The Fragility Of Women’s Rights

To the Editor:

“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” (Irish Proverb) Thank you to Mr Luzzi for bringing up women’s issues in this campaign.  [“What I Learned From The Republican Platform, Letter Hive, 9/14/12.] After reading John Karlson’s response [“Get Back To The Country’s Problems,” Letter Hive, 9/21/12], I realize how uninformed some of the public is on the fragility of women’s rights in this election.

 “Citizens, can we put aside the ‘plumbing of the American female...’” Ugh. This remark is an example of the attitude towards women’s health care in this day.

In past elections, these have been nonissues. Unfortunately, in this race, that is not so. Looking across the US at what has occurred and is occurring under extreme right wing legislation, here are the facts:

1) The Paycheck Fairness Act: Denied by the GOP in July this year. Is this because they feel we are worth only 77cents to their dollar or because the corporations don’t want to shell out more money to pay women equally?

2) Violence Against Women Act: Passed in July by the Republican House but leaving out LGTB, Native American, and undocumented/ immigrant women.

3) Women’s Health Care: Texas has lost its entire Women’s Healthcare Program because they refused to allow funding from Medicaid to go to Planned Parenthood. They tried this when Bush was in office and were told the same consequences would apply. These are people who aren’t listening when told “No federal funding pays for abortions.”  Now there are 130,000 low-income women in Texas alone with no access to cancer-screening or family-planning (which, by the way, keeps down abortion rates). Other states across the country are trying to implement the same law.

4) Birth Control & the Personhood Amendment:  This piece of legislation defines the fertilized egg as a person. Not only does that affect abortion issues, but also birth control pills, in-vitro fertilization, and cancer patients who are pregnant or want to become pregnant. Luckily it was voted down in the states that tried to pass it.

5) Then we look at abortion in general: an 11-year old (or younger) little girl gets pregnant from rape. A mother is going to die towards the end of her pregnancy unless she delivers. A drug-addicted woman is pregnant. A teenager is pregnant. These are all bad enough without forcing that person to give birth or have an internal-ultrasound before the abortion. What are the consequences for that little girl, that mother, that teen-ager, and that drug-addicted baby that will be born? Mr Karlson, try to swallow those.

The face of the Democratic Party is no single person. It is all of us who work and live together to create this great nation. Sandra Fluke was standing up for women who are losing their voices in the fight for women’s health. Do you even know that there are eight other medical problems that BCPs are used for besides family planning? And 28 states already had insurance coverage for BCPs before President Obama brought it to the table.

Mr Karlson, women’s health is more important than other situations in the country. End of story.

Liz Sortino

13 Turkey Roost Road, Sandy Hook                   September 25, 2012