Dear Steve,
Unfortunately, I see no movement on the horizon to attempt moderate platform changes in the area of reproductive health issues at the Republican convention this year. For both political parties the platform serves not only as a public statement of beliefs, but as an instrument to satisfy the base of each party as well. The candidate himself will also have some sway as to the direction of the platform, since neither party seeks to have a candidate running on a platform that is in conflict with its candidate's stated positions. As for McCain, he has already altered his previous position and now calls for Roe v. Wade to be overturned. This will certainly comport with previous Republican platforms and will satify the hard right base of the party. You are correct in that it would be a good opportunity to appeal to more moderate, independent voters, but I'm afraid it won't happen through the platform.

Dear Alison,
As in previous years, I do not think the abortion plank will be removed from the platform this year or in the near future. This is because the party structure and platform committees represent the anti-choice, hard right base of the party....not the rank and file Republican voter who might believe these decisions are better left to doctors and their patients. There is much talk of late among some party leaders, pundits and the media that the "Republican Brand" is not working anymore. There are definitely changes in the wind. Perhaps moderates may play a greater role in these changes. Let's hope so. As to the pro-choice Hillary Clinton voters, Republicans will certainly do their best to attract these voters to McCain. I think this will be extremely difficult, however, especially among women when they view McCain's record not only on abortion, but his negative votes on family planning. Indeed, the Republican party would be in much better shape with moderates if they could show a good record on family planning and prevention in the past eight years. Sadly, they can't.

Dear Lisa,

As Americans, we need to be concerned about the world as well as our own country.  It is a false dichotomy to see the world in terms of us and them not only because the world is so enormously inter-connected today, but also because such thinking is detrimental to our long-term interest.  Let me explain.

We need to be concerned about women here and abroad.  As we know so well, America is not an island that can shelter itself from the world.  We are part of a planet, an eco-system, a world economy.  Our well-being depends on how the rest of the world is doing.  We have become keenly aware of our interconnectedness after 9/11 and as we learn more about climate change and other environmental problems.  In terms of women's concerns, we also need to see this as a global issue because women are everywhere!  The concerns of low-income women are the same everywhere, though their degree of need may be different.  There is great power in seeing women's issues as being global because it reminds us from where we have come and where we need to go.

Thinking of women's issues globally is also in America's long-term interest.  If we are to maintain our position in the world, we need to lead with our best foot forward -- our principles, especially those of equality and justice.  A more just world that treats women equally is a world of more stable, peaceful and prosperous nations.  This is a world we need to achieve.

Let me remind the audience that we are the world's sole super-power.  America exerts a HUGE influence in the world.  It is time once again to use that power for good.

Anika 

Dear Michelle,

This is an excellent question. 

As a passionate believer in women, I believe that our starting point in any discussion is a global vision for women's equality.   Women's rights is also our end point, our goal. 

American's long term interest, indeed any superpower's long term interest, is served by the promotion of social justice and equality around the world because of the enormous benefits that such equality produces.  If women achieve equal rights, then they will work, earn money, educate their children and families, increase the gross domestic product of their nation, have a say in their political system and shape their personal and national destiny.   We want all women to be able to exercise such rights.  Women's empowerment thus not only benefits women, but their societies and the world in general.  In every way possible, a society that respects its women as equal is a richer society and a more stable one.  Richer and stable societies and nations result in a better world for all.

But remember that women's ability to achieve equality is based on women ability to enjoy good health and control their reproductive lives.  The experience of women in industrialized nations indicates how crucial control over their health and bodies is to women's participation in public life. 

We advocates must demand equality for all women.  It is only with the achievement of such a vision that we will move the world toward peace and security for each one of us.

Anika

Dear DPM,

Over the last 2-3 decades, the far right has framed the debate around the issues of reproductive health and family planning.  We need to claim this space back and reframe the discussion in terms of women's equality.  We care about family planning and reproductive health because they are essential to women's equality -- to our ability to be educated, to claim our space in public life, to our economic independence and to our political empowerment.  We need always to assert women's equality and then discuss family planning and reproductive health in that context.

Anika

Dear Amanda,
This is a frustrating and important question. It can be answered, however, by reviewing a history of the Republican party and its relationship with the religious right. Social issues drew them into politics and they determined that they could best achieve their goals by becoming a major voice in the Republican party. They did their homework, organized (sometimes under the radar, as Ralph Reed put it), and started at the very bottom working to elect their people to central committees, lower level political offices, and behind the scenes positions of influence. It took them years to accomplish this, but they eventually took control of many state party structures and the national party. Their candidates now run for high offices, both state and federal. Each political party has a base that it fears to offend and this is the base that has been organized within the Republican party. As long as they can win elections with this base it will continue to stay in power. That is the key. There is a growing consensus that the Republican party is in trouble. This base risks losing some of its credibility and power if this downward trend continues. It is a good time for moderates to stay the course and help to bring the party back to the center.

Diane, I think the issue here is that many of our elected officials simply don't know much about specific international programs, and don't think their constituents care much anyhow. In some cases, what we're up against isn't really opposition so much as a lack of political will on the part of generally supportive officials.

Of course the solution to that is clear, but hard: we must show them, time and time again, that there is a constituency that cares about the women of the world.

Anika

Eileen,

I think both parties could at least agree on some basic points about women’s health in their platforms. Off the top of my head, I think it would be reasonable for both parties to have a plank that read: “We, the [Republican or Democratic] Party are committed to the idea that no woman should die giving life. The United States should be a leader in the fight against maternal mortality, which currently claims half a million women’s lives each year from entirely preventable causes. As part of this fight, we should help every woman on earth who wants access to family planning receive it, and ensure that every girl has the option of staying in school as long as the boys in her country and pursuing opportunities in life beyond marrying and bearing children.” 

Is there any part of that statement of values that the American people don’t already think of as a guarantee for American women? Shouldn’t it be so for the whole world?

Anika  

Dear GW Medical Student,
First let me say how wonderful it is to hear that you are studying to be a future abortion provider. With so many of the "old guard" retiring it is very important that these practitioners be replaced so that women's reproductive services will be maintained. Your comment about McCain's dilemna in trying to appease the religious right and the more moderate pro-choice voters is right on target. Polls show that a small percentage of voters whether on the pro-choice or anti-choice side put abortion as a single issue vote. This does not mean, however, that the issue will not be given much consideration in the overall picture, especially by pro-choice women. McCain has declared himself in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, and he also has a very poor record in support of family planning and prevention programs. I think voters are starting to understand that the right to choose is under threat as never before and that the vote for president in this election may be the final deciding factor. It will be very difficult, if not impossible, for McCain to reconcile these conflicting positions in the general election.

Dear Joanna,

I feel your pain.  I have always been a passionate advocate for women and my personal understanding of women's reproductive health issues was enhanced by my own difficult pregnancy.  Although I had a planned pregnancy, I knew that so many million women did not have the same privelege I had.  In addition, I knew that I was most fortunate to have survived my pregnancy and to have delivered a healthy daughter.  I was pregnant in New York City and had great doctors.  In at least a 100 other nations, I would not have had access to the excellent health care I had here and I would surely have died.  

I understand my privelege and I believe that such privelege comes with responsibility -- the responsibility to ensure that all women survive pregnancy and that all women should determine when they become pregnant.

As for how you can convince your representatives, sites dedicated to these issues like RH Reality Check often have good ideas, and I know (as I wrote below) that our website has a regularly updated Action Center at www.americansforunfpa.org/takeaction.

Anika

Kyra,

I think DPM was onto the same idea as you: the fact that the far-right has managed to frame all women's issues through the lens of the most controversial women's right, abortion. We would all be better served if the frame were reversed: all reproductive and family planning rights should be viewed through the prism of women's health, rights and equality.

Anika

Hi vitaylor,
I agree that there is much confusion about UNFPA and the China issue especially among Republicans. As we know, the distortions have been pushed by the far right even in the face of Colin Powell refuting their contentions. This has improved somewhat from the early days in that the Congress has now approved these funds several times. It is only the Bush administration that has stood in the way. Of course, there were Republican votes for approval in the Congress which shows that progress has been made. I support UNFPA wholeheartedly. The vast majority of citizens in this country support government funded family planning both here and abroad. We need to continue to educate folks on how critical all these programs are.