AboutDanielle Expertise I can answer questions regarding medical and surgical abortion, questions about abortion in general, like moral and religious issues concerning the procedure. I'm happy to answer questions, have discussions, and provide further information, like pro-choice websites and organizations.
Experience I have people close to me who have gotten abortions, I know the current abortion issues, and I have researched abortion in depth for a long time.
Question QUESTION: Hello there. As a woman and a strong supporter of choice, I was very excited when it was announced that Barack Obama was elected President! I know there was a lot of concern by women's rights and pro-choice advocates that if McCain/Palin were elected, it could quite possibly mean an end to Roe V Wade. I couldn't believe my ears when Palin spoke of how she didn't support improving access to emergency contraception for rape victims, and wouldn't even support a woman's right to choose in cases of rape or incest! How outrageous! It baffles me how any self-respecting woman with even an ounce of intelligence could have voted for those two.
I have two questions. The first is do you think their stance on the abortion issue(which was very much out of touch with mainstream voters) contributed to their failure? And secondly, what do you think the election of Obama means for the future of a woman's right to choose? I have heard that Obama intends to reverse the Global Gag rule! This is so exciting. I must admit that I am feeling quite smug right about now! The anti-choice REALLY thought this was going to be their big break, but American women proved today that we are NOT going to tolerate any attacks on our hardwon rights and freedom. I am so proud to be a woman today!
Sincerely,
Michelle
ANSWER: Hi Michelle :)!
Me too! One of the things that came to my mind was "Roe v. Wade is going to be ok!" I have the utmost confidence that the Supreme Court justices Obama will nominate will uphold women's right to choose. I know, Palin's position is appalling. She didn't want to "burden" the taxpayers for rape victim's rape kits. Whenever I hear someone in support of that team, I can't help but think they really must not care about women. It's one thing to be against abortion, it's another to impose that on everyone else. It always saddens me that in this day and age, my uterus is still appearing on ballots.
I definitely think it alienated people. Many mistakenly thought McCain was pro-choice b/c of that "maverick" image he was putting out there. Early on, Planned Parenthood started alerting voters and saying "hey, this guy is NOT pro-choice or anything close." And when voters learned that, there was a shift to Obama, especially among women. And then Palin was added to the ticket, and I'd bet there's many out there against abortion, but not in cases of rape and incest. Oh!! And the final straw had to be John McCain putting women's health into air quotes. That was completely disgusting. I certainly hope they lost voters on because of their stance on the abortion issue.
I'm so happy about it! And I forgot about his position on the Gag Rule, but that would help so many people, it's amazing. Especially since he'll be electing at least two supreme court justices...that will shape this country's future for a long, long time to come. To have confidence that Roe v. Wade will be safe, and more can be done about birth control access and health care...YESSSSSS! Hah, it's all i can say. It's barely sunk in on me that Obama was elected. Such a long ride to this election day, and after eight years of being heartbroken after those elections, this is so incredible. Me too! I saw a sign that said "Mess with a woman's right to choose, and in November you shall lose!" I couldn't be happier how true that has proven to be.
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QUESTION: I am still in shock too. I can't believe we did it! I am so proud of Barack Obama and the American people, particularly all the women who stood up against McCain/Palin and let their voices be heard. McCain thought he was so smart choosing Sarah Palin, but it ended up backfiring on him! God, he must really think American women are stupid if he believed they would mistake Palin for Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has a longstanding history of standing up for the rights of women and children.
I am in total agreement with your comment that anyone who votes for McCain/Palin must not care about women's rights. There was some talk in the media about "single issue voters" referring of course to the abortion issue, and I even had friends and colleages accuse me of being a "single issue voter" who wasn't looking at the bigger picture.
I couldn't help but be offended by that. They were in effect trivializing an issue of great importance. As you stated, the next President will have the opportunity to elect at least two justices to the Supreme Court. This was a very crucual election! I believe in my heart that if they had been elected, we would have woke up to the headlines "Roe V Wade overturned". The thought is too frightening to imagine. So it WAS a very important issue. Also, in my experience one can tell a lot about the respect(or lack of respect) a candidate has for women and whether he/she will be a champion of women's rights based on their position on abortion. No one with any respect for women would even fathom making abortion illegal again, even if they personally didn't believe in it. How can we call a woman who would stand by and support a man for President who aspires to take us back to the times of back alley, botched abortions a "feminist"? Outrageous!
John McCain proved he had no respect for women and the difficult choices we sometimes face, when he mocked those women who had been faced with the decision to terminate a pregnancy in order to preserve their health. Sickening.
I think we can look forward to a lot of positive change in the upcoming four years. Obama won by a landslide, which suggests that the American people were tired of Bush and wanted something different. The anti choice folks are definitely crying tonight! LOL
I heard that about rape victims being charged for rape kits. How awful! What's next? The families of murder victims being charged for the collection of DNA evidence, and having to hire a lawyer to prosecute the case? Give me a break. People are all for cutting taxes, but I don't think they fully realize what that means. Taxes are what cover the cost of the social programs and other things(like policing!) that we rely on.
You know what I don't get? Why would Palin have a problem with ECP? I mean, even if she is against abortion, ECP does NOT cause an abortion. It is simply a higher dose of birth control right? One would THINK that she would at least support improving access to birth control. It smacks of a hidden agenda. Their whole world view is based on the belief that women were meant to be mothers. It's very outdated, and ironic coming from a woman who obviously had her own career aspirations and has definitely NOT taken on the traditional role in her marriage.
Michelle
Answer Last night it still hadn't sunk in at all. I remember after the 2004 election I ended up crying because of how upset I was, and I thought "I can't wait until I can cry because a Democrat won." It's just so surreal to me. oh yea, picking Palin was just offensive. That assumes that the only reason people supported Hillary was because she's a woman, not having anything to do with her positions.
It's hard to overlook reproductive choice. Especially with the Supreme Court justices retiring soon. If people want to call me a single issue voter, fine. I'm not going to overlook something so real and crucial to my future. Oh god. Yea, after they supreme court justices had been appointed, some state would have tried banning abortion, then that case gets taken all the way to the supreme court, and they overturn Roe v. Wade. Scary. I can't stand when people say "it should be left to the states!" Controlling your body isn't a state's rights issue! I was really glad when Obama pointed that out at the last debate. Yes, and Obama/Biden have the strongest platform on women's rights in history! I'm so glad. Yeah, and I know Biden personally believes life begins at conception, but we don't see him trying to outlaw abortion. If you're against it, fine, but don't impose that on others. You can't say "I'm a feminist but I also want to control what you do with your body."
He won big! And it was over pretty early too, it wasn't an all nighter like I remember 2004 being. Even in places where McCain won, he underperformed Bush.
Yeah. Although rape is thought of so differently, for some reason. People always find a way to blame it on the woman, which sickens me. But if someone gets mugged, we don't blame them for that, because they aren't to blame. I also don't think they quite understand the importance of taxes. So, tax dollars can go to crisis pregnancy centers where women are coerced into not having abortions, but they can't pay for rape kits? Great.
Yeah, for some reason so many people believe it's the "abortion pill." I remember having to point out to my boyfriend that it's just my birth control pills in a much higher dose. It prevent the ovaries from releasing an egg, and if a fertilized egg is already implanted, it won't have any effect. Oh, people like her make no sense. They're against abortion, and also birth control. It's about controlling women's bodies and sexuality. And Palin has benefited so much from feminism! Like being able to play sports in high school, run for governor, etc. All thanks to feminism.
