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You are here: Experts > Health/Fitness > Women's Health > Abortion - Pro Choice Views > Abortion and the election
Expert: Danielle - 11/5/2008
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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