Following is the statement of Democratic Party of Wisconsin Women’s Caucus co-chair Dorothy Clark Mickleburgh in response to failed vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s sponsorship of so-called “personhood” legislation.
“Paul Ryan was nowhere to be found when it came time to deal with the fiscal cliff, but he has emerged now to take up the banner of extremists who look at women as second-class citizens.
By taking up the “personhood” mantle, he is trying to foist a bizarre and harmful set of principles on Wisconsin women in a framework that by its very nature undermines their most basic freedoms and rights.
Followed to its demented conclusion, this legislation would put rape victims and their doctors in jail, would directly threaten the lives of women whose pregnancies could kill them, and would reward the perpetrators of incest and sexual assault.
By a large margin, Americans of all political stripes have rejected the extreme “personhood” agenda. Clearly, Paul Ryan is championing this now as a sop to the Tea Party base of his Republican Party that he believes he will need to run for president in 2016.
Regardless of his craven motivations, “personhood” legislation is another reason for women of all ages to leave the Republican Party and embrace a Party where their voices will be heard, where their freedoms will be protected, and where they will be treated not like chattel, but like equals to men.”
