Are reproductive rights a major issue for you in the 2014 elections?

[Kath1]

I know they are for me. Given all of the anti-contraception/abortion legislation being proposed across the country, I think it is an important issue.

[calimary]

1. They're ALWAYS important to me. In ANY elections.

They're often the deal-breaker. You have to support a woman's right to choose for me to even consider voting for you. A woman's right to choose is an absolute. For me it's non-negotiable.

[Kath1]

7. Same here!

"A woman's right to choose is an absolute." Yes, it is.

[Liberal_in_LA]

48. plus 1000

[Cha]

2. I know they are for you, Kath! All the Democractic principles are important to

me.. that one included! GOTV2014!

[pinboy3niner]

6. Smiley overload! Smiley overload!

Careful, Cha. You're starting to remind me of the coffee lemur.






I love you!

[Cha]

10. Rofl! I guess I go by the principle that there's no

such thing as too many smileys. But, I looked back at my post and I can see why someone else may think that.

I promise you.. no red bull in my coffee.. I just had 1/2 this morning..

Coffee Lemur! I needed a really good laugh right about now!

Mahalo pinboy

[Kath1]

8. Hey, Cha!

All of the Democractic principles resonate with me. But a woman's right to her own body? That is a no-brainer as far as I am concerned! And this is coming from a recovering Catholic!

[Cha]

12. It's so critical, Kath.. one of the main reasons why there is a Big Difference between Dems

and repubs!.. You know how important this issue is from experiencing both sides now.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1102&pid=25140

[calimary]

39. Great graphic!

I'm keeping it. This is one situation where I would stand with PRESIDENT Obama and proudly, defiantly, shout - "NO YOU CAN'T!!!!!"

A woman's right to choose is an absolute. It is NON-Negotiable.

[pinboy3niner]

3. Yes

But the GOPricks who oppose women's reproductive rights are wrong for us an a lot of other issues, too, so you don't even have to be a single-issue voter.

[Maedhros]

4. Not so much, because none of the candidates in my district in Oregon

are threatening to roll back reproductive rights. Monica Wehby is playing the moderate card to try and win over conservative Democrats, and she's not looking too good in the polls right now.

[mythology]

38. I live in Massachusetts so I'm in much the same boat

The last election everybody I voted for won, all Democrats, and all but one of the ballot measures passed.

Although at least one of our candidates for attorney general is making protecting women at abortion clinics a prominent theme in his campaign.

[fizzgig]

5. they always are for me

colorado has yet another personhood amendment on the ballot, but they're taking a slightly different approach this year. rather than taking the life begins at the moment of fertilization/biological development approach, they want to change the definition of person in the criminal code to include "unborn human beings."

70 percent voted against the personhood amendments in '08 and '10 and it didn't even make the ballot in '12. it is unacceptable that not all women's reproductive rights are as respected as mine are here.

[Kath1]

11. Agreed!

"...didn't even make the ballot in '12." - Wonderful!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Yes.

Although locally there is very little danger of any anti choice candidate winning office.

[pinboy3niner]

13. One of my best friends in HS got called into the Principal's office...

...because he put a 'Legalize Abortion' sticker on his briefcase (yes, Eric actually carried a briefcase to high school). As I recall, the sticker was bright orange.

I've been lucky that way. I've always had a lot of GOOD people as friends.

[littlemissmartypants]

14. It's all about this:

[Kath1]

25. Excellent graphic!

And, sadly, it is all too true. Thanks for sharing that.

[LeftyMom]

15. They matter to me, but they won't impact my voting, because California.

We've got wide and expanding access and effectively no conflict about the matter. Culture war issues in the rest of the country mostly sound hopelessly dated here, even in the farmy, boring, comparatively backward parts of the state.

[Kath1]

26. Similar to us here in MD, I guess.

Even my sister, still a church-attending Catholic, would be quick to tell any priest or bishop NUNYA BIZ when it comes to contraception. I feel bad for women in states where access is denied or severely restricted. Roe v. Wade is the law of the land.

[calimary]

43. DO NOT get complacent.

MARYLAND WOMEN: DO NOT become complacent. DON'T be fooled into thinking you have the enemy beat. They're not going to give up, they're going to lie in wait, they're going to be vigilant and keep watching - for ANY in. ANY way in. ANY way to take your rights away from you. Think I'm kidding? Just let the GOP get a majority and then watch with your own eyes what they'll do FIRST.

YOU have to stay strong because you're up against an enemy that doesn't think you deserve the last word over what happens to, and inside, YOUR body. Hijacking one of their phrases - the "sanctity" of YOUR body. They lie in wait for the perfect moment to try to take that right and that freedom away from you. And they won't give up. So you can't afford to.

[calimary]

42. Yeah, but we have to stay vigilant ANYWAY.

Don't let this make you complacent!!!

Because at ANY moment the enemy can regroup and attack again. And they have money, power, and influence, plus a lot of devious thinking. They won't give up. They're going to keep coming back and trying again. And we have to meet them and stop them at EVERY turn, ALWAYS and FOREVER. They won't give up on this. So WE CAN'T AFFORD TO.

CALIFORNIA WOMEN! DON'T TAKE YOUR FREEDOMS FOR GRANTED!!!!! NOT EVER!!!! Even HERE.

[defacto7]

16. Major Kick for a Major issue.

Absolutely the important issue.

[ReRe]

17. Major, major issue

... closing all those women's clinics all over the country recently and trying (and succeeding) to take birth control away from women is right now messing up a bunch of women's lives.

[Kath1]

27. Yes, it is!

Can you imagine having to drive or fly across state lines just to have access t abortion? What about poor women who just can't afford to do so?

And the efforts to take away birth control just make my blood boil!

[ReRe]

34. Well...

... a few of the poor women who can't afford the travel expense or the procedure will get help from local orgs who have donors who give to help in these kinds of situations. BUT, many poor women don't know where to go and who to contact to get such support and what they lose is control over their life. Everything swirls out of control.

And those who can't afford BC will soon end up in this situation, as there is no shortage of men in the ready to impregnate them. Fat chance of women being strong enough to just say no to them. Biology sucks. And then, if women do just say no, you know what that leads to... rape.

[Sherman A1]

18. A major issue to be sure, however

it is one of several major issues. The first and foremost in my opinion is income inequality and decent jobs for everyone, that said I believe it all dovetails into electing progressive thinking and acting candidates.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Yes and so are many other things

It's clear that I will vote for Democrats based on social issues such as reproductive rights.

Unfortunately, there are some issues that many powerful Democrats are no longer distinguishable from most Republicans, such as corporate power in our lives. These effect the foundations of democracy itself in a negative way. I am appalled at the administration's position in the last six years over issues such as NSA spying and "free" trade, and completely disgusted over the hands off approach to Bush-era war criminals and crooked Wall Street bankers. Those are matters that can destroy America much more quickly than arguments about abortion, and that is said in spite my having strong feelings about women's rights.

I will vote Democratic in November. I'll vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 over whatever Keystone Kop out of the clown car that gets the GOP nomination, but I will do so while holding my nose.

[bvf]

20. Yes, definitely! n/t

[calimary]

44. Welcome to DU, bvf!

Glad you're here! Good to see so many people lining up behind this.

We HAVE TO BE vigilant. We HAVE TO REMAIN vigilant. Because unfortunately, we're up against an enemy that will NOT stop. They'll stop at NOTHING to take that hard-won right of ours away from us. They are and will be relentless, and while I wish like anything that they'd just give up and go away and accept that Roe v Wade is SETTLED LAW, they don't. They're ALWAYS looking for ANY way to unravel it, pull it apart, dismantle it, defund it, diminish it, do away with it. I wish they'd give up. But they don't. Relentless they are. And we have to be as relentless as they are. For as long as they are.

You often hear about "matching" campaigns? Well THIS IS IT!!!

[bvf]

56. Thanks!

I grew up believing that men shouldn't even have a say in matters involving these issues, in any capacity--legislative or otherwise.

As impractical and naive as that sounds, I still think that--even more so in the wake of so much under-the-radar activity by Republican-controlled statehouses in the last few years.

[Warpy]

21. ALWAYS. I will never cross that line, period

It would be the same as crossing the Abolitionist line in the 1850s or the Suffragette line in the 1910s, it's just not going to happen, ever.

It's why I don't care how exemplary a Republican might be (although they never are, my mother pronounced them "putrid&quot , there is absolutely no way I will vote for him or her, not since Reagan handed that party over to the misogynists in 1980.

[AngryDem001]

22. Lemme just say......

[link:|

[Kath1]

29. Love your attitude!

Jesus Fucking Christ, just let women make their own decisions regarding their own bodies. If you're against contraceptives, don't use them. If you're against abortion, don't have one. Leave the rest of us alone!

[AngryDem001]

55. Damn right!!

Ever notice it's mostly old white men who try to dictate's women's choices?

[DrBulldog]

23. Well, are the young white women in this country really with it? Will they wake up?

Because the #1 reason why the House turned Republican in 2010 is that the voter participation rate for YOUNG WHITE WOMEN fell by a whopping 20 percentage points from 2008 ... no other voting group came close to that figure.

[Kath1]

33. I hope they do wake up for 2014!

I think they take their reproductive rights for granted... and they do so at great risk.

[calimary]

46. Welcome to DU, DrBulldog!

Good to have you with us! Good to see you weighing in on this thread! And it's good to see the point you make. We need to be reminded of that - ALWAYS AND FOREVER. We need to make sure we never forget. AND we older ones need to make sure the young ones know about this fragile right that we fought so hard to win, a few decades back. Fragile indeed. Ever since we won it, there have been forces amassing all around us to try to take that right away. They still exist and they're stronger and more relentless than ever. So we have to match them in that, and we DO INDEED have to help our younger sisters and daughters and nieces and granddaughters realize that this battle is THEIRS, too.

As Joni Mitchell once sang in "Big Yellow Taxi" - "don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone"!

I don't want to live in some berserko "Christian Sharia" state. I remember that original battle and the original big win in the Supreme Court. When women were finally liberated completely - to have the last word and the ultimate jurisdiction over our own bodies. And it's amazing to me these days how endangered that right has become, how much it's been whittled away and unraveled already. How the political termites and moths out there have attacked it and rendered it full of holes.

WE HAVE TO FIGHT AND STAY STRONG.

And yeah, I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of having to keep fighting. Especially when we once had this won, hands-down. I guess that's why this photo means so much to me and speaks so damn loudly to me:

[IMG][/IMG]

But "protest this shit" we MUST. We STILL HAVE TO. As long as the enemy lurks, we have no other choice.

[Arkansas Granny]

24. Yes, very important. Not so much for myself, but for younger family members,

friends and women in general. I don't want to imagine a future where their reproductive choices are controlled by religious dogma and ignorance.

[Kath1]

37. Thank you.

At 56, reproductive rights are not that important to me personally, but I do care very much about my daughter and, as you said, women in general. Religious dogma and ignorance are deadly. I know because I am a recovering Catholic!

[TBF]

57. That's how I feel -

and annoyed to have to fight this battle again.

[gwheezie]

28. Yes it is a deal breaker for me

I live in Virginia where women's rights have been under attack. It could happen in any state.

[Kath1]

31. I know, gwheezie.

I live next door in Maryland. What is going on in VA is scary.

[GiveEmEnoughRope]

30. Every election they are Important and one of the things I have noticed is those who are anti choice

are scum bags in all other aspects of their platform and life.

If they are anti choice they are also anti individual freedom too.

Choice is my #1 litmus test for a candidate and tells me everything I need to know about that person.

[Kath1]

32. Well-said.

"Choice is my #1 litmus test for a candidate and tells me everything I need to know about that person."

I have found the same to be true!

[GiveEmEnoughRope]

35. Expand it beyond politicians too if someone IRL is anti choice they are a scum bag too

However there is an exception many nuns, priests and a few others are 100% pro life meaning they are against the DP, WAR, killing of any kind including animals and insects. Those people are few and far between and many of those do not go out of their way to remove choice from others either. The 1% of the anti choice crowd so to speak.

In my experience 99% of the anti choicer's are also pro DP and pro war making them hypocrites whose real agenda is to control women and to use their religion like a club.

[Kath1]

36. Indeed!

Many years ago my mom (devout Catholic) coerced me into meeting her for Easter morning mass. This was long after I stopped attending church. I attended, all right, wearing my favorite, totally worn out bellbotton jeans, my most comfortable sandals and my favorite demin jacket with "Pro-Choice Voter" and "Pro-Family, Pro-Child, Pro-Choice" buttons on the lapel. I went to communion, too. She was really upset and pissed but I told her I don't check my brain or my freedom at the church door. I thought it was kind of a hoot. Let's just say she didn't pressure me to attend mass any more. Lover her dearly, but she is hopelessly brainwashed by religion, like too many women are.

[calimary]

47. Welcome to DU, GiveEmEnoughRope!

Great to have you join us! This is my pet cause, absolutely. This trumps everything else for me, and there are LOTS of issues I care deeply about. But if the candidate is anti-choice, then I can't go any further with them. I'm gone. I've heard enough. I've learned enough. Anti-choice is an absolute non-starter.

A woman's right to choose is AN ABSOLUTE. It is NON-Negotiable.

[etherealtruth]

40. Yes ...

A woman's right to self determination is VERY important to me!

[Blue_In_AK]

41. Yes.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

45. It's a deal breaker issue for me. If they're against free choice he/she gets a no sale.

[Kath1]

59. Thanks, Tierra_y_Libertad.

Love your tag line!

[LWolf]

49. It's always a major issue. As are several others. nt

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. I live in Texas, so...

...I guess that's enough said.

[JEB]

51. Major issue for me

and I'm a gone to seed old dude. However, my Grandmother was an abortionist in the 1950's. Many local doctors referred their patients to her as they were afraid to perform the procedure even when the woman's life was in danger. She worked to create new laws, but spent most of her last days in prison.

[drray23]

52. absolutely

However most of the time i do not have to face the dilemma of having to weight this against other issues sgen i vote. Most if not all democratic candidates are pro choice and also on the right side of other social issues.
This is why no matter who is the nominee in 2016 i will vote for them. The prospect of having a gop president able to nominate right wingers on the supreme court and reverse all the gains we made in the last 50 years scare me. So even if i would prefer warren to hilary i will vote foe her if she is the front runner.

[Faux pas]

53. I'm 65 and was lucky

that Roe V Wade was passed during my child bearing years. Even though I don't need birth control any longer, I want my daughter and granddaughter (and every female born from now on) to have the choice, whatever that choice might be.

[pipi_k]

54. Always an issue on any level, but also

on a more local level, I'll be looking at candidates who support the building of a casino in Springfield, which was voted on in that city, winning a majority of votes.

In the meantime, a group of anti-casino people have managed to have it become a statewide issue this November, whereby, essentially, people out in the eastern part of the state would have the chance to stop casinos throughout the state.

The problem is that Springfield has been a dying city for decades, and people keep voting down things they don't agree with (on a moral level) but can never seem to come up with a viable alternative for revitalization. And so people go without jobs, and the area is turning into a total shithouse. A sorry state of being for a city that was once a great place to live.

Anyway. Those are my two major issues.

[alp227]

58. OF COUUUUUURSE

as Cenk Uygur would say.