Read Senator Clinton's response to our Reproductive Health questionnaire.
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is a strong supporter of reproductive rights. She has drawn criticism from some in the reproductive health field for calling abortion "tragic" and emphasizing the need to make it "rare."
Clinton received 100 percent scores 2002-2006 from NARAL Pro-Choice America and submitted this statement on her commitment to reproductive health:
"I believe in the freedom of women to make their own decisions about the most personal and significant matters affecting their lives. That is why I strongly support Roe v. Wade. I also believe that abortion should be safe, legal and rare and that the government should do much more to support women so that the right guaranteed in our constitution is exercised in rare circumstances.
"Throughout my career, I have worked to increase access to the full range of reproductive health services for women at every income level; to increase access to international family planning; and to reduce teen pregnancy. In the Senate, I have championed the Prevention First Act and led a successful three year fight to secure over-the-counter access for Plan-B emergency contraception."
Clinton stated that "women's rights are human rights" at the United Nations Conference in Beijing in 1995 and has a significant record advocating for women's health around the world. She has spoken out strongly against sex trafficking, advocates for comprehensive sex education and supports expanding access to family planning services.
As First Lady, she helped to establish the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancies and helped to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act. In addition, Clinton led efforts to make adoptions easier and increase support for families in the foster care and adoption systems.
Clinton sponsored legislation to increase funding for global HIV/AIDS prevention. At the July 28th Democratic debate, Clinton addressed HIV/AIDS:
"If HIV/AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be an outraged outcry in this country. So let me quickly say ... that yes, we have to do all of this, and I'm working on this. I'm working to get Medicaid to cover treatment. I'm working to raise the budget for Ryan White, which the Bush administration has kept flat, disgracefully so, because there are a lot of women, particularly, who are becoming infected in poor rural areas as well as underserved urban areas in states where, frankly, their state governments won't give them medical care.
"So this is a multiple dimension problem. But if we don't begin to take it seriously and address it the way we did back in the '90s, when it was primarily a gay men's disease, we will never get the services and the public education that we need."
Hillary on reducing abortions:
