As a pro-choice Democrat, the fact that at least one and maybe two justices will be appointed in the next four years is stamped on my mind. The Reverend Carlton Veazey of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (full disclosure: I'm in Denver with RCRC and Rev. Veazey is my boss) made that clear at an RCRC event Monday at the convention: with four justices ready to strike down Roe v. Wade, we must have a pro-choice president to safeguard reproductive rights.
It seems to me that some Democrats who are still wavering on Obama (more full disclosure -- I went to Iowa and Ohio with National Organization for Women volunteers to work for Hillary Clinton's election and continue to admire her greatly) are not acknowledging the full extent of the threat to the Court if John McCain wins. There are also questions about whether Joe Biden stands on choice. Feminist Majority president Ellie Smeal left no doubts in her fiery speech Monday at the jam-packed women's "Equali-tea" that the Democrats have "the strongest platform for women's rights in history," citing their support for ratifying CEDAW and the ERA and commitment to oppose all efforts to undermine reproductive rights and Roe v. Wade. "Barack Obama has been there with us time and time again," she said. "Don't believe rumors about Biden," she continued, reminding the crowd that he voted against the confirmation of Clarence Thomas.
Unfortunately, there are small signs that the Democratic Party may be weakening on the choice issue. One of the four main speakers at the opening event of the convention on Sunday - a multi-faith celebration of religious diversity in the Democratic Party - delivered a pro-life speech that, frankly, shocked me. I was expecting inspiration and hope, not remarks against abortion. The speaker - Bishop Charles Blake of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), which has more than six million members - said that "millions" of Democrats feel the Democrats' pro-choice position "contradicts with our faith." He called on his compatriots to "resist now" and said, "We know our party will understand our pain." And he also reassured the party that "despite our disagreement on this issue," pro-life Democrats will stay in the party because of shared values such as concern for children and the poor.
There was no pro-choice speech at the faith event, not even a mention of honoring women's lives and the difficult decisions they must make. A respected theologian at the event, who told me he is advising Obama's campaign on how to appeal to religious voters on the choice issue, said that abortion is emerging as a key issue in the campaign and Democrats are worried they will lose some religious voters because of their position. Apparently, they think they need to talk about "abortion reduction." I asked him to consider talking about "reducing the need for abortion" - not the numbers of abortions - and to stress we need money for comprehensive sexuality education in our schools and more money for family planning programs.
In my opinion - as a Democrat and a person who strongly believes that faith shapes our views on abortion - the Democrats should deliver a strong pro-choice pro-faith message that shows they understand that reproductive decisions involve people's deepest beliefs about the meaning of life and hopes for their families. Democrats should be the party that is pro-faith, pro-family and pro-choice. I call on readers of this post to join me in asking the Democrats to be strong on choice.
]]>This article was originally published at On the Issues Magazine.
The pending reauthorization of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, commonly called PEPFAR, is a clear challenge for our government to demonstrate its commitment to human dignity and life.
PEPFAR would be expanded dramatically by legislation, S 2731, now before the Senate and already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives (and with the long name of "The Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, H.R. 5501").
Funding would be tripled to $50 billion over the next five years. While the increased funding is a tremendous step forward, the House version also contains ideological restrictions that will prevent the funds from most effectively containing the spread of HIV by blocking the participation of family planning programs.
The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and our partners in the interfaith community are urging the Senate to hear the voices of people of faith on the issue of AIDS relief. These are people from diverse traditions who share common principles of justice and compassion and the belief that we have a moral responsibility to help the vulnerable and the sick to the full extent of our ability.
Simply put, we want PEPFAR to be reauthorized and we welcome the increased funds -- but we want language restricting the participation of family planning organizations to be removed.
This language requires that organizations must comply with the global gag rule -- the requirement that foreign organizations receiving U.S. funding must not provide abortion counseling or services or conduct advocacy on abortion policy. We believe that an ethical policy will support the best and most flexible approaches possible to contain the spread of HIV. Experience shows that involving family planning organizations will ensure the greatest level of access to information and services for women and girls.
We also are concerned by an onerous reporting provision in the bill that would require Congress to be informed when countries with generalized epidemics fall below 50 percent of funds spent on abstinence and fidelity programs. Instead of promoting programs that allow for flexibility and are tailored to the needs of individual communities, the new reporting policy will restrict delivery of comprehensive and integrated information.
Those involved in our community response on PEPFAR include 26 Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, ecumenical and interfaith agencies and bodies. We are actively reaching out to our constituencies to underscore that this issue involves our faith commitments, including our commitment to action for social justice.
HIV and AIDS have had devastating consequences throughout the developing world - consequences that can be prevented by empowering the most vulnerable populations with proven prevention strategies.
The United States launched PEPFAR in 2003 as the largest investment ever made by any nation to combat a single disease. PEPFAR has successfully brought AIDS treatment, care and HIV prevention to millions of people who would not otherwise have had services. But constraints on prevention and care are contrary to the authentic moral concerns of the American public for those suffering from HIV/AIDS. The religious and religiously affiliated organizations opposing these constraints have pointed out that they directly affect women, youth, and socially marginalized groups - those who increasingly bear the greatest burden of this pandemic and who often receive medical care mainly or only from family planning organizations.
It is our moral duty to challenge our government to adopt the most effective, humane and just policy to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic, without ideological restrictions and constraints.
And check out all of RH Reality Check's PEPFAR coverage here.