Have the Democrats Surrendered on Abortion Rights? [View All]

[Itsthetruth]

CounterPunch
February 10, 2005

Seeding Ground to the Anti-Abortionists
Have the Democrats Surrendered on Abortion Rights?
By NICOLE COLSON

"WE CAN all recognize that abortion in many ways represents a sad, even tragic, choice to many, many women."

It sounds like something straight out of the mouth of George W. Bush--or some other anti-choice Republican looking to repeal abortion rights. But this was the comment of Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, as she spoke last month to a 1,000-strong crowd of abortion rights supporters on the 32nd anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

Taking a page straight from the Bush administration's "moral values" playbook, Clinton celebrated faith and organized religion as the "primary" reasons why teenagers would abstain from sexual relations--and insisted that there "is an opportunity for people of good faith to find common ground in this debate." Unfortunately, the "common ground" Clinton is talking about is squarely on the turf of the right wing.

Clinton's comments are just one example of the Democratic Party leadership's attempt to embrace a more conservative stance on abortion rights after their November election losses.

Appearing last weekend on NBC's Meet the Press, John Kerry told host Tim Russert that his party is a "big tent," and it welcomes anti-choice Democrats. While defending the legality of abortion, Kerry said, "we ought to be making certain that people understand there are other options. Abstinence is worth talking about. Adoption is worth talking about." Apparently, taking the right to choose away from teenage women is worth "talking about" as well--Kerry told Russert that he was in favor of national legislation requiring parental notification for teens seeking abortion, as long as it had a judicial and medical exemption.

"Party leaders say their support for preserving the landmark ruling will not change," the Los Angeles Times reported. "But they are looking at ways to soften the hard line, such as promoting adoption and embracing parental notification requirements for minors and bans on late-term abortions."

The Democrats seem determined to prove that they are moving away from support for abortion rights. One of the Democrats' first acts following the elections, for example, was to choose staunchly anti-choice (and anti-gay) Sen. Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) to replace Tom Daschle as the party's minority leader in the Senate.

In reality, groups like NOW and NARAL have shifted to the right along with the Democrats, embracing the ever-more conservative terms of the "debate" among the politicians. When Hillary Clinton talked about the "tragedy" of abortion, Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, couldn't find anything wrong with the remarks. "In many ways," said Smeal, " said that if you're interested in reducing the number of abortions, you should be with us."

Such statements represent a dramatic reversal from what was once accepted as common sense in the women's movement--that the right to abortion is an essential component of equal rights for women. Women have to be able to determine what happens to their bodies--including terminating an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion is a right that no woman should have to apologize for.

Now, the right wing is smelling victory again. Our side has to rise to this challenge.

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http://www.counterpunch.org/colson02102005.html