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Women are physically unfit to serve in combat, Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) claimed during a Tuesday appearance on the Laura Ingraham radio show

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Do you really think these guys are here to celebrate women’s rights? Let me start by saying I’m not a prude.

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Now that the Republican Party has officially endorsed a stringent abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, it’s worth considering what widespread state-level abortion bans would mean for women across the country.

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Although Republican lawmakers are attempting to distance themselves from Todd Akin’s (R-MO) false assertion that “legitimate rape” doesn’t lead to pregnancy, the uncomfortable truth is that Akin’s extreme views are very much in line with the mainstream Republican party’s.

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Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) Over the past 48 hours, a wide array of Republican politicians and activists have condemned Missouri Republican Senate nominee Rep. Todd Akin’s Sunday comments that “legitimate rape” rarely produces pregnancy and/or suggested he withdraw from the race .

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May 18, 2012 read more

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Last month, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney both enthusiastically endorsed Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) and Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) Medicare premium support plan — a wonky middle-ground between Ryan’s goal of complete Medicare privatization and the Democrats’ reliance on the growing market power of traditional Medicare to drive innovation in the health care system. Under the proposal, seniors would receive a voucher to purchase insurance from an exchange of private plans or Medicare. During a town hall event in Iowa yesterday, surging GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum threw his support behind Wyden/Ryan plan, but bemoaned its key compromise — the provision to preserve traditional Medicare: SANTORUM: One of the things I liked about the Ryan/Wyden plan and why I’ve endorsed it — even though I have a problem with the public option part that Ron Wyden has insisted on , it is a plan that says innovation with insurance companies and consumers drive down costs, instead of having this government-run Medicare system. You have Medicare driving the entire health care system in this country and it’s crushing it. Watch it: Santorum is a strong supporter of Ryan’s original Medicare privatization scheme to completely eliminate traditional Medicare as an option for seniors and has promised to accelerate its implementation. Medicare, however, has a better track record of controlling health care costs than private insurers and has introduced market innovations and payment reforms that private plans later adopted. Medicare’s smaller administrative spending and its ability to use its sheer size and clout to bargain for cheaper services explain this advantage. In fact, “if Medicare costs had risen as fast as private insurance premiums, it would cost around 40 percent more than it does. If private insurers had done as well as Medicare at controlling costs, insurance would be a lot cheaper.” Scott Keyes contributed to this report from Iowa.

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By Rebecca Kemble, December 14, 2011 The bill increases already lengthy pre-abortion counseling requirements and increases legal liability for physicians who provide abortions. read more

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Our guest blogger is Jennifer Addison, national security team intern at the Center for American Progress. Afghan woman imprisoned for 12 years for reprorting she had been raped (photo credit: CNN) Yesterday, the Afghan government announced the release of a woman serving a 12-year jail sentence for adultery after reporting that her cousin had raped her. Freedom comes with a price — the pardon came only after the woman agreed to marry her attacker. What initially seemed like a victory for women’s progress in Afghanistan actually became a reminder of the difficulties of making change in a society deeply rooted in tradition and custom. The European Union’s ambassador and special representative to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, gave a statement responding to this event saying: USACKAS: Her case has served to highlight the plight of Afghan women, who 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime often continue to suffer in unimaginable conditions , deprived of even the most basic human rights. As Afghanistan continues to inch forward out of the Taliban era and toward a new state, this event should remind us that although women have made considerable progress they still have the much to gain and lose in the changes coming to Afghanistan. The continuing difficulties for women in Afghanistan are parallel to the obstacles that confront women worldwide — lack of equal economic or educational opportunity for example. Other problems are unique in their severity, such as gender violence and gender inequality, as a result of the conservative social structure in Afghanistan. A study from the Thomas-Reuters foundation put Afghanistan at the top of the list for the worst place for women. As the country continues to evolve, gender activists and women’s groups in Afghanistan have expressed concern that women will be left behind as the country moves forward. As Samira Hamidi from the Afghan Women’s Network said: “We have not been approached by the government — they never do. The belief is that women are not important,” she said, describing a mind-set that she said “has not been changed in the past eight years.” Human rights groups, women’s rights groups, and other organizations continue to make significant efforts to raise the status of women in Afghanistan but the question of how to bring about change in a society severely entrenched with conservative values and custom remains. Additionally, the advancements that have been made risk being reverted so the challenge is to maintain what developments have been made while pushing to achieve new ones. Update Ahmad Shuja has more at U.N. Dispatch

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