Reminder To Progressives: Abortion Is An Economic Issue

[ehrnst]

You can’t fight for economic justice without also fighting for reproductive rights.

As a populist, Sanders has built a political career protesting economic inequality— and yet by campaigning for Mello, he has demonstrated a willingness to separate economic justice from reproductive justice. (So has Democratic National Committee Chair, Tom Perez, who is also helping to campaign for Mello and who has defended that decision, saying the job of the DNC is to help Democratic candidates win.) But abortion access is not just a medical issue, or even a social one; it is, at its core, also an economic concern. Here’s why.

Unintended pregnancies place an enormous financial burden on women.

Raising children in the United States is expensive. Like, more than $230,000 per child (from birth to age 17) expensive. That includes food, transportation, housing, education (but not college), health care and child care. Oh, and daycare for babies is now more expensive than college tuition in most states.

Women in this country already face a well-documented motherhood financial penalty. Research shows, for example, that mothers are less likely to be hired for jobs and they are offered lower starting salaries when they are hired. (Men don’t appear to be similarly disadvantaged by becoming dads, and might actually benefit from it, career-wise.)

“Having a baby is the most expensive health event that families face during their childbearing years. At the same time, a lack of workplace supports for many women during this critical time means a woman may not have paid sick days for prenatal appointments or well-baby care, or paid family and medical leave to use after giving birth. Addressing all of these issues is central to achieving economic justice for women and families,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reminder-abortion-is-an-economic-issue_us_58f8d11be4b018a9ce58dd4f

[NurseJackie]

1. I'm saddened that a post like this is even necessary.

[Laffy Kat]

3. Yes.

[ProfessorPlum]

11. A post like this isn't even allowed

DU is not a place where Democratic politicians are criticized. Mello is a Democratic politician. Even worse is using criticism of Mello to besmirch another Democratic ally.

[NurseJackie]

13. LOL

[ProfessorPlum]

16. yes, very droll

[NCTraveler]

28. Yet these posts stand and you don't seem to have any issue.

"If a few corporate friendly Democrats get a little Sanders pee on them, they can soothe their hurt feelings by rubbing piles of their lobbying money on it." ProfessorPlum

"Many Democratic politicians are addicted to corporate campaign cash, and corporate influence. And lucrative corporate lobbying jobs that come as their rewards for doing corporate bidding. " ProfessorPlum

And the best....

"If that is "criticism" , or "constant criticism", of the Democratic party, then I am guilty as charged." ProfessorPlum

[ProfessorPlum]

37. I understand you

Four legs good, two legs better.

[NCTraveler]

41. There is no abuse of language from some elite class.

That dog don't hunt.

[ProfessorPlum]

42. Some animals are more equal than others, that's all

Corporate corruption is A OK. But one can still criticize a Democrat for being anti-abortion apparently.

So many new rules in this brave new DU that's being fashioned.

[NCTraveler]

44. "Corporate corruption is A OK."

I don't agree.

"But one can still criticize a Democrat for being anti-abortion apparently."

I would sure as hell hope so.

"So many new rules in this brave new DU that's being fashioned."

There have been changes to the rules since the primary. They are available for all to read. Outside of the site's revenue's, it very transparent. At the same time, much of the policing is up to the community. One of the reasons I love it. Very little about posting on an anonymous message board is "brave".

[NurseJackie]

46. You seem frustrated.

[ProfessorPlum]

47. LOL!

[George II]

38. Boom!

[BainsBane]

48. You're not suggesting women's rights are as important

as bumper sticker slogans, are you? Blasphemy!

[all american girl]

49. It's about women....and you lose

[Demsrule86]

33. I am too nurse.

[all american girl]

54. You and I

[ProfessorPlum]

2. why are you criticizing Mello, a Democrat?

[NurseJackie]

4. LOL

[ProfessorPlum]

5. Yes, it is very funny

I thought that Democrats were sacrosanct.

[NurseJackie]

6. LOL

[ProfessorPlum]

10. LOL!

[ProfessorPlum]

9. LOL!

[ProfessorPlum]

7. this is an extremely hypocritical post

How dare you attack a Democrat based on their positions or behavior?

[ProfessorPlum]

8. Aren't pro-choice Democrats also Democrats?

Why are you dividing the party by criticizing Mello?

[George II]

21. The guess is that someone said that he wasn't sure that Ossoff was "progressive" when asked...

....and the next day was in Nebraska campaigning for a "Democrat" who introduced a very un-progressive bill regarding women's rights when he was a State Senator.

How is the OP "dividing the party"?

[ProfessorPlum]

23. By criticizing a Democratic politician

And how dare you put Democrat in quotes

[Cha]

56. he called Heath Mello a "progressive" who has an "Aggressively

anti-Choice" record..

Why Is the DNC Embracing an Aggressively Anti-Choice Democrat

snip//

He was endorsed in 2010 by anti-choice group Nebraska Right to Life.

Heath Mello has sponsored a range of anti-choice measures, including a 20-week abortion ban.

Heath Mello is a sponsor of the final version of a 20-week abortion ban approved by the governor in 2010, and cast anti-choice votes in favor of requiring physicians to be physically present for an abortion in order to impede access to telemedicine abortion care, and a law banning insurance plans in the state from covering abortions.

snip// Dkos pulls their endorsement of Heath Mello

The Daily Kos, which describes itself as “a news organization, community, and activist hub,” pulled its endorsement of Mello after revelations about the Democrat’s stance on abortion. The site said it had been unaware of Mello’s anti-choice stance, but that “as soon as we learned this information, we withdrew our endorsement, because this legislation clearly runs contrary to Daily Kos’ deepest values, including our support for women’s reproductive rights and our staunch opposition to laws that in any way impede women’s access to reproductive health care.”

musette https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8955986

https://rewire.news/article/2017/04/20/why-is-dnc-embracing-aggressively-anti-choice-democrat/

And, that's fine for a Mayoral candidate in Nebraska.. but, then he says he doesn't know if Jon Ossoff is "progressive" who is Pro Choice.. and he isn't prepared to back Democrats just because of.. "a party label.."..

Link to tweet

We'll never know if a few positive words instead of dismissal could have made the difference from the "most popular politician in America".

Not sure why BS wouldn't want to have gotten to know Jon Ossoff who would have immediately gone to Congress if he had won 50% and we would have had one more Dem to fight the Fascistrumps.

[George II]

57. Not only is he "aggressively anti-choice", but he introduced legislation to discourage choice...

...when he was a State Senator.

[BainsBane]

51. Women are Democrats

The majority of Democrats in fact. Insisting we have no right to argue for our rights, for economic justice, is an effort to enforce oppression and inequality. That is not progressive, liberal, or decent. It's morally bankrupt.

You spend all day lobbing content-free insults at Democrats and other members, and when someone raises a concern that gets to basic principles of equality, you tell them their speech is unacceptable. You are standing up against equal rights and against economic justice. You insist women remain silent in the face of efforts to take away their rights in order to protect power, both political and male.

No Democrat wins office without the majority of the women's vote. NONE. This is OUR party. Our rights matter. You can either accept that or take your bullshit to the male-dominated GOP that shares the disregard for women's rights that you demonstrate here. You will not succeed in remaking the Democratic Party to exclude us and our rights. We have the votes, and we use them.

[LexVegas]

12. Cue a tantrum in 3...2...too late. nt

[JTFrog]

18. ROFL!

[JHan]

26. lol ...lol.

[stonecutter357]

34. +1000

[NurseJackie]

35. LOL

[George II]

39. or..........

[NurseJackie]

40. ... or ...

[all american girl]

50. My fav.....

[delisen]

14. When the Left exchanges Rights of Women for Easy Power Path

and economic gains for others it is a betrayal of us all. What is the net gain for humankind when the Left condemns your girls and women to a life of fear and poverty in exchange for advantage for others. Lets look at the Lesson of Nicaragua. Women fought the revolution but eventually lost their rights through political deals with the Right Wing.

Women's rights are human rights not a political wedge issue. We need to be vigilant on the Left and stop the downgrading of our human rights now.

Daniel Ortega won his third term as president of Nicaragua with his wife Rosario Murillo as vp. How did the former Sandinista revolutionary leader and his revolutionary hero wife accomplish this-by making a deal with the regressive forces and Catholic Church hierarchy to sell out the human rights of girls and women.

http://msmagazine.com/blog/2011/11/04/five-more-years-of-ortega-may-be-dangerous-for-nicaraguan-women/

Nicaragua’s human-rights defenders face an ongoing battle to respond to the needs of so many women and girls. “Programmes that we had … for women and girls’ protection with previous government are no longer implemented,” says Juanita Jiménez Martínez, lawyer for the Autonomous Women’s Movement (MAM), one of the country’s leading feminist organizations.
In the past, the national police worked jointly with [women’s] organizations on gender based violence. But now they’re encouraged to work ‘for the family,’ to preserve the family… This means less protection for women, more authority for men. […] This is a step backwards.

Girls under 17 represent around two-thirds of reported rapes in Nicaragua, and actual incidents are probably much higher, as many girls only report the crime when they fall pregnant by their attacker. Those victims who might have sought an abortion until 2006 now often feel pushed to take devastating measures. “In 2008, the maternal mortality statistics showed high suicide rates,” says Major. “The biggest killer of teenage girls who were pregnant was poison.”

Why is Nicaragua, with a strong feminist movement and some of the most progressive legislation in the region, letting down the female population so badly?

Firstly, there is a powerful, conservative element in the country that lobbied in 2006 for the all-out ban on abortion, gaining exceptional and lasting influence in policy making. Jiménez Martínez also points to allegations in the late 1990s that Ortega had committed years of sexual abuse against his stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Narváez. ‘To talk about sexual abuse in Nicaragua is to talk against Daniel Ortega,” she told me. Members of the women’s movement rallied around Narváez at the time, and since Ortega took the 2006 presidency, women and girls’ rights have dropped off the agenda and women’s organizations have been subjected to arbitrary state scrutiny and smear campaigns in state-owned media.

http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/nicaragua-abortion-ban-and-right-choose

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/03/daniel-ortega-nicaragua-election

[ProfessorPlum]

15. Again, you seem to be besmirching Mello, a Democrat

Why are you doing that?

[delisen]

19. Any connection to Mello of Nebraska is being made by you, not by me.

I don't know very much about Mello.

[ProfessorPlum]

22. He is apparently an anti -abortion Democrat

And as such deserves our support because he is a Democratic politician

[NurseJackie]

29. LOL

[NastyRiffraff]

45. I'll join Jackie here: LOL

[George II]

25. The post you responded to doesn't even mention Mello or any American politician/office holder.

[MineralMan]

27. Look, see...there are some people here who can read what isn't written.

You must not have gotten the word.

[ProfessorPlum]

30. But the OP does, and links him to anti abortion positions

Which this post is criticizing

[George II]

32. But it didn't "besmirch" Mello.

[ProfessorPlum]

36. did Mello also exchange the rights of women for an easy path to power?

[NastyRiffraff]

43. I looked and looked

and I could find no mention of Mello in that post. Nice try, though!

[BainsBane]

52. You're either not very good at your game

Or devoid of principle. Either way, it's a fail.

[all american girl]

53. Aren't you just a silly little person

[LeftishBrit]

17. There is an old saying 'the rich get richer and the poor get children'

Not being able to plan their families (or in the poorest countries being afraid to, because of uncertainty as to whether their children will survive) keeps people poor, and passes on poverty to the next generation. Because it tends to be the more articulate, middle-class people who are in a position to campaign about reproductive rights, it is sometimes misleadingly seen as just a social issue. Nothing could be further from the truth.

[Kentonio]

20. The same people who insisted that centrist Democrats must be defended at all costs

Suddenly decide that Mello is the anti-christ and must be run out of town despite his views being the same as plenty of those pro-life Dems in the past we were told must be left alone. I wonder what possible reason people could have to have suddenly decided Mello must be made an exception of..

[NurseJackie]

24. LOL

[stonecutter357]

31. K&R!

[sheshe2]

55. Bravo ehrnst.

Thank you.