A New Model in the Fight for Abortion Rights

[Novara]

A New Model in the Fight for Abortion Rights

<snip>

We need to make so much noise that reproductive rights become an issue for corporate America. When Wal-Mart, Angie’s List and a number of other companies raised objections to Indiana’s religious freedom law, Gov. Mike Pence and state legislators quickly amended the law to clarify that it does not condone discrimination against gay men and lesbians. A similar sequence of events occurred in Arkansas.

Public pressure and the threat of government action to raise the minimum wage no doubt prompted McDonald’s and Target in recent weeks to increase the pay of their lowest-paid workers. Yes, it’s not much, but it’s a start.

The GOP’s about-face on the religious freedom laws underscores what I have long believed: that many establishment Republicans care more about protecting their economic interests and public image than about same-sex marriage, abortion or other social issues. Once major corporations realized that they might be subject to boycotts in states that legalized discrimination against LGBT people, both conservative businesspeople and Republican legislators called for change. Public support for adding a few coins to the pittance that low-wage workers earn, along with fear that lawmakers or voters might force bigger wage hikes, clearly prompted some companies to bump up hourly pay.

Would the same happen if we made a bigger ruckus about access to reliable contraception and safe abortion? I don’t know, but we’ve largely let business off the hook on reproductive health in recent years. Meanwhile, last year the U.S. Supreme Court granted privately held companies like Hobby Lobby and Eden Foods the right as corporate “persons” to impose the religious beliefs of their owners on their employees. As a result, they now ban insurance coverage for IUDs and other safe and effective forms of contraception despite mandates in the Affordable Care Act. I suspect that many more CEOs are largely uninterested in the private health care decisions of their employees; they have largely remained silent while access to reproductive health care has constricted nationwide because there is no political or economic downside for doing so, even as their employees pay a steep economic, personal and financial toll for the GOP’s anti-choice agenda.

Read more: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/a_new_model_in_the_fight_for_abortion_rights_20150430

[enough]

1. A very interesting idea. Also a way to break through the shame barrier that the right wing

has somehow managed to erect around all issues of reproductive rights. In that sense the LGBT comparison is very relevant.

Thanks for posting this.

[Novara]

2. You're very welcome

The challenge is to get people fired up enough to make a difference. For way too long we've been too quiet and we've allowed this crap to happen.

[CTyankee]

3. I don't see that happening. As long as this issue is seen solely as a woman's issue

it will have secondary status. Since LGBT encompasses men and women it will get a better status. I'm happy that this country has finally come around on LGBT. I just wish we could get more traction with reproductive rights as well...

[Chan790]

4. This was the basis of coalition progressive politics before the DLC, 3rd way, Clintonites...

set about destroying the coalition by abandoning "marginal" constituencies to appeal to centrist, pro-business voters and appeal for Wall St. and Madison Ave. money. (Edit: To be fair...this started earlier, during the 1960s...but really took off in the 1980s and 1990s. It's directly the work of DLC leadership like Al From and the Clintons.)

The key to this happening again is to retrench the coalition and dump the "electable moderate Democrats" like Hillary...unless she wants to be the one to stand up and preach coalition politics and dump the very base she and Bill have spent 30 years going back to when he was Governor of Arkansas cultivating.

It's nice to think it can start from the grassroots...but it can't gain traction from the grassroots.

We need prominent Democratic leadership to lead the base to support partners in the coalition for progressive values even when those base members reap nothing directly from being staunch supporters on reproductive health issues, LGBTQ... issues, labor issues, feminist issues, peace issues...; or even when doing so is not in their best personal interests.

As a multiracial (but outwardly typically-identified as Caucasian) upper-class gender-nonconforming mostly-heterosexual male...there's a reason I am vocal for minorities, poor people, women, trans-people, LGBQ... individuals, organized labor... (and a lot of other marginalized constituencies) and am active as an activist for all of these concerns and more...it's because none of us are going to prevail in protecting our rights without the support of all of us.

As Ben Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

[CTyankee]

5. Damn, you are so right!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. yes, of course it would. not only do we need to get loud,

We need to get LOUDER. Because TPTB, and media, trivialize anything regarding women.

We have our own apathy to fight, and the minimalization of everything we do--unless it can be sexualized. That's been the only way we seem to get any attention. Our advocacy groups need to unite and get OUR information out there. And not relegated to the "ladies magazine's".