Sign of the Times: Anti-Choice Candidates Try to Run from Their Anti-Choice, Anti-Contraception, Anti-Woman Records
SEATTLE – Up and down the ballot, there are sharp distinctions between the candidates when it comes to a woman’s right to choose. The candidates for president, Washington governor, Washington’s 8th congressional district and several Washington state legislative seats are diametrically opposed on the issue of choice and contraception. Yet while the pro-choice candidates proudly advertise their positions in support of women’s rights and health, the anti-choice candidates have been increasingly hesitant to discuss the matter. “Radically anti-choice candidates like Dino Rossi and Dave Reichert can read polls and interpret voter attitudes as well as anyone else. And they know that they are swimming against the tide when it comes to the right to choose,” said Karen Cooper, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. “Rather than showcase their unpopular stances against choice and access to birth control, they try to sidestep the matter.” Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi has been especially stubborn in his refusal to discuss matters that he is “not campaigning on,” as he told David Postman on the July 20, 2008 online edition of King 5’s Up Front. When forced to discuss women’s health issues, Rossi’s attitude is dismissive and insulting. He even compared birth control, which is basic health care for women, to flavors of sports drinks in an interview with the Seattle Times published on September 10, 2008. Similarly, Rep. Dave Reichert (R-8) is visibly uncomfortable when asked to discuss his views on choice. During his October 10 debate with challenger Darcy Burner, he briefly stated his anti-choice view before sidestepping a question about Congress’s role should Roe v. Wade be overturned, and then he completely avoided answering a question about federal funding for comprehensive sex education. “Both Rossi and Reichert oppose the right to choose, both have stated their opposition to increased access to birth control, and both oppose comprehensive sex education. They know that their positions put them at odds with the majority of Washingtonians, and so they would much prefer that voters stay in the dark on their abysmal records on choice,” said Cooper. “The fact that Rossi and Reichert have to go to such great lengths to conceal their far-right anti-choice records is a clear sign that the 8th congressional district, and the entire state of Washington, is firmly pro-choice and pro-contraception,” Cooper added. “Rossi and Reichert are painfully out of step with the constituencies they seek to represent.” For a fact sheet on Dino Rossi’s anti-choice record: http://www.prochoicewashington.org/assets/files/nowyouknowdinofacts.pdf For a fact sheet on Dave Reichert’s anti-choice record: http://www.prochoicewashington.org/assets/files/reichertfactsheet.pdf NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the leading grassroots pro-choice advocacy organization in Washington State. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington works to protect every woman’s right to access the full range of reproductive health options, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is the state affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America. ###
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