7. He doesn’t support “women’s rights” or “women’s health.”
Totally extreme, dude! Rand Paul has some far-out beliefs on women’s health.
Posted by Democratic Party on Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Once again, in the Swalwell article, the author states that Paul doesn’t support women’s rights, which is too ludicrous of a statement to even be made up. He states that this is because Rand Paul is pro-life, in favor of the Hobby Lobby decision, opposes the Violence Against Women Act and is against “equal pay” legislation.
The Hobby Lobby decision merely allowed closely-owned companies to refuse to pay for certain contraceptives which violate their religious beliefs. In that particular case, there were over a dozen different kinds of birth control which the company was willing to pay for; there were only a few so-called “abortifacients,” which were, in their minds, akin to abortion, which they did want to cover. These women could still have such products if they wish, they just have to pay for them on their own.
When it comes to the Violence Against Women Act, there is little evidence to suggest that it has done anything to combat domestic violence. Paul stated that his own reason for voting against the VAWA was that it “does not directly benefit victims of domestic violence, but goes toward domestic violence research, as well as lobbying for specific state and local law enforcement policies, such as mandatory arrest laws when responding to domestic violence incidents.” He goes on to say that “a variety of studies have shown that the enactment of mandatory arrest laws can actually aggravate further domestic violence,” as partners do not wish to see their significant others arrested. More broadly, Paul explains that “states are responsible for enacting and enforcing criminal law,” and that the VAWA “muddles the lines between federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement.”
Concerning “equal pay for equal work,” one economic study after another has shown that the tale of women earning “$0.78 for every dollar a man earns” is complete myth. This apparent discrepancy is due mostly to the personal choices that each gender makes in regard to what kinds of careers they choose. When adjusted for all important outlying factors, any difference in pay disappears.
Lastly, there is the issue of abortion. While it is true that Paul is “100% pro-life,” and that some women may take issue with that, even the most pro-choice woman would admit that it is incredibly dishonest to equate that position to being “against women’s health.” In the Democrats’ featured video on Paul’s positions, included is only one clip of Paul saying he is pro-life, and a second clip of a commentator stating that one of Paul’s bills would ban certain forms of contraception, which appears to be fairly unsubstantiated. While there is room for disagreement on abortion and when life begins, Paul’s position certainly seems to be more in line with the American public than that of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who recently responded to Paul that she believes that government should never be involved in abortion, making one wonder if she supports allowing partial-birth and third-trimester abortions.
