Roundup: Musgrave Takes Her Lie Show on the Road

Aug 11, 2010, 9:52am

Beth Saunders

Former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave teams up with the Susan B. Anthony List to spread lies about abortion in health reform, and a Wisconsin diocese is forbidding its employees from exercising the birth control option provided by their health insurance.

As reported on Rewire before, former Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave has teamed up with the Susan B. Anthony list. Saying that she vowed “revenge” after losing her seat two years ago, the Washington Independent reports,

Musgrave started building a new war chest, this time for the SBA List’s “Votes Have Consequences” initiative to target legislators on issues relating to abortion. In a May 2009 fundraising letter, she pledged that the new effort would “spread the truth about [Democrats’] destructive agendas, drag down their approval ratings, force them to publicly defend socialism, authoritarian gun-grabbing, gay marriage, infanticide and everything else they vote for in Washington, and ultimately, on November 2, 2010 … take their jobs away from them.”

Now, during the campaign season for the 2010 midterm elections, Musgrave is taking the fight to the streets. Yesterday, the SBA List launched a bus tour through 23 cities in the battleground states of Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. Traveling on the “Votes Have Consequences Express,” Musgrave and others are publicizing vulnerable Democrats’ support of the comprehensive health care reform bill — and arguing the new law will funnel taxpayers’ money into coverage for abortions, even though legal scholars, health care analysts and even some Republican politicians say the law does no such thing.

But why get bogged down with silly things like “the truth?” There are buses to paint! Lies to spread! People to harass! But a different pro-life group is protesting that pro-life group who is protesting members of Congress. Confused yet? Yeah, me too. Apparently that is the idea. Life News reports on the actions of Catholics United:

Following through on its commitment to confused [stet] pro-life voters and support congressional candidates who voted for the pro-abortion health care bill, Catholics United, which claims to be pro-life, today staged a counterprotest at a pro-life bus tour event sponsored by a national pro-life group.

The Susan B. Anthony List is headed to Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania this week to let pro-life voters know the Democratic lawmakers they voted for whom they thought were pro-life wound up voting for a measure with massive abortion funding.

…

SBA List officials stopped their “Votes have Consequences” bus tour in Cincinnati today to let voters know how congressman Steve Driehaus voted for the pro-abortion health care bill. They were met by Catholics United officials who misled voters with “Thank you Steve Driehaus” and “SBA List: Stop Lying About Abortion Funding” signs.

“Despite ample evidence to the contrary, the religious right continues to spread lies about federal funding of abortion in service of a partisan agenda,” said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “These anti-health care reform activists are either woefully ignorant of the legislation or willfully misleading the public. In either case, this behavior has a corrosive effect on our public debate.”

Mini-Roundup: Take the pill, lose your job? A Wisconsin diocese has been forced to offer contraception coverage to their employees, but has warned that if it is used, it could be grounds for termination. Which begs the question – how would the diocese find out? Check your bum for the patch?

August 10

Clinics Challenge Louisiana Abortion Laws – Courthouse News Service

KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Seeking Hyde – Indiana Gazette

Gov. Chris Christie pressured by anti-abortion groups – The State Column

House Members Condemn Obama Push for Pro-Abortion Kenya Constitution – LifeNews.com

India: mother murdered for refusing to kill newborn baby girl – Catholic Culture

McCollum: Homosexuals Shouldn’t Be Guiding Kids – CBS 4

“Choose Life” License Plates Cause Stir in New Jersey – Examiner.com

Report: Argentina not meeting women’s health needs – The Associated Press

when unrestricted abortion isn’t enough: the back-up plan – Catholic Culture

Catholics United Protests Pro-Life Group’s Bus Tour on Abortion-Health Care – LifeNews.com

Attitude towards contraception in Argentina puts women at risk – The Guardian