Colorado State senator's HIV remarks outrage Dems

[Bluebear]

Outrage flared again on the state Senate floor Wednesday over the comments of a Republican senator during a bill debate.

This time, the lawmaker was Sen. David Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, who voted against a bill requiring pregnant women to be tested for HIV because, he said, it would wrongly protect women and their unborn children from the consequences of "sexual promiscuity."

"We do things constantly to try to remove the negative consequences of poor behavior, unacceptable behavior, quite frankly," he said.

Schultheis' comments, which infuriated Democrats and exasperated some Republicans, came two days after Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, cited Bible verses to argue homosexuality is an "abomination" and a sin comparable to murder in a debate over a bill extending health benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.

During debate Wednesday on Senate Bill 88, Schultheis said: "Sexual promiscuity, we know, causes a lot of problems in our state, one of which, obviously, is the contraction of HIV."

That comment infuriated bill sponsor Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton.

"HIV does not just come from sexual promiscuity," she said. "It comes from many other things, contaminated blood for one."

Tochtrop said the bill is important because if HIV is caught early enough, its spread from mother to baby can be prevented.

"I just think it's shameful the comments that have been made," said Sen. Jennifer Veiga, D-Denver.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11786800

[girl gone mad]

1. That's fucked up.

David Schultheis thinks babies should be punished with HIV becuase their parents had sex.

I have no words.

[orleans]

2. what a dickhead. n/t

[MadBadger]

3. There is nobody crazier than state Republicans.

[Suji to Seoul]

4. What part of Colorado is this putz from?

I'm sure he went to the Dr. Bill "Cat-Killer" Frist School of Medicine.

Asshat

[barbtries]

5. the things that come out of their mouths

never fail to astonish. i think they're seriously mentally ill and should be removed from society asap.

[booley]

6. that's common

A lot of fundies if pressed will admit that they don't have a problem with abortion because they care about the fetus but because they see the mothers as whores and abortion lets them off the hook.

Same with AIDS research.

[urgk]

7. Even if, IF....

HIV were a result of bad decisions (and of course, I don't believe that to be the case), since when do we not save people from their bad decisions? I mean ER docs save people all the time who were driving on their cell phones, skiing while drunk, hiking while...um...while bears happen. Firemen risk their lives to save people who have climbed things they shouldn't, lit things on fire that they shouldn't and lived places they shouldn't. That's what people do - we assume we'll all be irresponsible at some point and we promise to help each other out when it happens.

Now, considering the fact that people get HIV from monogamous relationships with people who've gotten it elsewhere, get HIV from transfusions, etc., let me ask this -- who is this guy and how did he get elected into office?

[AndyA]

8. As is the case with most Republicans, Sen. Schultheis is back woods

ape shit crazy. I wonder if there was some inbreeding a few generations back that has resulted in today's Republicans?

Or are they really just that stupid? :shrug:

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

9. You've got a bunch of real winners out there, Colorado. nt

[PVnRT]

10. EVERYONE should be outraged by that

Disgusting - women don't deserve to be protected because they don't conform to his idiotic little fundie Christian ideals? I think he should be punished for stupidity.

[gratuitous]

16. Yes, the outrage shouldn't be confined to Democrats

Any human being with a scrap of a sense of decency should be outraged as well by these callous comments. So that pretty much lets out any registered Republicans. But there are plenty of independents who take offense to this hateful gibberish.

[Mariana]

11. Let me guess: This ass also claims to be "Pro-Life"

Am I right?

[Bluebear]

14. But of course!

[olegramps]

12. No one should be surprised. He hails from Colo. Spgs.

Colorado Springs is the hot bed of Republicans and Christian Fundamentalists. It is the the home of Focus on the Family nitwits and numerous Pentecostal and Mega-fundamentalist churches. It is highly pro-military with the Air Force Academy and Fort Carson close by and with a large retired military contingent. There has been problems at both Ft. Carson and the Air Academy with Christian Fundamentalist proselytizing. Strangely in this Christian charged atmosphere of holiness the Academy has had numerous cases of rape of female cadets and degrading behavior toward women. Seems they go hand-in-hand.

[Solly Mack]

13. Twisted little fuck isn't he

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. In a big stupid way

x(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. as an atheists these things make me hope the theists are right about hell. nt

[ljm2002]

17. Another thing that is wrong with his "reasoning"...

...is that the immoral behavior, assuming it exists at all, may not have been on her part. I've known women whose husbands were stepping out on them with men. I've met women who contracted HIV because of this. One was in a writing class with me. She was taking the writing class so that she could write her own autobiography and also a daily journal, that she could give as parting gifts to hand to her children.

In any case, we do not withhold life-saving procedures from people because some throwback thinks their behavior may have been immoral by his own psychotic, punitive standards.

Well, not if we're civilized, anyway.

But then again who was it who said, "The U.S. is the first nation to have gone direct from barbarism to decadence, with no intervening period of civilization."?? Yep, that's US.

[DearAbby]

19. No one is crazier

than the Bubble brains Republicans in Colorado Springs...Pro Life?