So much for the party makeover.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus performed a GOP quadfecta Wednesday when he attempted to take down Planned Parenthood, Democrats, the liberal media, and the rampant crime of infanticide all in one blog.
“Media Covers up Democrat-Backed Planned Parenthood’s Support for Infanticide by Reince Priebus” went the headline on conservative blog Red State Wednesday.
Priebus, it seems, is upset that media coverage has been more focused on reporting about the various anti-abortion legislation, including laws that blatantly violate Roe v. Wade (North Dakota!), that have been popping up in red states around the country, rather than covering the Planned Parenthood lobbyist who inartfully responded to Florida lawmakers that she didn’t know what would happen if a live baby were born during an abortion.
This, of course, is a terrifying—and unlikely—scenario that helps the right to fear-monger on the issue of abortion. Nine in 10 abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute. This is well before the fetus is considered viable, or able to live outside of the womb, which happens closer to 24 weeks (hence Roe v. Wade protects women’s right to abortion until viability).
Video of that exchange between the Planned Parenthood staffer and Florida legislators, who are considering new legislation restricting abortion based on race and gender, recently circulated on conservative blogs. Since Priebus’ column, the health organization, which provides abortions, issued a statement noting the “extremely unlikely event” outlined by the legislators and admitting that it would indeed provide care to both the woman and the resulting baby.
It’s the media “giving a pass” to Planned Parenthood that really upset the chairman, RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told msnbc.
Priebus is taking on a hot button social issue after the GOP chair just spent weeks on cable news talking about the party’s impending rebrand. A rebrand that admitted it’s time to “smartly change course, modernize the Party, and learn once again how to appeal to more people, including those who share some, but not all, of our conservative principles.”
GOP men sounding off on women, abortion, and rape arguably cost Republicans at least two House seats last year. Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin were even temporary pariahs in their own party after those comments. And who won the state of Florida, where the legislation cited by Preibus originated? Oh yeah, a Democrat.
Rose Gordon Sala