As some of you may know, right wing ideologues in the Congress have been suggesting that they want to shut down the government — again — this time over funding for Planned Parenthood.

Which begs the question: why does the right wing have such a hard on for Planned Parenthood?

It’s not a new phenomenon either. The right wing has had a hard-on for Planned Parenthood for quite some time. Back in 2012, in an article for Salon, Irin Carmon asked the question of why the right so hates Planned Parenthood, but couldn’t really find the answers. She did, however, note the glaring irony and inconsistency between piling on an agency whose primary mission is to control the number of unplanned pregnancies, thereby leading to fewer abortions.

Sheesh!

Other commentators, such as in the Daily Kos,  have noted the difference between somebody being pro-life and pro-birth. The Daily Kos quoted Sister Joan Chittister as saying:

“I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”

People think that it’s better when we don’t send “politicians” to Washington, and maybe it would be so if we weren’t simply sending rabid ideologues instead. The “Tea Party” movement is primarily made up of Representatives and Senators who think that their mission in Congress is not to compromise on their principles.

Never mind that the essence of democracy is compromise.

Well, let them go and shut down the government again. It’s the surest way we can finally get these “outsiders” (read: amateurs) voted out of office. Conservatives think that making Planned Parenthood the focus point of their ire — an agency which, by the way, is already barred from receiving federal funds for abortions — is going to score them political points. It is also going to get them fire-breathing opposition, as in this no-holds barred response from Skepchick.

This is also how I feel and how most of my women friends feel. Take this path at your own risk, my friends.