I am posting on here tonight for three reasons. The first is to invite everyone in the central Ohio area to Scotty McBean's on March 16 at 4:30pm for my session with the group Meet the Bloggers (www.meetthebloggers.net). Scotty McBean's is located in Columbus, Ohio at 4675 North High Street. I hope that many of you will be able to attend and I look forward to meeting you.
In addition, I want to announce that I now have a basic website up at www.swordsforcongress.com. While it is in its infant stages right now, it does contain my pledge to the people of the 12th District and my vision for our country. In the days ahead, updates will be made to the website. I encourage you to bookmark the site for future visits.
We are currently not taking online donations (we should be by next week, when the site is fully functional), however, if you would like to make a donation you can send a check to:
Swords for Congress
884 Sheridan Ave.
Columbus, OH 43209
Finally, I posted on the subject of abortion a few days ago. The problem is that I inadvertently posted it at 4am. The reason I am reposting it is because I think it is important that we as Democrats have a dialogue on the issue of abortion, especially in light of the recent events in South Dakota. In addition, within my own campaign, there is great debate over whether endorsing the 95/10 plan is the best way for me to articulate my message.
Some of my advisors feel that the 95/10 plan is the perfect solution and that I should endorse all of it. Others think that I should endorse it with the exception of parental notification. The last group rejects all of it, arguing that it frames the debate as an issue of life and takes us on a slippery slope towards banning all abortions.
My gut reaction is that I support the entire 95/10 plan, but not if it really is a slippery slope. I am not an expert on the issue of women's reproductive health and as a man, I will never have to make the choice to have an abortion. Thus, I am reposting my diary on abortion below, with the hope that we can begin a discussion on the issue. I will try to respond to as many replies as possible. In addition, please take the poll.
Thank you,
John Swords
Candidate for Congress
Ohio's 12th U.S. Congressional District
Original Text:
South Dakota has banned most abortions and Mississippi will soon do the same. Personally, I am not surprised that in an election year abortion has once again become a hot topic. Furthermore, I am especially not surprised that it is a hot topic in an election year where Republicans are forecasted to lose seats. If Republicans have a trump card in election years, it is abortion. However, it is only a trump card because we let the Republicans frame the debate as life versus choice, when really we are all pro-life.
The fact of the matter is that Republicans have already set the table on the issue of abortion. On the issue, Democrats are like strangers going over to a neighbor's house for dinner. We cannot change the table setting or ask them to make something else for dinner because it would be confusing and rude. However, we can and should be polite, respectfully eat what they have served us, and go home and set our own table they way we like it. In terms of abortion, this means respecting those who are anti-abortion, but offering an alternative plan that deals with abortion in a progressive way.
Democrats are often too timid and afraid to talk about abortion. We will talk about abortion only in terms of the fact that we are personally against them, but it is a woman's right to choose. While it is true that it is a woman's right to choose, we are also able to take progressive steps to reduce abortions. One such plan is the 95/10 initiative proposed by Democrats for Life of America (www.democratsforlife.com).
The objective of the plan is to reduce abortions by 95% in ten years. While some parts of the plan will raise debate (parental notification), there are several parts of the plan that will reduce abortions and should be agreeable to most progressives. Parts of the plan that I specifically support are making the adoption tax credits permanent, fully funding the WIC program, and requiring SCHIP to cover pregnant women and the unborn. The analysis is that by providing these kinds of programs, the government will create a culture that supports women who decide to have children, thus reducing the reasons for women to have an abortion.
I am a man; I will not pretend to have any idea what it must be like for a woman to make a choice about her reproductive health. However, I cam imagine that it is not an easy decision and would be one that would stay with me for many years. It is for this reason that I think that all women should have an equal choice. If a woman is having an abortion for economic reasons or because she does not think that she can take care of a child, then I do not think that is a real choice, especially if she would really like to keep the child if it was not for economic concerns. It is for this reason that I support the goal of the 95/10 initiative to create a real culture of life.
In previous posts on here, I have written about the need for Democrats to have a backbone. I will not back down from any issue in my race. I call on all other Democrats to take this issue head on with me. We are the party of the people, we are the party of values, and we are the party of families on every single issue and it is time that we articulate our position and not take cowardly defensive stances on controversial issues.
When someone asks me what I think about the ban in South Dakota or abortion in general I will say the following:
"In this country, a country of freedom and liberty, women have the right to make their own choices when it comes to their reproductive health and I will defend that right when I am in Congress. However, I think it is time for politicians, whether they are in South Dakota, Ohio, or Washington, D.C., to stop grandstanding on this issue and get serious about reducing the number of abortions in this country.
My opponent and Republicans would like you to believe that overturning Roe versus Wade will result in the reduction of abortions in this country. The truth is overturning Roe versus Wade would only send the issue back to the states where it is unlikely that there will be a significant reduction in the number of abortions. In fact, according to a USA Today study, if Roe versus Wade is overturned, it will only result in a reduction of 10%. The fact is my opponent and Republicans are not only anti-rights, anti-liberty, and anti-freedom; they are anti-life.
If you vote for me today, I promise you that I will cosponsor legislation that protects women's rights, gives women a real choice, and reduces abortions in this country by 95% in 10 years. I will fight with every breath in my body to create a country that is pro-rights, pro-freedom, pro-liberty, and pro-life. Protecting a woman's right to choose is not mutually exclusive with the goal of reducing abortions. If we guarantee a woman that her child will have every opportunity possible in this great country of ours and the government will help her have the necessities to raise her child, then she has a real choice and will be more likely to make the choice of carrying her fetus to term.
I ask you this; since Roe versus Wade, what have Republicans done to reduce the abortion rate? What have Republicans done to create a culture that values life? The truth is that they have done nothing to reduce abortions in this country beyond giving it lip service every four years. On the other hand, under Bill Clinton, we had our lowest abortion rates in 30 years. It is time for those who value life and those who value women's rights to realize that we share the same goals and the same party, the Democratic Party.
The choice for you in this election is simple when it comes to the issue of abortion. You can vote for Republicans and watch as the abortion rate climbs to historic levels or you can vote for Democrats and sleep easily at night knowing that we will reduce the abortion rate by 95% in ten years, while still protecting the rights, liberty, and freedom of women. I think the choice is easy and if my opponent is serious about this issue he will join me in supporting the 95/10 initiative."
In short, it is time that we stop running away from this issue and set our own table, instead of going to dinner at the Republicans house. When we go to dinner at the Republican's house, the voters have to eat what they are serving all of us. If we set our own table, the 95/10 plan, it will give voters a choice of dinner parties. I am confident if given the choice, voters will pick our table with steak over the Republicans table with ground beef.
I will apologize upfront for the terrible analogies. However, I am serious about our need to tackle the issue of abortion head on and come up with our own proposal that reduces abortions and protects women's rights. I look forward to hearing all of your comments and I will do my best to answer all of your replies.
End Orginal Text