Half of American Women Think They’re More Successful Than Their Men

There’s a new male-female survey out, and this time it’s in Women’s Health, which reveals in the March issue that almost half of American women think they’re “more successful” than the men they go out with or are married to. Women’s Health spins this as a positive — how great is it that women are so confident and happy and full of opportunities in their careers!? — and, yet, the question begged is: Why are we dating losers?

Of course, that might not be it at all. Maybe these women are dating men who aren’t the career-obsessed workaholic type, men who instead shower them with attention and affection and good times because they actually have time — and maybe that in part is why they’re so happy with their careers, and other stuff too. Confidence and pleasure in certain parts of life tend to extend toward others.

Lisa Bain, executive editor at Women’s Health, attributes the stats in part to the gradual evening of the wage gap (apparently, for women under 30 that gap is gone, and the ladies are actually making more than their male peers). Also, women are better educated, financially independent, etc. etc., nowadays. All good things.

But if anything, the oddest thing about this survey is the word “successful.” Sure, it can mean money, but it can also mean other things. And considering someone you’re dating or possibly married to less successful than you seems to indicate a certain kind of superiority that might not be so great in a relationship, or maybe that’s just us. More revealing, perhaps, are these additional survey results:

According to the poll, these women don’t think they’ve made it unless they’re making $100,000K or more. The majority of them think they’re more successful than their friends and their siblings. And half of them think wearing black helps them be more successful at work.

Lawmakers see a timely target in Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON — In the rush to slash the federal budget, House Republicans have taken quick aim the nation’s largest provider of abortions, reviving an emotional fight after a campaign season in which social issues were dormant.

A coalition of abortion foes joined with an undercover video activist on Thursday to call on lawmakers to cut all funding for Planned Parenthood, which they blasted as “complicit” in the trafficking of underage girls for prostitution. Planned Parenthood denies the allegations.

The attack came a day after House Republicans announced a spending proposal for the rest of the budget year that would eliminate funding for a 40-year-old family planning program. Planned Parenthood is the largest recipient of the so-called Title X funds, which pay for contraception and cancer screenings, but not abortions, to low-income patients.

The proposed spending cuts added momentum to an already burgeoning feud over abortion in Congress. Buoyed by the arrival of dozens of new anti-abortion Republicans, conservative lawmakers have introduced several bills that would further distance taxpayers from any connection to abortion.

Current policy already bars federal money in Medicaid and other government programs for abortion — except in cases of rape, incest or a danger to the life of the woman.

In response to the new push, Democrats and their allies accused Republicans of mounting an attack on women’s health and veering far from their promise of a laser-like focus on economic issues.

“The new leadership ran on the agenda of jobs and the economy and what they’re giving us instead is possibly the most extreme assault on reproductive rights in decades,” said Donna Crane, policy director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. “It’s a classic bait and switch.”

Title X funding had not been targeted for a cut since 1995, Crane said, when the effort failed in a Republican-led House. Planned Parenthood said it receives $363 million a year in government grants and contracts at the state, local and federal level.

But the current climate, where calls for fiscal discipline rule the day, presents a new opportunity for anti-abortion Republicans who have long opposed federal funding to Planned Parenthood. Lawmakers said they plan to remain focused on cutting the budget while also moving forward on an issue of key importance to many in their base.

On Thursday, they noted their new allies in the House and the economic constraints were both working in their favor.

“This is when we’re going to defund Planned Parenthood,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, (R-Fla.). “Now is the season for us to do this.”

Although the cuts may be embraced by the House, they are likely to find much more resistance in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.

The fight against Planned Parenthood gained steam from a series of videos recently released by a young anti-abortion activist. Some of the videos, shot undercover by the group Live Action, appear to show Planned Parenthood staff giving advice to people claiming to be engaged in sex work and seeking medical care for underage girls.

At a news conference on Capitol Hill, Live Action head Lila Rose, who has targeted Planned Parenthood clinics for several years with sting operations, said the videos showed the employees “willing to aid and abet the human trafficking of teenage girls.”

One such video resulted in the firing of a Planned Parenthood employee in New Jersey. But in all other cases, the video are “heavily edited and manipulated” said Planned Parenthood spokesman Stuart Schear.

“The organization is not credible and their tapes cannot be trusted,” he said.

The debate is not likely to die down quickly. Stearns, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s oversight panel, said he planned to call Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to testify on the matter.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said he would introduce an amendment to cut all federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Pence also has introduced a bill to prohibit Title X funds from being awarded to any health provider that performs abortions.

Another bill, introduced by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) would eliminate federal tax breaks for employers who offer health insurance if their plans cover abortion.

Abortion bill is an assault on women’s health care

Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) has sponsored a bill that would make it difficult for most women — even those who pay for their own health insurance coverage — to obtain a safe abortion in a medical facility. It’s the latest salvo in the war on women’s rights to obtain a safe abortion.

Federal law already prohibits poor women from using Medicaid dollars for an abortion except under certain circumstances, such as rape or health emergency. The bill makes radioactive any health plan that offers abortion coverage.

Private health insurance plans that cover the procedure lose tax credits and subsidies. Employers who offer the offending plans have their tax credits snatched away. And employees — male and female — who subscribe to a plan that covers abortion are punished, too. It doesn’t matter if you never had an abortion or even contemplated it. If your health care plan includes abortion coverage, you won’t be able to take deductions for your premiums.

Nearly every employee-based health plan covers abortion, according to the nonpartisan health think tank Guttmacher Institute, so the bill would have a devastating effect on women’s access to abortion. The institute estimates that 1 in 3 women have had or will have an abortion before the age of 45. You or someone you know has likely had an abortion.

Smith invokes “bigotry” against the unborn child, but don’t be fooled. The only bias at play here is against a woman’s right to choose.

Smith’s proposal comes on the heels of efforts by anti-abortion groups to discredit Planned Parenthood and cut off its federal funding.

Two other House bills would also slam the door on women. One would allow medical staff and hospitals to refuse to perform abortions, or any duties related to the procedure, even in a medical emergency. Another bill, introduced late yesterday, would kill $327 million for family planning services of all kinds, including preventative care and contraceptive counseling.

This is beyond the abortion question. It goes to the heart of a woman’s right to make her own informed choices about health care.