The Republican war against women

It used to be that sexual harassment was something (mostly) men did to (mostly) women in the workplace. It's not permitted, obviously, because it creates a hostile work environment for those harassed.

Various Republicans have upped the ante. Now it's not just women's jobs. It's their lives. Various Republican legislators around the country are proposing legislation designed to harass you no matter where you are.

In Georgia, for example, a state lawmaker there has proposed legislation to substitute the word "accuser" for the word "victim" for certain crimes -- most notably rape, stalking, and family violence. It's difficult to imagine any other motivation from the bill's author, state representative Bobby Franklin, other than to minimize crimes almost exclusively perpetrated against women.  Franklin didn't respond to CNN's attempts to speak with him.

Here in Texas, legislation to require women to view a sonogram prior to having an abortion is being debated today in a Senate committee. The legislation would require that women view a sonogram of their fetus before terminating a pregnancy. One version also apparently requires that the volume be turned up, so even women who choose to look away can hear the heartbeat, if there is one. Lisa Falkenberg with the Houston Chronicle, an actual woman, provides insightful analysis on the legislation.

Governor Rick Perry, aided by bill sponsor Dan Patrick, who are allegedly not women, are behind fast-tracking this legislation.

No matter your personal definition of "life," will this bill save lives? I doubt it, unless you have already concluded that life begins at conception, that pregnant women don't know what the hell they're doing, and that they are incapable of making the right choice (i.e., your choice) regarding their pregnancy until viewing a sonogram suddenly convinces them to carry to term.

No matter your personal definition of "life," will this bill cost lives? I doubt that too. I would guess that a woman will make the same choice she would have otherwise made. She'll just be required to go through this patronizing process prior to doing so.

If that prediction turns out to be true, then the only net new outcome the legislation would produce is to let women know that their government doesn't think they know what the hell they're doing. That they're not thinking clearly. That they're misguided. That they need the wisdom of Rick Perry and Dan Patrick -- not their conscience, their loved ones, their doctor, or their minister -- to help guide their difficult path.

Either despite having worked on the abortion issue extensively in the past, or because of it, I do respect people with pro-life views. I believe many people of pro-life views are completely well-intentioned, believe that life begins at conception, and follow up on that belief by their opposition to abortion. And sadly, I believe the views of these sincere people are cynically manipulated by some Republican politicians.

Because if life in the Republican-led Texas Legislature truly begins at conception, it also most assuredly ends at birth, or lawmakers wouldn't be proposing other legislation currently on the table, most notably the state budget.

Slashed beyond all functionality are doctor reimbursement rates which assure prenatal care for poor pregnant women. Gone altogether are pre-kindergarten programs which prepare our children for a solid educational foundation. On the chopping block is funding for necessary nursing home care for our senior citizens.

Yet this bill, which signals to women that they need a conservative government intruding into their most difficult private decision, is the one on the fast track. "Pro-life" indeed.

In the context of what else is happening right now in the Texas Legislature, it can only mean that they intend to make women the victims of governmental sexual harassment. Except  -- oops -- now you're accusers, not victims. I almost forgot about that other legislation.