http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x83876http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2357536:kick: :bounce: :bounce: :kick:
January 8th Meet The Press had a lively discussion between Kate O’Beirne, twisted RW author of “Women Who Make the World Worse” and Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL, author of “With Liberty and Justice for All.”
Ms. Michelman is an exceptional communicator and made points that will help DUers educate friends, family and co-workers about women's rights issues.
Her clear, concise language and calm confidence show that it is possible to affirm and get on with the work, without having to continuously reinvent the wheel, suffer the slings and arrows, go back to Square One and dodge monkey poo.
This is a valuable example for people on discussion boards dealing with uninformed “allies” whose ignorance expresses as fear and aggression.
These are clear statements of fact. They need to be broadcast, not defended from --and deconstructed by-- those supposedly on “our” side.
"What is at issue is the individual right to privacy and dignity for American women and the issue of who’s going to get to decide the most intimate aspects of our lives."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10721401/page/3/RE: DEMONIZATION OF FEMINISM
MS. MICHELMAN: Well, I think that the conservative movement has spent a lot of years denigrating, demonizing feminism, and the word has received a lot of flak for—interesting—for a simple belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. I mean, that’s what feminism was and is about and continues to be important in addressing the inequities in society that exist for women. And I don’t think feminism is dead. I do agree that the word has been so demonized that many young women don’t identify with the word, but interestingly enough, the irony is that even though some young women don’t identify with the label feminism—actually, they’re rejecting all kinds of labels today—they fully embrace the ideals that feminism set forth; you know, equal opportunity, equal education, equal pay, reproductive freedom and choice, the right to determine the course of one’s life. That is what feminism was really about. And...
RE: RESPECTING CHOICE WHEN IT'S NOT YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE
MR. RUSSERT: Can you be a pro-life, pro-anti-abortion rights feminist?
MS. MICHELMAN: You can be a feminist and oppose the act of abortion on moral and ethical, religious, on personal grounds; absolutely can be. And, in fact, many people who are pro-choice in terms of their beliefs that the policies of this nation should respect the diversity of views on these issues related to pregnancy and childbearing, abortion, and reproductive matters, that there is a diversity of views and they are informed by one’s values, as they are mine. My personal values informed my decision about abortion. But you can be absolutely anti-abortion, if you will, and pro-choice; believing that women ultimately, not the government, not Dennis Hastert and Tom DeLay and Bill Frist, but women themselves must determine the course of their lives, and central to that determining the course of their lives is determining when and under what circumstances they will become mothers. Because the thing that most women want is to be successful at mothering. And the first ingredient is being able to determine when that time is right and not being forced by the government and by politicians or by judges to bear a child under circumstances of one—not of one’s choosing. So I...
RE: LANGUAGE MATTERS
MS. MICHELMAN: Could I speak to this “abortion on demand”? I have to comment about this because I hear it over and over and over again. First of all, I ran a Planned Parenthood affiliate for years. I have been with women who have faced the decision about whether or not to have an abortion. I have never heard a woman demand to have an abortion. I think that that language reveals the lack of respect that those who oppose abortion have for women who face crises. We’ve got to get rid of that language. And Roe does not guarantee women a right to abortion without restrictions. It balanced rights of women to have an abortion in the earlier stages of pregnancy, and allows the states to restrict in the post-viability, roughly last trimester.
RE: PRINCIPLES OF DIGNITY AND PRIVACY FOR WOMEN
MR. RUSSERT: Are the Democrats changing their vocabulary on abortion, because to Kate’s point, the political—the politics are changing?
MS. MICHELMAN: You know, I think those public comments and that public angsting after the 2004 presidential election was unfortunate because the principle that underlies a pro-choice position are the principles of dignity and privacy for women. Abortion rights and reproductive freedom and choice needs to be seen in the larger context of individual liberties, of women determining the course of their lives and having control over their lives. I think that was unfortunate. I’m reminded of the ‘92 election when President Clinton was elected. The House and the Senate were under control of Democrats. The political pundits were writing the obituary of the right wing and the conservative movement, and you didn’t see the conservatives sort of back away from their values or their principles. They didn’t give up and start publicly talking about changing their language. What they did is they stayed focused on their values and that’s what we need to do. And the right to choose is an ex—the right to choose, the right of the individual woman to be guaranteed, to be free from the government and political interference in making this decision is a right that is embraced by the majority of Americans. There may be different views on the individual act of abortion, but in terms of who should make the decision, whether it’s government and politicians or women, there is universal acceptance that women must make...
MR. RUSSERT: But the Democrats want to recapture control of the Congress and the White House.
MS. MICHELMAN: They do, and they can do it on these principles.
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