The leading abortion rights organizations in America say they are confident that Barack Obama will push for their full agenda, including passage of the Freedom of Choice Act, comprehensive sex ed and “reproductive rights” that include “affordable" birth control.
Planned Parenthood, NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) Pro-Choice America, and the Center for Reproductive Rights have each publicly congratulated the new president-elect on his victory.
“NARAL Pro-Choice America worked hard for our slate of pro-choice candidates across the country, including pro-choice Sen. Barack Obama, and that hard work resulted in the reaffirmation of our commitment to the values of freedom and privacy,” Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said in a statement.
She added: “I’m proud that NARAL Pro-Choice America was the first major pro-choice PAC to endorse Obama for president.
Obama was the most pro-abortion presidential candidate in history.
In a speech to Planned Parenthood on the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion – Obama said: “Throughout my career, I’ve been a consistent and strong supporter of reproductive justice, and have consistently had a 100 percent pro-choice rating with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.”
Obama also pledged to push for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) as president. FOCA was introduced in 2004, “to prohibit, consistent with Roe v. Wade, the interference by the government with a woman’s right to choose to bear a child or terminate a pregnancy, and for other purposes.”
The proposal would overturn all existing state regulations on abortion and partial-birth abortion, if enacted.
Now it is up to the president-elect to make good on his promises, the abortion groups say.
In a three-page letter, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) asked the president-elect to pursue other specific items on the abortion-rights agenda:
1. To stop funding abstinence-only education programs as part of the in the Title V Maternal-Child Health Block Grant and the Community-Based Abstinence-Education programs. CRR also wants the new administration to appoint agency heads “who will not allow politics to trump science.”
2. To appoint federal judges "committed to supporting established constitutional rights.” Specifically, the letter emphasizes the importance of judges who will preserve “reproductive rights.”
3. To send representatives to the U.N. who will promote abortion and “reproductive rights."
The center also wants Obama to repeal what it calls the “Global Gag Rule” – also known as the Mexico City Policy, a Reagan-era policy that forbids U.S. funding going to support abortion overseas – and to begin again to fund the U.N. Population Fund, a program which the Bush administration stopped funding because it supported forced abortion and sterilization programs overseas.
The abortion rights group asked that the administration direct the new Health and Human Services Secretary to reassess the FDA’s policy restricting over-the-counter access to so-called “emergency contraception.”
Planned Parenthood's agenda, meanwhile, is simple, its Virginia affiliate told CNSNews.com.
"Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia feel he (Obama) will improve access to quality healthcare for women, support and protect a woman’s right to choose, support comprehensive sex-education to keep our young people healthy and safe, and invest in prevention programs including family planning services and breast cancer screening.”
Contact: Matthew Hadro
Source: CNSNews.com
Source URL: http://www.cnsnews.com
Publish Date: November 10, 2008
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