Cate

I started an entry on this topic a few days ago, but I can't make myself be articulate enough.
Instead, I'm just posting the links.

Let's just say I am very happy that I was born on the other side of the ocean, and that I would be very scared as a woman, if I lived in the US right now.

She maybe a bit more forceful - and deliberately provocing - than most people like, and maybe you don't agree with all of her opinions, but go and read naamah_darling's post about abortion, contraception and a new rule about people cannot be fired for refusing to do abortions, be involved with them or hand out contraceptives - and how that is really fucking scary:

Excerpt from an entry at the beginning of the year:

Ambulance drivers can now refuse to transfer women for lifesaving abortions because these people who deal with decapitations and eviscerations and impalements and amputations think it's icky that a woman might want to save her own life by ditching a baby that's going to fucking kill her. And if she drops dead, can they be held responsible? Not in Mississippi!

Think it won't happen? IT IS.

What's that you say? It's just batshit crazy Bush?
(Thanks for the links, Toby).
(There's more, especially in the 2nd article).

But McCain's voting record is solidly antichoice. He said directly in South Carolina that Roe "should be overturned" and strongly reiterates that position on his campaign Web site. He told the American Conservative Union that one of the three most important goals that he wants to achieve as president is to promote "a nation of traditional values that protects the rights of the unborn."

In accordance with these views, McCain promises to "nominate strict constructionist judges," which is code for "will overturn Roe if given half a chance."

[...]
Q: "What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush's policy, which is just abstinence?"
McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I support the president's policy."

Q: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"
McCain: (Long pause) "You've stumped me."

But on NBC's "Meet the Press" in May 2007, responding to a question about his statements in 1999, McCain said: "Well, it was in the context of conversation about having to change the culture of America as regards to this issue. I have stated time after time after time that Roe v. Wade was a bad decision."
[...]
The record also shows that McCain has rarely strayed outside Republican Party line on the issue of choice. He has consistently voted against measures to provide access to contraception and sex-education, and voted to approve anti-choice judges.
[...]
Then there's what we know about McCain's personal interactions with women. In his book The Real McCain, Cliff Schecter describes one stop during his 1992 Senate reelection bid. He writes, "At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there.' McCain's face reddened, and he responded, 'At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.' " (Schecter confirmed this remark with three reporters who were present when it was made.)

John McCain is one of only a few Senators to earn a Zero percent lifetime rating from Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund, and he only scored that high because the organization doesn’t have a lower rating…. Let’s look at his record:

He voted against requiring health care plans to cover birth control (3/22/03).

He voted against comprehensive, medically accurate sex education (7/25/06).

He voted against international family planning funding (3/14/96).

He voted against funding to prevent teen and unintended pregnancies (3/17/05).

He voted against public education for emergency contraception (3/17/05).

And he voted against restoring Medicaid funding that could be used for family planning for low-income women (3/17/05).