Democratic congressman kicked out of Democrats for Life for supporting birth control.

This is truly a little upsetting to me. This group is having a lot to say about our Democratic policies on women's rights. For them to kick out a congressman who supports birth control is not a good thing.

Here is the article from Huffington Post about Tim Ryan.

Rep. Ryan 'Booted' From "Democrats For Life Of America" For Supporting Contraception


U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has been, in his words, "booted" from the national advisory board of Democrats For Life of America. The group's mission is to elect and support pro-life Democrats; Ryan served on the board for four years but the relationship had recently soured when he co-sponsored the "Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act"



Kristen Day is herself becoming quite a power in the Democratic Party.



She called pro-choice folks in the party "absolutists."

I spoke out strongly when one of Howard Dean's first acts was to invite the group to present their policy called the 95-10 Initiative at the DNC. Read part of the program. It does not mention birth control.

Democrats for Life want to control abortions with mentioning birth control.



Not a word about birth control.

Tim Ryan was certainly expendable to the group. And as long as this group has such influence in our party women's rights will be expendable as well.

It puts these Democrats and other anti-choice Democrats in a clearer perspective.



Here is more on the booting of Tim Ryan.

From Daily Kos:

Booting Tim Ryan



A Democrats for Life group boots a Democratic congressman for supporting contraception.

It just does not get weirder than that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrats_for_Life_of_America

Democrats for Life of America (DFLA) is an advocacy group in the United States attempting to reshape the political left, primarily the Democratic Party, into taking a pro-life position. Usually this involves political opposition to abortion, but DFLA also opposes capital punishment and euthanasia. Democrats for Life of America's position on abortion is in opposition to the current platform of the Democratic Party, which supports legal access to abortion.

Seems to me people are not willing to stand up that much on things like this anymore.

It is like they have worn us down with all their activism.

That was an organization that was founded with a donation from Maryland gubernatorial candidate Robert Ehrlich (R). As far as I'm concerned that made him a member of the Democratic Party by Contribution. That invalidated his campaign. Maryland already had their democratic primary and choose Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (daughter of RFK.)But any way this very effectively allowed the Republicans to use the Democrat brand against the Democratic Candidate. They painted her as a Carpetbagger with Ehrlich as the Hometown boy. This was very effective. So be looking on for it on the National front. This is why. Robert Ehrlich's Lt. Governor candidate was Michael Steele (R) now the GOP chairman. Guess who they are trying to paint as the carpetbagger from Kenya? Yep, President Obama. So if your looking for insight into the GOP national Strategy. You need to go over the Maryland Governors race between Robert Ehrlich(R) and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) with a fine tooth comb. We need to be ready to defend against piracy of our trademark by Republicans. They have destroyed their own brand. Now they have hired Mike Steele to hijack and destroy our brand. That would be a much easier way to even the playing field than Republicans suddenly sprouting morals and ethics.

This is also why I say, Here in Maryland we are so Democratic even our Republicans run as Democrats. Because that's exactly what Ehrlich and Steele did. They Hijacked our brand and ran with it and on it. They became Maryland first Republican Governor and Lt. Governor in 30 years. It's VERY effective.

but anti-contraception is taking the "big tent" crap way too far.

I'm really beginning to regret the time and money I've spent on the Democrats for the last 37 years (except for the time & money on Wellstone's campaigns). :banghead:

The Southern Baptists have joined the Catholics and they now call birth control murder.

"The Southern Baptist Convention is reacting after News 8 showed a message from a Southern Baptist preacher teaching Fort Worth seminary students that the birth control pill equals murder.

In a controversial sermon to students at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Thomas White, acting as the student services vice president this month, preached that birth control is murder and called attempts at family planning selfish.

"Some of you are involved in that exact same sin," he said."

derision and ridicule. Talk2action and theocracywatch are two sources that I can think of off of the top of my head who have documented that birth control is the next target.

I suppose that it's a 'blessing in disguise' that I'm old enough that birth control isn't a problem for me, but I get concerned about younger women, and the sane younger men who want no part of this crap.

Just the way the birthrate has dropped in my family from my parent's generation to mine is proof of that (unless my 22 cousins all have fertility issues).

It's just the wing nut ones (so often men it seems) that yell about it and get all the attention. They also yell about the "cafeteria" Catholics who ignore what the Church says on this subject.

Your choice is celibacy or having 16 kids. That is the way these folks have always wanted it.

And that is going backwards.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Casey

Casey is also more supportive of birth control than his father was as governor. Indeed, in the Archdiocese survey, Casey expressed support for "requiring employers or health insurance plans to cover contraceptives in their prescription drug plans". He also stated his support for "a provision in the state’s budget to fund contraceptive services." <20> Casey's views on this extend to the federal funding of contraception, which he also supports. However, Casey also opposes laws that would "force pharmacists to fill a prescription contrary to their moral beliefs.

So maybe Ryan took a strong stand about a bill and irritated Kristen Day.

but I do like the concept that many of these people are also anti-death penalty and some oppose the war too (Which is true for Casey). Although we may not like his stance on abortion, at least he isn't a hypocrite

And bad theocracy at that. The Bible is clearly pro-choice.

When women are controlled by religious law, more is coming.

These Dems are worse than many Repulicans.

:mad:

That's the first time anyone has agreed with me today. Not my day.

:-)

This is really getting ugly.

From Catholics online:

Democrats for Life: Congressman Ryan Losing His Way?

Those arrogant theocrats!! He stands up for the right to birth control, votes for an abortion bill and they say he is losing his way.


Kristen Day, Executive Director of Democrats for Life of America, is the author of "Democrats for Life: Pro-Life Politics and the Silenced Majority."



This is vicious. This group means business. They have folks on the faith-based council also. Making inroads.

They will win the battle because they dare to get tough. Most of us around here just say don't make waves....get the health bill through without abortion rights if necessary.

This proves birth control is next.

What is their problem with contraception? Is it a religious thing? :wtf:

The Baptists are just really getting into the warnings on birth control. Some leaders are for it, some not. It's religion based politics, and they are an active group with many Democrats...some in name only.

I had no idea they were religious nuts.

Fucking hell.

:banghead:

That is the problem.

I guess they are getting some heat.

http://www.democratsforlife.org/

"CONTRACEPTION CLARIFICATION

"DFLA does not take a position on contraception. Despite rumors to the contrary, we do not oppose contraception. We believe that preventing pregnancy is an important part of reducing the abortion rate in America. There are several ways to address prevention, but there is no clear consensus because of ethical, religious or personal reasons.

We are focused on helping pregnant women carry their pregnancies to term and making sure that families have affordable health care, a living wage and the means to support their children during the pregnancy and beyond. The Pregnant Women Support Act, introduced by Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-TN) and Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) will support these goals."

I gathered in the OP that Ryan had been working on the Pregnant Women Support Act

That proposal fails to mention contraception.

By taking no stand in the legislation they are trying to pass, they are hurting women. Not opposing something but not supporting the right.....it IS taking a stand against women's rights.

that I will not bargain with

as a reason they don't include contraception in that bill.

And religion should not even be considered when giving women the rights they deserve.

They don't want 'em, either.

solecisms are intentional

...God, Monty Python always got it right.

That's it exactly.

:o

It's time we get as outspoken as those wackos. Why don't we ever say, loud and clear, that NOT using contraception when a pregnancy would be disastrous is immoral? Because it is. One can understand kids getting carried away in the moment--or even adults "taking a chance" once a while (against their better judgment), but labeling contraception as sinful is insane. We should even be making ad hominem (ad feminem?) arguments, maybe, saying "Well, maybe she doesn't need to use it (Kirsten Whoever) because who'd want to make babies with her anyway?" Dirty pool, perhaps but the rabid religious right uses such tactics all the time.

While we're at it, I consider the lifestyle the Duggars push to be immoral too. Children aren't "arrows in a quiver" to bloat up the father's ego and importance. They're human beings who're put in parents' care for a little while, and if you have so many, it's almost impossible to treat them as individuals. It's no accident that Europeans have become much less eager to wage war, since their average birthrate has dropped to one or two children per couple.

:hi:

a Democrat. You CANNOT oppose reproductive choice including birth control for all women and call yourself a Democrat. Such a stance, in support of religious fascism, is fundamentally incompatible with Democratic policies. Period.

sometimes the big tent is really no tent.

Because it can mean everything.

These people have so much tunnel vision they scare me to death.

http://www.frcblog.com/2009/07/are-some-members-of-congress-just-d-u-m-b/

"Are Some Members of Congress Just D-U-M-B?

..."But this quote from Rep. Ryan in a LifeNews.com article about the split with Democrats for Life really jumped out at me: “I can’t figure out for the life of me how to stop pregnancies without contraception.”

Really? He “can’t figure it out”? Not “for the life of” him?

Perhaps Rep. Ryan is under the impression that engaging in sexual relations is mandatory. It’s not. Perhaps he thinks people will die if they don’t have sex. They won’t—but thousands die each year (of sexually transmitted diseases) because they do.

If Rep. Ryan “can’t figure out . . . how to stop pregnancies without contraception,” let me spell it out for him.

A-B-S-T-A-I-N."

Narrowminded bigots.

sanctity of marriage is such a big deal with them. I don't know sane married couples who want the risk of pregnancy just because they want to make love - neither the woman nor the man. So no one is to ever be able to have sex again? And forget about it, anal sex is also a sin to these freaks, so I suppose no one will be having sexual relations, married or otherwise?

They're not narrowminded bigots, they're part of what I refer to as the religiously insane and how they trick sane religious people to go along with their insanity I don't understand.

you assholes. Either you let people get abortions or you greatly limit the number of abortions performed by letting people practice safe responsible sex with contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies from happening in the first place. Oh but they can't agree to that. That proposition is much too logical, practical, and responsible and isn't crazy and reactionary enough for their liking. They prefer that people just don't have sex. Yeah that's gonna happen. Dems for Life my ass.

Any group that pushes the Democratic Party farther right is very dangerous. Such groups are always well funded and organized by right wing interests. The goal is to eventually have a single Reich party two headed hydra.

I am concerned that DU and other forums are backing off the issue of women's rights....like it is assumed they will be compromised and okay with it.

We are not being activist in our own party for women. Not at all.

I have been hearing what the fundies have been saying to each other for years, & yes they really are turning against ALL bc, putting it all under their 'umbrella' word: abortion. PLEASE side with me on this, & fight their 19th Century view of women & children.
http://www.prolife.com/BIRTHCNT.html
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/contraception.html

http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/geocentric.shtml
http://www.religioustolerance.org/lfe_bibl.htm for Old Testament Christians

http://www.musesrealm.net/rome/sevenhills.html Long before these Prayer Warriors were even born, stealing from other religions/philosophies & then turning & "damning" them & outlawing them.....we need to stand firmly together AGAINST living like it's 1 A.D.

..."Of Early Rome:
Cermalus
Cispius
Fagutal
Oppius
Palatium
Sucusa
Velia

Of Later Rome:
Aventinus (Aventine)
Caelius (Caelian)
Capitolium (Capitoline)
Esquiliae (Esquiline)
Palatium (Palatine)
Quirinalis (Quirinal)
Viminalis (Viminal)

Though the Capitoline is the only distinct hill today, all seven hills were once discernable. The Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, and Caelian hills are really promontories of an ancient volcanic ridge. The Palatine, Aventine, and Capitoline hills were hills separate from the others (not part of the same ancient ridge). There were once marshy ravines between all of the hills, and between the hills and the Tiber River, but these were drained in antiquity and the ravines are now filled in with the remains of civilisation.

Archaeological evidence supports the notion that there were walled cities on each of the seven original hills. It also suggests that there was a wall that surrounded the Palatine, Esquiline, Velian, and Caelian hills but left out the Capitoline, Quirinal, and Viminal hills.

Historians and Archaeologists have found evidence of ancient enmity between peoples living on the Quirinal and Esquiline hills against those on the Velian and Palatine hills. This could help explain the reasons for choosing Remus and Romulus as leaders of the warring peoples living on the Aventine and Palatine hills respectively"....
Talk 2 Action is a tremendous help in tracking this various groups & noting the changes they're pushing for.

Hi MadFlo, this is Max from Progressive Puppy. I'd like to ask you about something but I don't have enough posts yet to send a PM through this forum. Would you please contract me via email through my blog? Tomorrow will be fine, or whenever it's convenient. Thanks! mx :]

You do a good job.

:hi:

:puke:

K&R

or abortion. They are about controlling and subjugating women to second class citizens. They are not Democrats. They slander the name with their hatefulness and ignorance.

Every DU member should call, fax and email the DNC, the DCCCC and the equivalent Senate campaign fundraising group.

Tell them you will not give another penny until the party publicly pledges to never give another penny to any candidate who is anti-choice or who does not pledge in writing to support the party platform. If you don't support the platform you're not a Democrat, period.

As for how to handle those pro-life Dems already elected, here's the answer:

The Democratic Party needs to tell these fake-Dems that they will not receive a single penny for reelection, nor any party support, unnless they vote with their party on bills where it counts. Starting with the healthcare bill. No blocking this important legislation because of your personal fixation with controlling women's bodies, period. Anyone who votes against Democratic values when their votes are needed for passage will have a well-funded primary challenger backed by the Democratic Party, period.

Republicans did this in California to maintain their blockade of any sane budget. No new taxes - or members would lose all party funding and support.

Dems need to stand up for what's right, weed out these bad apples, and demand that ayone with a D after their name support the party platform - especially those sections guaranteed individual rights, and most especially women's reproductive freedoms because lives are very clearly at stake here. I know, speaking as someone once diagnosed with a tubal pregnancy. If the tube bursts before an abortion is performed, you are likely to die. Right to "life" would kill the 1 in 50 to 100 women in America who are diagnosed with a tubal pregnancy - a condition, incidentally, in which their is no "baby" to save, since the fetus is only a few weeks old and dies, too.

So, you are pro-life, ok. I can respect your opinion. Although I am staunchly a pro-choice woman (NOT pro-abortion people), we need reason here!!! I am blown away, day after day, with people that take this stance.

I am, and forever will be, a loyal supporter of Planned Parenthood. I am tired of 'Biblical teachings' making women second class citizens.

My hubs does read the Bible. He loves to study religion. But he tells me all of the time that he doesn't want to be 'head of household'! He would rather leave that up to me! Contraception = Murder??? Where do these people come from, for chrissakes?

I am at a total loss here. I cannot even express my feelings with any clarity because I am brain-scrambled by all of this insanity.

If pro-lifers want to limit abortions, why in the hell don't they understand that preventing pregnancy is the best way to accomplish this goal? It is human nature to be sexual! And the same people that want to protect the fetuses do NOT want to help the women that make the decision to keep their child even though they cannot handle it. 'No handouts, here, Missy! You did this yourself! We're behind you 100% to make you bring this child to term and once it breathes its first breath, you're on your OWN!'

I am floundering here because I am at a loss with this whole debacle...!

:banghead:

list?

And 2, Rep. Ryan is kind of cute.

That's crazy talk.

out of the Democratic Party and how they would enforce a lifelong ban. lol


I had never heard of these nuts.