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Editor, News-Register:
Why does the Republican Party hate women? For decades, the Republicans have fought against women's rights to control their own bodies, lives, and reproductive freedoms.
They have finally gained the upper hand in threatening pregnant women with prosecution and prison time. The GOP in Republican-controlled states is forcing women to carry pregnancies and threatening doctors with prosecution if they provide abortions, making doctors scared to even provide miscarriage management or other life-saving care.
Consider the Ohio woman who miscarried in her bathroom. When she went to the ER, police were called, and she was arrested and criminally charged. Fear of being arrested can cause women to not seek appropriate miscarriage care.
The GOP also wants to restrict women's access to contraceptives and to control women's freedom of movement.
Right after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the House Democrats introduced a bill to ensure nationwide access to birth control. The bill passed the House even though 195 Republicans voted against it, but Republicans in the Senate prevented it from passing there.
Also, the Supreme Court has struck down a stalking conviction as unconstitutional, apparently deciding the constitution becomes the enemy of popular laws designed to protect women. A man in Colorado sent hundreds of emails threatening the life of a popular musician he had never met. A jury had convicted the man of stalking, but the Supreme Court reversed the conviction based on the First Amendment. The threatening emails were deemed "free speech," thus using the First Amendment to undermine protections for women.
So, I have to ask, when the GOP is anti-women, why do women continue to vote for Republicans?
Jean Woolums
St. Clairsville