Senate repugicans Doom The repugican cabal By Blocking Bill To Reverse Hobby Lobby

The reaction to the Senate repugicans’ move to block a bill that would have reversed the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision demonstrates why the repugican cabal is doomed.

On a mostly party line vote of 56-43, repugicans blocked the Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act from advancing. Three repugicans joined with the Democrats in voting to move the bill forward (Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mark Kirk). Harry Reid changed his vote to no for procedural reasons.

The repugicans continued to wrap themselves in the false flag of religious freedom. Mitch McConnell (r-KY) said, “Well, repugicans continue to insist that we can and should be in the business of protecting everyone’s rights. We think that, instead of restricting Americans’ religious freedoms, Congress should instead work to preserve a woman’s ability to make contraceptive decisions for herself.”

Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen summed up the position of the bill’s supporters, “A woman’s health care decision should be made with her doctor, with her family, with her faith, not by her employer with her employer’s faith.”

The reaction to the vote suggests that the Senate repugicans have made another big mistake.

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said, “It is shameful and wrong that Senate repugican leaders ... decided to side with corporate bosses who are exploiting loopholes and a narrow Supreme Court vote to shirk their responsibility to their workers instead of supporting the women who elected them to office and expect their rights upheld….Votes and political games like these are why we are seeing a huge gender gap in nearly every poll. Access to birth control is not a fringe issue; it is a mainstream issue that affects nearly all women in this country. We will continue to work between now and Election Day to remind women, and all voters, where their representative stands on this vital issue.”

Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet, said, “The repugican cabal has just shown America what its 2014 agenda is all about— opposing access to birth control. Despite its wild popularity, and medical necessity for many, wingnuts seem hell-bent on ending women’s access to contraception. Today’s Senate vote is appalling, and like the Supreme Court decision that came before it, proves to women across America that if we don’t fight conservatives will roll back our rights to the 50′s. This isn’t a vote women will forget in November.”

It is wrong to suggest that the contraception issue is just a women’s issue. This issue should matter to every man and woman in this country who cares about liberty. It’s not an issue of how women get access to birth control. The problem is that repugicans have given employers the power to tell women what they can do with their bodies.

In terms of rights, Hobby Lobby is a return to the 1950s, but even more, it is a return to the 19th Century idea that the an employer controlled the lives of their employees. The majority of people in this country are not going to stand by and allow women to be treated like property. The repugican cabal is catering a segment of their base by standing by the Hobby Lobby decision, but they have also mobilized millions of voters who they were trying to keep away from the polls.

After 2014, the electoral map will shift. It will be repugicans who will be defending the majority of Senate seats over the next few cycles. Women, and all supporters of access to contraception will be coming for these Senate repugicans in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

By not seeing the bigger picture, repugicans swapped short-term victory for long-term defeat. Senate repugicans didn’t win a battle today. They just took another step towards losing the war.