Abortion Advocates, Hillary Clinton Rally Women, But They’re Not Interested
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 27, 2004
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) — Abortion advocates and pro-abortion Senator Hillary Clinton used the first night of the Democratic convention to attempt to mobilize women voters and motivate them to support his candidacy. There’s just one problem. They’re not interested.
Senator Clinton and the Democratic Party on Monday night tried to showcase women in hopes of attracting female voters behind Kerry.
Actress and political activist Glenn Close led a salute to Democratic women lawmakers, Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt spokes to delegates, and other pro-abortion elected officials gave speeches.
But when it comes to women voters, they’re not interested in hearing about promoting abortion.
For the second time in recent days, abortion advocates are acknowledging that their message is falling on deaf ears.
"Abortion is there, but it’s not the primary issue" for women, Debbie Walsh, executive director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, told the Scripps Howard News service.
"When pollsters ask (women), ‘What’s the most important issue for you,’ it’s not coming up in the top two or three," Walsh explained.
In a surprising admission earlier this month, the political director of a nationally renown pro-abortion organization told the Christian Science Monitor newspaper that abortion is not an issue that drive women voters — nor is it their top priority.
Karen White of Emily’s List, a political organization that backs pro-abortion candidates, says abortion "is not an issue where a woman wakes up every morning and says, ‘I am going to look up what my candidate thinks on abortion.’"
"Now, while it may be an important issue, and she may have a very strong opinion about it, [it] is not what is driving her to vote," White admitted.
In fact, White told the Monitor newspaper that the top issue for women is the war in Iraq and the number one issue for women swing voters is health care.
Polls show women are pro-life and keep abortion legal is not a priority for them.
A June 2003 poll conducted by the Center for the Advancement of Women, which also backs abortion, found that 51% took a pro-life position opposing most or all abortions while only thirty percent said it should be generally available.
The poll also found that keeping abortion legal was the next to last most important priority for women. Fewer than half (41%) cite preserving abortion as a priority — down from 49 percent in 2001.
In comparison, 92% list domestic violence and assault as a primary concern. A close second (90%) is equal pay for equal work. Also of greater importance to women is the ability to take time off to care for family (74%), reducing drug & alcohol addiction (72%) and increasing women’s study of math, science, and technology (66%).
Jennifer Bingham of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life group that works to elect pro-life women to public office, tells LifeNews.com the media has painted a false impression that a majority of women support abortion.
"Poll after poll is showing that more and more American women are classifying themselves as pro-life," Bingham said.
