Since his standing with women has been abysmal overall, Trump is attempting to make up some of the difference between him and his female opponent by appearing pro-woman.

Conservative women should pay no attention.

Donald Trump has a well-known history of insulting women, but he is disrespectful to many groups of people, so this is no surprise. His recent policy proposals, and statements on issues which concern women, attempt to be sympathetic to the female cause, but they are not small government, pro-responsibility ideas. In other words, he is acting like a liberal. But we knew he was one, anyway.

This week, Trump unveiled his plan to help mothers and families with children.

From U.S. News & World Report:

Trump introduced a set of policy proposals aimed at reforming child care and “empowering parents.” The plan calls for six weeks guaranteed maternity leave, a tax deduction for up to four children, new savings accounts and child care spending rebates. Ivanka Trump, the candidate’s daughter and mother of three, helped develop the plan, a notable break with GOP orthodoxy on family leave that the campaign hopes will resonate with younger, more educated female voters. The country must “catch up with the times,” Ivanka Trump told Fox News.

You can always spot a liberal by their insistence that we must “catch up with the times”. After all, it’s 2016, everyone. Be progressive.

The problem I have with guaranteed maternity leave is that it is absolutely not the government’s or your employer’s responsibility to cover that time period for you. If your employer automatically funds your weeks of leave, that is one thing. But asking taxpayers to fund that time for you is not small government. If there’s anything we should reject, it’s big government stepping even further in to the family dynamic. We don’t need the village raising the children.

Many employers already provide maternity leave for their female employees. If you would like it covered and work for someone who won’t cover those weeks, no one is stopping you from looking elsewhere for employment. I don’t believe businesses should be financially burdened due to an employee’s personal choice to increase the size of their family. The Family & Medical Leave Act  already provides necessary protection from employment termination due to the birth and care of a child. Furthermore, the explanation from the Trump camp on how guaranteed leave will be covered is nonsensical. As Leon Wolf pointed out here, Trump’s plan is Democratic-like wishful thinking. The math just doesn’t make sense.

Another liberal move occurred during Trump’s appearance on the Dr. Oz show. When asked about birth control, Trump said the following.

“I think what we have in birth control is, you know, when you have to get a prescription, that’s a pretty tough something to climb,” he said. “And I would say it should not be a prescription, it should not be done by prescription.”

He went on to say that “you have women that just aren’t able to go get a prescription. So and more and more people are coming out and saying that, but I am not in favor of prescription for birth control.”

Trump’s support for over-the-counter contraceptive access seems to be at odds with the Republican party’s current platform, however.

Such a statement shows a fundamental lack of understanding about the issue at hand. Access to prescriptions/healthcare isn’t the same as health, something both Trump and Obamacare cheerleaders fail to grasp. Birth control, such as pills and patches, are highly powerful, hormone-filled medications, and should only be granted under a doctor’s supervision. They are widely available once you go through the proper channels. Those channels are there for a reason. Teenage girls and adult women should absolutely have to go to a doctor to obtain something that will so dramatically affect their bodies and may cause extreme side effects. Requiring a prescription also promotes pro-life, reproductive responsibility, something sorely lacking among the “catch up with the times” discussions of 2016.

Although he is the official GOP nominee, Trump sure acts like a liberal female. He’s trying to capture the chick vote by promoting female-focused policies which promote neither small government nor personal responsibility. Conservative women should demand better, and steer clear.