You might have heard about Mitt Romney’s kerfuffle with a voter in Iowa over the banning of hormonal birth control (the Pill and its successors). Essentially, policies that declare “life begins at conception” would have the practical upshot of banning the Pill, and hormonal birth control in general. It should be noted that this kind of birth control is a choice made by individuals – and couples – by the millions every day. It is safe, legal, effective and has improved the lives of innumerable people for fifty years.
So, of course, Republicans oppose it.
Here in Loudoun, the LCRC and its candidates want their radical anti-choice (and anti-women) polices declared “off limits” for public debate, or even mention. Indeed, I have no doubt this very post will result in a series of comments accusing me of being sensationalist or stirring up controversy. It is in the nature of these things. But when you ask the right questions, or read the right letters, (and I do mean right letters) you discover that the LCRC’s candidate’s positions on the fifty years of gender equality progress are, in fact, directly in line with the most radically paleolithic candidate they support. Which is why candidates that purport to be “moderate” like Randy Minchew, are in fact no better than Dick Black. They want to take away our daughters’ rights and supplant them with their own paternalistic hooey. In fact, Randy (and candidates like him) are actively campaigning on it.
Leaving aside for the moment the fact that a blastocyst is not a baby, and calling it a baby is disingenuous at best, the stridency of the language and appeal in this letter is worthy of note and consideration by Loudoun’s voters. Mr. Minchew has positioned himself as a calm, moderate voice, but it is clear from this letter that he is, in truth, anything but. He is as fringey as his Senatorial ticketmate Dick Black when it comes to advocacy on this issue.
There is further evidence from Mr. Minchew’s letter that his position on women’s rights over their own bodies is directly in line with policies that ban hormonal birth control. The letter says so, directly.
The “Life At Conception” Act in question is the very thing that bans hormonal birth control. It is the very thing that has been a point of contention in Mr. Romney’s Presidential race. It is a piece of policy beyond the pale for mainstream Loudoun voters and values.
Mr. Minchew opposes Birth Control. As a dad of a daughter, that matters to me. It should matter to all of us. Vote for Councilman Dave Butler on November 8th.
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Liz, if you’re not a smoker and you don’t have a history of high blood pressure, the pill is much safer than pregnancy.
Women must realize the dangers & effects of the deadly Pill. Cancer,tumors,bloot clots, heart failure. .DEADLY
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You can’t oppose contraception and be pro-life. That’s assuming that “pro-life” means opposition to abortion, of course. I would submit that when someone who actively opposes contraception uses the term, they actually mean something else.
If you think the LTM is Democrat-leaning, you’ve been living in a different universe. And the Washington Post clearly hasn’t investigated Minchew’s extreme positions. Besides that, the endorsement writeup was just flat out wrong. Minchew’s told everyone that he has no intention of raising revenue in any way, and he has no experience. Butler does.
The Post and LTM aren’t “Democratic leaning” they’re “establishment leaning.” They endorse those who are least likely to make their jobs as newspapers more difficult.
And there is a fundamental difference between being “pro-life” and believing “life begins at conception and therefore hormonal birth control must be outlawed.” Conflating the two is disingenuous at best, malicious at worst.
We in Leesburg know the real Randy Minchew, he’s been our developers’ lawyer for a long, long time.
Minchew is obviously pro-life as many in our party are. Look at Delegate Ward Armstrong and Senators Colgan and Puckett. And as for the “life begins at conception stuff”, let’s face it: good people and good scientists can be on both sides of that issue.
If you are searching for the real Randy Minchew, check out his endorsements by Washington Post and the Loudoun Times-Mirror, two Democratic-leaning newspapers.
I posted the following comment on the Leesburg Today article Panelists: ‘The Future Of Loudoun Is Now’
I was reluctant to post a comment on this article for fear of it being “off topic”, however I was inspired to comment after reading an article posted this morning on Chuck Colson’s, Colson Center for Christian Worldview titled “Talk it up”. The article described the “cycle of silence” that occurs when people ” find themselves in a conversation where the opposing viewpoint is articulate, confident, outspoken, and perhaps loud.” In such a situation, “they’re likely to “lay low” and not say anything”.
That is the case today regarding women’s health. The moderator of the ‘Future of Loudoun is Now’ panel, Randy Minchew is a member of that “confident, outspoken and perhaps loud” clique who believes that a fertilized embryo is a person, and thus the most vulnerable member of society. He declared this in a recent campaign mailer, and went further, stating that he’d work to pass two pieces of legislation:
1. A “Life at Conception act, which would legally recognize that human life begins at the moment of conception;
2. A “human life amendment”
If you read the mailer which can be found at the link below:
http://www.loudounprogress.org/?p=2481#more-2481
you’ll see that the “human life amendment” is logically inconsistent with it’s own purpose which can be no other than to outlaw non-barrier forms of birth control such as the pill and the IUD for these forms prevent a fertilized embryo – a human – from fulfilling its destiny. Minchew, I suspect will leave that logical/legal unraveling to his peers in the GA for he doesn’t want to come off ‘too extreme’.
So why bring up this social issue here? Because the future of Loudoun includes *all* residents of Loudoun. Loudoun’s women should not be relegated to second class status because they may carry, perhaps temporarily, “human life” in their wombs. Women should not be vulnerable to the most intrusive State interventions because they are women.
But that’s what Minchew proposes. And here he his, moderating this forum of business leaders, and businesses, typically offer their employees science-based health insurance policies including women’s health coverage; non-barrier contraception, and abortion.
That’s a reality of life, and if residents of Loudoun, and the business community disapproves of this assault on our women and women employed by Loudoun business, and their families, there should be at least a peep of opposition.
Randy Minchew is not fit for public office and he’s lost my respect. He believes that pregnant women are wards of the state, and for that matter, any woman of child-rearing age is a suspected murderer because she may shed a fertilized egg (a “human” in his bizarre world).
We may want to ask him HOW on earth does he expect a “Life at Conception” act to be realized in law and enforced? Has he thought this through?