Today, the freshly minted Senator Al Franked had his amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill pass. This amendment, which even enjoyed the support of some Republicans, withheld defense contracts from organizations that in any way, shape, or form attempted to stop employees from taking sexual harassment/assault cases to court.

The amendment was not, however, supported by all Republican members of the Senate. While I would absolutely love to take all of these folks to task, one name stood out to me as a Kansan who is interested in the upcoming 2010 election cycle: Senator Sam Brownback.

Yes, that's right. The man who wants to be the Governor of Kansas is opposed to preventing sexual assault.

Furthermore, I believe that one must analyze this vote alongside a record that seems to be predominately anti-woman. Anyone who knows anything about Senator Brownback knows that he is a staunch pro-life politician with a commitment toward ensuring life for all unborn children.

To all those female children that he "saves" :

I'm sorry to say that Senator Brownback is only going to be your advocate until you're actually born. Aren't you shocked? When you were a fetus he seemed like your best friend, but now that you're in this world I can only imagine how lonely it feels to be without the good Senator by your side. Before, it really seemed like he wanted you to have a fair shake in life... but now it just kind of feels like he doesn't care too much about what happens to you. I'm sure that it's hard to understand, but I guess once you're born, Senator Brownback can just pat himself on the back and move on. What happens to you isn't anywhere near as important as making sure you're around to experience it. So what if you get gang-raped by your co-workers? He made sure you were here, dammit! That's all that it really takes to make him feel good about himself.

Let us also remember that this isn't the first time that the Senator has voted in a blatantly anti-woman way. In the past, he has voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Act, the Equal Pay Bill, and a key amendment that transferred money to the Women's Educational Equity account.

I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised by Senator Brownback's vote against the Franken amendment. In the past we've all seen how Brownback easily supports big business over the basic rights of women. Why would I assume that he would support a woman's physical safety over business' best interest? After all, it isn't as though he actually cares about his constituents.