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CONTACT: National Organization for Women (NOW) Mai Shiozaki, 202-628-8669, ext. 116 |
President Obama Breaks Faith With Women
Statement of NOW President Terry O'Neill
WASHINGTON - March 21 - The National Organization for Women is incensed that President Barack Obama agreed today to issue an executive order designed to appease a handful of anti-choice Democrats who have held up health care reform in an effort to restrict women's access to abortion. Through this order, the president has announced he will lend the weight of his office and the entire executive branch to the anti-abortion measures included in the Senate bill, which the House is now prepared to pass.
President Obama campaigned as a pro-choice president, but his actions today suggest that his commitment to reproductive health care is shaky at best. Contrary to language in the draft of the executive order and repeated assertions in the news, the Hyde Amendment is not settled law -- it is an illegitimate tack-on to an annual must-pass appropriations bill. NOW has a longstanding objection to Hyde and, in fact, was looking forward to working with this president and Congress to bring an end to these restrictions. We see now that we have our work cut out for us far beyond what we ever anticipated. The message we have received today is that it is acceptable to negotiate health care on the backs of women, and we couldn't disagree more.
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3 Comments so far
Show AllThe president had said he was "personally, morally opposed to abortion" so once again the personal becomes political. Why can't people listen between the lines?
And Hyde has been gunning for women's reproductive rights ever since Roe v. Wade.
The blood of all those septic pregnancy interruptions to come, of women who will not have the benefit of proper medical care, will be on their heads and the heads of the misogynist pederasts of the Catholic church and the fascist Christian sects. Good thing they all believe in hell: they'll probably experience it first-hand.
NOW and NARAL and Planned Parenthood certainly have their work cut out for them. Time to band together - volunteer and donate and militate.
NOW is getting hysterical over nothing. Obama just signed a piece of paper saying existing law will stay the same. Nothing has changed.
abortion is wrong. there is an abundance of birth control available. liberalize sex education, provide free birth control, but continue to outlaw abortion, at least after the first trimester. most progressive european countries, including finland, allow abortions only in the first trimester. in cases of rape, incest, and the life of the mother, there should be fewer restrictions. we need to stress personal reponsibility as part of our new national contract. abortion is grotesque, and it does end life, as i suppose that we can all be traced back to our fetal stage. feti are not interchangeable, so abortion ends the right for a unique life to take place. sorry, but there's no way of getting around it. i hate the wars, despise wall street, loath cheney, but think that respect for the culture of life must begin on a personal level.