NYT: Irish Catholic straight man tells Dems to "stop being the abortion party" to "win again"

[ehrnst]

What the actual fuck?


To Win Again, Democrats Must Stop Being the Abortion Party

To begin with, Democratic politicians should publicly acknowledge that abortion is an issue of profound moral and religious concern. As a candidate, Barack Obama did just that in a 2008 interview, saying, “Those who diminish the moral elements of the decision aren’t expressing the full reality of it.”

Democrats should not threaten to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal funds to be used for abortion except in extreme circumstances. They could also champion an aggressive program to promote adoption by strengthening the Adoption Assistance Act of 1980 and streamlining adoption procedures. The regulations in many states seem designed to discourage it.


Democratic politicians should also continue to frame their efforts to improve health and social services as a way to decrease abortions. The abortion rate dropped 21 percent from 2009 to 2014. That downward trend would most likely end if Republicans eliminate contraception services provided through the Affordable Care Act.

That Donald Trump, claiming to be anti-abortion, got the majority of Catholic votes to defeat a competent and decent Democrat underscores the continuing influence of abortion in American politics. If Democrats want to regain the Catholic vote, they must treat abortion as a moral issue, work for its continued reduction and articulate a more nuanced message than, “We support Roe v. Wade.”

Um.... Hillary never expressed that abortion wasn't a moral issue - just that it was one that the woman needed to determine. But that fell on deaf ears for a man that came from a country where women are pilloried legally, socially and religiously for it. It must have seemed as though us women weren't getting pilloried at all to him.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/opinion/to-win-again-democrats-must-stop-being-the-abortion-party.html?_r=0

[Initech]

1. Can the Catholics ever say anything not sexist?

[still_one]

2. What an ass. Democrats have always left abortion between a women and her doctor

What a jerk, and shame on the NY Times for allowing this editorial garbage. A women's right to choose has never been more threatened than it is today, and the Times wants to give this misrepresentation and distortion a voice.

[Freddie]

3. If we framed things in a different way

Like "let's work together to PREVENT abortion with contraception, education and support for families" while keeping it legal and safe. Don't think the extreme fetus-worshippers would accept that but maybe some in the middle might.

[ehrnst]

5. We have framed it that way. They want unwanted pregnancy to be a behavior modification tool

Contraception allows women to have sex for "mere pleasure" so many are opposed to it being accessible, especially for teens.

They want the threat of STDs and pregnancy hanging over a woman's head, and enforced childbearing as a punishment for sexual activity without the desire for childbearing.

That's why they oppose sex education that gives the kids that do choose to have sex the ability to bypass those things.

They equate Planned Parenthood with baby killing, so they won't come to the middle on that.

Those that are moderate don't speak out.

[Me.]

4. Sigh

Just another straight white man trying to tell women what to do with their bodies.

[shenmue]

6. Never

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Out of 31,102 verses in the Bible, zero mention abortion. Yet whole

sects base their whole dogma on abortion as murder.

[WePurrsevere]

8. IMO it's not a 'moral' issue. I personally...

frame abortion as a woman's privacy, individual sovereignty & choice issue and resent anyone, especially men, telling me what I can and can not do to MY body.

IMO it's very simple...
Your body, YOUR business... My body, MY business.