# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1099
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21962 "2015-06-03T23:45:28Z")
The point he was making is that women don’t seek late term abortions because they were raped. You don’t get raped and then decide 6 months later that you don’t want it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21963 "2015-06-04T00:06:52Z")
My aunt, a rather large, doughy woman, was not aware of her last pregnancy until after 20 weeks. I guess she must have had irregular periods or something. And if a woman is being hassled by family who want her to carry through, it might be emotionally difficult for her to reach a decision. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21964 "2015-06-04T00:13:14Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You don’t get raped and then decide 6 months later that you don’t want it anymore. Maybe \*you \*don’t, no. But you’ve never been in that position, have you? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21965 "2015-06-04T00:17:24Z")
I get it, the idea is to have no restrictions at all. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21966 "2015-06-04T00:23:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The point he was making is that women don’t seek late term abortions because they were raped. You don’t get raped and then decide 6 months later that you don’t want it anymore. Says who? Is that just more conservative “common sense”? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21967 "2015-06-04T00:27:21Z")
Walker’s statement was pretty clear, if clumsy: Women who are raped worry about pregnancy in the early months, not when they are about to pop. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21968 "2015-06-04T00:51:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Walker’s statement was pretty clear, if clumsy: Women who are raped worry about pregnancy in the early months, not when they are about to pop. Where are you getting this inside knowledge of what rape victims are thinking? And just to be clear, 20 weeks is not “about to pop”; a normal pregnancy is 39 weeks, so it is just over half way. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21969 "2015-06-04T00:55:12Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The point he was making is that women don’t seek late term abortions because they were raped. You don’t get raped and then decide 6 months later that you don’t want it anymore. The point that you miss is that already I have seen where is that going, other efforts at more draconian laws made by the Republicans there and elsewhere are geared to force women to be denied an abortion until they demonstrate to authorities or in a court of law that a rape took place, or to remove the few remaining abortion clinics causing a delay because of limited access. And to put more delays on top of more delays. [http://www.nwlc.org/resource/2014-state-level-abortion-restrictions-extreme-overreach-women’s-reproductive-health-care](http://www.nwlc.org/resource/2014-state-level-abortion-restrictions-extreme-overreach-women%E2%80%99s-reproductive-health-care) How long those lawmakers expect those stalling tactics to last? They are trying to delay abortions long enough to then allow slimy guys like Scott Walker to then completely stop a raped woman from getting that abortion. What a racket. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21970 "2015-06-04T01:02:26Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Where are you getting this inside knowledge of what rape victims are thinking? And just to be clear, 20 weeks is not “about to pop”; a normal pregnancy is 39 weeks, so it is just over half way. To be fair to **adaher** , he’s not making claims about what women think, just about what Scott Walker meant. Where Scott Walker gets his inside knowledge of what rape victims are thinking, and where adaher gets his inside knowledge of Scott Walker, are yet to be answered. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21971 "2015-06-04T01:04:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Walker’s statement was pretty clear, if clumsy: Women who are raped worry about pregnancy in the early months, not when they are about to pop. Uh…that’s not always the case. There’s a story about George Tiller (who specialized in very late-term abortions for medical reasons) turning away a young woman who wanted an abortion because (she said) she’d been raped, but hadn’t had one before too late in pregnancy to get one legally. That said, a 20-week ban like Walker’s talking about isn’t all that different from present law on the matter, and a good deal more liberal than laws in Western Europe. So while I am so strongly personally opposed to the anti-birth-control, anti-women’s-health-care, “pro-life” lobby _that in his shoes I’d consider vetoing it out of spite,_ I can’t say I’m terribly torn up about it. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21972 "2015-06-04T01:28:31Z")
Oh, and I haven’t kept up with technological developments, but Wikipedia doesn’t think much of the rate of viability before 25 weeks, and considers 23 weeks to have about the barest chance of survival for a fetus. I was remembering 22 weeks for some reason. Yeah, that ban sounds like posturing to possibly be struck down by the courts. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21973 "2015-06-04T01:38:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I get it, the idea is to have no restrictions at all. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21974 "2015-06-04T03:01:44Z")
Another example of “I don’t _know_ that this guy is a Republican but…” > [@](#): > > **If My Daughter Learns Evolution, She’ll Get Rejected from Vet School, Says West Virginia Dad in Lawsuit** > **[Nonreligious Questions](https://www.patheos.com/nonreligious-questions/)** > > Whether you’ve been turned off by religion in the past or have a question about one of the world’s religions, check out what Patheos has to offer. > [@](#): > > Their actions during the 2014-2015 school year affects my child’s future directly through the state grading system to enter college and ability to earn economic security and a good job in her chosen veterinarian medical field of work, by being taught a faith base (evolutionary ideology) that just doesn’t exist and has no math to back it. > … > While denying the Plaintiff’s accurate scientific mathematical system of genetic variations that proves evolution is a religion. It will benefit our government economically and efficiently increase our judicial and law enforcement departments in many ways. > [@](#): > > If you’d like to learn more about Smith’s philosophy, just check out his 2013 book The True Origin of Man. Here’s just one meaningful excerpt: > > > [@](#): > > > > In much the same way, as the number of whitish blond-haired people began to increase the number of people with pure white hair dwindled. The more the number of redheads increases, the more the natural blond-haired adults will be absorbed by decreasing into extinction, because of the effects of Kendihuchrodnamixgenesis. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21975 "2015-06-04T04:13:19Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I get it, the idea is to have no restrictions at all. I realize you’re kind of stupid and therefore I have no expectation of a thoughtful answer, but what would be wrong with no restrictions at all (beyond normal medical regulations - I shouldn’t have to specify this but after all you are kind of stupid)? What is the worst you think will happen? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21976 "2015-06-04T04:16:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I get it, the idea is to have no restrictions at all. Well, the Supremes did put the kibosh on abortions in the last trimester. Didn’t they. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21977 "2015-06-04T06:00:37Z")
This is kind of muddled, so I cannot tell whether it is stupid or the other thing: [Alabama state senate votes (22-3) to eliminate all marriage licensing and replace them with notarized contracts](http://truthinmedia.com/alabama-senate-approves-bill-to-abolish-marriage-licensing/). As much as it looks like throwing up the hands and stomping off in a huff, it may be the trend. Alabama as trendsetters. Hurts my head. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21978 "2015-06-04T06:06:32Z")
One of the reviewers of _The True Origins of Man_ on Amazon says it best: > [@](#): > > …the rest is simply tobacco-chewing, banjo-picking, Alabama shotgun shack fantasy… A unique theory proposed by Smith involves Y~~H creating Adam and Eve in the image of G-d, i. e., albinos. Sibling rivalry being what it was, according to Smith, eventually lead to Cain banging a gorilla. I didn’t get far enough in my reading to find out if Smith thought it to be common-law marriage or devolving into a battle over child support. The result of this primeval “primating” was heretofore unknown pigmentation of the offspring’s skin. Smith’s deep understanding of genetics provides an irrefutable conclusion: the darker one’s skin is, the more residual gorilla DNA a person has. Feel free to pick the continent where these ancestors of Cain-Gorilla now reside. (Some reporter should pose the Cain-gorilla love story as a “Bible-based” science question to the GOP clown college candidates; with a followup questions about whether or not it constitutes bestiality for the gorilla (Get your stinking hands off of me, you damn, dirty _homo sapien_!)). Smith makes use of the GOP scientific method. A demonstrably faster and more economical approach to fact-finding than the traditional scientific method. This incredible speed is achieved by making a hypothesis and then immediately jumping to a ideologically approved conclusion, with absolutely no supporting evidence. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21979 "2015-06-04T09:25:51Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I realize you’re kind of stupid and therefore I have no expectation of a thoughtful answer, but what would be wrong with no restrictions at all (beyond normal medical regulations - I shouldn’t have to specify this but after all you are kind of stupid)? What is the worst you think will happen? Abortion of viable babies? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21980 "2015-06-04T10:27:47Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > The result of this primeval “primating” was heretofore unknown pigmentation of the offspring’s skin. Smith’s deep understanding of genetics provides an irrefutable conclusion: the darker one’s skin is, the more residual gorilla DNA a person has. "Have you ever had something happen that was so racist, you didn’t even get mad, you were just like “God_damn_, that was… That was racist !” ? I mean, so blatant you’re just like “Wow.” – [Dave Chappelle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8YAK8oMEKI) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/21981 "2015-06-04T11:11:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Abortion of viable babies? That’s it? I was hoping for at least a “social upheaval” or “it becoming okay to hunt toddlers for sport.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1098) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=1100)