Pro-Choice Victories in the 2008 Election

Last night, while standing just a few feet from the podium from which our next pro-choice president spoke, I was overcome with pride and emotion. Would it have been possible to react in any other way? I was so proud of what pro-choice America did to make this historic moment possible and I knew in that moment that the electricity I felt in this crowd in Chicago was being felt across the country.

NARAL Pro-Choice America worked hard for our slate of pro-choice candidates across the country, including pro-choice Sen. Barack Obama, and that hard work resulted in the reaffirmation of our commitment to the values of freedom and privacy.

In a race that featured candidates with stark differences on choice, voters rejected John McCain's divisive attacks on a woman's right to choose and responded to Sen. Obama's call to move this country in a new direction. And wouldn't you know, it is a clear, decisive victory.

Here is a list of pro-choice electoral highlights:

• Pro-choice Sen. Barack Obama wins a decisive victory, picking up traditionally conservative states with his common-ground message.
• Pro-choice Americans defeat anti-choice ballot measures in South Dakota, California and Colorado. In South Dakota, a state won by John McCain, voters made clear their opposition to a dangerous abortion ban by defeating the measure for the second consecutive election.
• At this point, election results show that Americans elected a net gain of 16 fully pro-choice members in the House, and moved five Senate seats out of the anti-choice column - with four more Senate seats still waiting to be called. Even as some races remain too close to call, there are multiple examples of pro-choice gains:

* Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) and Mark Udall (Colorado) defeated anti-choice incumbent senators in their high profile races].
* Sen. Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina) lost her seat after one term. She consistently voted anti-choice, and supported the Bush agenda on almost every issue.
* In Virginia's 11th Congressional District, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC-endorsed candidate Gerry Connolly defeated anti-choice Keith Fimian.
* In Michigan's 7th Congressional District, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC-endorsed candidate Mark Schauer defeated anti-choice Rep. Tim Walberg. In the state's 9th Congressional District NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC-endorsed candidate Gary Peters defeated anti-choice Rep. Joe Knollenberg.
* In New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC-endorsed candidate Martin Heinrich defeated anti-choice Darren White and in New Mexico's 2nd Congressional District, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC-endorsed candidate Harry Teague defeated anti-choice Ed Tinsley. The entire New Mexico congressional delegation in now pro-choice.

As you can tell, there is much for pro-choice America to celebrate.

I'm proud that NARAL Pro-Choice America was the first major pro-choice PAC to endorse Obama for president.

I'm proud that the NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC endorsed 95 candidates for the U.S. House and Senate and made $350,000 in direct contributions to campaigns.

I'm proud that NARAL Pro-Choice America volunteers made more than 12,500 GOTV calls into swing states urging voters to support Sen. Obama, targeted pro-choice congressional candidates and mobilized its one-million-strong network of member activists to engage in campaigns and vote for pro-choice candidates. President-elect Obama won all eight battleground states where NARAL Pro-Choice America contacted pro-choice voters on his behalf.

And finally, I'm proud of pro-choice America. These pro-choice wins would not have been possible without all of you.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election

Comments

[jkurd]

Also, we need to keep conscience clauses intact, protecting pro-life doctors from being required to perform procedures they consider tacitly immoral. This is the right thing to do, just as protecting conscientious objection rights for pacifists is.

[mredder4]

Agreed. Since the other side won't do it, let's be the voice of compromise this time. I think the hardest thing for Democrats to fight has been the smear that they are "anti-pregnancy". It's almost as if a large portion of the population believes that "pro-choice" stands for rounding up expecting mothers for forced abortions. Wrong! Let's take our message back and get it out there, that we intend to stand with women who get pregnant, regardless of whether they choose to abort, choose to keep the baby, or choose to carry to term and offer the baby for adoption. This is a major moment for the pro-choice movement, as we are finally in a position to better demonstrate our "values". That includes protection clauses, although doctors should understand that their morals should not impede the choice of any women. If they will not perform the abortion, or fill the Morning After Pill prescription, then they must, without reservation, refer the woman to a doctor who will. That seems fair to me.

[jkurd]

Many centrist Obama supporters, myself included, hope that Obama keeps his promise to aggressively work to reduce abortions through prevention and support programs. I think that at this point, the Freedom of Choice Act would be considered a betrayal by most of us, given his comments on the legitimacy of partial-birth abortion bans, and I sincerely hope that it doesn't pass in its current form. It is clear that social programs are more effective at reducing abortions than the campaign to criminalize it has been, but there is good reason to ban some of the more inhumane procedures.