GOP Lawmaker Opposes Women Working Outside the Home

“I don’t think anybody does a better job than mothers in the home, and any bill that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don’t think that’s a good direction for us to be going.”

— Idaho state Rep. Charlie Shepherd (R) argued against a bill which would use $6 million in federal grants to increase early childhood education, KTVB reports.

House Member Says Democrats Using Women’s Issues as ‘Pawns’

Many ladies I know feel like they are being used as pawns, and find it condescending [that] Democrats are trying to use this issue as a political distraction from the failures of their economic policy.

— Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), saying Democrats’ push for pay equity between men and women is “condescending,” the Huffington Post reports.

Republicans Still Don’t Understand Women

It’s hard for me to phrase this politely. Sometimes Republicans think that just putting a woman up front means somehow that women are going to feel good about the party. It is not about the messenger. It’s about the message. And until we figure that one out, while it’s nice that we have a woman as a spokesperson, if the message itself doesn’t get changed a bit, it’s not going to work.

— Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R), quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on Republicans picking a woman to rebut the State of the Union address.

Kentucky Lawmaker Tries to Characterize Abortions as ‘Domestic Violence’

The most brutal form of domestic violence is the violence against unborn children. And, this particular bill would prohibit abortions after the fetus feels pain, which is 20 weeks and older.

— Kentucky state Rep. Joe Fischer (R), who “has amended a bill expanding domestic violence protections for dating couples to include language limiting abortions,” WFPL reports.