During an appearance in front of the Chamber of Commerce of Kentucky last week, Senator Rand Paul promoted the idea of setting limits on government benefits for women who have too many children and actively shaming women who have children out of wedlock.
During a question-and-answer period following his remarks at a Commerce Lexington luncheon, Paul responded to a question about workforce development by including a warning about unwed young mothers doomed to poverty. [...]
“We need to be telling kids ‘don’t have kids until you’re married,’” Paul said. “It’s your best chance to get in the middle class is not to have kids. There’s all kinds of ways, and we can debate … but there are all kinds of ways to stop having kids.”
He continued: “You know, but we have to teach our kids that. But some of that’s sort of some tough love too. Maybe we have to say ‘enough’s enough, you shouldn’t be having kids after a certain amount.’ I don’t know how you do all that because then it’s tough to tell a woman with four kids that she’s got a fifth kid we’re not going to give her any more money. But we have to figure out how to get that message through because that is part of the answer. Some of that’s not coming from government. It needs to come from ministers and people in the community and parents and grandparents to convince our kids to do something different.”
You have no choice other than to have another child because we’ve eroded your access to abortion and family planning to the point that neither are practical but, you know, enough’s enough. I think you’ve received enough help with those children we’ve forced you to have. You’re on your own now. Maybe your children can sweep the floor of the cafeteria in exchange for lunch.
Rand Paul is against equal-pay legislation, against abortion, and against Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
He is against everything that would make it easier for single mothers to “stop having kids.” He’s also against things that would make it easier for single mothers to support themselves, such as receiving equal pay for equal work or higher minimum wage.
Where does that leave us? Rand Paul says there are “all kinds of ways” to stop having kids but, since he opposes most of them, I can only deduce that he believes women should simply keep their legs closed.
Paul says the Republican party “should sell this message.”
I’m all ears. I’d like to hear his ideas for family planning inside the Economic Feudal Freedom Zones.
(h/t ThinkProgress)