Hillary Knows Barack Supports Women's Rights

Hillary supports Barack because she wants women's rights. And so does he.

Should the state control female sexuality? Should the government control a woman’s ability to reproduce? Or should the woman control her own body? This is the defining issue of our era.

Both Islamic Fundamentalists and Christian Fundamentalists may go to war over whose God is supreme, but there is one subject on which they both agree: state control of a woman’s body. From Osama bin Laden to George W. Bush, throw in the warlords of Afghanistan, Pope John Paul II and the mullahs of Iran—if you are a woman, they all want control--of your body. And now there is another man clamoring to join the club. All together now: it is John McCain.

Because McCain will continue Bush policies with regard to women’s rights, lets take a quick refresher. In 2003 George W. Bush cut off funding for a highly praised AIDS program for refugees from Africa and Asia because one member of the non-profit consortium running the project was also working with a UN program that was accused, falsely, of colluding with China's policy of forced abortions. Who suffered? The poor in Angola, Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Eritrea, and other poverty-stricken areas around the globe.

Bush also cut off all U.S. funding to countless family planning services in the poorest regions of the world. This ban applied to any clinic that so much as mentioned abortion as an option to its clients, even if the agency itself did not provide abortions or referrals - – and even if the woman had been raped or she might die in childbirth.

Clinics were also cut off, if its workers took part in lobbying campaigns to secure legal abortion in their countries. Many of these clinics provided the only maternal and post-natal care available for millions of destitute women and their children. They were the only place where the world's most downtrodden and uneducated women could receive information about reproduction and birth control, or treatment for AIDs, genital mutilation and rape.

All across Africa and Asia, these clinics closed. How many thousands of women and children died needlessly? Bush made America an ally in the war against women, and in the quest for state control of women’s bodies. To this end the Bush administration regularly formed alliances with Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other repressive states to derail treaties on women's rights.

Bush's war on women

Now listen to the words of John McCain:

If I am fortunate enough to be elected as the next President of the United States, I pledge to you to be a loyal and unswerving friend of the right to life movement.

[Statement by Sen. McCain read by Sen. Sam Brownback at the March for Life in Washington, DC, January 22, 2008.]

The rights of the unborn is one of my most important values.

[Transcript, Hardball with Chris Matthews, April 15, 2008.]

I’m proud that we have Justice Alito and Roberts on the United States Supreme Court. I’m very proud to have played a very small role in making that happen." McCain explained further that he "will try to find clones of Alito and Roberts" to fill future court vacancies.

{[Transcript, Republican Presidential Candidates Participate in a Debate, May 3, 2007 and Carl Tobias, On judges, don’t doubt McCain’s conservatism: He pledges to appoint clones of Alito and Roberts, Christian Science Monitor, February 11, 2008.]

On the Federal Abortion Ban, Sen. McCain said:

Today's Supreme Court ruling is a victory for those who cherish the sanctity of life and integrity of the judiciary. The ruling ensures that an unacceptable and unjustifiable practice will not be carried out on our innocent children. It also clearly speaks to the importance of nominating and confirming strict constructionist judges who interpret the law as it is written, and do not usurp the authority of Congress and state legislatures. As we move forward, it is critically important that our party continues to stand on the side of life.

[Press release, April 18, 2007 (accessed February 4, 2008).4/18 press release

Sen. McCain said that he has supported

the rights of the unborn for 24 years without changing, without wavering.

[Michael Finnegan, Republicans Enter the Ring in Iowa; At a Key Party Dinner, Frontrunners for the Presidential Nomination Take a Beating From Lesser-Known Rivals, L.A. Times, April 15, 2007.]

When asked about whether he supported supplying condoms to Africa to assist in the fight against HIV/AIDS, McCain had the following exchange with a reporter:
Reporter: "What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?"
Mr. McCain: (Long pause)

Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.

Reporter: "So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?"
Mr. McCain: (Long pause)

You've stumped me.

[Adam Nagourney, McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention, The New York Times, March 16, 2007.]

I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned.

[Ann Althouse, Rudy & Mitt Hem & Haw on Abortion, The New York Times, February 24, 2007.]

Sen. McCain's 2008 presidential campaign website states that he believes

Roe v. Wade is a flawed decision that must be overturned.

[John McCain for President 2008 campaign website, On the Issues: Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life (accessed February 4, 2008.)

mccain issues

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Contrast these statements with those of Barack Obams’s on women’s rights:

A woman's ability to decide how many children to have and when, without interference from the government, is one of the most fundamental rights we possess. It is not just an issue of choice, but equality and opportunity for all women.
I have consistently advocated for reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as President. I oppose any constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling in this case.

obama defends choice

Obama has received a 100% score from NARAL ProChoice.

I believe that few women make the decision to terminate a pregnancy casually; that any pregnant woman feels the full force of the moral issues involved when making that decision… I fear a ban on abortion would force women to seek unsafe abortions, as they had once done in this country. I think instead we could agree on ways to reduce the number of women who feel the need to have abortions in the first place.

[From The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p. 197-198 Oct. 1, 2006.]

Obama has received a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood.

To learn more about Barack Obama's committment to women’s rights: women's issues

Now I ask you? Can anyone who supported Hillary for President in good conscience support John McCain? I don’t think so. Supporting McCain is like slapping her in the face while ignoring everything she has stood for her entire political life. Hillary knows what is at stake. And it isn’t only the rights of Amrican women. It is millions of women all over the globe who are counting on the USA going back into the women’s rights business.