Best and Worst of 2014: “Really?!” Moment of the Year

We asked, you voted, and the results are in for Planned Parenthood Action Fund's Best and Worst of 2014. Now, while we usually celebrate the heroes who inspired us and the leaders who took bold steps to protect women's health and rights, we just had to tip our hats to the chumps who — for better or for worse (a lot worse) — made this a year one we can’t forget.

Without further ado, the award for “Really?!” of the Year goes to:

Republican National Leaders

at the RNC for Their

Hyprocracy on Equal Pay

The Republican National Committee (RNC) won this dubious distinction for claiming to support equal pay for women just weeks before a large majority of Republicans in Congress voted to block equal pay legislation. 

Here’s what happened: Just two weeks before Senate Republicans blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act in a near unanimous vote, the RNC tweeted a graphic saying “ALL Republicans support equal pay.” Huh? Maybe they didn’t realize that stuff like tweets and congressional votes are public…

See All the Nominees

With so many doozies from out-of-touch politicians, it was hard to pick just one! Here’s the full lineup, but be careful not to hurt your neck from shaking your head:

Mike Huckabee said that the Affordable Care Act’s provision giving women access to no-copay birth control was created because women “cannot control their own libido.”

 

Colorado U.S. Senator-elect Cory Gardner, denying on multiple occasions the existence of the federal “personhood” bill that would ban abortion and could interfere with access to birth control (which he co-sponsored in Congress): “There is no federal personhood bill.”

 

Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott, on Texas’ extreme abortion restrictions making safe and legal abortion virtually impossible to access for many women: It’s “an inconvenience, but still a manageable one.”

 

Missouri Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger compared abortion decisions to buying a car and installing carpet in defending his bill that forces Missouri women to wait three days and have a government mandated ultrasound before an abortion: “There’s lots of things I do going into a decision — whether that’s a car, whether that’s a house, whether that’s any major decision that I make in my life. Even carpeting. You know, I was just considering getting some carpeting in my house. That process probably took a month. I wanted to be as informed as possible, and that’s what this bill is, having them get as much information as possible.”

The Winners

Check out the complete list of winners in all of our Best and Worst of 2014 categories!

Tags: Republicans, GOP, Greg Abbott, Mike Huckabee, Best of 2014, Chuck Gatschenberger, Cory Gardner, equal pay