Speak Up

mass email from Gloria

Below is a mass email I received. Ms. Steinem makes some valid points on the current political scene so asking for feedback on this blog seems appropriate. Comments anyone?

Lynda Koemm
Graduate Instructor
Assistant Course Coordinator Rhet1101
Department of Rhetoric
University of Minnesota

Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 21:26:46 -0500

My friend,

As I sat in front of my television and watched George W. Bush's
convention last week -- perhaps the most expensive display of false
advertising in history -- the sense of urgency we face this November
struck me with full force.

"We must make a place for the unborn," Bush said earnestly.

But if they're born female, their place is far less secure. The
Republican Party, under Bush's guidance, has never been clearer about
its intentions to strip away women's basic rights.

The Republican Party ratified its platform last week in New York,
calling for a constitutional ban on abortion, and going even further
than in the past by pledging to support only anti-choice judges[1] --
and that includes nominations to the Supreme Court. This is a slap in
the face to the 73 percent of Republicans who believe, as a new poll
reveals, that the right to choose should be a woman's decision, not the
government's. It's one more proof that Bush's views on choice aren't in
line with the majority of the country; in fact, they're not even in line
with majority of his own party.

Bush can't confuse us with such slogans as "`W' Stands for Women." "W"
stands for what The New York Times reported as "Bush's War Against
Women."[2] A few examples:

** Bush signed a law banning abortion procedures without any exception
for the woman's health. That's in addition to blocking abortion rights
for young women, poor women, women who work for the U.S. government --
and even women in the military.

Bush pledges in his second term to pass a Human Life Amendment that
would confer personhood on the fertilized egg, thus nationalizing
women's bodies during all of our childbearing years.

** Bush opposes sex education and lavishes tax dollars on the
"abstinence-only" programs of religious extremists -- even in his global
AIDS package.[3] This is a cruel joke for women, who are now more likely
to die of AIDS than men. When SIECUS and Advocates for Youth campaigned
against federal funding for abstinence-only programs, they were
subjected to three federal audits each.[4]

In Bush's budget for 2005, he pledged $273 million more to
abstinence-only programs -- in addition to opposing emergency
contraception (against the advice of his own panel of experts) and
enforcing the Patriot Act, which requires that the U.S. government have
access to all our health records, and it's against the law for health
professionals to even inform us of a government request.

** Bush eliminated funding for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund
-- funds that could have prevented 800,000 induced abortions, 4,700
maternal deaths, and 77,000 infant and child deaths annually -- even
though a Republican-led Congress had approved them.

Bush imposed and will extend the global gag rule -- already responsible
for the injury and death of millions of women from illegal abortions --
by executive order, no democracy necessary.

** Bush has nominated more judges than any of the past six presidents,
eliminated the American Bar Association as an arbiter of competence, and
supported extremists like judicial nominee Leon Holmes who wrote, "the
wife is to subordinate herself to her husband."

In a second term, Bush will likely appoint at least one U.S. Supreme
Court justice.

You may have noticed a theme here: Bush uses the Republican label and
the few remaining Republican centrists in prime time at the convention
but he and his administration are far from the party of Eisenhower or
Goldwater (he was firmly pro-choice).

John Kerry and John Edwards are the exact opposite on all of the above
positions. They will restore respect for the United States, including
its policies toward the female half of the world.

Because politicians like Bush obfuscate their actual positions,
political campaigns have lost credibility with many Americans.

That's why Planned Parenthood, an organization that is trusted and
known -- especially by women who hold the key to this election -- has
endorsed a Presidential candidate for the first time in its history.

With less than 60 days left before the election, the Planned Parenthood
Action Fund is on the ground and on the air in battleground states --
and this is just the beginning.

Because the Action Fund does not accept labor or corporate
contributions, we're one of only several organizations that are
qualified to be on the air right up until November 2.

This opportunity is rare -- and we have a responsibility to get the
facts out.

That's why I hope you will become a member of the Action Fund today.
There is so much at stake right now, we simply cannot allow ourselves to
fail -- together we must rise to the challenge and educate the public
about the candidates' positions, organize our grassroots supporters, and
mobilize pro-choice voters each and every day until Election Day!

To make a secure online donation, go to:
http://member.plannedparenthood.org/site/R?i=3i20Wxyo5yzfzSepf6ovkg..

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Gloria Steinem

P.S. A low-point of the convention was using Laura Bush to present her
husband as a champion of Afghan and Iraqi women. In fact, he supported
the Taliban until September 10, 2001, gender apartheid and all. In other
words, he uses faraway women to whitewash policies that actually place
them in more jeopardy than before, plus policies that damage women here.

Please forward this e-mail to your friends, family, and colleagues and
ask them to stand up for reproductive freedom -- and the female half of
the world -- this November!

Posted by koem0006 at September 10, 2004 11:17 AM | TrackBack