QuestionQUESTION: Hi there. I am wondering what you think about President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court Sonia Sotamayer? I am excited that he has chosen another woman, and I have heard Conservatives lable her a "liberal judicial activist" which I will take as a good sign! LOL But I did a little research on-line and was unable to find any information specifically about her position on choice. Do you know anything about her? Thank you.
Lisa
ANSWER: Hi Lisa :)
I'm super excited. I really wanted the nominee to be a Hispanic female. There's no Hispanic representation, and we desperately need more females on the court. We're half the population, but only one seat on the court? I know right! Haha, let them whine. They'll alienate even more of the Hispanic voters, and waste even more of their own time. She hasn't actually made many, if ANY decisions concerning choice, but I can tell you Planned Parenthood supports her. I really hope she's pro-choice, or I'll be really upset.
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QUESTION: I wholeheartedly agree with you Danielle. Women make up 50% of the population. We are NOT a "minority" or "special interest" group. I was watching Larry King the other night and he was interviewing Judge Judy Sheindlin, and he asked for her thoughts on the rumors that were circulating that Obama's nominee would be a woman. And I was so disappointed in her response, because while I don't always agree with her I have always kind of looked up to her and thought of her as a good role model for young women. She replied that she has never been a feminist, and never felt the need to belong to any group, and that she felt that it would be wrong to choose someone based on gender. That Obama's decision should be based solely on the person's qualifications. I mean, I agree in part. But at the same time, are you telling me that there are NO women who are qualified for the job? And isn't it a good thing to ensure that there is diversity on the Supreme Court, so that ALL people's rights and interests are being looked out for? And why is it that so many strong, independent and sucessful women shy away from the word "feminist"? Don't they realize that if it weren't for the feminist movement they wouldn't be where they are today? They can argue that they got where they are today through hard work and determination, but if it weren't for the women's rights movement they would never have been given the opportunity to prove themselves! It wouldn't matter how bright, knowledgeable, gifted, capable etc they were, they would automatically be denied certain opportunities or disqualified from certain positions because of their gender! I read that there was a time when female writers used to adapt male identies, because publishers would not even look at their manuscripts if it was discovered that they were females. Regardless of how talented they were.
Anyway, I went off on a tangent there. Sorry! LOL I can't imagine that Barack Obama would nominate someone who was anti choice to the Supreme Court. Especially since he owes his election in large part to women's and abortion rights groups, and has stated that he does support a woman's right to choose. It does trouble me however, that he has been so willing to compromise. In my mind, there is no common ground between us and the other side. They don't even support access to sex education or birth control, and smart people know and understand their true agenda. Which has little (if anything at all!) to do with protecting human life.
But I think it's a very positive and encouraging sign that PP is supporting her. NARAL Pro-Choice America seems to be erring on the side of caution, and has refrained from endorsing her. I wonder what that's about? I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Thank you for taking the time to discuss this important matter with me. It is always nice to have the opportunity to talk with other pro-choice supporters. Sadly the pro-choice position seems to be growing more and more unpopular. I'm sure you heard about the recent Gallup poll that found that the majority of American adults now consider themselves "pro life". That is scary isn't it?
Lisa
ANSWER: Exactly. For every male that's qualified, there are just as many women. And whether people like it or not, it IS important what gender and ethnicity the person is. A female has experiences a male would never have. Same goes for ethnicity. And yeah, who needs feminism? Oh yea, she does, because thanks to feminism she's able to be a judge.
Yeah, people have such bad reactions to the word feminist. I mean, the concept is simple, and can they not take 10 seconds to look up the definition?! Yeah, female writers did used to do that. no way were people going to take you seriously if you happened to have different genitalia. hah, I go off on tangents all the time.
The compromising pisses me off. No, I will NOT compromise on abortion! Either women have control over their lives or they don't. And when he refers to it as such a difficult moral decision-um, not for all women president. There are plenty of women who terminate and don't feel bad for a second.
They probably want to make sure she supports Roe, and not act too hatsily. I'm sure we'll find out during her confirmation hearings. Ah, I love talking with other like minded people!
See, with the poll, it's not clear. First, it's right after the election, and usually the abortion issue is polarized. Second-a lot of people don't know what identifying as pro-life means. There are a lot of women who say they're pro life b/c they'd never have an abortion, but know it's a woman's choice. That's pro-choice, but with all the rhetoric from the anti-choicers, she'll feel that's pro-life.
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QUESTION: Hi again. I totally agree with you that abortion isn't always a difficult decision, and it pisses me off when people just assume that it is. For a lot of women, their first reaction is a huge sense of relief! I personally would NOT feel guilty or ashamed if I had an abortion. And I would feel empowered because I was able to exercise the choice that I felt was best for me.
Changing the subject a bit, isn't it awful what happened in Kansas? I was absolutely horrified when I heard that Dr Tiller had been murdered (and in his own church to boot!). I have always really respected and admired him. My friend (the pro-choice activist) knew him personally, and just saw him not too long ago at a conference! She was very upset. I was also very angry. I am so tired of all the hateful rhetoric and violence. I think these people are really scary! I mean, I thought America was supossed to be a free country? NOBODY deserves to be murdered (or even constantly threatened and harassed) for speaking out for what they believe in. This man was literally killed because he had the courage to speak up for women's rights.
President Obama says that acts of violence like this accomplish nothing. But you know what? He's WRONG! And the anti-choice know it! Not only will the victim no longer be able to continue helping women, but other health care providers who either provide abortions or who might have been considering doing so are frightened out of doing so!
Can you believe that someone actually had the nerve to imply that Dr Tiller brought it on himself because he had the audacity to be so vocal? Again, didn't people fight and die in the war so we could be free to do just that? Express our opinions (no matter how unpopular) without having to fear retribution?
Anyway, it's just really sad. I heard he was a very kind hearted and compassionate man, who genuinely cared about his patients. I can't believe how evil some of these people are. NOt to mention their hypocrisy!
Lisa
AnswerHi :)
Yeah, one woman (I believe she works for an abortion rights group) said that by constantly framing it as a difficult, moral, spiritual choice-that pushes women who feel relief and not much more completely to the side. It's like having an abortion is ok as long as you feel terrible about it. People shouldn't try and make women feel ashamed for taking control of their lives and bodies, and in 61% of situations, their already existing child(ren)'s as well.
When I read the headline on yahoo, I thought maybe he was still alive, then reading more started crying. I was in angry disbelief-no, not this wonderful man whom I've heard so much about, read about the terror he faces every day...it's horrendous. That's sad about your friend :( I can't even imagine what it's like for those who knew him. People in the church say they didn't know a gun had been fired-it sounded like a pop, then they escorted his wife out and they all heard her scream. The hatred among people is really horrifying. Seriously, the women sent to him needed help, and he was there, through death threats, bombs, protests, harassment...If I worked at an abortion clinic, you bet I would be armed. Only way i'd feel safe around those evil souls. And I do like fantasizing about what these hateful rats would do if a clinic worker pulled out a gun on them, especially if caught breaking a federal law, which they seem to do so often (the killer spent the day before the murder gluing the doors shut of another clinic in Kansas-breaking fed. law)
The President needs to stop making concessions to the right wingers. He makes it seem as if both sides of this debate are equal and they're not. There is no middle ground! They hate women, they hate choice, they hate birth control, they encourage murder...it's a damn shame he couldn't come out and call it what it is, domestic terrorism. I don't know if you've heard of Rachel Maddow? She has her own show, and I'm so grateful, she's been talking a lot about this, exposing facts too many don't know about (like the complete lack of access so many women face) and calling it terrorism. She's had on several doctors who perform terminations (one even blacked out for his safety), and one of them said "the only difference between these groups and Al-Quada is 8,000 miles." I have become so disillusioned with this government...we always have to come to a consensus, and that means sacrificing women's rights.
Yeah, this man went about his daily business, explicitly said he couldn't stop because women needed him...it's so sad. Maybe people will finally start paying attention to necessity of a woman's right to choose? It shouldn't have to take a murder to do that though. It's always framed as a right to privacy issue. This one woman who's been in this field since Roe wrote this great piece about how we need to make it not about privacy, but about EQUALITY. The right wing needs to not be the one shaping dialogue about this. And people are so outright among these hate groups, calling the killer a hero, saying Tiller committed infanticide, had blood on his hands. No, they have blood all over THEIR hands.
The crap abortion providers have to put up with...it's breath taking. Some clinics dealt with anthrax threats before the whole federal govt chaos, but it wasn't called terrorism then. I will always be thankful to him and all other providers, and continue calling out anti-chocie rhetoric for what it is.
I'm so thankful you messaged me! It's really awesome being able to talk with someone on the same side of things :)
