Convince Your Pro-Choice Friends to Vote for Obama

Hi everyone! Beth here. 11 more days until Election Day! I see that a lot of you are playing "stump the political director" today. :) There are so many great questions, so let's get started!

Ann – I’m so glad you asked this question. It’s one that our loyal opposition continually uses to make it seem like being pro-choice is somehow antithetical to being a Christian. As the proud daughter of an Episcopal priest, I can tell you that this is something I’ve actually given some thought to. Beyond the fact that I have yet to find one reference to the word “abortion” in the Bible, I rely on two of the greatest gifts that God has given us all: free will and a conscience. When your friends or family question how someone who believes in God can also be pro-choice, remind them of the gifts God has given you.

We all remember what happened in 2000 when George W. Bush beat Al Gore. Not only was it a sad day for our country, it was particularly devastating for a woman’s right to choose. I don’t necessarily put all the blame on Ralph Nader for what we’ve had to endure over the last 8 years. However, anyone who thinks that voting for a minor party candidate this year will have any impact is just plain crazy. We cannot afford another 4 years like the last 8. With apologies to Ms. McKinney and Mr. Nader, let’s face it – there’s no possible way they can win. So, if the future of a woman’s right to choose is in any way important to you, please don’t waste your vote on someone who can’t win.

PS: We’ll spend another webchat convincing you that Ralph Nader actually isn’t pro-choice.

Christy – I hope that when someone says this to you, you actually slap them upside the head. :) A candidate’s position on a woman’s right to choose should definitely affect your vote. Not just because it’s about freedom, privacy, and respect, but because a candidate’s position on reproductive health shows so much more about them than just abortion. We’re talking about privacy; we’re talking about health care; we’re talking about education; and we’re talking about trusting Americans to make the best decisions for themselves and their families without government interference. That’s about a lot more than abortion.

Now, for the second point: Roe v. Wade isn’t threatened???? Ask them what rock they’ve been hiding under. John McCain has said that he believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Currently, there is a 5-4 majority in support of the basic tenents of Roe on the Supreme Court. There are likely to be two if not three vacancies during the next president’s term. Do we really think that John McCain wouldn’t nominate justices who would overturn Roe? Of course he would. He’s already said that he has a “man-crush” on Justices Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas. (OK, I don’t think HE actually said man-crush, but it’s pretty obvious when he talks about them how he’d try to find people just like them to replace justices like Ginsberg and Stevens.) I just don’t think we can afford to risk the future of Roe by voting for McCain.

Clyde – I hope you tell your friend that someone so naïve and temperamental enough to pick someone like Sarah Palin as his VP doesn’t really have the kind of experience we need in Washington. You’re absolutely right that the kind of experience John McCain would bring is the kind of experience we certainly don’t need anymore of. In his 25 years in Washington, he’s voted anti-choice 125 times. On everything from abortion to birth control to sex ed to family planning clinics, John McCain just says no.

On the other hand, you have Barack Obama who has consistently supported and defended a woman’s right to choose. Who has said that he will nominate Supreme Court justices who value freedom and privacy when it comes to making personal medical decisions. He has sponsored and even authored legislation that would prevent unintended pregnancy, thereby reducing the need for abortion. When it comes to our right to choose, there’s no question that Barack Obama is the superior candidate.

Lindsay, you should know everyone here at the webchat just voted you the absolute coolest person we’ve talked to today. :) Although I’m far from 16, I can tell you that over the years I’ve had the same difficulty that you’re having with your family. My dad is a lifelong Republican, and to show my age, I’ll tell you that the first great president I learned about was Richard Nixon. (How scary is that? Thankfully, I saw the light years later.) My dad and I talk about politics a lot. Especially this year. Over the years, we have hardly ever agreed to the point that I once asked my mom if she’d keep my dad from voting by taking him out for coffee instead.

This year, I can’t begin to tell you how different things are. My lifelong Republican dad is voting for Barack Obama. I find that if you can talk to people reasonably and you’re armed with the facts, especially people who love you, will listen and although they may never admit it, you might actually change their minds. Talk to your family and let them know why you support Barack Obama and why they should, too. Not with personal attacks, but with the facts. And if all else fails, invite them all for coffee on November 4. :)

Great question, and it’s one that we get asked a lot. For the women who came before us, and fought so hard to secure a woman’s right to choose, it must be disheartening to have to fight for it every year, every election, every time. I’m hoping this older family member loves you and understands that while one person, one vote is a basic right guaranteed in America, often voting also affects millions of people throughout the country. So while she may no longer be directly impacted by laws and policies that affect women’s reproductive health, I’m sure that the women she loves in her life still have to worry. So if she’s not going to vote for herself, ask her to vote for her daughter’s future, her granddaughter’s future, her nieces, nephews, neighbors, all of the people she cares about who would be negatively impacted if John McCain is elected.

OK. So it’s obvious that number one, whoever these pro-choice Republicans are, they are making more than $250,000 a year, which is the only way they wouldn’t be getting a tax-cut under Obama. But I know this isn’t the Obama for America webchat, so, I guess we’ll just have to answer based on choice. Of course there are tremendously big and scary issues facing our country right now. The stock market is going bonkers, we’re excited that gas is only $3.00 a gallon, and milk is crazy expensive. It’s easy to get trapped into believing the easy definitions that McCain uses to attack Obama. But here’s the thing: as I said before, being pro-choice like Barack Obama has so much more to do with your everyday life than you might think. It’s about the cost of your birth control prescriptions. It’s about cancer screenings for low-income women. It’s about making sure our teens have medically-accurate sex education so they don’t find themselves in a situation they don’t know how to handle before they’re ready.

If people are really concerned about taxes and what makes someone conservative or liberal, they need only to look to the candidate who will actually work to reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce the need for abortion, make birth control affordable, and keep clinics that provide family-planning and cancer screenings to low-income women throughout this country fully funded. That candidate is Barack Obama. John McCain won’t do a thing to make anyone’s life better…well, maybe Sarah Palin’s.

Wow. What can an anti-choice president do in 4 years, even with a Democratic Congress keeping track of him? Where to begin? OK, Dale. So, first off, there’s the Supreme Court. Presidents get to nominate justices who will get lifetime appointments and can dramatically change the laws of our nation. Remember how many Democrats actually supported John Roberts? Having a majority of Democrats in either the House or the Senate wouldn’t have changed who Bush nominated and who now sits on the Court. It’s also really important to remember that just because someone’s a Democrat doesn’t make them pro-choice. While we might elect more Democrats to the House and Senate this year, we will still have an anti-choice majority of legislators in the House and Senate. John McCain can actually do a LOT to appear bipartisan at the expense of a woman’s right to choose by working with anti-choice Democrats and Republicans if elected. I don’t want to take that risk and seriously doubt Senator Clinton would want you to take it, either.

1. Supreme Court.
2. Supreme Court.
3. Supreme Court.
4. Any questions? See #1.

My good friend Christina. What a great question. Actually, I’ve been reading a lot about this lately, and frankly, it scares the crap out of me. A lot of new voters are so excited to vote for Barack Obama but haven’t really thought a lot about even voting for any other office beyond president. We’re all knocking wood as I type this, but hopefully Barack Obama will be our next president. As good as he is…no…as great as he is about a woman’s right to choose, a president can’t do it alone. We’ve got to have more pro-choice House and Senate members to actually write the legislation, pass the legislation, and get the legislation to the president’s desk for his signature. Without them, no matter how pro-choice Barack Obama is, we’ll be fighting the same anti-choice politicians in the House and Senate on the same bad policies that they have been putting forward for years now.

Please, go to our website, http://www.ProChoiceAmerica.org/StateVote, to find out who NARAL Pro-Choice America is supporting in down-ballot races across the country. Print the list. Give the list to your friends. Threaten them with bodily harm if they do not take it with them when they vote. Seriously. As great as Obama is, he’s not a freakin’ miracle worker. Give us more pro-choice senators and congressional members to work with…please, I beg you.

Christopher, first let me put in a plug for opposing the anti-choice ballot initiatives in Colorado, California, South Dakota, and the constitutional convention question in Connecticut. All of these would have a negative impact on a woman’s right to choose and at least two of them are designed in a blatant attempt to have the justices review Roe v. Wade yet again. So, if you live in any of these states, please vote “no” on these dangerous and divisive ballot initiatives.

If that’s not enough for you, let’s remember once again that John McCain has said that Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Then, he tries to make himself sound moderate by saying that overturning Roe would simply return the issue to the states to decide. Well, that is a bunch of bull. First of all, Congress could actually make a federal law that would trump state laws and make Roe irrelevant. Things like a human life amendment and the federal abortion ban were designed just for that purpose. Add to that all the states that have pre-Roe bans or “trigger laws” (laws that would take effect and outlaw abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned) and we’ve got a really scary picture on our hands. Returning the issue of abortion to the states is like saying some states should have First Amendment rights and some shouldn’t. Or, how would John McCain like it if some states recognized the Second Amendment, and some didn’t?

See? McCain’s logic just doesn’t make any sense.

You betcha! I can see the clock from my house! ;)

And the winner is Lisa. The beauty of being pro-choice is that a person gets to decide for herself what she would do when faced with an unintended pregnancy. And not to sound flip, but who actually plans to have an abortion? A lot of things can happen that aren’t planned, that we’re not prepared for, and that require us to think long and hard about what’s best for ourselves in any given situation. Unfortunately, too many politicians think that they should decide what’s best for you and your family. This is a place where, frankly, no politician belongs. Choices about abortion, family planning, birth control, and all the other issues that fall under the umbrella of being pro-choice are decisions that you should make in consultation with your family, your doctor, and your faith. Don’t think that anti-choice politicians won’t do everything in their power to take away your right to choose what’s best for you. They do it every day.

In the next 11 days, we have a chance to not only make history, but to change history. Please do everything in your power to help elect our next pro-choice president, Barack Obama. That means talking to your friends, even if the conversation is a difficult one. Go door to door, make phone calls, and most importantly, don't forget to vote. And when you're voting for Barack Obama, remember to vote for pro-choice candidates up and down the ballot, too.

Thanks for all the great questions. Peace out.