NARAL

DNC, OFA Abandon Women In Healthcare Action Alert

by: Natasha Chart

Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:30

Nancy Keenan, head of the national NARAL group (and most obedient of the obedient losers) was apparently personally promised before the health care battle by the Obama administration that they would look after the organization's constituency interests in the health care bill and preserve the status quo.  In return, NARAL was asked to stand down its activism.

They did. So with all their colleagues, they got caught with their pants down when a floor vote on the Stupak amendment was imminent.

Today, I got a press release from the DNC, and their Organizing For America project, on their plan to drum up more support for the health care reform bill: targeting Republicans.

It says nothing about women's healthcare. Nothing. Like it isn't even at issue. OFA is still watching NARAL's back, women's backs, as well as they always have.

OFA is crowing about the 500,000 phone calls they've prompted on the health care issue. Were any of them centered around preserving reproductive health care when it mattered? Ha! As Femlaw says at the link, "The idea is to build organizational capacity, so when really critical moments in the campaign happened, OFA could deliver huge numbers."

Targeting Republicans is critical. Encouraging Democrats to stand together for women's health and rights, not critical.

Whee, Joseph Cao voted for the House bill! Too bad it contains the worst blow to women's rights in a generation, while Obama and his pet DNC's reactions continue to be tepid.

The DNC's women's page has, at this time, nothing on it about reproductive care issues. It's latest post is a brief endorsement of the health reform bill from the League of Women Voters, which also says nothing about the odious Stupak language, nothing about the lack of contraception and basic ob-gyn checkups.

(Psst - Did you know that women are supposed to not only get a yearly physical through their family doctor, but have a separate ob-gyn well woman checkup every year from puberty onwards? That's where they check for cervical cancer, look for signs of domestic or sexual abuse, etc. You know, little stuff, but we're supposed to get it checked. Well, neither Obama, nor Congress, nor the DNC seems to know that nor cares. Medical care that all adult women are supposed to get every year won't be going in the required benefits package and there has been no organizing around it.)

The WhiteHouse.gov homepage says nothing about any of this right now. Their women's page says only this:

(More in the extended entry)

There's More... :: (20 Comments, 967 words in story)

(VIDEO+PICS) Dedication of a Memorial Garden in Honor of Dr. George Tiller 8/08/2009

by: Rusty5329

Wed Aug 12, 2009 at 13:34

originally posted at Sum of Change with plenty more pictures found there

We were excited to receive the email, roughly a week ago. One of our viewers had seen our coverage of a vigil in honor of Dr. George Tiller on June 1st, 2009. She asked us to come out and film the dedication of a memorial garden in honor of the late Dr. On Saturday, August 8th 2009, a Sum of Change News and Blog Team made the trip to one of the local clinics where the dedication would be held.

There's More... :: (0 Comments, 197 words in story)

NARAL and Wynn

by: Matt Stoller

Sat Dec 08, 2007 at 16:21

So in general, I've thought of Nancy Keenan, the President of NARAL, as just not particularly effective, which is why they endorsed Al Wynn instead of Donna Edwards.

I was poking around the internets, and I found out that Wynn voted to support Federal court jurisdiction in the Terry Schiavo case.

Great job, Nancy!  You continue to impress me by destroying the credibility of NARAL national faster than I thought possible.

Discuss :: (6 Comments)

Verizon's Tauke and Retribution Against NARAL

by: Matt Stoller

Thu Sep 27, 2007 at 19:02

So what kind of person thinks that a pro-choice advocacy message is 'unsavory'?  What kind of word choice is that?  It's a good question, and goes right to the heart of this problem.

I wrote about Verizon policy chief Tom Tauke's lack of ethics last year in October, when he wrote that Verizon would use any means necessary to accomplish their deregulatory goal.  Howie Klein noted something significant.  Tauke was a right-wing anti-choice Congressman from Iowa until 1990, when NARAL spent $100,000 to successfully defeat him as he tried to jump to the Senate. 

In one of the National Journal stories (July 23, 1990) Tauke is quoted saying "When NARAL comes into the state, I'm not going to sit back and take it." Apparently he hasn't moved on.

Tauke has given hundreds of thousands to in political contributions, mostly to Republicans.  Why in the world should someone who considers abortion 'unsavory' have the right to censor political speech?  That's the heart of the problem.  I don't know for a fact that Tauke is engaging in political retribution against the group that cost him his crack at the Senate and his political career, or that this is a way of furthering his political agenda. 

But we need the consumer protections on our communications channels anyway, so that we don't have to worry about someone like Tauke having the ability to engage in retribution against his political opponents.

Discuss :: (0 Comments)
Donate to Open Left









QUICK HITS

Friends of the Earth thanks the OpenLeft community for the ideas you generate and your contributions to the progressive movement.


blog advertising is good for you
blog advertising is good for you
SEARCH

   

Advanced Search