RSS Feed MenuThanks to Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, the Republican Party again looks pretty out of touch. Marshall turned a perfectly legitimate opportunity to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood into an excuse for the disability community to vote for anyone but Republicans.
Marshall made a mockery of special needs families, religion and the GOP at a press conference on February 18th with his statement that:
The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children…
In an apology that seems to have come from a completely different person, Marshall stated:
I have devoted a generation of work to defending disabled and unwanted children, and have always maintained that they are special blessings to their parents. Nevertheless, I regret any misimpression my poorly chosen words may have created as to my deep commitment to fighting for these vulnerable children and their families.
Too late. Republicans look like they are completely out of touch and have no sincere interest in supporting special needs families. And they have probably lost an important debate.
There are plenty of reasons to stop funding Planned Parenthood without making deeply offensive, no-basis arguments designed to scare people. For starters, in 2008 Planned Parenthood the largest recipient of Title X funds, reported that it receives 34% of its revenue through government grants and contracts. While it is true that Title X funds cannot be used to directly fund abortions, taxpayer dollars are being used to cover allowed expenses such as overhead and operational costs. This frees up other funds to promote and provide abortions.
Also controversial is the 5:1 ratio of abortions performed on black to white women. It has been said that abortion has killed more black Americans than crime or AIDS. In fact, Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, was a well-known supporter of eugenics.
In 2008, Planned Parenthood of California overcharged the government over 5.2 million dollars. Recently in Alabama, a Planned Parenthood clinic was put under probation when an employee was caught advising an underage abortion-seeking teen how to evade the parental notification law. There are more of these unethical practices being researched all over the country.
Hopefully Marshall’s debating skills are not typical within the GOP. Republicans in the disability community won’t stand for this type of ignorance. Don’t let them down. Primary this guy in 2010.
balconesfault // Feb 23, 2010 at 11:26 am
Nevertheless, I regret any misimpression my poorly chosen words may have created as to my deep commitment to fighting for these vulnerable children and their families.
“Misimpression”?
Also controversial is the 5:1 ratio of abortions performed on black to white women.
Ummm … from a Jan. 31, 2003 article in National Review Online:
“The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that … 56 percent of all women who obtained legal abortions were white”
I’m guessing that what you meant to say is that black women are 5 times more likely than white women to get an abortion. Precision in language reflects precision in thinking.
Although even that is wrong. Official statistics put the number closer to 2.8 times more likely.
Which most people would interpret as meaning “black women benefit from access to legalized abortion 2.8 times more than white women”. But go with your eugenics stuff. I’m sure it will convince a lot of people who don’t already think exactly like you do.
rbottoms // Feb 23, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Republicans make such a concerted effort to sound like jerks
dragonlady // Feb 23, 2010 at 2:55 pm
“Hopefully Marshall’s debating skills are not typical within the GOP.”
They’re not. If several GOPers said similar things, I’d be worried. But don’t highlight the outlier and proclaim it’s typical of the Republican Party. This guy is not even a national office holder–no one’s ever heard of him. Otherwise, conservatives can point to Rep Alan Grayson as typical of the Dem party who says stupid things like Republicans want you not to get sick or if you get sick, die quickly.
amin732 // Feb 23, 2010 at 3:18 pm
1. You can’t put quotes around something Bob Marshall didn’t say.
2. I’m tired of people jumping to the conclusion that he’s so heartless without looking at what he’s done for disabled communities in VA, and his own town. And all the battles he’s fought for the rights of disabled children to be born, something which Planned Parenthood and the like don’t want since it would be “unfair” for the child to be born. Or as Margaret Sanger put it, we need to create a “race of thoroughbreds.” (See that’s how you use quotes…when someone says something you put it in quotes, not when it’s inferred)
3. Why isn’t the story about whether or not the scientific evidence is there to prove what he said regardless of his motivation.
4. To the person using terrible statistics above, of course 58% of the abortions are had by white women. There’s more white women in America!!! America is 80% white, and 13% black, so white people should have around 8 times as many abortions as black people if all things were equal. However the real numbers are about 56% to 30% for whites to blacks, or a 4:1 ratio…soo It’s not as far off to say black women have nearly 5 times as many abortions as white women, which also goes right in line with Margaret Sanger’s original thought process.
amin732 // Feb 23, 2010 at 3:19 pm
sorry my math skipped a step. a 2:1 ratio in abortion percentages for whites:blacks equates to a normalized 4:1 ratio blacks to whites.
Bebe99 // Feb 23, 2010 at 5:22 pm
More children are born with handicaps (especially autism) than ever before. As one who finds the autism rate alarming, I’m disturbed to hear this sad and scary statistic being used as anti-abortion propaganda. Bob Marshall sounds like the kind of guy who blamed 9/11 on gays.
balconesfault // Feb 23, 2010 at 8:50 pm
all the battles he’s fought for the rights of disabled children to be born, something which Planned Parenthood and the like don’t want since it would be “unfair” for the child to be born.
I’m sure that most supporters of Planned Parenthood would be more than happy to support some kind of medical procedure where the government could remove a fertilized embryo at any stage of development from the mother without damage to her, and raise it outside her body. When we can do that, we can talk about what is “fair” to the fetus/child.
But it’s going to cost an awful lot of money to conduct once we get there. I hope small government advocates are ready for that price tag.
cheves222 // Feb 23, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Come ON. One idiot *delegate* from Virginia makes a stupid remark, and now the WHOLE friggin’ GOP “looks out of touch.” Honestly. This is not a US Senator or governor. This is not the Chairman of the GOP. And yet, there supposed to be a lesson in here for us?
I expect more from FrumForum.
ethanellis // Feb 24, 2010 at 1:40 am
As someone born with a disability, I oppose abortion for many reasons, not the least of which is that it might have cost me my life if we knew as much about pre-natal testing when I was born as we do now. Still, I believe the decision is too weighty to be removed from those confronting it by law, whether made by church or state. We are tested by the moral decisions we have to make and shouldn’t be given an excuse to evade moral responsibility that easily.
Forty years ago, I fathered a life that was ended by abortion before I knew it existed. I mourn that loss to this day but, knowing its mother’s circumstances, I cannot condemn her for our loss and I defy anyone who hasn’t lived her life to do so.
At the same time,I pity the moral weakness of those who would outlaw abortion and, at the same time, oppose providing that new life and those responsible for its nurturing with the supports needed to make it livable. They devalue life as much as any who would take it with a knife a bear the same responsibility for its loss.
JonF // Feb 24, 2010 at 6:54 pm
This is terrible politics and even worse theology.
By the way, I wonder what the Palins did to tick the Lord off at them.
LFC // Feb 24, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I think it’s pretty easy to find a state or local politician that’s an idiot who says really, really stupid s**t. This is a non-story, at least at the national level.
If he’s running for U.S. Congress, however, then it becomes a story. People at that level who say stupid s**t need to have their asses handed to them. Michelle Bachmann is a perfect example. She’s voting on all kinds of things that impact every American’s life. She should be called out by the media every time she says something monumentally moronic, which for a while there was multiple times a week.
Carney // Feb 26, 2010 at 11:10 am
But (setting aside religion) what if it’s true that post-abortion conceptions are more likely to produce disabled children?
Over and over, people try to shout down an assertion by screaming about how offended they are. That has no effect on reality. Reality does not care about your feelings.
What MATTERS is: is it true?
If it is, isn’t that an important thing to take into account when evaluating abortion, both as a personal and public policy choice?
Contrary to the crazies, it’s no insult to the disabled to say that disabilities are a bad thing, and we should try to prevent them as much as possible.
GOP Finally Applies Country Club Rules // May 14, 2010 at 12:17 am
[...] while fighting the government creation of jobs for no good reason. Hell, we kind of even pissed off the handicapped. What’s that leave? White people and rich people? And now the poor and uneducated White people [...]