War on women, gays

Our new governor and his Republican legislative colleagues systematically wage war against women, LGBT folks and others.

With each passing day we learn about efforts to deny health services to women, services protected by federal law, under the guise of safeguarding women’s care.

This recently took the form of threats to cut funding to the University of Louisville hospital if it refused to cancel a contract with Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. This is safeguarding nothing but the small-minded, vengeful thinking those who, if their own wives, daughters or sisters needed this service, would simply go out of state for it.

Now we have, courtesy of these same backward-thinking people, a bill allowing businesses to deny services to LGBT folks because of religious beliefs.

Even if you are anti-choice, even if you believe you don’t know anyone who is LGBT, even if you mistakenly think that Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best were reality, even if you really are a person of faith and not simply using religion as an excuse to hate — consider who might be next to be attacked.

When we stand by silently and allow “the other” to be attacked we may wake up to find ourselves in the line of fire. Hatred, vengefulness, bigotry and domination don’t just die out. They grow stronger when unopposed.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 5:52 PM with the headline "War on women, gays."