One important life rule is when you’re asked a question for which you have no answer or no expertise, just keep your mouth shut.

A lot of the social problems we face in this nation are caused by people who have no clue about what they’re talking about, but acting as if they do, and speaking on behalf of more people than just themselves.

Republican Senator Todd Akin from Missouri provides a perfect example. Here is a man who has a case of need-to-keep-his-mouth-shut syndrome.  

On the topic of abortion, which he is against, Akin was asked about abortion in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape.  

Akin’s “highly educated” response was, “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”

Yeah, that’s just great.  He spoke about a woman’s health issue, which men just really shouldn’t, and he spoke from the “expertise” of unnamed doctors.

It’s a scary precedent that keeps popping up within the Republican Party.

Despite the general Republican stance on keeping government out of people’s lives, they keep saying and doing things in an attempt to control women’s bodies.

Stop.  

Abortion is an issue that should be regulated through the medical community, not through government.  The religious right stays intimately involved in this issue as they try to convert this country into a Christian nation.

I agree with your right to disagree with abortion; I do not agree with attacking people that seek abortions, vandalizing and terrorizing abortion clinics, and men speaking on this very clearly women’s issue whatsoever.

Anyone who is convicted of burning down an abortion clinic should not be charged with arson. He should be charged with terrorism and sentenced accordingly.  Only then can we begin to quell the violence committed in the name of religion.

Earlier this year in Virginia, the Republican controlled Senate (also male controlled), voted for a mandatory medical procedure that would require women seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive vaginal ultrasound.  

After the issue became a major controversy, the Republicans dropped the rule and said they didn’t know how invasive the procedure was.  What that really says is that they wanted to add an additional layer of difficulty in getting abortions, and they didn’t bother to research a law they were voting for.

It’s really sad.  And it says very loudly that government shouldn’t be involved whatsoever in medical issues that involve another human being.  But they are, and it says a lot about how crazy this nation has gotten.  

We need to stop acting as if abortion is still a crime.  Whether you agree or disagree with abortion, it isn’t against the law right now, so we should stop treating it as such.