As I mentioned a few months ago I’m not egotistical enough to believe many policy makers have read my posts about triangulating fence-sitters away from the anti-abortion radicals with solid pregnancy prevention policies (though I’ve advocated it passionately, for instance, here and here)
Instead I want to say I think it’s wonderful, wonderful news that such a strategy appears to be working!
Consider an article by Nancy Keenan on Alternet
Why are pro-choice candidates winning? Because they are not only using these egregious bans on abortion to put their opponents on the defense, they are also introducing voters to their commonsense message of increasing access to birth control, including the “morning-after” pill, providing honest, age-appropriate sex education and better family-planning services for those without health insurance.
I want to be very clear that I believe pushing policies that promote the development and distribution of safe, effective, reliable, accessible, and convenient in order to prevent unplanned, unwanted pregnancies is a laudable goal on its own, regardless of its impact on politics or its effect on the question of abortion. Fortunately, as Keenan points out in her article, there are effects and they’re, well, very effective.
Submitted by 807 (not verified) on Thu, 2006-06-22 22:34.
On March 10, 2006 figleaf said:
the possibility of preventing unwanted, unplanned pregnancies can unite all but the most trenchant activists on both sides of the abortion debate.
And what did I tell him?
Nice try, no cigar. Sorry, Fig, but I don't see that happening.
In 1994 Dr. Joycelyn Elders was asked to resign as Surgeon General of the United States because she advocated sex education as a means to stop the spread of AIDS and teen pregnancies...Do you really think the conservative groups who called for her resignation have changed in those twelve years?
Never have I been happier to be proved wrong.
I have to give credit where credit is due, fl. You recognized that most Americans, even those uncomfortable with abortion, are strongly in favor of birth control. These voters would be willing to support a pro-choice candidate if he/she was a strong advocate of contraception. And that's exactly what happened. Thanks for helping me see possibility instead of defeat.
P.S. The title of your post was For the record.
[Wow, Kochanie, I knew I'd said something like that but I'd forgotten where. Thanks! And for the record I'm glad it's working too. --fl]
Submitted by 807 (not verified) on Fri, 2006-06-23 05:49.
Thank you for the article. Very informative.
[Thanks, Anonymous. --fl]
Submitted by 807 (not verified) on Sat, 2006-06-24 00:42.
I run a pro-choice website with a related blog (here if you're interested), and it frequently gets pro-lifers claiming that the pill causes abortions and that condoms don't work and that if we give kids medically accurate sex ed they'll want to do it more. Never mind that study after study has shown that abstinence-only sex ed (the only kind the pro-lifers like) is a failure. I've been running my site for three years and I'm amazed at what these people believe. Sometimes I think my blog should just be about sex and stuff, heh heh.
[Well, the way I like to put it is that nobody wants unplanned, unwanted pregnancy. Instead people are arguing bitterly about how best to prevent them. It just happens to be the case that the abstinence-only approach can't compete with other, more effective ones. :-) Thanks, Mandalay. --fl]