What Would Ann Do?

It's our time to put a president in the White House who cares about women's health, take back our country, and move once again with progress and commitment to the future. That's what Hillary Clinton said when she suspended her presidential campaign and that's what my mother Ann Richards would say if she were alive today. When Mom lost her reelection bid for governor of Texas to George Bush in 1994, she didn't just get over it, she went on with it -- on to campaign with gusto for hundreds of women and other progressive candidates across the country.

Mom required only one thing of the many folks who asked for her campaign help: a 100 percent belief in women's rights. If they didn't have it, they were out of luck. But if they stood up for women as she did, she would travel to the ends of the earth for them.

That's why if she were still around she would suit up and campaign for Senator Obama in the farthest corner of the farthest state. Mom would see in him a leader with a long and consistent record for standing up for women's health care, a man raised by a single mother, a father of two daughters, and a husband who supports women's rights 100 percent.

She'd see in him what we at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund see: a leader who will improve access to quality health care for women, a partner who will support and protect a woman's right to choose, and a president who will invest in prevention programs that help prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion.

Elections are about choices, and Mom would have said that women voting for John McCain would be like chickens choosing to vote for the Colonel. In 25 years in Washington, John McCain has consistently voted against women's health. McCain wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, opposes basic family planning programs, and voted against insurance coverage for birth control. He has a zero percent voting record from Planned Parenthood.

As a health care provider to millions of patients every year, we take our endorsement process very seriously. In this election, the choice is very clear. Our national Action Fund board has voted unanimously to recommend an endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president. That recommendation has been sent on for ratification to our local action organizations, who represent the interests of all 103 affiliates.

This year we have seen historic numbers of women, young people, and millions of new voters engaged for the first time in the political process. This is the kind of social change that Mom believed in and fought for her entire life. And that's the kind of work we at Planned Parenthood are all about.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund polling finds that more than half of women voters in battleground states have no idea where Senator McCain stands on women's health issues, and even worse, half of the women who support him describe themselves as pro-choice. The good news is when these women learn about his record of voting against access to family planning and sex education, as well as his opposition to Roe v. Wade, they become much less likely to support him.

That's why we are out there, engaging and educating voters on the records of both Senator Obama and Senator McCain, and turning out the key voters who will be instrumental in electing a pro-choice, pro-women's health care president.

In her famous speech at the Democratic convention twenty years ago, Mom said, "I think of all the things that never would have happened and all the people who would have been left behind if we had not reasoned, and fought, and won those battles together." Like Hillary, she would be imploring all voters to not let this moment slip away. She would agree that we have come too far and accomplished too much. Let's link arms and get on with the future, she'd say. It's time to elect Barack Obama president.

Cecile Richards, daughter of the late Ann Richards, former governor of Texas, is president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Comments

[Jjc2006]

I miss Ann and Molly. No matter who they were supporting in this election, neither, I believe would have let pass the blatant, nasty sexism by the media in this election. No matter who either supported, no matter personal feelings, neither would have allowed the media or the other candidates to downplay/ignore the amount of work Hillary Clinton has done for women, for all oppressed groups.

While I am unhappy, disgruntled and disappointed in how things have played out, as a woman I could, would NEVER vote for McCain.

I miss the strong voices of women who above all were fair and looked at the whole package, warts and all, and understood, all candidates from Hillary to Obama to McCain are human, have flaws and will falter occasionally.

[Kalena]

I miss them too (Ann & Molly) -- both made me proud to be a woman, an American, a progressive.
Thanks, Cecile, for reminding me how great your mom was. You do her proud :-)
Now I'm off to find some speeches or videos...I need a good laugh this morning.

[KarenZipdrive]

Cecile,
I met you at Schultz's Beer Garden at your mother's mini-wake.
I'm so happy she left such a beautiful, brilliant daughter to carry on her messages.
I can't wait till they install her headstone so I can go lay yellow roses at the site. I loved her and miss her very much.
May God bless you and give you the strength to carry on her legacy.

[youzaho]

As someone else once posted on a similar topic: A 0% rating from Planned Parenthood is extreme, but a 100% rating isn't? I'm not so sure.

[Fuji]

THANK YOU.

[fact finder]

Right or wrong it is the Womans body and Her choice. Whether you agree or disagree, that is between Her and God, no one else except her husband should have any say in the matter.

[darcy]

fact finder, if it's her body and her choice, why should her husband have any say?

[jennifer Vizzo]

As a Texan, I cried when Bush defeated incumbent Ann Richards using Rovian tactics of innuendo and whispered lies. Ann had better than a 70% approval rating until the Rove machine went into action. She lost because Texans who should have known better believed the worst instead of the best.

Those same tactics were refined and used against all comers in for Bush's initial bid for the White House. It would be a legacy for Ann if this time we elected a moderate, thinking, elegant Democrat, especially one who is for women's issues.

[Glowcy]

Innuendo and whispered lies = gossip.

Where can a person reclaim their reputation when truth is revealed after gossip destroys the reputation?

[buggedabouttheus]

I am so sorry that we don't have Ann Richards to be a part of this campaign. I miss her wise cracking toughness and straight shooting. In her memory and Molly Ivins' too I am mining family and friends in Texas to get out and get others to vote Democratic this November especially for President.

[DorianA123]

I've often mentioned to friends how much I miss both Ann Richards and Molly Ivins. How unfair that they aren't here to revell in this election! I like to imagine that they're in heaven together pulling strings to make sure this works out right. I think God has met his match with those two women!

[dericm7777]

Dorian, You are so right, Having met Ann and read Molly, they are my favorite politician and columnist.
Two great women, that I am proud are from Texas.

[loax]

Anyone who would even think of voting for McBush better read this article twice. He does not care if our daughters are sent to back room abortion, or have no access to any type of birth conrol..Th­is man is so anti woman, that a vote for him is a vote back into the dark ages!

[Mariel]

I am very strongly for birth control, and I am horrified to hear how badly McCain has failed to support it. I am also against late-term abortion, and I know that Obama has strongly supported not only late term abortion, but also failed to vote on an Illinois state bill which would have allowed babies to live who survived abortion. So I don't have a dog in this hunt.

Those of us who favor birth control and yet fear what abortion has done to America just don't have a place to go now. We're out of the loop, way out. We won't vote. It isn't worth walking across the street. On other issues, such as economic, both Obama and McCain fail in my eyes.

Of course I'll listen to Obama some more, to see if I can support him, but it's not likely.

[Glowcy]

Negative thinking and non-action will get us a McCain administration.

Hold your nose and vote Democratic if you care about the future of women's health.

[Fuji]

Exactly, Mariel. If loax doesn't vote her conscience, the country is DOOMED. Come, Loax, vote lock-step with pro-choice Dems. It's the only way.

[FOTH]

Cecile,

Just wanted to relate a story of how much my family loves Ann Richards. My Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer (pancreatic) in early 2004. While in the hospital, I contacted John Bryant and Jim Hightower asking them to send Dad note of encouragement. Both knew my Dad from local (Dallas area) Democratic politics. They quickly called or wrote, and to our surprise, my Dad got a short note from your Mom. Evidently John Bryant contacted her office as he knew my Dad was a tremendous fan of Ann's. His spirits were lifted immensely and he told me that she ought to be president. He said not only was she "a hundred times" smarter than the existing occupant in the White House, she was an example of what was good about Texas and might redeem our reputation nationally. Dad passed away a month or so later, but he was so happy about getting the note from your Mom. I really appreciated the gesture.

regards

[boycottrightwingthings]

Thank you for putting the truth to light about McCain.... for ALL to see! I love how Conservatives are trying to paint mcCain as too liberal to attract independents, but it won't wash, as you can't hide his anti-woman record, particulary his womanizing , and they way that he threw his first wife over and his naked political ambition that made him marry a rich and pretty millionairess, because they guy couldn't do it on his OWN! I LOVED your mom, I can see her supporting Hillary, and then saying when she didn't win the nomination- okay, the time is now to come together to support Barack Obama, for not only women's sake, but for the country's sake. We must all come together to defeat McCain.... Obama 08!

[realtalk]

Let's not forget that McCain opposes providing low-income and uninsured women and families with health care services ranging from breast and cervical cancer screening to birth control. John McCain thinks that if you are poor, doctors are just not for you and that health, and life is only for those who can afford it.

Oh, and even better if you are a woman, McCain DOESN'T think you deserve equal pay as a man gets, even when you are both doing the same job. McCain didn't bother showing up to vote for the bill which would allow women to get equal pay as a man for equal work done. McCain said that if he had shown up in the senate he would have voted "against" it, because women DO NOT need equal pay, what women need according to McCain is more education, and training.

[Heytonite]

Ms. Richards, unfortunately many within the general public are not aware of Planned Parenthood and how hard ppl work within the organization supporting communities. Planned Parenthood stands out to Many who are ignorant that its a " Abortion" center. When its truly not. It supports Women, Men and Teens with medical and health services. I believe that Govt should not be involved in Women's rights to Health. If anything the Govt needs to be Productive­/Enhancing­/Qualities of Insurance and Preventive Care and Education for all people. McCain has no forethought. OBAMA All the Way :)

[MoeJava]

With McCain being so anti-choice for women, along with no insurance subsidies of birth control, will he also refuse men their precious viagra? I get the idea the republican side of the aisle wants to stop any sex for fun vs sex for procreation. Viagra just seems like a hedonistic supplement - or are your telling me this is for only those married and intending to have children? And will they check your ID and marriage license when you go to pick it up? Where does all this invasion of privacy end?

Tell me - in this Land of Liberty, why do I have to live according to someone else's religious views?

[justhefacts]

Senator Obama is not the problem. The Democratic party, however, decided years ago that it needed to have a "big tent' that included so-called "pro-life Democrats" who are hostile to any woman's (any person's) right to self-determination. These "Democrats in wolf's clothing" include Senator Harry Reid, majority leader in the U.S. Senate.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, majority leader in the House of Representatives, has said she is willing to welcome anti-abortion legislators to the Democratic party in order to have a majority in Congress. She also calls them "pro-life Democrats.­" Does that mean Democrats who support abortion rights are "anti-life Democrats?" One wonders.

Here is why reproductive rights matter to everyone. A person's right to choose how, when and where the parameters of his or her body may be breached is a basic civil right (think about blood tests for insurance screening, DNA tests, paternity tests, drug tests). I think Senator Obama understands this.

Senator Obama must (and will) return the Democratic party to the core principles of personal sovereignty. What we do with our bodies is our business. Everything starts from here. N=1.

[ghostwriter5]

Didn't Obama trot around Pa with an anti abortion senator--Bob Casey. Obama and the DNC are a bunch of hypocrites. I don't trust him to stand up for women--he certainly didn't in the primary season.

[LABC]

The battle cry of the bitter, huh, ghostrider? I think you will find that Obama is considered among the most pro-choice politicians out there. He supports the right to choose, but also wants to turn down the rhetoric that has frozen this debate. Casey supports him for other reasons but also finds his willingness to look at the whole picture refreshing - better access to birth control, sex education, etc - to make abortions less a reality.

As for your throwaway comments regarding Obama and the primary - I am past the point that I even bother asking people like you for evidence to support your comments.