Campaign 2008 was an influential election. The elected president (President Obama) could have a dramatic effect on funding and policies that include reproductive health issues, access to birth control, abortion, research for more effective contraception, and sex education. Meet the 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidates and learn where these presidential candidates stood on reproductive rights..
1. Hillary Clinton:
Senator Clinton has already made an incredible impact on America and abroad; her historic statement (made at the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995), “women's rights are human rights" still echoes worldwide. As an advocate, lawyer, First Lady, and senator, Clinton has fought for issues important to women and children in the US and around the world for decades.Clinton is a strong supporter of reproductive rights, advocates for comprehensive sex education and supports expanding access to family planning services. Although she opposed the ban on partial birth abortions, she is not out there encouraging women to have this procedure.
Hillary Clinton – Quotes:
- “I have said many times that I can support a ban on late-term abortions, including partial-birth abortions, so long as the health and life of the mother is protected. I’ve met women who faced this heart-wrenching decision toward the end of a pregnancy. Of course it’s a horrible procedure. No one would argue with that. But if your life is at stake, if your health is at stake, if the potential for having any more children is at stake, this must be a woman’s choice.”
- “I am and always have been pro-choice, and that is not a right any of should take for granted. There are a number of forces at work in our society that would try to turn back the clock and undermine a woman’s right to chose, and [we] must remain vigilant….I have met thousands and thousands of pro-choice men and women. I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is trusting the individual to make the right decision for herself and her family, and not entrusting that decision to anyone wearing the authority of government in any regard.”
- "I believe in the freedom of women to make their own decisions about the most personal and significant matters affecting their lives. That is why I strongly support Roe v. Wade. I also believe that abortion should be safe, legal and rare and that the government should do much more to support women so that the right guaranteed in our constitution is exercised in rare circumstances....Throughout my career, I have worked to increase access to the full range of reproductive health services for women at every income level; to increase access to international family planning; and to reduce teen pregnancy.”
Clinton does not just stand up and preach, she offers real solutions. As part of her commitment to supporting Roe v. Wade, she has endlessly worked on trying to find ways to reduce the number of abortions. As a Senator, Clinton was one of the original co-sponsors of the for the Prevention First Act, which expands access to family planning services for low-income women, requires health insurance companies to cover contraception, and provides a dedicated funding stream for age-appropriate, medically accurate, comprehensive sex education. voted yes to spending $100 million in efforts to reduce teen pregnancy through education and birth control.
When she was First Lady, Hillary helped create the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancies (which established and achieved a goal of reducing teen pregnancies by one-third between 1996 to 2005). “Fewer teens are having sex, getting pregnant, and having abortions, but there are clearly too many young people who have not gotten the message. Every teenager must be reached. More has to be done to reach out to young men, and enlist them in the campaign to make abortions rare, and to make it possible for them to define their lives in terms other than what they imagine sexual prowess and fatherhood being.”
Clinton has also lead a successful three-year battle to get the FDA to accept the recommendation of the medical community and secured over-the-counter access for Plan B emergency contraception (also known as the morning-after pill). Additionally, she was a key player in the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, and Clinton has also led efforts to make adoptions easier through increasing support for families in the foster care and adoption systems.
Clinton is striving to create a government that provides support to women, so that women do not even need to exercise their right to choice. She has made it easier for mothers and fathers to stay home with their babies, providing resources for foster care families and simplifying the adoption process, increasing access to contraception to prevent unintended pregnancies to begin with.
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