Hillary's full Agenda For Reproductive Health Care demonstrates both her commitment to women's reproductive freedom, as well as her commitment to moving the political discourse past using abortion care rights as a political football. This is a strong agenda, and I encourage pro-choice kossacks to read it. I want to highlight two important commitments.
The first includes Hillary's forward thinking on the issue of protecting a woman's right to her own reproductive health choices, including and beyond appointing the appropriate judges:
| Maintaining Roe as the Law of the Land
Appointing Justices that will uphold the right to privacy - Senator Clinton opposed the nominations of Justices Alito and Roberts to the Supreme Court because she believed they represented the greatest threat to Roe since it was decided. Her prediction has been born out through Gonzales v. Carhart, the first time the Supreme Court upheld a law outlawing a specific abortion procedure. As President, Hillary will nominate justices who share her view that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to make the most fundamental decisions about her life and health, and that the right to privacy is a fundamental right.
Enacting the Freedom of Choice Act - Hillary will sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act, which would codify Roe v. Wade and send a renewed signal to the courts that the will of Congress and the President is to keep abortion legal. |
The second includes make sure militarywomen have access to reproductive health services:
| Reproductive Health Services for Women Stationed at Military Bases Overseas. Nearly 3,000 military women reported being victims of sexual assault last year. Yet, women living on military bases overseas often have a hard time accessing emergency contraception and are prohibited from using their own money to pay for an abortion at a military medical health care provider. Hillary introduced the Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act, which requires full access to emergency contraception for servicewomen at all U.S. military health care facilities around the world. As President, she will enact this legislation. President Clinton issued an executive order in 1993 to lift the ban on paying for abortion with private funds, but it was overturned by Congress in 1995, and has been in place every since. Hillary believes women stationed on U.S. military bases overseas should have the same access to the full range of reproductive health care as women living in the U.S., and as president she will work towards that day. |
Some disagree with Hillary's stance that we encourage a community where abortion care is safe, legal and rare. I agree with Hillary, and I think she has shown a strong commitment over the years not only to strengthening a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices, but also to moving past the politics of this debate, and taking the circumventing of these choices off the political table. I appreciate that, and I look forward to the day when a woman's right to choose is secure and no longer the fodder of politicians.
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