Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/30780
backtalk I BY DONNA BRAZILE Moving Backward A S AN ACTIVIST WITH DEEP ROOTS IN FIGHTING for “equal justice under the law,” I make a sincere effort not to hyperbolize. It doesn’t make sense to run around screaming that the sky is falling every time it starts to rain. But somehow I can’t help but feel a sense of doom when I contemplate the legislative agenda of the 112th Congress. Just look at legislation already introduced or passed in the House. As Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), cochair of the Congressional Women’s Caucus, puts it, “This Republican House is waging an all-out war on women. Recently, in the name of cutting spending, they have swung the ax at women’s health—the blade did not spare maternal health grants, access to birth control and breast exams, or even food for nursing mothers and formula for infants. The 50- year battle to give women control over their destiny with birth control has always been tentative, and now we’re in a life-and-death struggle to retain access for this genera- tion of women.” One of the most significant items on this ultraconserva- tive agenda is repealing health-care reform. While not ex- plicitly targeted as an attack against women, that’s who the victims will be—especially poor women. And the most heinous direct example of the war on women can be found in three bills (H.R. 3, H.R. 217 and H.R. 358) introduced to prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions. There is already a crippling restriction in place that makes it virtually impossible for tax money to be spent on abortions; if anyone thinks the proposed legislation would help the debt or close the deficit, think again. Instead, if passed, these bills would swell the debt and deficit in the long run. This is the sort of belt-tightening that places the belt tightly around women’s necks. Along the way to their planned repeal of health-care re- form, anti-abortion representatives in the House also vot- ed to defund Planned Parenthood—which makes no logical sense since the organization spends 97 percent of its fund- ing on services that aren’t abortion, and the 3 percent it does spend on abortion comes from non-federal funds. “The proposal to bar Planned Parenthood from receiv- www.msmagazine.com The new House majority is trying to reverse progress on all fronts— especially on women’s rights ing federal funds for preventive health care would have a devastating impact on women’s health,” says Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “It would lead to more unintended pregnancies and more women detecting cancers at a later and less treatable stage.” Indeed, U.S. women rely heavily on Planned Parent- hood’s services: One in 5 American women visit a Planned Parenthood clinic for health care during their lifetimes; the organization sees more than 3 million visitors each year. Last year, 830,000 women counted on Planned Parenthood for breast exams. “And we provide nearly 1 million women with cervical-cancer screening,” Richards adds. “For 6 in 10 women, a women’s health center like Planned Parent- hood is their main source of health care.” Do the people in charge of the Republican agenda not realize that we still have troops on the battlefield? High unemployment? How did abortion, again, become the center of attention? Instead of moving forward, the 112th Congress wants to shift into reverse on all manner of topics, not just health care and abortion. For example, the House has introduced three bills (H.R. 97, 153 and 199) to restrict or delay fed- eral regulation of greenhouse gases. Moving backward: the theme of the 112th. Expect the conservative House majority to go after all the issues we thought were closed and settled. Expect them to nitpick and unravel anything you thought was progress. Expect them to cut to the bone. Expect to move backward on education, pay equity, environmental safe- guards, gun control, civil rights, economic regulation and workplace safety standards. Expect the next two years to be challenging. But expect another change in 2012—especially if women are ready to speak out and take charge of their future. DONNA BRAZILE is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. She’s a political contributor on CNN and a consultant to ABC News, including This Week with Christiane Amanpour. SPRING 2011 | 63 n