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Haley's Birth Control Comments Puzzle Women's Advocates

Hosts of 'The View' challenged Haley after she said women don't care about contraception.

 
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The tense exchange between Gov. Nikki Haley and hosts of "The View" has bristled some Palmetto state voters. 

"Women don't care about contraception," Haley said Tuesday after one of the hosts asked about her stance on women's rights. "They care about jobs and the economy and raising their families." 

Host Joy Behar quickly interrupted Haley. 

"We should care about contraception too," Behar said. 

“But that’s not the only thing we care about,” Haley said. “The media wants to talk about contraception.”

Behar responded again — this time to audience applause: “But when someone like Rick Santorum says he’s gonna take it away, we care.”

Drucilla Barker, director of the women's and gender studies program at the University of South Carolina, said Haley's remarks were contradictory. 

"My follow-up question to her would have been, 'Isn't contraception and the right to control when you're going to get pregnant essential to getting a good job?'" Barker said. "If women can't control their births or can only control them in a very difficult way, they're not going to achieve equality in the workforce." 

Haley's comment raised eyebrows at the women's studies program at College of Charleston, too.

"That is a rather idiotic statement, and it's an example of how out of touch she is with women of South Carolina and the nation. I — and a lot of other women — care about contraceptives and definitely care what happens to our bodies and our reproductive rights," women's studies major Lindsey Breitwieser said.

Shannon Staley of the South Carolina Access Initiative said that contraception is important to women because it affects how they make other choices.

"If women do not have control over their reproductive destinies, all of their other decision-making is moot," Staley said. "Every time you have intercourse, you have to face being a parent."

"Men are never faced with the choice that women are. The ultimate responsibility and ramifications of being intimate fall on women," Staley said. 

Haley ended the conversation by trying to clarify her comments. 

“While we care about contraception," Haley said, "let’s be clear, all we’re saying is we don’t want government to mandate when we have to have it and when we don’t. We want to be able to make that decision. We don’t need government making that decision for us."

Barker said the governor's response didn't make any sense. 

"If she wants government out of people's bodies, then why isn't she fighting these bills at the State House," Barker said, referring to the "personhood" bill - which states that life begins at conception — and other bills related to women's health.

For Breitwieser, Haley's clarification and the fact that Haley is the first female governor of the state didn't negate her statement.

"It doesnt make it any better for me. She's taking away a fundamental right to give credence to a fundamentalist thought," Breitwieser said. "It's a problem that she's a politician and she went on a national show and represented the women of South Carolina."

She added that while Haley is free to believe whatever she wants, she shouldn't be imposing her ideology on the women of her state. 

Haley was on the show to pitch her book Can't Is Not an Option, which was released Tuesday. 

Related Topics: Nikki Haley and contraception

rb

5:01 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Who is paying for Gov. Haley's expenses while she goes on her book tour? What about the expenses of her security personnel? I'd bet it's the taxpayers. Thanks for being a fiscal conservative Gov. Haley.

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Shawn Drury

5:20 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

rb - I can't say for sure, but I'd be surprised if her expenses aren't being paid for by the book's publisher. That's pretty standard.

-Shawn

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Ken

6:14 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Better question, why is she wasting time peddling her book instead of here in S.C. doing the job that the voters gave her and the taxpayers are paying her to do?

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Neal Norvell

8:45 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Remember right after she was elected Governor she and an entourage of about 25 people plus their spouses went to Europe and stayed and dined in five star establishments. The reason was they were trying to drum up foreign business for SC. No one in Europe, China or Asia want to do business with SC. I have e-mailed Governor Haley asking where the follow up report to this trip is, who was talked with, what types of businesses were sought after and what are your final findings for the European Vacation that costs the taxpayers of SC a conservative amount of about $350,000 to $400,000. That's about $7k per head for a 14 day trip staying in hotels that cost a minimum of $450 per night and all dinners were extremely extravagant. Do you think this bish has responded?

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Lori Harton

10:34 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

I knew from the get go she was using her position for higher status in the rupublican party. Randhawa has no interest in SC, only higher office. Shame on us for voting tea bagger, we were fooled.

TruthBeTold

5:06 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Why is ANYBODY even surprised?! She's an even bigger idiot than Palin.

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el patone

5:45 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Impossible. Or so I thought.

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Joe

8:41 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

written like an idiot....

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Dora Glasberg

2:37 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

How many jobs did she bring back from Paris = 0

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Sara Caldwell

8:54 pm on Friday, April 6, 2012

Hello, TruthBeTold, I'm NOT surprised; I'm in
SHOCK!!!!! I voted for this dumbie, (NOT knowing she was a dumbie at the time); BUT, now that we ALL know, we have a wonderful opportunity to take care of this in the next year or so! (DON'T WE)????

BeeBobJack2

Flipie

5:10 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

All Republicans they have been given one line, We care about jobs and economy some of them being not smart thats what they say to all things kinda like Sarah Palin.

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John Manning

5:11 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

First, consider the source. Second, she was parroting the t-pub talking points. Third, Romney has said that women tell his wife that they are concerned about jobs and the deficit. So hang this tag on all of the t-pubs.

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mansterEZ

5:21 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

This woman is a real tool for abracadabratard conservatives. She'll say anything hoping no one is listening too closely. Pandering to the purposefully ignorant simply because she has an (R) next to her name.

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el patone

5:48 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Abracadabratard! Outstanding.

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Neal Norvell

8:47 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

And the R stands for REDNECK!

jack green

5:33 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

nobody in the state likes her now. she will be one-term for sure

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Tauraq1

6:03 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Joe you would love a ewe if the laws would allow it, but then you are a Abracadabratard

Michael Dean

5:41 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

if Haley is so concerned about big govt telling people when/whether they should use birth control, then why does she and her republican party want to create big government rules to tell women when/whether they should have an abortion ? To put big governement between a woman and her doctor? Why doesnt the media ask the Republicans about this huge hypocrisy ? Why are the Republicans given a pass on this by the "lamestream" media , as Doofus McPalin calls them ? Because , actually, the mainstream media coddles the Republicans and does not call them on their hypocrisies. Palin and the Repubs have no answer to such fundamental questions. And the media does not want to embarrass them.

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KarenAnn

1:04 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

I completely agree! In similar fashion -- where the conservatards yell, "Drill Baby Drill" -- do they really miss the point that fossil fuels are a finite entity, and if we drill it all down today, there will be nothing left for our children? This is the argument that these ridiculous people use when talking about the debt. I'm left scratching my head. No one calls 'em out on this stuff.

Clavell Jackson

5:42 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

She makes Sarah Palin look like a Rhodes Scholar.

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Neal Norvell

8:48 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Hey Clavell, Joe below is a toothess SC REDNECK. Make no mistake about that.

james thomas hartman

5:47 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

one-term Palin wanna-be. what an idiot

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Heather

5:47 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Mrs. Haley, please unclench your jaws. You look like a ventriloquist without the dummy.

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Judity

8:03 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Yes open that mouth when you speak your absurdities!

el patone

5:52 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

This is what happens when a political party takes its cues from Beck, Coulter and Limbaugh.

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Neal Norvell

8:50 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Hey El Patone, don't worry too much about old Joe Below. He's trying hard to get his GED but he keeps getting stumped on the question, "How do you spell GED?"

Juan

6:15 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

She's auditioning for VP.
Hope she gets the job.

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Suzella

8:45 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

She IS the dummy! What an idiot. "They" say they want government out of our lives but then want to tell us what to do with our uteruses.

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Joe

9:19 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

actually Neil, I am a pretty good looking redneck with all my real teeth.. want to meet?

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Doc

11:16 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Um, you're supposed to have more than five.

Christopher Buttner

11:54 pm on Wednesday, April 4, 2012

When a person continually makes life critical decisions based on emotion and not fact and logic, that's a major defect in reasoning. That’s the best example of insanity I can find. Ever notice how Republicans have the same defect in reasoning as alcoholics, drug addicts, and religious fanatics? Republicanism is a mental disorder... Granted this is never more true than when this affliction is found in a Republican woman. A Republican Woman? Good God, that's like a pro KKK African American or a pro Nazi Jew, especially by today's GOP misogynistic standards. But there are way too many studies recently that prove the Right Wing mind is clinically irrational. We have all been told by our mothers, "Never ague with stupidity." A Republican has to want to help themselves first in order to 'break through', otherwise you're talking to a wall, just like an alcoholic. They have to hit rock bottom before they become open to help. I have found that it usually takes six to eight years of constant effort to get a Republican to think rationally, but that's taking into account there is an iota of commonsense in their head. Another problem with Republicanism it's patriarchal. It's seared in during early childhood... The Jesuits said, 'Give me the child till they’re seven and you can have the man.' Tragically... they're broken... Just saying...

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NoToWalkersCronies

12:06 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Wow, Christopher.. excellent. You put in words I've been unable to articulate until now. Thanks!

NoToWalkersCronies

12:13 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

BTW, I'm from Wisconsin - hence my ID - and I wish there were as many informed comments in our local Patch blogs... unfortunately there are many sheep, and quite a few paid trolls (shepherds?). Wisconsin is absolutely taken over by Koch money and influence. It is a nightmare. We are divided since Walker took office, we couldn't even enjoy our Packer victory. Right down the middle, destroying friendships, neighborhoods, and co-worker relationships. I'll pray for you, if you send some this way.

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Tauraq1

6:10 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

I tend to refer to them as ameriKKKan sheeple. who usually have their heads buried in the sphincter of the republitrash elephant.

Just Saying

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Joe

7:56 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Do you live in Wisconsin or are you from Wisconsin, if you live there, STAY THERE! If you honestly believe that 2 men control the minds of milllions of voters then you quite simply are a moron!

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Mark Winter

12:46 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

It's okay, Joe. He obviously is controlled by only one man, the Messiah Obama.

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Tauraq1

8:07 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

My my another in denial Bigot, I guess after eight years of the dumbest moron ever selected to ruin this Nation. Seeing an African American Rhodes Scholar at the Helm is more then your pea brain can handle.

Ralph Croydon

12:15 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Haley got the talking points. The GOP con-job on the birth control coverage issue is their typical bait and switch. The issue was whether or not insurance should provide coverage for contraception. Very simple. And, the solution of requiring the coverage to be included in plans at no additional cost to consumers or employers is quite simple too.

So what do Haley and her Republican pals do? Once again they prey upon the uninformed voter. She says "we don't want government telling us when we have to use birth control." Well guess what Nikki, the government didn't tell you - didn't even try to tell - when you had to use contraception of even if you had to use it. That choice is yours. Why don't you level with people in South Carolina and tell the truth for a change.

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Mark Winter

12:50 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

She says "we don't want government telling us when we have to use birth control."

Well Ralph, if you and those that vote like you are so uninformed that you couldn't figure that one out for yourselves it's no wonder Obama got elected. Pay for your own birth control. Don't make me pay with my tax dollars for your inability to be a responsible adult.

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Tauraq1

8:10 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

@mark Bah ha ha talk about uniformed, says the moron supreme who gets all it's talking points from rush "I had a butt pimple, so I used it as an excuse to avoid service during Vietnam" limpballs. Funny how sheeple are always a day late and a dollar short of common sense and intellect.

Dora Glasberg

2:32 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Nikki making an idiotic statement.
What next? Claiming she went to Gay Paree to look for jobs?

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Mark Winter

12:51 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

And she still brought in more jobs to SC than Obama has.

Dora Glasberg

2:33 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

She's pretty dumb for an Asian gal.
Good to work against stereotypes.

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Joe

7:56 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

what an idiot your are.....

Willie

8:45 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Listen up now. You can have all the contraception you want. Trust me. Liberals should be first in line. I don't want to pay for it. Abortion is not contraception. It's murder. I'm a female. I've used contraceptives. I paid for it myself.

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Joe

9:03 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

the same liberals who love the right to abortion are the same ones arguing against slavery!

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Tauraq1

8:11 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

So you are pro Slavery??

Charlestonian

10:25 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

At Joe: that last comment made absolutely no sense. It was akin to the scene in Talladega Nights where "peanut butter and Chinese food" was referenced. Nothing in common. Andyeah, I'm from SC and Haley needs to go back to Bamberg and work for her parents, not us.

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Joe

10:29 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

quoting Talladega nights? you illiterate moron!

Doc

11:13 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

I think it was a PG movie, Joe couldn't get in.

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Joe

11:23 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

i hope you enjoyed it, I was reading the Bible.

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Tauraq1

8:12 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bah ha ha too funny but true. Joe is the poster child for why stupid people shouldn't pro-create

B

12:06 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

hey joe, does your bible teach you to hurl insults at other people every chance you get?

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stanley seigler

1:35 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

@B: "...does your bible teach you to hurl insults..."

aside: the Bible, to my limited knowledge, teaches neither greed nor racism as practiced by many professed christians.

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Tauraq1

8:13 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bible belters were also members of the KKK, so Joe is right in line with he rest of the bible toting hypocrites

David Harrison

1:10 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Without simple, easy access to contraception it is difficult if not impossible for a woman to have a successful long-term career. When I started working in 1971, the reason given for why women were not given opportunities for advancement in the workplace was that one never knew when they might become pregnant and need to take extented leave from work. Contraception has made it possible for women to compete more evenly with men in the workplace. For Gov. Haley to state on television that "women don't care about contraception, but the economy" is crazy. For women, access to control of when and if to become a mother is essential to viable career and higher income. And to have a woman make such a statement is very insulting to all women.

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kitty

1:11 pm on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Oh it would be so great if Romney picked this idiot as his running mate. She's even more stupid than Sarah Palin, and that's really something!

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