He-Man Woman Haters Club continues apace:
With emotions still raw from the fight over President Obama’s contraception mandate, Senate Democrats are beginning a push to renew the Violence Against Women Act, the once broadly bipartisan 1994 legislation that now faces fierce opposition from conservatives.
Democrats, confident they have the political upper hand with women,
Well hell, if they don’t, this country is more far gone than I thought.
insist that Republican opposition falls into a larger picture of insensitivity toward women that has progressed from abortion fights to contraception to preventive health care coverage — and now to domestic violence.
And here are the things that wingnuts don’t like about it:
The legislation would continue existing grant programs to local law enforcement and battered women shelters, but would expand efforts to reach Indian tribes and rural areas. It would increase the availability of free legal assistance to victims of domestic violence, extend the definition of violence against women to include stalking, and provide training for civil and criminal court personnel to deal with families with a history of violence. It would also allow more battered illegal immigrants to claim temporary visas, and would include same-sex couples in programs for domestic violence.
Republicans say the measure, under the cloak of battered women, unnecessarily expands immigration avenues by creating new definitions for immigrant victims to claim battery. More important, they say, it fails to put in safeguards to ensure that domestic violence grants are being well spent. It also dilutes the focus on domestic violence by expanding protections to new groups, like same-sex couples, they say.
OH GOD FORBID the definition of “domestic violence” be extended to include couples who are not wingnut-approved.
So conservative Republicans [on paper, in theory] oppose violence directed against women, as long as it doesn’t help minorities or immigrants, because hey, wingnuts, they’re not actually people, right?!
If Democrats somehow manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this one, we’re doomed.
[h/t watertiger]
