Reproductive Rights Prof Blog

Opponents of Contraception Mandate Energized After VP Debate

Politico: Contraception rule opponents feel 'momentum' after VP debate, by Kathryn Smith:

Joe Biden and Paul Ryan tangled over the Obama administration’s contraception coverage requirement Thursday night, but the real fight has headed to the courts — and the rule’s opponents say they’re gaining steam.

They’re certainly piling up lawsuits. But whether that’s real momentum — or just a growing stack of legal briefs — remains to be seen. . . .

NYT Editorial on Romney and a Future Without Roe v. Wade

The New York Times editorial: If Roe v. Wade Goes:  

It is no secret that Mitt Romney and his running-mate, Representative Paul Ryan, are opponents of abortion rights. When Mr. Ryan was asked at last week’s debate whether voters who support abortion rights should be worried if the Romney-Ryan ticket were elected, he essentially said yes.

They would depart slightly from the extremist Republican Party platform by allowing narrow exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the woman. Beyond that, they would move to take away a fundamental right that American women have had for nearly 40 years. . . .

Celebrities Sign "Bill of Reproductive Rights"

The Hill - Healthwatch blog:  Celebs lambaste GOP over abortion, by Elise Viebeck:

A slew of film and television stars are pushing back against GOP efforts to ban abortion and stop President Obama's birth-control mandate.

Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Amy Poehler and others mounted an online push for a "Bill of Reproductive Rights" on Tuesday in collaboration with an international abortion-rights group. . . . 

 

The Vice Presidential Candidates on Abortion

ABC News - OTUS blog: Joe Biden: An Imperfect Messenger for Supporters of Abortion Rights, by Sarah Parnass:

No one in politics would make the mistake of saying the vice president opposes abortion rights, but Joe Biden, the women’s rights advocate and a staunch Catholic, has not been unwavering throughout his career in support of the right  to choose. . . .

The Global Grind: Hold Up Ladies! Paul Ryan Has A Plan For Your Vagina:

Heading into tonight’s debate, Ryan’s stance on abortion hasn’t changed - no matter what he says. The fact of the matter is, "draconian" would be a nice way to describe his plan for women when it comes to abortion rights in America. . . .

Romney Continues Shift to Center with Reassurances on Abortion

The Wall Street Journal - Washington Wire blog: Romney Says He Won’t Pursue Abortion Legislation, by Sara Murray:

Mitt Romney continued his shift to the center Tuesday, saying he wouldn’t pursue any abortion legislation if he wins the presidency.

“There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda,” Mr. Romney told The Des Moines Register’s editorial boardTuesday as he sought its endorsement. . . .

The Huffington Post: Mitt Romney Abortion Stance Changes, As Candidate Says He Won't Push To Restrict Access, by Elise Foley:

Mitt Romney said Tuesday he has no plans to push for legislation limiting abortion, a softer stance from a candidate who has said he would "get rid of" funding for Planned Parenthood and appoint Supreme Court who would overturn Roe v. Wade. . . .

The Romney campaign walked back the remark within two hours of the Register posting its story. . . .

Susan B. Anthony List Forms New Super-PAC Opposing Obama

The Hill – Healthwatch blog: Anti-abortion group launches super-PAC against Obama, by Elise Viebeck:

The Susan B. Anthony List has launched a new super-PAC to oppose President Obama and give the abortion debate a higher profile in the presidential election.

The new Women Speak Out PAC aims to "amplify the voices of women opposed to President Obama and his extreme abortion record," the SBA List announced Tuesday. . . .

Ohio Nuns Spread Misinformation About Contraception Via YouTube

The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio nuns release contraception video on YouTube, by JoAnne Viviano:

A group of Roman Catholic nuns in central Ohio has produced a short anti-contraception video hoping to get it in front of Catholics in all 50 states, starting with swing states, before the presidential election.

The "You Deserve to Know the Truth: Contraception" video, posted on YouTube by The Children of Mary order, invokes a number of statistics, studies and comments -- even lyrics to the Bloodhound Gang's “The Bad Touch."

The video opens by saying oral contraception can make women less desirable by interfering with chemical hormones. . . .

In Orlando, Paul Ryan Denounces Contraceptive Mandate

The Huffington Post: Paul Ryan: Contraception Mandate 'Will Be Gone' On 'Day 1', by Chris Gentilviso:

GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan sees no place for the Obama Administration's contraception mandate.

At a Saturday campaign event in Orlando, Fla., the Associated Press reports that Ryan was asked about whether he would press Vice President and fellow Catholic Joe Biden on his views in relation to the 2012 Democratic Party platform. . . .

NARAL Tries to Woo Small Number of Potentially Defecting Women Back to Obama Camp

Reuters: This election, abortion rights activists are looking for just a few good women, by Patricia Zengerle:

This fall, there is going to be a relatively small group of women voters who may be very, very sick of hearing from NARAL Pro-Choice America by Election Day on Nov. 6.

Like most of those involved in politics this election year, the abortion rights advocacy group says that women will determine the outcome of the contest on Nov. 6 between Democratic President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney.

But unlike most, the group has identified, by name and address, the thousands of women across the country that it thinks might make the difference – and it plans to go after their votes,  and in a big way, but in small numbers – in many cases as few as 1,000 or 2,000 in an individual county. . . .

Sue Tolleson-Rinehart on Women’s Rights and Politics

Sue Tolleson-Rinehart (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) has posted Women's Rights and the Politics of Health: Contraception, Health Reform, and the 2012 Election on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

What are the very surprising politics of, not just abortion, but birth control, in health reform? Abortion is the perennial women's health Rubicon, but birth control, access to contraception, has been settled for decades, even to the extent of being considered a fundamental right, and the stimulus of Justice Douglas's construction of the right to privacy. And yet the politics of health reform and women's rights in the 2012 election has come to include a surprising juxtaposition of attempts to redefine rape, restrict abortion, and posit contraception as a threat to religious liberty. Will this dispute mobilize a measurable number of voters, and if so, in which direction will the preponderance of mobilization lie? President Obama is the current beneficiary of a substantial gender gap, but whether women voters, and young, single women voters in particular, will turn out as they did in 2008 is the question. Will threats to their access to contraception mobilize them more than social conservative voters will be mobilized by the growing boldness of the pro-life movement? This paper just asks the question: it does not yet offer an answer.

Michelle Obama and Ann Romney's Convention Speeches Highlight Women's Role as Moms, not in the Workplace

The Huffington Post - The Blog: Michelle Obama, Moms and the Media, by Karin Kamp:

Both Michelle Obama and Ann Romney's celebrated convention speeches highlighted their role as mothers rather than using the moment to discuss the issues women face in the workplace, including the pay gap.

And the media seemed to largely ignore these issues as well, despite some moments from the conventions that could have clearly worked as news hooks. . . .

Praise and Criticism for the Democratic Party’s Platform on Abortion

Slate - XX Factor: Democrats Offer Unqualified Support for Choice. It's About Time, by Amanda Marcotte:

Democrats put forward a bold, confident face at this year's Democratic National Convention, and this attitude extended to reproductive rights. Speaker after speaker expressed support for a woman's right to choose, without all the hand-wringing and shaming that often accompanies even pro-choice discussions of abortion rights. Obama capped it off last night . . . .

Chicago Tribune/Bloomberg News – opinion column: Democrats drop a word, err badly, on abortion, by Margaret Carlson:

Why has the Democratic Party removed the sentence "Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare" from its platform? It was in the 2004 document but not in 2008's or this year's. Can't Democrats just throw a crumb to the many millions who are pro-choice but not pro-abortion? . . .

Women's Rights Addressed at Democratic National Convention

NBCNews.com: Democrats tackle women's rights at convention:

 See also: The Los Angeles Times: Women are front and center at Democratic convention, by Robin Abcarian

 

Republicans Approve GOP Abortion Plank

Coverage from the Associated Press here.

The Hill: Gov. McDonnell: GOP abortion plank won’t cost Romney voters, by Meghashyam Mali:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican convention platform committee, dismissed concerns that the GOP’s anti-abortion rights plank would cost Romney independent voters in November.  . . .

The New York Times - Taking Note blog: What’s Left of the Big Tent, by Juliet Lapidos:

The word “abortion” first appeared in a Republican platform in 1976, when the Party hadn’t yet made up its mind on reproductive freedom. The platform acknowledged that “the question of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial of our time.” The 1976 G.O.P. favored “a continuance of the public dialogue on abortion,” which it called a “moral and personal issue,” while expressing support for “those who seek enactment of a constitutional amendment to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.”Decades later, there is no more in-between language. . . .

CBS News Poll Finds Abortion Stance Not Decisive for Most Voters

CBS News: Poll: Abortion views not a litmus test for most voters, by Stephanie Condon, Fred Backus, Anthony Salvanto, Jennifer De Pinto, Sarah Dutton:

The issue of abortion rights was thrust into the spotlight this month after the Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin made some controversial remarks on the matter. A new CBS News poll, however, shows that most voters, Democrats and Republicans alike, are willing to look past the issue when it comes to supporting a political candidate. . . .

Questioning Why Any Women Vote Republican

The New York Times – Campaign Stops blog: All the Single Ladies, by Charles M. Blow:

The noxious “legitimate rape” comment by Todd Akin, Missouri congressman and Senate candidate, has me once again pondering a simple question: Why do any women vote Republican?

The Republican establishment rushed in to pressure Akin to drop out of the race — something that he refused to do — in part because they want to win the seat, win control of the Senate and win Missouri for Romney. A SurveyUSA poll earlier this month — before “legitimate rape” — found Romney and Obama in a statistical tie in the state. . . .

Will Saletan on Romney and Abortion

Slate: The Abortion Weathervane, by William Saletan:

Mitt Romney isn’t an extremist. He’s a symptom of your failure to make reproductive health a voting issue.

According to President Obama’s campaign, Mitt Romney is an abortion extremist. “Romney backed a proposal to outlaw all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest,” says the Obama campaign. He “supports the Republican Party platform, which … bans abortion without those exceptions.” He’s “in lockstep” with Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri, who thinks abortion should be illegal even in cases of what Akin calls “legitimate” rape.

The good news, if you’re pro-choice, is that this isn’t true. . . .

Reporter Says She Was Told Not To Ask Romney About Abortion or Akin During Interview

The New York Times - The Caucus blog: Abortion and Akin Were Off Limits During Romney Interview, Reporter Says, by Brian Stelter:

It’s the sort of statement that leaves journalists slack-jawed: “The one stipulation to the interview was that I not ask him about abortion or Todd Akin.”

That’s what Mitt Romney’s campaign demanded, said Shaun Boyd, a reporter for the CBS-owned television station in Denver, when she interviewed the Republican presidential candidate on Thursday. . . .

NJ Star Ledger Asks the Right Question About Romney, Rape, and Abortion

The New Jersey Star Ledger editorial: If Romney believes a fetus is a person, how can he justify aborting it?:

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri made himself a footnote of history this weekend with his bizarre assertion that “legitimate” rapes rarely lead to pregnancy. If he doesn’t resign, he’ll surely lose in November. . . .

But what about the larger issue of rape and abortion? . . .

_____________________________________________________________________

For more on the broader issue of rape, abortion, and the moral status of the fetus, see: The Meaning of "Life": Belief and Reason in the Abortion Debate

 

Posted with Blogsy

Michelle Obama, Ann Romney, and Feminism

The New York Times - Campaign Stops blog: The Other Running Mates, by Jamie Stiehm:

The argument over whether American feminism is really dead — or just beaten back into a corner — never fails to get a conversation going. Indeed, it’s fair to say we can’t stop talking, writing or reading the chatter about it, in private or in public. In the late summer stretch from now into September, this topic is bound to heat up as Michelle Obama and Ann Romney make their own campaign stops — though 2012 is no 2008 when it comes to up-ending age-old paradigms for women in politics. . . .