vast majority of voters want. in fact, 75% of voter, some recent poll that i heard about, over 75% of voters believe that women should at least be able to access abortion in cases of rape, not parsed out just rape or incest or for a woman s life. and the vast majority of voters want women to be able to protect their health as well. so he s way out of step. and i think he s sort of scrambling to try to claim that somehow he s not out of step. but he is. i mean, it s very clear to me that paul ryan, the vice presidential candidate for the republicans, is the most radical person that s been on the ticket since barry goldwater. and that was before roe v. wade. i think if you give him a chance to be the biggest zealot in the room, he ll take that opportunity. which brings us to the very basic question, what would a conservative congress, a conservative supreme court, and a president that can be pulled by conservatives mean for women? what would it mean? well, first of all, it would
whatsoever between the real party bosses and akin. it s just what he said was a problem. the republican national convention has approved the human life amendment as part of its platform which would ban abortion without exception for rape or incest. 40 house and senate republicans have long embraced a ban on abortions without exceptions for rape and incest. let me tell you something, folks, they love this guy. this is their guy. this is who they want. here s akin on the today show this morning. let me say, this is not about me. this is not about my ego. but it is about the voters of the state of missouri. they have chosen me because of principles i stand on. no, no, no, no, no. of course, it is about you. it s about that guy that you just saw. and it s about a party that s trying to hide that they really do agree with him. let s bring in democratic strategist bob shrum and also
with us tonight, michael steele, former chairman of the rnc and msnbc contributor. great to have you with us tonight. michael, let s start with you first. isn t the republican platform planked on abortion the mainstream of the republican party? and isn t it really exactly in line with congressman todd akin? it may be in line with congressman todd akin, but i believe it s a break away from what the republican platform has traditionally said with respect to abortion, where a vast majority of republicans around the country, very strong pro life republicans as well as pro choice republicans have always accepted the idea of the exception with respect to life of the mother, rape, and incest. this is a break away from that. this is a step in a different direction. the timing in my estimation could not be worse for the romney campaign and for the rnc going into this convention at a time when the economy has been the center most focus or should be to have this kind of
hr-3 would be passed into law and signed. that is a permanent restrictions on women being able to get insurance coverage for abortion care. mind you, 1 of 3 women will have an abortion by the age of 45. it s a common and necessary aspect of women s reproductive health care. but under the legislation that paul ryan is very eager to pass and would pass if romney and ryan elected, that access to insurance coverage would not be available and again, women who are ill and need to terminate a preg nnnancy becausf illness, those abortions cost upwards of $5,000 and more. their families would have to dig into their pockets. in addition, the human life amendment which is now the republican platform once again, which basically criminalizes almost all abortion and does not provide exceptions for rape or incest or even to protect a woman s life, let alone her health, those things would be passed into law.
very language and phraseology and put it into the platform of the national party. and so particularly when your nominee has made it clear that i make exceptions on the pro life question with respect to rape, incest, and life of the mother. so to then follow that up, and i understand the chairman was quoted a little bit earlier today saying something to the effect of, well, you know, that plank doesn t apply to mitt romney. wait a minute. he s the head of the party. the nominee of our party. you re telling me that he s going to walk into that convention and snub his nose at the planks, this doesn t mean anythi anything? the platform doesn t mean anything? while you re not held by chains and irons on it, it s a working document, a living document for a lot of activists around the country. they expect their nominee to adhere to as much of it as possible. and i think you put mitt romney is a difficult position. it s just the truth of it. but it s a document that the