfit the Family Research Council, has blasted discussion of the reauthorization of the VAWA as “cheap” political maneuvering. Inste
ad the reauthorization measure is seriously flawed, and “does real violence to the budget and individual freedom.” He then cites veteran right-winger Phyllis Schafly who says the VAWA is really like a “slush fund for the feminist lobby.”
Despite the measure’s unfortunate opposition, by fringe characters like Perkins, and sadly even the likes of Grassley, Sen. Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (pictured) announced recently that the reauthorization measure now has 60 sponsors – Sen. Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican.
“I am grateful that Senator Heller has joined as a cosponsor of this important bill,” Leahy said in a press statement. “Every victim of violence deserves to access the resources available through the VAWA. Congress should act, without delay, to approve this commonsense legislation.”
inacceptance of homosexuality and depression and suicide. These young people who identify as gay or lesbian, we know from the social science that they have a higher propensity to depression or suicide because of that internal conflict."
