The Republican love of children and moms

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure most Repubs love their own children and their mothers. But when it comes to policy for other people’s, they’re not trustworthy.

They’re quite happy to claim Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law is all about protecting kids from pedophiles. They’re lying. Just as they lie about how Texas’ policy threatening parents who support trans kids with child abuse. But when it’s the right of parents not to vaccine their kids against anything (polio, whooping cough, measles) suddenly it’s parent’s rights that rule.

Over in Mississippi, they shot down an extension of Medicaid post-partum benefits for new mothers. That’s worse for the health of the moms and losing moms is bad for babies. The bill doesn’t put more people on Medicaid, just let’s them stay on longer. Nevertheless, House Speaker Philip Gunn says he prefers getting people off Medicaid — possibly because the state’s high maternal death rate is primarily black women.

Idaho has worked a riff on Texas’ abortion-lawsuit bill, allowing relatives of the fetus to sue to stop mom going through with it. Rapists can’t sue but their relatives can.

Also in Idaho, child protective services removed a baby from parental custody after discovering the infant suffered severe malnutrition. The parents are friends of right-wing thug/politician Ammon Bundy so he’s threatening violence against the hospital caring for the baby.

Former Washington State Rep. Matt Shea is a repulsive right-winger (the kind who loves the John Birch Society) so his trip to bring Ukrainian refugee kids from Poland to the U.S. has raised eyebrows. The situation is complicated but it appears his purposes might be humanitarian after all. That would be good.

Convicted child molester Cardinal George Pell is outraged that pro-gay bishops ignore Catholic sexuality rules. The irony seems to escape him.