It is often said that a budget is a statement of priorities. It shows what matters to people. Women should matter. Access to safe medical care should matter.
All I knew was that I wanted to change the world. I just didn’t know how. But in 2007, I got my answer. I met a man named Barack Hussein Obama.
I was disheartened by President Obama’s reasoning for why Congress should do great things for women: “We know our economy is stronger when our wives, mothers, and daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the workplace, and free from the fear of domestic violence.”
When it comes to making sure taxpayer-funded AIDS programs are comprehensive and designed to deliver the most effective interventions for people in need, the Obama administration’s track record has not been good.
Last week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called for access to emergency contraception over-the-counter. We need to send a clear signal to Secretary Sebelius that women’s reproductive health and medical science should be the driving force behind public policy. Sign the petition being launched by a broad coalition of medical professionals and advocates today urging Secretary Sebelius to revisit the evidence and remove the restrictions.
Much of the discussion this election cycle has been about changing demographics. But demographics alone aren’t going to run a policy agenda through the system. Huge challenges remain in economic justice, immigration, environment, education and housing reform.
Rape, and other forms of violence and abuse such as birth control sabotage or pregnancy coercion, are acts that seek to strip power from women and inhibit their decisionmaking. This election-year, where are the real conversations about violence against women, not just idiotic statements about rape?
With a razor thin margin in some swing states, LGBT voters may tip the election.
Both sides focus on key campaigns as get out the vote efforts increase.
Global health did not come up explicitly in the final presidential debate, which focused on U.S. foreign policy. Both candidates, however, made reference to women’s issues, primarily voicing support for women’s empowerment in the Middle East.
