Anti-Choice Conservative Likens Liberals to 9-11 Terrorists
In a New York Times article published on December 13, 2004, anti-choice legislator Cynthia Davis (R-19) was interviewed about two bills she's pre-filed for the legislative session. One, House Bill 34, would remove the state's requirement that all forms of contraception and their potential health effects be taught in schools. The effect of the bill is to render the state's comprehensive sex education law into an abstinence-only law. When asked about the bill, Rep. Davis made the following extremist comment:
"It's like when the hijackers took over those four planes on Sept. 11 and took people to a place where they didn't want to go. I think a lot of people feel that liberals have taken our country back somewhere we don't want to go. I think a lot more people realize this is our country and we're going to take it back."
"It is deeply troubling to think that Rep. Davis connects the exercise of political freedom in America with the murder of innocent lives by terrorists," said Carolyn Sullivan, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri. "Rep. Davis should be profoundly ashamed of herself for using a national tragedy like 9-11 to make a political point. Thousands of people died on 9-11 and their families still mourn for them. Men and women are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan at this very moment--including my brother--for Rep. Davis's freedom to speak partisan comments. Rep. Davis has violated that solemn freedom of speech by suggesting that she and other conservatives own this country of ours and that liberals are like the 9-11 terrorists. Rep. Davis owes each and every one of the victims of 9-11 and their families a sincere apology, as well as every liberal she likened to an Al Qaeda terrorist."
Rep. Davis's HB 34 proposes denying our students "the latest medically factual information about both the possible side effects and health benefits of all forms of contraception, including the success and failure rates for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease." Poll after poll has shown that the majority of Americans supports comprehensive sex education over abstinence-only education. " At a time when Missourians are looking for ways to improve our educational system, House Bill 34 would constitute a dangerous move backwards," said Sullivan.
Contact information:
Carolyn Sullivan: 314.531.8616
|
