The Pro-Choice movement is losing steam

[madfloridian]

Actually it is easy to see why. Nearly all that young people hear on the topic is from the religious right. Few Democrats have really taken a stand on it. They don't have the background to know what it was like for women before Roe v Wade. They have nothing to which to compare it.

It is simply not on the agenda for many young women because they are mostly hearing one side. They do not understand the consequences.

There is a blog at Huffington Post telling about a luncheon for the pro-choice group NARAL. Sounds like they were pretty much on guard.

Pro-Choice movement is losing steam.

The Special Guest Speaker was Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, who mentioned that, unbelievably, some health insurers consider pregnancy a "preexisting condition." She had come from the White House not just to assure us that Obama "remains firmly pro-choice," but to note pointedly that "change does not come from the top down, but from the bottom up."

"Anti-choice lawmakers want an abortion ban in the new system," NARAL President Nancy Keenan warned us, and "we still don't have a pro-choice working majority." Keenan virtually apologized for casting a pall on our day; "It's enough to ruin your lunch," she said. And it was.

But NARAL is right to rattle our nerves. Nineteen states have anti-choice legislatures while only 12 states and the District of Columbia have pro-choice legislatures. In the U.S. House, there are 205 anti-choice congressmen compared to 185 pro-choice congressmen. In the Senate, there's an anti-choice majority too. This is all too easily forgotten when we're still slaphappy about getting Obama in the White House.

A Democratic White House and Congress, but more anti-choice congressman and senators than pro-choice ones. Here are some NARAL figures for the House and the Senate. They are alarming.

For the 111th Congress the figures are House Pro-choice 185, Mixed choice 46, Anti-choice 204. Sad.

For the 111th Senate the figures are Senate Pro-Choice 40, Mixed choice 19, Anti-choice 41. Better than the 110th, but still not good.

More from the Huff Post blog about the dinner:

Less than three weeks ago, the Pew Research Center announced that support for legal abortion has slipped in 2009. Since Obama became president, the number of people who support legal abortion has fallen from 54% to 47%. "Supporters of legalized abortion may have grown complacent," wrote Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times, covering a trend that has received much too little coverage.

At the same time there is this growing complacency, there is a growing generation of youngsters taking reproductive rights for granted. It's not their fault; they're just far removed from history.

Both houses of Congress anti-choice, and the president saying it will come from the bottom up, not the top down.

The Democratic committee chairs did nothing to support those candidates who were pro-choice. In fact in 2008 Dems supported financially 12 anti-choice to run in 2008

...."The anti-abortion pitch is standard fare in Alabama’s Second Congressional District, a deeply conservative area that President Bush carried twice and that has been represented in Washington by a Republican for four decades. What makes the spot unusual is that Mr. Bright is a Democrat. And that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has been pushing hard for Mr. Bright’s election, paid for it. In fact, Mr. Bright is one of a dozen anti-abortion Democratic challengers the party has recruited to run for the House this year and has aggressively supported with millions of dollars and other resources in culturally conservative districts long unfriendly to the party.

That is the highest number of anti-abortion candidates the party has fielded in recent memory to run either for open seats or against Republican challengers, according to party strategists and a leading anti-abortion organization.

That was done to free the party from having to stand for issues that would offend the right and keep us from winning.

I think no one has said it better since Barry Goldwater, and he hit the nail on the head.

Barry Goldwater said it best:

Barry Goldwater, 1981:

There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent.

If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism.'

Amen to that.

It is our fault that the complacency is setting in, I think. Young women are getting only one side of the issue.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Rights that were fought for...so tenaciously, and with so much sacrifice, are being

taken for granted by the later generations.

Women died so that women could vote. How many women do not even bother to vote?
All those rights and benefits that people died for as union organizers are taken for granted by today's young working people.
They do not even understand what was sacrificed for them to get paid vacations and paid sick days and holidays, and healthy work places.

This is very, very sad.

x(

[madfloridian]

2. Odd that support for choice went down when he took office.

I guess it has to be complacency.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. I don't believe that, not for a minute.

I question the way the poll was worded, for one.

Anyway, 1.2 Million people- the largest peaceable assembly on the mall EVER- showed up in April, 2004 to march for choice.

This meme that choice is "losing support"-- it's merely another in a long line of tired saws about the all-powerful "values voter". All-powerful, my ass.

If there is any complacency, (and don't get me wrong, it's something we should stay on top of) it's because people don't actually think the right to choose is in serious jeopardy. Ask people if they really think single cells should have rights under the 14th amendment, if they want women put in jail for abortions, or squads of forensic vagina inspectors like they have in El Salvador now--- and watch what the numbers do.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

5. I've gotta agree with your assessment

of Democrats not standing up and strongly articulating their position on this topic. I always think back to Kerry in the '04 debates when he was questioned on this topic - he pretty much apologized for thirty seconds for being pro-choice, stated he was pro-choice, and then spent the next 20 seconds apologizing for being pro-choice again. It was utterly pathetic...

[Warren DeMontague]

6. No doubt. We need to point out just how nutty the anti-choice zealots actually are.

For one, they'd like to outlaw not just abortion, but the pill, too. And after that, probably, by extension, all contraception.

[madfloridian]

7. Agreed that is what we need to do. But we are not.

:hi:

[Warren DeMontague]

11. I think some of the fear to engage on it is driven by this "all powerful values voter" nonsense, too

"Conventional wisdom" says you can't loudly stand up for reproductive rights, you might alienate these valuable members of the coalition who don't actually, um, exist.

Of course the conventional wisdom also said we'd never elect a president named "Barack Hussein Obama", too, so I'm not sure why they're still listening to that crap.

Off the subject, thanks for the thread. Important stuff, as always.

:hi:

[madfloridian]

28. That's sort of my point. Our side feels guilty for not being "good" or Christian enough.

The religious right has put us all on a guilt trip.

[Warren DeMontague]

31. Ceding the terms of the argument before we even start having it.

Sadly, we see a lot of that on our side.

[madfloridian]

46. Sadly that is true.

[madfloridian]

8. We let them set the agenda for too long.

True.

[redqueen]

23. +1

Pro choice Dems should start talking about the stuff in your last paragraph when this issue comes up in debates... and stop tiptoeing around the subject with the 'safe and rare' line.

[BrklynLiberal]

25. Yep. I was there!!!! Media coverage was nil.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. I was there, too. CNN spent the day talking about Estee Lauder's death.

And trolling NASCAR races for the elusive "NASCAR voter" who was invariably pro-Bush.

I don't remember ANY pro-choice marchers appearing on the big cable shows. Funny, though, all you have to do now is yell incoherently at a town hall on health care, and you get cable time. :shrug: :eyes:

[nxylas]

17. Did it?

According to the figures you posted, there are 20 more pro-choice representatives and 5 more pro-choice senators than in the previous Congress. How is that going down?

[madfloridian]

20. Yes, I saw that number....I was referring to the Pew poll.

AND it could also depend on how the poll was worded.

The tactics by the right have worked, though. They have made too many women feel shamed for even thinking of getting an abortion.

[SPedigrees]

3. I could not agree more. It is very sad. nt

[PeaceNikki]

16. This film should be required viewing in all high school American history classes

http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/cast/characters/alicepaul.html

[BrklynLiberal]

26. Awesome movie!!!

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Agreed.

Not only are our young women not voting and uninvolved in the pro-choice movement, they seem to be popping out babies faster and earlier than ever. And dropping out of school to do it ensuring life-long poverty for them and their children. They've never lived in a world in which it was near impossible to get birth control pills, much less a safe, legal abortion. Sadly, I guess they'll get a clue once those rights have been taken away. :mad:

[hamsterjill]

24. Well said!

Those rights will only be missed when they are no longer available.

I think, too, the cautiousness of so many of the Democratic politicians has played a major role. So many are quick to say, "I approve of a woman's right to choose, but I myself wouldn't have an abortion", etc. Rhetoric trying to appease both sides of the issue.

We need politicians who are willing to clearly stand up and say that a lack of choice results in dead pregnant women. End of story.

[saracat]

9. And to think our Government, which the Democratic Party controls, won't take a stand

I really am not sure what to believe in anymore. Is there anyone who supports us? And god forbid the WH should;d lead on this issue. "change comes from the bottom up", From Jarrett. Interesting way of phrasing an abdication of responsibility or leadership on this issue.

[madfloridian]

34. Good point.

We voted for change from "the top down."

I thought we did.

[KakistocracyHater]

10. calling it choice seems to disregard babies, calling it what it is-birth control

is much better. I've said it before: the religious right is calling regular bc pills "abortion", same delusional crazy-talk with condoms, they say it doesn't stop hiv transmission, claim condoms are totally useless.

Glamour magazine every now & then does have a single page where they talk about women's history, they mentioned how a woman needed a male so-signer to buy a house even into the 1970s, even if she was wealthy enough to buy it herself. Women working at banks had to wear a skirt into the 1990s, it was required. Griswold vs Connecticut is a good place to start, as is that college student who was pissed to watch viagra get immediate insurance coverage but not regular birth control pills, she's correct to be angry. Plus she isn't exactly old. Maybe if it's spread around that menstrual cramps were claimed to be imaginary by male doctors, it'd hit closer to home how stupid it is.

Only sometimes is it actually abortion & it is nothing like the right claims, with their same copy & paste bullshit from Clinton-era righties to the verbatim lies with Bush; it's not about fitting into your prom dress, but nothing gets thru to that crowd.

Also, calling it "choice" seems flimsy, negligible, & optional. Feelings count with most people. Margaret Sanger's mother died having baby #18 or so, right? So ask women how many of them would be willing to trade places with the 'octo-mom', what with her previous 6 being born consecutively, because it's there or using bc of some sort.

[PeaceNikki]

13. I don't understand most of this reply.

It *is* about choice. Calling it anything but that is dishonest.

[Codeine]

19. Wow. That's some crazy stream-of-consciousness stuff there, tiger. nt

[Solly Mack]

12. k/r

[theHandpuppet]

14. Young women don't remember what it was like before choice

And you are right -- all they hear these days is the anti-choice view. Beware these anti-choicers! Outlawing abortion is only a first step for that movement.

[madfloridian]

22. That is why those of us who do remember must speak out.

And I do remember.

[PeaceNikki]

15. Indeed. And we need to pay close attention to all of the anti-choice legislation that states are

trying to sneak in.

Oklahoma: http://msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=12003">Enforcement of Anti-Choice Oklahoma Law Delayed
Missouri: http://www.prochoicemissouri.org/issues/factsheets/200903191.shtml">Changes the laws regarding the consent requirements for obtaining an abortion and criminalizes abortions under certain circumstances.

In fact, http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/in_your_state/who-decides/introduction/key-findings-threats.html">states considered 502 anti-choice measures in 2008.

We can't be complacent and we can't let the http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/9/26/3754/33226">Trojan Donkeys infiltrate out party. The religious right already has a party that represents them - they need to stay the fuck out of ours.

[madfloridian]

21. Great post about the trojan donkeys. Adding to it with a page from NARAL

There are tremendous restrictions on abortion in most states already.

There is a chart linked there which shows all the states and their restrictions. We are dreaming if we think we are a pro-choice nation.

[krabigirl]

27. I know many women in their 20s, and all of them are pro-choice. (more)

However, they just take it for granted.

[madfloridian]

30. Yes, that is what I meant by "losing steam". Taking it for granted.

The right wing rhetoric has worked. I do believe most Democrats are "mostly" pro-choice. But it hinges on their electability at the moment...unfortunately.

[liberal_at_heart]

29. I have talked to my daughter alot about this subject

She is old enough to make her own decisions and she has decided that she thinks it is wrong to have an abortion. I allow her to be a free thinker so I don't challenge her on this. She is atheist so she came to this conclusion by herself. No religious brainwashing. It's just her opinion. I do have conversations with her about things that pro-life movement doesn't cover like when a pregnant woman't life is in danger due to the pregnancy, like access to birth control, sexual education, social and financial help for low-income pregnant women who chose to keep their babies, and encouraging more people to adopt. This she agrees with me on. If we ever have resrictions put on abortion there absolutely has to be provisions for the mother's health if her life is in danger, more access to birth control, more sexual education, financial help for low-income pregnant women who want to keep their babies, and more people have to be willing to adopt. I have also talked to my daughter and told her to be cautious because the conservatives are already denying freedom to gay people and it might not be long before they try to take away women's rights as well starting with birth control.

[Blue State Blues]

33. Related article: Pro-Life Pretense

On Huffington Post today

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cristina-page/pro-life-pretense_b_331070.html

Explores the contradictions between the movement's support of crisis-pregnancy centers that convince women to carry pregnancies to term by referring them to the network of social services that will support them and the legislators and pro-life organizations that work to de-fund those same social services.

[fascisthunter]

35. every female I have asked claims to be pro-choice

even those who claim they wouldn't get one, but would still like the choice.

[bertman]

36. I grew up in the Bad Old Days of back-alley abortions and finding doctors who would

perform abortions illegally. That is an era to which America must never return.

Thank you for reminding us that we are being defeated by a stealth campaign that has infiltrated the highest ranks of the Democratic Party. Isn't our DNC Chairman Pro-Mandatory Pregnancy?

Recommend.

(Time to send in my NARAL donation)

[dysfunctional press]

37. being a vasectomized male- it just isn't my issue.

my main concerns lie elsewhere.

[intheflow]

38. It's because we've called it a "choice" not a RIGHT!

I hate that term, choice, because it's as polite and milquetoast and unambiguous as saying gay people are living a lifestyle choice! :puke:

It's not about the woman's right to choose whether or not to keep a fetus, it's about a woman's right to control her own body! Once we abdicated that argument, once we gave up that basic human right--to control one's own body and destiny--by coyly referring to it as a choice, we elevated a (undevelped human) fetus' rights above a (fully developed) woman's human rights.

[Greyhound]

39. I have to agree. n/t

[undeterred]

40. And some Democratic men are more than willing to compromise

on this issue. After all, nobody is threatening their freedom to make medical choices.

[Zomby Woof]

41. A kick from a NARAL member

[Neitzluber]

42. The job never ends!

We must continue to work hard to promote liberal causes. Getting Obama into the White House is an useless achievement if we can't get progressive policy promoted!

[madfloridian]

45. I agree.

The rights of women and the rights of gays appear to have been expendable.

[snake in the grass]

43. Where have the Goldwaters gone?

Do they now call themselves "Blue Ball" Democrats?

[defendandprotect]

44. k i c k

[BlancheSplanchnik]

47. We need to emphasize the danger to women (warning-pics)

To my mind, it's not a matter of "choice" or even "rights to privacy".

It is LIFE or agonizing, ugly DEATH for women, and in an age where people don't read or think, but merely take their emotional cues from sensational pictures, we need to emphasize the ugly reality for women when our bodies are handed over to misogynistic ideologues with no understanding of reality. WOMEN"S LIVES MATTER!!

(nota bene: When I googled this, MOST of the links were anti-abortion, demonizing the procedure and filled with gruesome pictures of fetuses. Only three that I found focused on WOMEN and the threat to OUR lives. If Google is a barometer of current attitudes, then such is the propagandized zeitgeist at the moment: hate for women who kill babies)

The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs

COMPLICATIONS A woman in Berega, Tanzania, who sought care after a botched abortion. In Tanzania, where abortion is illegal, the maternal death rate is high in part because of failed abortions.
<snip>
Abortion is illegal in Tanzania (except to save the mother’s life or health), so women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally. Infections, bleeding and punctures of the uterus or bowel can result, and can be fatal. Doctors treating women after these bungled attempts sometimes have no choice but to remove the uterus.
<snip>
Worldwide, there are 19 million unsafe abortions a year, and they kill 70,000 women (accounting for 13 percent of maternal deaths), mostly in poor countries like Tanzania where abortion is illegal, according to the World Health Organization. More than two million women a year suffer serious complications. According to Unicef, unsafe abortions cause 4 percent of deaths among pregnant women in Africa, 6 percent in Asia and 12 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02abort.html

The above article from NYTimes conveniently avoids drawing parallels to U.S. and the consequences of banning abortion.

Here, snips from an essay even more to the point and heartbreaking:

In much of the United States, abortion is already inaccessible. The days of the illegal, botched abortion are here. We don't have to wait for Alito to vote to overturn Roe v Wade, the Culture of Death has already put abortion out of reach of those who most need it in large parts of the country.

Soon, this will once more be a common occurrence:

That was Gerri Santoro. She died in 1964, when she was 28. She was a mother of two and she bled to death from a botched abortion attempt. Read her story here.

The so-called "right-to-life" people want more Gerri Santoros. And they'll get them.
http://www.exit.com/blog/archives/frank/000417.html

Blog: Online WIth Zoe
Love With The Proper Stranger
-- link doesn't work..the picture is an illustration, not especially horrifying, but still, most women will feel the distress.

<snip>
If you were born before 1956, chances are you know a woman who had an illegal abortion; maybe even a woman who died from a botched abortion. I do. And if you were born after 1972 it is just so much nostalgia unless, of course, you live in a state that has no providers, or you have no money, or you have to work, or you can't tell your family, or you are afraid of protesters, or you believe in a god that tracks and punishes such things.
<snip>
I have been having this reoccurring daymare (not nightmare) that the Right to Life leaders have decided to infiltrate the US Media. First they made, Knocked Up, a fun light romantic comedy with a star from Gray's Anatomy. Recently they made Juno which extols the pivotal insight that Juno's unborn baby has nails. How many thousands of born children with nails are starving, have HIV and/or are dying. How many Iraqi's have nails - ah but I digress.
http://www.onlinewithzoe.com/2008/01/the-60s-hit-par.html