I never thought I would write those words, but as SB 1376 makes its way through the Arizona Senate, I have to say the driveby media was right: The GOP is out of touch with women’s issues.
This article REPUBLICAN GENDER GAP 2012 in the New York Times after the sound Presidential thumping of Governor Romney apparently hasn’t changed the mindset of Republicans who seem hell bent on siding with extreme right factions to garner votes in the future.
Case in point: SB 1376.
In a news report in the Arizona Daily Star last week, an alert sent out by the Center for Arizona Policy’s president Cathi Herrod quotes her as saying “Unfortunately, the industry’s ‘success at all costs’ approach may disregard the sanctity of human life at the embryonic stage of development.”
When referring to “success at all costs” in an IVF cycle, what does that mean, Ms. Herrod?
What price did you pay for ANY of the embryos you seem so intent on knowing so much about?
Zilch. Zero. Nada.
Simply sit atop some throne and cast judgment, with complete disregard for the fact that the men and women consented to providing the God given products of their own reproductive biology and paid the price in most cases without any insurance coverage for the doctors to help them, paid the physical price of hormone treatments and egg aspirations, and paid the emotional price if the cycles failed.
No regard for the fact that these couples have made what society considers “responsible” decisions to put off child bearing until later in life when they are financially sound, only to find out that their reproductive biology didn’t quite figure into the master plan.
What about the women who have endometriosis, PCOS, early ovarian failure, various cancer treatments who find their biology not working properly. They actually enjoy protection under the Americans with Disabilities act since infertility is considered a disability.
Sadly, it appears they need protection from the Arizona Republican Senators embarking on a witch hunt about something they know nothing about.
Senator Barto seems to foreshadow some sinister outcome if her “study committee” is convened, assuming this bill is passed, as quoted again in the Arizona Daily Star article.
“People will be concerned about what they hear, and there may be proposed legislation,” she said. “Or we’ll learn more about how it actually works and there won’t be concern.” Notice how the “concern” is expressed first.
How about this as an alternative, Senator Barto:
Convene the study now and ask infertility doctors, infertility patients, your friends at Center for Arizona Policy and the other Senators who agree with this to explain “how it works” all together at a big round table.
Why in the world do you need legislation to learn about what is going on in the IVF world? I don’t recall there being bodyguards or lawyer’s at the entrance to any infertility clinic. I don’t believe there have been any armed uprisings by infertility patients. So why not scrap all the legislative mystery and put it out in the public forum for all the parties to discuss.
I’ll bring as much data and information about our IVF experience as you want. Hell, I’ll even give you a signed copy of my book so you can get more details than you probably ever want about what we are willing to go through to have a child with the help of assisted reproduction.
Perhaps the new GOP strategy in the Arizona Senate is to start catering to the extreme fringes of the right.
If you listen to conservative talk radio, the current administration is accused of catering to the far left pretty much 24 hours a day.
So it makes perfect sense that a party flailing from two Presidential losses in a row would start appealing to the outer fringes to keep up.
Of course the plan could backfire.
Registered Independent Republican voting Catholics like me could agree with the New York times that the GOP is so out of touch with women’s issues, that they have become a threat to not only the well being of my wife and her fertility desires, but the future of my daughter’s parenthood pursuits.
I hope that day never comes.