Editorial Staff
Stevens Point, Wisconsin
As the presidential campaign season rolls on, the stark differences between the presidential candidates could not be clearer: Sen. Barack Obama, a proven advocate who will advance women's access to critical health services; or Sen. John McCain, who will turn back the clock and insert politicians into the doctor's office to make decisions for women.Sen. McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his VP pick has brought many important issues about motherhood, contraception, teen pregnancy, sex education and choice to the forefront in this election. These issues are extremely important to women voters and to women's health advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. And there is no better way to highlight the clear distinctions between the McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden ticket when it comes to women and our families. The candidates' records speak for themselves.Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin support the same regressive Bush policy that politicians, not women, their families and their doctors should make health care decisions -- unless, of course, the family involved is Gov. Palin's or Sen. McCain's. Both have stated that when it comes to their families, reproductive health decisions are a private matter. Yet the McCain/Palin ticket does not afford your family that same privilege. If your daughter was raped, McCain/Palin would say she should have no choice should she become pregnant. They believe that the state should outlaw most abortions; regardless of whether your pregnancy is the result of rape or incest; regardless of whether your health is put at great risk continuing a pregnancy.
As the presidential campaign season rolls on, the stark differences between the presidential candidates could not be clearer: Sen. Barack Obama, a proven advocate who will advance women's access to critical health services; or Sen. John McCain, who will turn back the clock and insert politicians into the doctor's office to make decisions for women.
Sen. McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his VP pick has brought many important issues about motherhood, contraception, teen pregnancy, sex education and choice to the forefront in this election. These issues are extremely important to women voters and to women's health advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. And there is no better way to highlight the clear distinctions between the McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden ticket when it comes to women and our families. The candidates' records speak for themselves.
Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin support the same regressive Bush policy that politicians, not women, their families and their doctors should make health care decisions -- unless, of course, the family involved is Gov. Palin's or Sen. McCain's. Both have stated that when it comes to their families, reproductive health decisions are a private matter. Yet the McCain/Palin ticket does not afford your family that same privilege. If your daughter was raped, McCain/Palin would say she should have no choice should she become pregnant. They believe that the state should outlaw most abortions; regardless of whether your pregnancy is the result of rape or incest; regardless of whether your health is put at great risk continuing a pregnancy.
Sen. Obama disagrees -- he trusts women and families to make these difficult decisions. He has long been a champion of keeping the government out of our personal decisions and working to ensure that we have access to the information and preventative health services we need to make decisions about our health and lives.The McCain/Palin ticket's answer to alarming teen pregnancy rates and soaring sexually transmitted infections is to keep teens and young adults in the dark by withholding lifesaving information from them. Both are strong supporters of the same ineffective Bush policy that has dumped $1.5 billion into dangerous abstinence-only-until-marriage education.But not all teens are abstinent, as Gov. Palin's own family experience demonstrates. By the time they graduate high school 70 percent of teens have had sex. Teens that have an unintended birth are nine times more likely to live in poverty.Ironically, Gov. Palin is on record cutting funds for programs that help teen mothers get out of poverty in Alaska. We need a candidate like Sen. Obama, who believes in turning on the light in our classrooms and providing our kids with age-appropriate information about how to make healthy decisions now and in the future.Prevention plays a key role in women's health and is closely connected to women's economic security, another critical issue. The ability to plan and space our children is crucial to women's ability to participate in educational and economic opportunities necessary to support our families. But if McCain/Palin have their way, Bush's policies that put up barriers to birth control access will continue. Sen. Obama understands that prevention-based health care like birth control access prevents unintended pregnancies and abortion. He is a lead sponsor on the Prevention First bill, which increases access to birth control services and information, giving women the ability to make decisions about childbearing that are best for them and their families.The truth is, our very lives and health hang in the balance with this election. The differences couldn't be clearer: Obama/Biden have a consistent record supporting women's health and economic security and will stand up for women, while McCain/Palin provide more of the same, supporting Bush's dismal record on women's health.Chris Taylor is the public policy director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, where she develops and implements legislative and electoral strategy and the direction of grassroots activities. According to the organization: Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin "educates and lobbies on behalf of access to reproductive health care and works to elect candidates who support family planning, responsible sex education and safe, legal abortion access."
Sen. Obama disagrees -- he trusts women and families to make these difficult decisions. He has long been a champion of keeping the government out of our personal decisions and working to ensure that we have access to the information and preventative health services we need to make decisions about our health and lives.
The McCain/Palin ticket's answer to alarming teen pregnancy rates and soaring sexually transmitted infections is to keep teens and young adults in the dark by withholding lifesaving information from them. Both are strong supporters of the same ineffective Bush policy that has dumped $1.5 billion into dangerous abstinence-only-until-marriage education.
But not all teens are abstinent, as Gov. Palin's own family experience demonstrates. By the time they graduate high school 70 percent of teens have had sex. Teens that have an unintended birth are nine times more likely to live in poverty.
Ironically, Gov. Palin is on record cutting funds for programs that help teen mothers get out of poverty in Alaska. We need a candidate like Sen. Obama, who believes in turning on the light in our classrooms and providing our kids with age-appropriate information about how to make healthy decisions now and in the future.
Prevention plays a key role in women's health and is closely connected to women's economic security, another critical issue. The ability to plan and space our children is crucial to women's ability to participate in educational and economic opportunities necessary to support our families. But if McCain/Palin have their way, Bush's policies that put up barriers to birth control access will continue. Sen. Obama understands that prevention-based health care like birth control access prevents unintended pregnancies and abortion. He is a lead sponsor on the Prevention First bill, which increases access to birth control services and information, giving women the ability to make decisions about childbearing that are best for them and their families.
The truth is, our very lives and health hang in the balance with this election. The differences couldn't be clearer: Obama/Biden have a consistent record supporting women's health and economic security and will stand up for women, while McCain/Palin provide more of the same, supporting Bush's dismal record on women's health.
Chris Taylor is the public policy director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, where she develops and implements legislative and electoral strategy and the direction of grassroots activities. According to the organization: Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin "educates and lobbies on behalf of access to reproductive health care and works to elect candidates who support family planning, responsible sex education and safe, legal abortion access."
Read the story at StevensPointJournal.com here.
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