John Kerry sent this email from Rep. Rosa DeLauro to his CT mailing list on Sunday

[ralbertson]

Barack Obama: Strong on Women's Rights


One of the causes of my life of which I am most proud and most passionate has been, from my years at EMILY's List to the halls of Congress, fighting to protect, defend, and advance the rights of women, including the right to choose.

In recent years, I am sorry to say that most of our efforts have had to be spent defending women's rights against a Bush Administration absolutely determined to roll back the hard earned progress women made in the last decades – fighting to hold on to what we won together, rather than moving forward to address problems for our mothers, sisters, and daughters.

That is why when I made my decision about who I believe the next President should be, I thought first and foremost about who could who could bring people together to make progress in addressing health care for women, equal opportunity in education for women, and help close that pay gap between men and women, as well as the right to choose.

I decided that Barack Obama was the person who could best move America forward on those issues I care about most.

Today, though, Barack is under attack – he's being unfairly and wrongly criticized for voting "present" in the Illinois state legislature. Make no mistake, where there are differences on policy, we can debate them, but no one should mislead anyone here in Connecticut about one central fact: Barack Obama has a 100% pro-choice voting record.

The facts are clear – in the Illinois state senate, choice advocates asked strong pro-choice legislators like Senator Obama to vote "present" on Republican-designed bills like a ban on partial birth abortion to protect a woman's right to choose.

Senator Obama has always had a 100% pro-choice rating, and he is the only candidate running for President who stood up and spoke out when South Dakota passed an incredibly restrictive ban on abortion.

How do I know? Because I read and listened for myself to strong, independent women who knew Barack in Illinois. Women like Lorna Brett, the former president of Chicago NOW, who supports Barack Obama because she believes the attacks on his record are unacceptable. Don't take my word for it – watch this video from Lorna about why she believes so strongly in Barack's commitment to women:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OVuMYKs8iJs

Lorna isn't alone.

Just today, my friend Kate Michelman, Former President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, spoke out and endorsed Barack. Her words were powerful: "Barack Obama is also calling our nation to the greatness that we all want but that we're uncertain we can still achieve. Others talk about greatness and they even say all the right words, but they do not bring those words to life. Their words do not grab us by the arms and pull us along together. …Many who had given up on politics are re-engaging. Many who had grown tolerant of the intolerable are now ready to demand more and not just from themselves but others. And many who had given up believing that the ideals of equality, dignity and justice would ever again be as politically important as money and power, now believe again. And this too is why I'm endorsing Senator Barack Obama."

The praise for Barack goes on and on. Lisa Madigan, Illinois' Attorney General who served with Barack in the state legislature told the New York Times that "It's just plain wrong to imply that voting present reflected a lack of leadership...in fact, it was the exact opposite."

Karen Mulhauser, a former national Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, put it, "the record is clear. Barack Obama is 100% pro-choice -- always has been, always will be. That's why he made sure that FDA-approved contraceptives were covered by insurance plans for women in Illinois as a State Senator. That's why Obama spoke out against South Dakota's attempt to outlaw all abortions. And that's why Obama has worked so hard to make sure that low-income and college women can access affordable birth."

Steve Trombley, CEO And President Of Planned Parenthood/Chicago Action said that "Senator Obama has been a consistent supporter of reproductive rights while in the legislature and we worked closely with him in developing and implementing legislative strategies to protect the rights of women in Illinois.'"

Libby Slappey, a former 13-year board member of Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa sad that "Senator Obama is one of America's strongest and most loyal defenders of women's rights on issues of reproductive health care."

We've seen too many misleading attacks and too much division in our country during the last seven Bush years. I support Barack because he is best able to bring us together as one country – but to do that, we need to first overcome the efforts to falsely attack and artificially divide us as Super Tuesday approaches. Nancy Keenan, the President of NARAL Pro-Choice America has talked about the dangers of dividing our community and creating "tension where none should exist" – and asked for the tactics to stop. I'm joining her in that call today.

Lets have an honest debate – and on Tuesday, I hope you will join me in supporting Barack Obama for President – for Connecticut, for families, for women, and for our country.

Thanks,
Rosa DeLauro