In honor of the Democratic Convention, I am breaking my No POTUS rule to remind everyone (and by everyone I mean women) why Obama should be elected this coming November.
The Bush Administration has decided to unilaterally redefine what constitutes an abortion based on religious tenets rather than accepted medical/scientific fact. The unilateral part shouldn’t surprise anyone. When hasn’t the Bush Administration pandered and subverted in its own best interests?
What should alarm us, even those of us with sincere religious beliefs, is that the definition is so broad that it will effectively bar women from obtaining prescription birth control and will have a profoundly negative effect on research into a variety of health issues from infertility to stem cell therapy to cancer.
I have thought all along that the Pro-Lifers’ real target was the denial of birth control to as many women of child bearing age as possible. The conservative right cannot hope to force us back to the never existed at all hey-day of Reagan’s imaginary America if women are able to control their own reproductive processes.
It’s all about shoving the horse back through a closed barn door, people. It won’t be pretty. And don’t think for a minute that a McCain regime will roll any of this back.
The right in the U.S. are all about stripping women of any and all rights we have gained since the early 1970’s, and McCain especially is hoping that women aren’t looking up his real voting but instead are blinding by his ad campaign. The man is not a maverick. He is a slave to his party and its base – ultra conservatives – and a religious right so fanatical that Islamic jihadists could learn things from them.
Freedom is at stake this election but not in Iraq, ladies.
anniegirl1138 
can’t waste my vote, despite frustrations with the dems in general.
i still wonder what happened to the republican party who preached fiscal responsibility, balanced budget and A SMALL GOVERNMENT THAT STAYED OUT OF OUR BUSINESS… let alone our freakin’ uterus.
Well said, Annie. From this day, as we celebrate 88 years of women having the right to vote, until the election we need to inform ourselves about the issues and the candidates so we elect those who will ensure that women retain the rights we have worked so hard to secure. Don’t believe the ads – money buys tv time and they can say anything they want. Check voting records and read party platforms. For political news and commentary I watch Public Television because they present views from both sides.
I agree with Dolce. If we elect a Neanderthal, (oh, wait, that’s an insult to Neanderthals. I think they were more evolved than the Religious Reich.)what can our sisters in countries where female circumcision and other atrocities expect but more of the same?
Sari, that is the article. Basically Bush is using healthcare workers who are pro-life as an excuse to change the medical definition of when life begins. In doing so, he is allowing healthcare workers not just to opt out of performing abortions but also it allows them to deny birth control access to women because some feel that they are also causing abortions by not allowing fertilized eggs to implant. And honestly, some forms of birth control do this.
Thing is, how free are we as women if we are not considered mentally capable of controlling our own reproductive system? That is what it gets down to. It’s never been about babies. If the Right cared about babies and children, would we have the screwed up foster care system we do? Or the chronically underfunded education system? Of the lack of universal healthcare – for children at least? Or a legal system which barely punishes child abuse?
No, we wouldn’t.
It is about CONTROL. They want to make it difficult or impossible for women to keep from getting pregnant. Pregnancy and childbirth are huge impediments to continuing education and establishing careers. No big deal there, you think? But it is. Women need good and continuing educations in order to secure jobs with things like health care for themselves and their children. They need to be able to have children they can afford to care for.
Abstinence is fine for young teens. It will never work for adults. And they know it.
Well, he’s certainly got my vote! I’m also happy with Joe Biden as his VP. A very smart pick. That guy talks a pretty good game and I’m looking forward to the VP debates. It’ll be interesting to see how the Democrats screw it up. Don’t worry. They will.
Annie that article you linked isn’t there any
more, all I see is something about Bush wants
to protect healthcare workers who refuse to
take part in abortions? Or some vague
reference to that.
I’m pro-life, but I have no problem with
birth control for those who want it (that’s
contraceptives, NOT abortions). I WANT to
vote for Obama, I think we are all ready for
changes, but blogs like this one scare me into
thinking maybe I should just vote Republican
for only that one issue. ???
No real point to this comment other than, I
guess I’m confused.
Jesus. It scares the shite out of me that the rest of the world has no say in who you vote in as the unofficial leader of the free world. I hate to say it, but if America rolls back on women’s rights, what hope do the women of many african and middle eastern countries have.
Sheeesh.