Week of May 4, 2007
Freedom of Choice Act makes a comeback
Sen. Barbara Boxer and several other EMILY's List pro-choice Democratic women senators responded to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold a federal law restricting abortion without an exception to protect a woman's health by reintroducing the Freedom of Choice Act. If passed, the legislation would permanently establish the tenets of Roe v. Wade in federal law.
A fierce champion of reproductive rights, Sen. Boxer has ardently led the charge to keep crucial women's health decisions in the hands of women and their doctors.
This piece of legislation is critical to upholding the constitutional right to privacy established in Roe. If passed, the bill would prevent any level of government from passing laws that would outlaw abortion before the fetus is viable or if the woman's health or life is endangered. The bill would also help protect women from new restrictions on reproductive rights passed at the state or local level that are likely to result from the Supreme Court's recent ruling.
In describing her motivation for cosponsoring the Freedom of Choice Act, Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke out against the decision. "It is precisely this erosion of our constitutional rights that I warned against when I opposed the nominations of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito," she said.
EMILY's List President Ellen R. Malcolm reiterated the threat posed by conservative leadership to reproductive rights. "The Bush Court just handed right-wing politicians permission to further restrict reproductive rights, overrule the medical decisions of doctors, and intrude on the privacy of women," Malcolm said. "Every time the court looks at Roe v. Wade it becomes clearer and clearer that we need to elect pro-choice majorities in the states and the Congress."
Republicans lining up to challenge Gillibrand
Almost as soon as she was declared the winner over Republican Rep. John Sweeney in New York's 20th congressional district, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand became a top GOP target for defeat. As expected, Republicans are already lining up to run against her in 2008. Multimillionaire GOP boss and former N.Y. Secretary of State Alexander "Sandy" Treadwell is the latest Republican to throw his name into the ring, joining Richard Wager, an aide to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Sweeney, who came under fire in 2006 for a variety of ethics issues, is also said to be mulling a rematch. Sweeney's ethics were repeatedly questioned during the campaign. While in Congress, he took a ski trip funded by special interests and voted to allow lobbyists to cater meals to congressional offices and pay for trips to golf resorts. Sweeney was named one of the 20 most corrupt congressmen by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
Rep. Gillibrand is setting a new standard for transparency by posting her daily schedule on her website, allowing her constituents to see everyone she meets with each day. Gillibrand's unprecedented move toward openness and accountability will help her withstand Republican attacks in 2008. She has gotten a strong, early start on fundraising, outpacing all freshmen Democrats for the first quarter of the year with $668,000 raised. EMILY's List is helping Gillibrand and other frontline Democratic freshmen build up their campaign war chests early to help deter challengers.
Rematch redux
In 2006, Dr. Victoria Wulsin came within 2,517 votes of defeating Republican Rep. Jean "Mean Jean" Schmidt in Ohio's second congressional district. Schmidt gained national notoriety in 2005 when she called Vietnam veteran Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) a "coward" on the House floor and accused him of trying to "cut and run" for advocating a strategy to withdraw American troops from Iraq. Last month, Wulsin announced that she's challenging "Mean Jean" to a rematch.
Wulsin has pledged to bring honesty and integrity back to the district, saying that "the people of the second district deserve a congresswoman who will be honest with her constituents." Meanwhile, Schmidt continues making offensive statements, drawing criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike for her claim that the poor conditions faced by veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center were "overblown by both politicians and the media." It's no wonder that Schmidt's fundraising numbers last quarter were anemic. Bring on the rematch!
Another rematch is taking shape in Seattle, where Darcy Burner, a former Microsoft manager, recently announced that she's taking on GOP Rep. Dave Reichert a second time. In 2006, Burner rose from political obscurity to come within a hair of defeating Reichert in Washington's eighth congressional district, losing by fewer than ten votes per precinct. Burner is already back on the campaign trail, getting a head start for 2008. "It is more like continuing it than starting over," she said.
POP winners on the frontlines in the battle to protect choice
The Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal ban on certain late-term abortions increases the impact of state legislatures on reproductive freedom, as it opens the door for anti-choice legislators to introduce new restrictions. Pro-choice Democratic women elected with support from EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program (POP) are fighting back and working to advance pro-choice legislation in their states.
In Wisconsin, Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson is working to pass a bill requiring hospitals to make the morning after pill available to rape victims. In Minnesota, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher recently led the Democratic caucus to successfully defeat an amendment to ban public funding of abortions. And in Oregon, Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown is leading the fight to pass a bill requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives for women.
Robson, Kelliher, and Brown are all graduates of EMILY's List's Political Opportunity Program, which recruits, trains, and supports pro-choice Democratic women candidates for key state and local offices. With an anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court for the first time in decades, electing pro-choice Democratic women governors and state legislators is more important now than ever. The battle for reproductive freedom has already begun to shift to the states, and the Supreme Court has signaled a willingness to reconsider Roe v. Wade. Alarmingly, 30 states are poised to criminalize all abortions within a year if Roe is overturned. EMILY's List is arming the frontlines through POP, electing brave pro-choice women like Robson, Kelliher, and Brown, who will stand up for reproductive rights even if Roe is overturned.