What will you do to help elect pro-choice candidates in 2012?
For pro-choice feminists, the upcoming presidential election is looking quite grim. President Obama, our self-proclaimed pro-choice President who recently angered pro-choice feminists with his comments regarding Kathleen Sebelius’ decision on Plan B availability, will be running for reelection against this year’s real news fodder. As I write this, there are four remaining candidates for the Republican nomination: Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul.
Ron Paul, the least conservative of the remaining candidates, has been an appealing option for Democrats and Independents frustrated with the misleading promises of Obama’s 2008 campaign. Ron Paul’s campaign focuses on his supposedly libertarian views, a revision of our nation’s foreign policy and economic systems, and strict Constitutionalist policies with a focus on State’s rights. In contrast with the radical views of Evangelical candidates, Ron Paul’s particular kind of logic seems… logical. But Ron Paul’s position on abortion is not only illogical. Paul rhetorically endorses smaller government and State’s rights-based social policies, but his position on abortion is based on his own religious views as well as his experience as an OB/GYN before his entrance into politics.
One of Ron Paul’s television ads for his 2012 campaign uses testimonies from former female patients to affirm his character. The ad uses women’s trust in their personal doctor to make a statement about Ron Paul’s political worth while simultaneously imposing the anti-choice position on Ron Paul’s voters and supporters. This ad targets the very specific demographic of the pro-life voter, but Paul’s rhetoric in debates does not focus heavily on issues of reproductive rights. Instead, Ron Paul uses a guise of logic in “important” issues such as war, economy, and foreign policy to gain supporters, making choice a side issue as it has always been perceived.
Reproductive rights is not just a woman’s issue. The right to abortion, low-cost family planning materials, and sexual education affects all of society. Allowing people to choose if and when they have children improves the economy, our education system, crime-rates, and the overall position of women in society.
With so many things for the country to fix, whether or not a candidate is pro-choice seems minor. The right to your own body, however, is not something to be compromised. To guarantee that my right to abortion is never taken from me unfairly, I vow to always vote against anti-choice candidates (no matter how appealing their anti-war rhetoric sounds).
