Hillary vs The Bushies on Birth Control: Vigilance Never Sleeps

While Barack Obama is loping around Europe and the Middle East, doing his best CIC impression, Hillary is back at work taking on the Bush plan to recategorize some forms of birth control as abortifacients.  Give them an inch and they’ll take a megaparsec.  Peter Daou, Hillary’s internet director, sent us this post today cross posted at The Reality Check and Huffington Post.  We are honored to post it here as well.:

An Outrageous Attempt by the Bush Administration to Undermine Women’s Rights

Sen. Hillary Clinton on July 21, 2008 – 12:20pm

Published under: Leading VoicesContraception | STI/HIV/AIDS Prevention | Sexuality Education | Access to Abortion | Women’s Rights | Election 2008Hillary ClintonTitle X | Plan B | medicaid | HHS Contraception | HHS | FDA | DHHS | Bush administration

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The Bush Administration is up to its old tricks again, quietly putting ideology before science and women’s health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is poised to put in place new barriers to accessing common forms of contraception like birth control pills, emergency contraception and IUDs by labeling them “abortion.” These proposed regulations set to be released next week will allow healthcare providers to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it. We can’t let them get away with this underhanded move to undermine women’s health and that’s why I am sounding the alarm.

These rules pose a serious threat to providers and uninsured and low-income Americans seeking care. They could prevent providers of federally-funded family planning services, like Medicaid and Title X, from guaranteeing their patients access to the full range of comprehensive family planning services. They’ll also build significant barriers to counseling, education, contraception and preventive health services for those who need it most: low-income and uninsured women and men.

The regulations could even invalidate state laws that currently ensure access to contraception for many Americans. In fact, they describe New York and California’s laws requiring prescription drug insurance plans to provide coverage for contraceptives as part of “the problem.” These rules would even interfere with New York State law that ensures survivors of sexual assault and rape receive emergency contraception in hospital emergency rooms.

We’ve seen this kind of ideologically driven move from the Bush Administration before. Senator Patty Murray and I went toe to toe with the Bush Administration to demand a decision on Plan B by the FDA. We won that fight and we need to win this one too.

When I learned about these proposed rules, I immediately joined with Senator Murray to call on the Bush Administration to stop these dangerous plans. I am joining with New York family planning and healthcare advocates to spread the word. Now is the time to raise our voices. I will continue to press HHS and I hope you will join me. I have posted information on how to get involved at www.hillpac.com.

Come by for Cocktails sometime, Hillary, you’re more than welcome.

Forty Years Ago in August

Back in the days when we old fogeys were still young, energetic and idealistic, there was a Democratic Convention in Chicago. I can hardly believe that that it took place nearly 40 years ago, from August 26 to August 30, 1968. It had been a bitter, tumultuous primary campaign, and the convention was to be even more bitter and tumultuous.

In September, 1967, Allard Lowenstein and Curtis Gans, leaders of the National Student Association, had begun a formal movement to dump President Lyndon Johnson from the Democratic ticket. In September, Lowenstein approached Senator Robert Kennedy of NY, and asked him to run against President Johnson for the nomination. When Kennedy refused, Lowenstein turned to Senator Eugene McCarthy of MN, who agreed to run.

On March 12, 1968, McCarthy nearly upset Johnson in the New Hampshire primary, winning 40% of the vote. A few days later, Bobby Kennedy changed his mind and announced his intention to seek the nomination. On March 31, President Johnson announced that he would no longer seek nor accept his party’s nomination to run for a second term.

Monday: Save the Party. Nominate Hillary.

Save Us Hillary

This is a year of wonders.  We saw a woman take on two foes, the Republicans and her own party, and watched her fight valiantly til the bitter end.  We heard the media tear her down and dehumanize her while her popularity gained strength.  We witnessed screaming demands that she withdraw from the races while she was winning them, sometimes by more than 40 points.

A person like that is a force of nature.  A person like that defies and exceeds our expectations.  A person like that breaks the boundaries of her sex, her generation, her culture.

A person like that can’t get her name in nomination?  WTF?

I don’t think this needs to be said but I’m going to say it anyway.  The decision to maneuver Hillary out of nomination is going to destroy the party.  There’s no way you can ignore the wishes of the biggest and swing states and her decisive victories in them and expect that that it won’t come back to bite you in the end.  I’m sorry.  That’s just not possible.  I can’t imagine my delegates or California’s delegates going to the convention and voting “present”, can you?  “Yes, New York and Pennsylvania and West Virginia, we *know* you voted for the other guy.  But please stop being so fatiguing and irritating and just yield to Alaska this one time.  God, you Northeasterners are so f$%&ing stubborn.”

No, I’m sorry, but our states did not spend millions and millions of dollars in primaries just so some pretentious committee of power hungry toads could strip them of any input.  Every voter in the states where Clinton won decisive primary victories should be outraged by the party swindling them out of their money and their vote.  And if the party thinks we’re just going to roll over and get with the program, they’ve got another thing coming.  They will either have to accept a nomination for Hillary Clinton in Denver or they will suffer the consequences in November.  If Barack Obama is really the people’s choice, he has nothing to fear from the delegates putting Hillary’s name in nomination for president at the convention in Denver. Either he has all of his ducks in a row or he doesn’t.  Time to stop acting like a prince and start acting like a leader.

A roll call vote is just symbolic and is insufficient to acknowledge this season of wonders.  Nothing short of a nomination will honor her or us.  But the question is, does Hillary know that this is what we want?  While the DNC is pressuring her to give in and go away, does her negotiating team know that the only way the party can confer legitimacy on its nominee is if that person is chosen fairly through an authentic nomination process?  Well, maybe now is the time to let her know how you feel.  Now is the time to ask her to be your champion once more.

Send her and Harold Ickes a letter.  Let them know that they are the only ones who can save the party and the election from the Republicans.  True loyalty to the party is demonstrated by not giving in.

Update on the debt from Heidi Li: A Brief Explanation of the Current State of Clinton’s Campaign Debt. Bottom line is that the numbers that are being reported today do not include the massive fundraising drive of the the July 4th holiday.  But if you want to make sure there is NO outstanding debt at all, you can still contribute to settle what’s left.  That leaves Clinton in a stronger bargaining position both now and in the future.  BTW, if it’s not all paid off by now, part of the blame is Obama’s.  He apparently hasn’t been flogging his contributors vigorously.