CALLING ALL REPUBLICANS

[Duchess]

I'm reaching across the aisle because I am genuinely interested in understanding some of the opinions you have. I want to know why you oppose gay marriage, a woman's right to choose and why you think any of that is your business. I don't ask this rudely, I am sincerely interested in your opinion.

I promise to exhibit self control and not call anyone a moron.

[sally]

I feel strongly that gays should have the same rights as everyone else and it and shouldn't be the government's or anyone else's business. To fuck with them and take rights away that were already given to them would cause a huge uproar and I don't think that's on Trump's agenda.

I feel differently about abortion since I believe life starts at conception and it involves more than just the mothers rights. I don't think it should be completely illegal, but I don't think anyone should be having abortions after 18 weeks unless their life is truly at stake or if theres a major birth defect that was not found earlier. It's not something I'm real passionate about though so if Roe v. Wade was overturned and went back to the states I wouldn't shed any tears or feel that I've been set back as a woman.

[HairOfTheDog]

I wouldn't personally care if there was an 18 week national cut off (with the exception of severe fetus deformity and threat to the life of the mother and/or fetus) for abortion either. The vast majority of abortions take place before then anyway because most women are making a hard weighted choice (with or without their partners) and want to do it as quickly as possible in the development cycle. They're not homicidal baby murderers as the anti-abortion extremists contend.

But, it's a woman's right to choose and that shouldn't depend on what state she happens to live in. So, an amendment to Roe v. Wade stipulating a sensible cut off for elective abortion would be much more reasonable to me than leaving the issue of legality itself up to the states or leaving the door open for a national ban on abortion.

I feel the same about gay rights. Currently, federal law allows gays across the country to be married with the same benefits/drawbacks as hetero married couples. I don't want to see that repealed and left up to the states again. Gays are entitled to the same rights regardless of the state they happen to live in. However, I don't care if "religious liberty" laws that allow private businesses to discriminate against gays are left to the states/localities.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oops, sorry Duchess.

I didn't see the thread title til after I jumped off sally's post. I'd like to hear what Republicans have to say objectively too, so I'll take a powder here.

[Duchess]

Oops, sorry Duchess.

I didn't see the thread title til after I jumped off sally's post. I'd like to hear what Republicans have to say objectively too, so I'll take a powder here.

Not a problem! I'm glad to read ALL opinions.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

I don't actively oppose gay marriage, I don't support it either. I know its the law of the land and thats fine, its really none of my business nor do I care who is sleeping with who. Doesn't mean I thinks right, the courts cannot dictate what I think.
I actually have a lot of gay friends and they are aware of my opinions because we have talked about it. Some of them think I am homophobic and others see it as my opinion is different to theirs, we all treat each other respectfully, they are good guys IMHO. I have a few lesbian friends too, most of them are more militant in their opinions. At least 2 of them are pretty butt hurt over the election, but we are still civil, and I think that will smooth out.
The abortion thing I am more mixed on, I do not think its right for a woman to use abortions as a regular birth control device just because they are lazy (goes for their partners too BTW. I have been with a couple women that had an abortion and I fully supported their decision to do so since I promised my kids from my first marriage I would not have more kids. All that said even though I do not think its right I think abortions are better than getting sailed up with a mouth to feed when you are in no way qualified or prepared to do so and its way cheaper than another one on welfare. Late term not so much, except as stated above should not be. I don't know the numbers but my impression is its a very small number something less than 1% but thats a guess.

[sally]

I wouldn't personally care if there was an 18 week national cut off (with the exception of severe fetus deformity and threat to the life of the mother and/or fetus) for abortion either. The vast majority of abortions take place before then anyway because most women are making a hard weighted choice (with or without their partners) and want to do it as quickly as possible in the development cycle. They're not homicidal baby murderers as the anti-abortion extremists contend.

But, it's a woman's right to choose and that shouldn't depend on what state she happens to live in. So, an amendment to Roe v. Wade stipulating a sensible cut off for elective abortion would be much more reasonable to me than leaving the issue of legality itself up to the states or leaving the door open for a national ban on abortion.

I feel the same about gay rights. Currently, federal law allows gays across the country to be married with the same benefits/drawbacks as hetero married couples. I don't want to see that repealed and left up to the states again. Gays are entitled to the same rights regardless of the state they happen to live in. However, I don't care if "religious liberty" laws that allow private businesses to discriminate against gays are left to the states/localities.

Making a national cut off date would be the sensible thing to do, I think 18 weeks is reasonable since at 16 weeks is when testing is done for birth defects. If severe birth defects are found after that then that's an exception, also the mothers life being at sake would be an exception. But, the whole "mothers life at stake" after a certain point doesn't make sense when the baby is viable. You'd just deliver it through C-section and try to keep it alive.

I don't count on them to make sensible decisions regarding abortions which is sad because it could be easily done if they just consulted with an OB/GYN for christs sake.

Like Pence saying that anyone getting an abortion should have an ultrasound. Does that idiot know that you can't see anything on an ultrasound until at least 16 weeks. At 12 weeks you can't even detect it with a vaginal ultrasound, all you'll see is a gray blur. By the time you can see the arms and legs and all that nonsense is when you shouldn't be having an abortion anyway which is around 18 weeks.

Which if they're going to keep it legal after that point then yeah I'd say treat it like any other procedure and don't let anyone go into it lightly, show them exactly what they're doing. But it shouldn't be legal in the first place and giving it back to the states isn't going to stop it. So fucking stupid. I wish Hillary would have touched more on that in the debate with him.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ Yeah, those are the kinds of brilliant proposals you get when God and Jesus supposedly whisper into the ears of men about what choices (or lack thereof) women should have in regards to our own sexuality and reproduction.

Some such men spend a good deal of their lives and careers obsessed with attempting to regulate our choices. Bless their ever-lovin' hearts.

One such man is now on the short list of most powerful men in the country. He REALLY wants the government to assume decision-making power over our sexuality and our reproductive choices.............. what a relief that we won't need to worry our pretty little heads about our own bodies if he succeeds.

Things could get seriously interesting once the Supreme Court vacancy is filled.

[thekid65]

You can be a republican, and not necessarily agree with all of the party's stances on issues.

[F.U.]

I really don't care if a person is gay or not . I am all for girl on girl action, you know that, but if you are a dude an wanna suck dick, I say go for it, just don't shove that lifestyle down my throat. Unless you are in my bed your sex life is none of my business.

Now when it comes to abortion its a different story. Yes I understand its a woman's body. Yes I understand she will have to deal with the consequences the rest of her life. I dont feel that those things give her the right to murder. That being said, I still feel there should be a condition in the laws for rape victims and medical issues, so they can deal with these issues. I just feel if you are stupid enough to have unprotected sex then deal with your choice.

[aussiefriend]

This is where I am all over the shop politically, with abortion I personally believe that it is killing a person. I would never say that publicly, never. I remember seeing a scan at 8 weeks when I was pregnant, and there was nothing that I could see of formation, not to say there wasn't something, but what I did see was a heartbeat, it was clear and thrilling, by 16 weeks, yep that's a baby, and the sex of the child too.

I have been in the Neonatal ICU with a patient when her child was in there, some of those children that were delivered extremely early, some places on Earth they legalize aborting them. It seems so wrong to me.

I also think about the death penalty and wonder if it is the right thing to do. If a child of yours had something happen to them and the creep ended up like that choir singing bitch that killed Travis then that wouldn't seem fair. I would hire someone to do the job, but then that makes me as bad as them. So if the death penalty is in place it can be justice for that victim and the family.

I am politically incorrect in some of my beliefs, and I am a Christian, I do get conflicted and don't always know what the right thing is. But I am with Sally in that I believe birth begins at conception. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it is not there, and that is coming from a spiritual perception too. I think it's sad when someone has an abortion. I would never assist in that type of medical procedure in my profession.