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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

As long as they don't tip over into deciding that a woman is just a vessel for 9 months, I'm in favor of this
Posted by Jill | 6:21 AM
I'd like to believe that this is throwing down the gauntlet to the fundie wingnut groups that are now not just targeting abortion, but also contraception:

The promise may not outlast their political honeymoon, but Democratic Congressional leaders say they are committed to governing from the center, and not just on bread-and-butter issues like raising the minimum wage or increasing aid for education. They also hope to bring that philosophy to bear on some of the most divisive social issues in politics, like abortion.

In their first days in session, Senate Democratic leaders reintroduced a bill that they said was indicative of their new approach: the Prevention First Act, which seeks to reduce the number of abortions by expanding access to birth control, family planning and sex education.


For right-wing groups to oppose legislation designed to reduce the need for abortions is to pull off their mask of "caring about the unborn" and show them for the moral meddlers they are. Of course, we already know what these groups and their adherents think of the so-called "contraception culture", but I'm not sure the world at large does. So this kind of legislation, which provides women (and presumably men) with the tools they need to prevent unwanted pregnancy is definitely something to applaud.

As long as they stop there.

The question is how far Democrats are willing to go in this effort to find "common ground." For those so-called pro-lifers who genuinely want to reduce the number of abortions, reducing the need for them is just common sense. But lurking under the surface of most of the pro-life movement is a "punish-the-evil-unchaste-sluts" sentiment that legislation like this does nothing to address.

It's unlikely that a Democratic Congress is going to be able to accomplish things like expanding access to health care for babies and children, or making the workplace friendlier to these new moms, or expanding nutrition programs for low-income mothers, or any other programs that might help women who do not abort manage their new life as parents. So as far as I'm concerned, any Democrat that takes even one step towards reducing access to abortion in an effort to placate the most irrational element of a right wing that isn't going to vote for them anyway is going to lose MY vote.
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