IJortlanh (Obseruer
March 21, 2012
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O th e r S ervices):
Countless Attacks on Reproductive Freedom
Public outcry
turns to an
eruption
M artha B urk
It's not about free
speech. W ithin ex­
trem ely w ide limits,
Rush Lim baugh cer­
tainly has the right
to say anything he
p leases.
It's not about sponsors. E ven if
I'm glad that JC Penney, N etflix,
A llstate Insurance, and at least 50
m o re a d v e rtise rs h a v e d ro p p e d
L im baugh's show. A nd that nearly
100 big corporate sponsors have
d eclared that they no longer w ant
their ads to run w hen he or others
"deem ed to be offensive o r co n tro ­
versial" are on the air.
T he public outcry over his vulgar
and
s e x is t
re m a rk s
about
G eorgetow n U niversity law student
S andra Fluke is about a volcano o f
anger from w om en. T he outrage had
sim m ered for years as countless
attacks on w om en's reproductive
freedom piled on. It's erupting now .
R e p u b lic a n state le g is la tu re s
have im posed so m any restrictions
on abortion that it's now im possible
to get one in 88 percent o f U.S.
by
counties. Even w here you can get
the procedure, you m ay have to
undergo a vaginal probe (especially
if you live in T exas) and suffer an
unw elcom e lecture, then wait
24
h o u rs
or
m o re .
"Personhood" initiatives that
d eclare fertilized eggs to be
citizens w ith rights that trum p
those o f the w om en carrying
them could be on the b allot in
at least 12 states this year.
T he volcano first erupted
w hen the Susan B. K om en
foundation pulled its support from
Planned Parenthood's m am m ogram
services in January. R epublican law ­
m akers had already tried unsuccess­
fully to com pletely d efund Planned
Parenthood's m any health services
because it provides one (abortion)
they don't like, even though the
pro ced u re isn’t funded w ith any
governm ent m oney.
It only took a few days for K om en
to reverse its decision as w om en
burned up the Internet w ith their
derision fo r the organization, and
supporters poured m ore than $3
m illion in contributions to Planned
Parenthood in ju s t three days.
T hat d ustup w as nothing c o m ­
pared to the attack on birth control
m ounted b y the U .S. C onference o f
C atholic B ishops and taken up by
R epublican candidates far and wide.
W hen President B arack O bam a an­
n o u n ced he w as sticking to his d e ­
cision to include birth control w ith­
o u t co-pays in the new insurance
exchanges, it drew an all-out attack
from the R epublicans. N ot ju s t on
insurance coverage, but on the use
o f birth control at all.
Senate R epublicans follow ed the
bishops' lead and introduced a bill
to allow any business to deny insur­
ance coverage for any condition it
objects to fo r "m oral" reasons —
including breast cancer treatm ent
and pregnancy.
T he hot lava pouring from this
volcano o f w om en’s outrage m ay
bury R epublican candidates in N o ­
vem ber. 2012 is already shaping up
to be the year o f the fed-up-and-
angry w om an. T he G O P needs a
tran sp lan t to replace its tin ear.
If R epublicans think the right-
w ing fringe that m akes up the m ajor­
ity o f prim ary voters can elect them
in N ovem ber, I've got a new s flash:
T he m ajority o f the population in
this country is fem ale. T he m ajority
o f registered voters are w om en. A nd
the m ajority o f people w ho actually
vote in presidential elections has
been fem ale for at least tw o d e­
cades. W hat’s m ore, w om en have
m oved aw ay from the R epublican
Party since 1972.
A nd another thing: T h o u g h it
hasn't alw ays been enough to sw ing
the election, w om en vote differently
from m en. T hey reliably p refer the
m ore pro-w om an candidate. T he
gen d er gap em erged in 1980 w hen
R onald R eagan cam e out against
the Equal R ights A m endm ent and
the R oe v. W ade decision, and it's
n ev er gone aw ay.
W om en preferred Bill C linton
tw ice and pick ed A1 G ore o v er
G eorge W . B ush by 12 percentage
points. (T hey m ay have even elected
G o re , b u t th e S u p re m e C o u rt
aw arded B ush the presidency in a 5-
4 decision.) W om en favored O bam a
by 56 p ercent to 43 percent o v er
John M cC ain. U nm arried w om en,
w ho m ade up a fifth o f the electo r­
ate, w ent fo r O bam a by a w hopping
70 percent.
It takes a m ighty force to m ove
the m arketplace to the extent that
w om en have m oved Lim baugh spon­
so rs. C o m p a n ies d o n 't ab an d o n
profitable liaisons easily. It doesn't
take a genius to see the trend here.
P eople w ho w rote o ff the w om en's
m ovem ent long ago m ight w ant to
reconsider. W om en are back in the
public square and boy, are they
mad.
Martha Burk is the director o f
the C o rp o ra te A c c o u n ta b ility
Project fo r the National Council o f
Women's Organizations.
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