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These GOP Hypocrites Denounced Trump but Support Laws that Hurt Rape Victims

There's a difference between what you say and what you do.
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Donald Trump has repeatedly shown how he really feels about women: He consistently insults us, he plans to enact gender-biased policies that will economically harm us, and, most recently, he tried to brush off the fact that he bragged about being able to sexually assault us. "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait," Trump blustered in a recording of a 2005 conversation with Access Hollywood host Billy Bush, which was leaked to the Washington Post. "And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

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While Trump attempted to excuse his comment as harmless "locker-room banter" in the second presidential debate on Tuesday, it is simply inexcusable; as the White House affirmed yesterday, the behavior Trump is describing constitutes sexual assault. This was the final straw for many GOP representatives who had previously endorsed the Republican candidate for president despite his questionable behavior all along.

Read more: Trump Says He'll 'Revive Inner Cities' but Doesn't Have a Plan to Fight Poverty

Twenty-four Republican leaders rescinded their support for Trump after the video's release. In numerous statements, they defected from his sinking campaign, underscoring that Trump's casual championing of sexual assault is unacceptable and does not reflect their party's values. However, standing up for women and passing legislation that would actually send the message that rape is unacceptable has typically not been part of the Grand Old Party's agenda. In fact, many of the Republican senators, governors, and congressmen who unendorsed Trump have actively worked to harm women. Let's count the ways:

Rep. Jason Chaffetz

What he said:
"I'm out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine," the U.S. House Representative from Utah's 3rd District told a local Fox affiliate after the footage surfaced.

What he did:
Rep. Chaffetz never been so vocal on behalf of rape victims, however. In 2013, co-sponsored a bill—the so-called Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act—that would prohibit all abortions after 20 weeks. The bill made an exception for cases of incest and rape, but the way it was written would force women to report their rape to law enforcement in order to qualify for the exemption. According to the US Bureau of Statistics, only 15.8 to 35 percent of sexual assaults are reported. Many women simply can't report their rape because they fear retribution from their attacker or they don't think anyone will believe them. This turned some Republicans off the bill, but Chaffetz still had no problem voting "yes." Thanks in part to him, the bill passed in the House. Luckily, it didn't get very far in the Senate.

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Rep. Chaffetz also voted in favor of a terrible bill, No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, that was co-sponsored by Trump's running-mate Mike Pence. It would have permanently prohibited federal funding from going to abortion care, with the only exception being for "forcible rape." Aside from the fact that all women should have access to abortion care, "forcible rape" is a completely made-up term that would have narrowed the definition of rape, excluding many rape survivors from the exception.

Sen. Cory Gardner

What he said:
Following Trump's misogynistic comments, the US senator from Colorado said he will not vote for him in the upcoming election.

What he did:
Last year, he not only went along with the rest of his party in voting for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, he was one of the bill's co-sponsors. He also voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act when he was in the House. And when Garner was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, he opposed a bill that would require hospitals to inform a survivor of a sexual assault of the availability of emergency contraception, and he sponsored a bill that would have made abortion a class 3 felony, including in cases of rape and incest.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard

What he said:
The South Dakota governor called for Trump to drop out on Twitter earlier this week (today, he said he would still vote for him).

What he did:
Gov. Daugaard signed his own 20-week abortion ban into law earlier this year. Late term abortions are rare, but 20-week abortion bans are still a detriment to thousands of women. Laws like this especially harm poor women who often have trouble coming up with funds to pay for abortion care earlier in their pregnancies. And the bill that Daugaard signed into law doesn't make an exception for rape victims or cases of incest.

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Rep. Rodney Davis

What he said:
According to reports, Davis called Trump's comment's "abhorrent."

What he did:
The US representative from Illinois also supported the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Davis additionally voted to block the Paycheck Fairness Act, which was proposed to expand the Equal Pay Act and hold employers accountable for pay disparities between male and female employees. To date, women make 80 cents per every dollar a man makes.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry

What he said:
The US congressman, who represents Nebraska's first district, said Trump, "who has abused women," is a "strikingly bad" choice.

What he did:
He also supported the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would have only harmed victims of sexual abuse.

Rep. Cresent Hardy

What he said:
Here's Hardy's response to Trump's blatant disregard of women: "I will no longer support the guy at the head of the ticket. I've said all along that I would support him, but I no longer will."

What he did:
Despite his criticism of Trump, the US congressman from Nevada has tried to write disregard for women into law. Bafflingly, he called the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, a bill proposed in 2013 that would make it a crime for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on the employee's sexual orientation or gender identity, a "segregation law" when he was running for his congressional seat. He voted against a similar state law when he was an assemblyman in Nevada. Not surprisingly, he also supported the federal bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks and voted to defund Planned Parenthood following the release of David Daleiden's misleading "investigative" videos that were part of a smear campaign against the organization.

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Gov. Gary Herbert

What he said:
"Donald Trump's statements are beyond offensive & despicable. While I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton, I will not vote for Trump," Gov. Herbert tweeted on October 7.

What he did:
While the Governor of Utah did sign a bill that would make rape cases easier to prosecute, his record on women's rights is still lacking. He cut funding to Planned Parenthood in the state and he directed his state to opt out of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, a law designed to reduce sexual assault in prisons, because of a requirement that stipulated officers would have announce their presence when they enter facility areas with opposite-gender inmates, like bathrooms. Herbert said that this would endanger officers, willfully ignoring the fact that the law is in place to provide basic human rights for inmates. Fifteen percent of incarcerated women have been the victims of prison sexual assault, often by guards.

Rep. Jaimie Herrera

What she said:
After it was revealed that Trump once said he "[grabs] women by the pussy" without their consent, the conservative congresswoman from Washington State sent out a statement that said he had lost her vote. "For months I've left the door open for Donald Trump to earn my vote. That door has now slammed shut,"she wrote in an email to the press.

What she did:
Last year, Rep. Herrera also wanted to close the door on women and rape victims, like the rest of the Republican party: She supported the federal 20-week abortion ban even though it would have excluded many rape victims from accessing vital abortion care. She even made sure to clarify for the record that she was enthusiastically for the bill and that she didn't try to stop the House vote because of the "forcible rape" language.

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Rep. Joe Heck

What he said:
"I can no longer look past the pattern of behavior and comments that have been made by Donald Trump. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience continue to support Donald Trump, nor can I vote for Hillary Clinton," Heck said. "My wife, my daughters, my mom, my sister and all women deserve better. All Americans deserve better."

What he did:
Apparently the Nevada representative also thought that the women in his life deserved to be barred from accessing reproductive health care.

Sen. John McCain

What he said:
The former Republican presidential nominee and US senator from Arizona has denounced Trump: "When Mr. Trump attacks women and demeans the women in our nation and our society, that is a point where I just have to part company," he said on Monday. "I have daughters, I have friends, I have so many wonderful people on my staff. They cannot be degraded and demeaned in that fashion."

What he did:
McCain can't really take the moral high ground here He's been rumored to have joked about rape multiple times and he has consistently been against women's reproductive rights.

Rep. Tom Rooney

What he said:
"As the father of three young sons, I don't want my boys growing up in a world where the president of the United States is allowed to speak or treat women the way Donald Trump has," Rooney said on Saturday. "My greatest responsibility in life is to try and be a good husband and father. If I support him for president, I will be telling my boys that I think it's okay to treat women like objects—and I'll have failed as a dad. Therefore, I can no longer support Donald Trump for president and will not be voting for him or Hillary Clinton."

What he did:
Rep. Rooney has had no problem taking away bodily autonomy from women in the past. The US congressman from Florida voted for the Life at Conception Act, which would have had unfathomable consequences for women. It would have given "equal protection for the right to life of each born and preborn human person," meaning that fetuses would legally be defined as human beings from the moment of conception. That could have banned contraception and abortions of all types—including in cases of rape, incest and threats to the health of the mother.