17 Mar 2012 9:35 am
The Republican War On Women Continues.....The Violence Against Women Act, the once broadly bipartisan 1994 legislation, now faces fierce opposition from conservatives, reported the New York Times March 15. A fight has emerged primarily over changes to the bill that would, for instance, cover same-sex couples in domestic violence programs, expand services to other underserved groups such as American Indians and rural populations, and allow undocumented immigrants experiencing domestic abuse to obtain temporary visas. Some Republicans have accused Democrats of including provisions they knew conservatives wouldn't support to damage the conservative party's image, while Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) said, "This is part of a larger effort, candidly, to cut back on rights and services to women."http://womensenews.o...ti-violence-actLast month on the conservative Web siteTownhall.com, the conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly called the Violence Against Women Act a slush fund used to fill feminist coffers and demanded that Republicans stand up against legislation that promotes divorce, breakup of marriage and hatred of men.In a series of floor speeches Thursday, a group of mostly Democratic women senators made a high-profile and at times emotional appeal to Republicans to support an expanded Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In doing so, they suggested Republicans were blocking the bill because it would extend its protections to illegal immigrants as well as gays and lesbians.Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the lone Republican to join in the floor speeches, said domestic violence victims in her state are often isolated in rural communities "where there is no law enforcement and there is no shelter and there is nowhere to go," she said. "The Violence Against Women Act is, I think, a ray of hope for those who service victims of domestic violence and sexual assault within our villages."http://articles.cnn....?_s=PM:POLITICSThis law was passed in 1994 and re-authorized in 2000 and 2005, always on a bi-partisan basis.On Feb. 2, 2012 it passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a straight Democratic party-line vote.Not one Republican vote.