The Monday Line: I Stand With Michigan Rep Lisa Brown’s Personal Vagina War

Lisa Brown on the floor of the Michigan House (via YouTube)

Every man and father of daughters should. Last week Democrat Lisa Brown took to the floor of the Michigan House of Representatives to literally put herself (and her vagina) in the way of the oncoming stupid old white male freight train wreaking havoc against women’s reproductive rights in the USA. 45 states had previously introduced bills in the last six months. None though was as draconian and devious as this attempt. Brown and other women legislators wanted amendments placed to protect women’s rights. The majority GOP male body ignored them.

The bill, described as the most restrictive ever passed by any legislature, not only limited a woman’s access to this still legal service, it placed a burden on doctors to provide funereal planning for the remains. Her amendment to the bill was never opened for debate and was summarily dismissed by Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger.

Quipped Brown in her remarks on a retirement bill later that day, “finally, Mr. Speaker, I’m flattered that you’re all so interested in my vagina, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’” Said Brown in a response to being censured by the House and prohibited from speaking, “if I can’t say the word vagina, why are we legislating vaginas? What language should I use?”

As was reported in the Macomb County Advisor and Source:

As a courtesy, Democrats send a list of speakers on bills over to House leadership, currently controlled by Republicans, and they were told that Brown and Rep. Diane Byrum wouldn’t be allowed to speak.

“Both Rep. Byrum and I were gaveled down without cause yesterday while voicing our opposition to the Republican’s war on women here in Michigan,” Brown said on her web page Thursday. “Regardless of their reasoning, this is a violation of my First Amendment rights and directly impedes my ability to serve the people who elected me into office.”

“I was either banned for being Jewish and rightfully pointing out that House Bill 5711 was forcing contradictory religious beliefs upon me and any other religion. Or it is because I said the word ‘vagina’ which is an anatomically, medically correct term. If they are going to legislate my anatomy, I see no reason why I cannot mention it.”

As the author of two e-books entitled The Vagina Wars and The Vagina Wars on Steroids, it is about time the Mainstream Media began paying attention to this ongoing battle against women’s rights during this US election cycle instead of worrying about the use of a word.

As a reader joked, “I am so glad it is an e-book and available on Kindle because I could not see myself walking through a local bookstore with that word on the cover?” We all need to get over ourselves and that word or risk not seeing the forest from the trees.

The GOP are expertly playing the “I am rubber, you are glue” game and trying to convince voters the war is because of the democrats, but few beyond the GOP/Tea Party brainwashed country club women buy it.

Rep. Lisa Brown (left) and Rep. Barb Byrum

This is not your father’s Republican Party. They are determined to roll back the women’s rights clock to the 1950s. And retro-vanilla duplicitous nominee Mitt Romney a bishop in a religion that already supresses women (remember in 1960 when people thought JFK would take his marching orders from the Pope?), is not going to stop them. As the photos shows, relitigating the 1960s and 70s women’s rights gains in reproductive freedoms, equal pay (still not there despite laws saying it must be so), medical services and childcare is a non-starter for women that reminds them daily of how dangerous a GOP controlled House, Senate, Supreme Court and White House will be for women’s rights across the US. And Conservative governments globally see its success in the US will attempt to do the same in the UK, Europe and other nations around the globe.

Well, I stand with Lisa. What she and every woman chooses to do with their body is no man’s business or concern. So get out of her and every other woman’s vagina.

You GOP ALEC sponsored idiots need to go back into your Neanderthal caves and recognise that women make up 53% of the voting population. No amount of GOP advertising SPIN will convince anyone beyond your own Stepford Wives automatons that any of this is good for women.

They will be heard and they will remember in November! So get the hell out of her and everyone else’s vagina unless personally invited by the owner!

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Denis G Campbell is the author of 6 books including 'Billionaire Boys Election Freak Show,' 'The Vagina Wars' & 'Egypt Unsh@ckled.' He is the editor of UK Progressive Magazine and provides commentary to the BBC, itv Al Jazeera English, CNN, MSNBC and others. His weekly 'World View with Denis Campbell' segment can be heard every Thursday on the globally syndicated The David Pakman Show. You can follow him on Twitter via @UKProgressive and on Facebook.
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