Remember those bumper stickers stating that "Hate Is Not A Family Value?" Whenever I saw them I used to mutter to myself that of course it can be. Just think of domestic abuse.
In any case, the Southern Poverty Law Center now calls the Family Research Council (a right-wing anti-women group) a hate group because of their rhetoric against Lesbians and gays:
The Family Research Council has an interesting website (including an ad pushing a book called God, Capitalism and You) which I visited to find out what they have to offer to us women in general.
The Family Research Council is an influential Washington-based advocacy group with deep roots in the religious right. Its annual political forum, the Values Voter Summit, has become a nearly obligatory stop for ambitious Republican office-seekers hoping to win the support of so-called values voters. In recent years, the council has given an increasing share of its attention to opposing marriage equality and open military service by gays and lesbians.
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Last week, the law center added the Family Research Council to its list of more than 930 active hate groups, citing the anti-gay rhetoric of its leaders and researchers, which have included calls to re-criminalize consensual sex between individuals of the same gender. The Southern Poverty Law Center defines a hate group as one with "beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics."
The council's president, former Louisiana lawmaker Tony Perkins, reacted angrily to the designation, calling it "slanderous" and demanding an apology. "The left is losing the debate over ideas and the direction of public policy, so all that is left for them is character assassination," Perkins said, insisting that his group "will continue to champion marriage and family as the foundation of our society and will not acquiesce to those seeking to silence the Judeo-Christian views held by millions of Americans."
Oh boy! They actually think of us! They even have a segment entitled "Women's Health!" This must be all about breast cancer and heart disease and so on, I thought.
Well, not quite:
There you have it. Women's health is all about not having abortions and being a married mother. What happens outside those things is of no concern for the boyz of the FRC.
Women's Health
Family Research Council believes that abortion, far from empowering women, is a destructive force in women's lives. Women deserve to be fully informed before making decisions regarding their reproductive and maternal health. Maternal health is improved when women are fully informed about risk factors, prenatal development and care, and pregnancy and postpartum outcomes, including the physical and psychological effects of both medical and surgical abortion. Procedures and topics spanning the wide range of women's reproductive and maternal health, such as egg extraction and fetal pain, require full disclosure of accurate information and potential risks. FRC is opposed to the availability of the morning after pill (or Plan B) and other hormonal drugs over the counter without a prescription. Hormonal medications require the oversight of a physician or medical provider throughout the duration of drug usage, in order to screen for the existence or the subsequent development of contraindications. FRC supports the pregnancy resource center (PRC) movement, which seeks to come alongside women, men, girls, and their families during pregnancy with the provision of accurate information, education, emotional support, and critical resources and referrals. Motherhood in the context of marriage promotes positive health outcomes for women.
These guys are Patriarchs with a capital P. To find out how it works, read through the pdf available from here, especially pages 7 and 8. Or dip into the other source material the FRC site provides.
Then remember that they are an "influential Washington-based advocacy group."