NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado : News : Press Releases

NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado challenges Sen. McCain, Gov. Palin to clarify positions to ensure women maintain access to reproductive health care

DENVER (Sept. 6) ¨C As Sen. John McCain and his vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, arrive in Colorado Springs, NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado held a press conference today to call on the two candidates to explain their policies to ensure Colorado women and their families maintain access to the full range of reproductive health care services. ¡°As more Coloradans learn about Sen. McCain¡¯s 22 votes against birth control and his stalwart belief that Roe v. Wade should be overturned, as well as Gov. Palin¡¯s opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest, it¡¯s getting a lot harder for Sen. McCain to perpetuate the ¡®moderate maverick¡¯ myth in an attempt to appeal to women of all parties,¡± said Toni Panetta, political director of NARAL Pro-choice Colorado.

¡°Many Coloradans across all parties, including the women McCain is now seeking, are unaware how extreme the McCain-Palin record really is on abortion, birth control, and sex education, just to name a few issues,¡± Panetta said. ¡°We¡¯re calling on Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin to explain their positions on a full spectrum of reproductive health issues that impact the women and families of Colorado.¡±

Below are five questions that John McCain should answer before any Coloradan considers him in November:

1. You voted to end a program that provides millions of women with health-care services ranging from birth control to breast cancer screenings.[i] Why, if you're opposed to abortion, do you vote against birth control and other programs that would actually reduce the need for abortion?

2. You have refused to support legislation to require pharmacists to fill women's birth control prescriptions without harassment or delay.[ii] Do you think it¡¯s okay for a pharmacy to refuse to fill a woman¡¯s prescription for birth control based on an employee¡¯s personal views?

3. Colorado¡¯s General Assembly enacted a law in 2007 establishing standards for abstinence-based, comprehensive sex education to be taught in our schools. Do you intend to contradict Colorado and the more than a dozen other states that have refused to accept federal ¡°abstinence-only¡± funding by continuing to invest millions of taxpayer dollars in President Bush¡¯s failed ¡°abstinence-only¡± programs that censor information about birth control and condoms, and put our teens at risk for STDs and unintended pregnancy?[iii]

4. You have said that you think Roe v. Wade should be overturned[iv] and you've voted for abortion bans with no exceptions for rape, incest or a woman¡¯s life or health.[v]^,[vi],[vii] Under a McCain Presidency where Roe is overturned, how much time should a woman serve for having an illegal abortion? In the states where abortion becomes illegal, who will provide safe, trained care for the women seeking abortion?

5. You voted to prevent doctors from giving their patients information about all their options for treatment, including abortion.[viii] Do you really want politicians interfering in the private conversations doctors have with their patients?

NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado (NPCC) is the political leader of the pro-choice movement in Colorado. NPCC has more than 30,000 supporters statewide and works to develop and sustain a constituency that uses the political process to guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive health choices, including preventing unintended pregnancies, bearing healthy children and choosing legal abortion.

[i] Weicker motion to table Helms amendment to FY¡¯89 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.4783, 7/25/88; motion to invoke cloture on Family Planning Amendments Act, S.110, 9/26/90.

[ii] Access to Legal Pharmaceuticals Act (S.809/H.R.1652).

[iii] Lautenberg/Menendez amendment to Child Custody Protection Act, S.403, 7/25/06.

[iv] Ann Althouse, Rudy & Mitt Hem & Haw on Abortion, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 24, 2007.

[v]Boxer amendment to ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1833, 12/7/95; Feinstein amendment to ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1833, 12/7/95; ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1833, 12/7/95; vote to override veto of ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1833, 9/26/96; Feinstein/Boxer amendment to ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1122, 5/15/97; ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1122, 5/20/97; vote to override veto of ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, H.R.1122, 9/18/98; ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, S.1692, 10/21/99; Feinstein amendment to ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, S.3, 3/12/03; ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, S.3, 3/13/03; ¡°Partial©\Birth¡± Abortion Ban Act, S.3, 10/21/03.

[vi] Harkin motion to table Nickles amendment to FY¡¯88 District of Columbia appropriations bill, H.R.2173, 9/30/87; Harkin motion to table Exon amendment to FY¡¯89 District of Columbia appropriations bill, H.R.4776, 7/7/88; Harkin motion to table Humphrey amendment to FY¡¯89 District of Columbia appropriations bill, H.R.4776, 7/7/88; Exon amendment to FY¡¯89 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.4783, 7/27/88; Chiles motion to table Weicker motion to insist that the Senate retain Exon amendment to FY¡¯89 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.4783, 9/13/88; Chiles motion to table Weicker motion to insist that the Senate retain Exon amendment to FY¡¯89 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.4783, 9/13/88; Nickles motion to table Bradley motion to disagree with Dornan House amendment to FY¡¯89 District of Columbia appropriations bill, H.R.4776, 9/30/88; vote to strike provisions in FY¡¯94 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.2518, 9/28/93; Nickles motion to waive Budget Act with respect to Chafee point of order to strike language in Balanced Budget Reconciliation Act, S.1357, 10/27/95; Smith motion to instruct on Balanced Budget Reconciliation Act, S.1357, 10/27/95; Kerrey amendment to Balanced Budget Act of 1997, S.947, 6/25/97.

[vii] Conte amendment to FY¡¯84 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.3913, 9/22/83.

[viii] Durenberger amendment to Family Planning Amendments Act, S.323, 7/16/91; FY¡¯92 Labor, HHS, and Education appropriations bill, H.R.2707, 11/7/91; vote to override veto of Family Planning Amendments Act, S.323, 10/1/92.