Misogynist-in-chief

So McCain had a ton of low points in last night's final presidential debate. It's tough to pinpoint the absolute worst one but for my money, it was this nugget of pure unadulterated misogyny:

Just again, an example of the eloquence of Sen. Obama. He's for the 'health of the mother.' You know, that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything.

Which he put in air quotes, no less. Nice job, McCain. In that moment he made the Republican party's rabid anti-choice agenda crystal clear. All American women in their reproductive years need to listen to what McCain says here, and more importantly, watch the video. Look at this man's face and tell me what you see there doesn't terrify you if you are a woman who could potentially develop a pregnancy that results in a life-threatening condition!

Understand what he's saying--he's saying the health of the mother doesn't matter. If you or I end up with an ectopic pregnancy, according to McCain, that's tough luck for us. The fertilized egg cannot survive an ectopic pregnancy under any circumstances, but the mother can, and often does, become infertile after suffering this condition. Or, in some cases, if she defers medical treatment, she can die.

But that's OK with John McCain. This now-dead woman might have other kids who are now motherless, but the important thing to this reprehensible man and his reprehensible party is she avoided having what in technical terms is an abortion. Even though the fertilized egg in question has no chance of becoming a fetus, let alone a viable baby. An ectopic pregnancy is a de facto miscarriage. Every time. But risking this mother's death by denying her medical help in this situation is just dandy with John McCain and the Republican party.

UPDATE: Plenty of others have picked up on this as well.