Right Readies its Anti-Abortion Fight

It's no surprise, but it's still shocking: with just weeks to go before the start of the 112th Congress, conservative leaders are busy putting the pieces in place for an all-out, multi-tier war on reproductive rights.

With Republicans about to take control of the House, a tighter margin of Democratic leadership looming in the Senate and a significant rise in the number of anti-abortion governors across the country (up to 29 from 21), conservatives understand that they are sitting on a remarkable political "opportunity" to push for policies that limit access to and funding of abortions at both the state and local levels. And they plan to capitalize on it.

In the House, moves are already being made to lay the foundation for a more dedicated assault on reproductive rights: this week, Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) was named chairman of the influential Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, which has control over private health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Pitts is a staunch conservative with a zero pro-choice rating; he was co-author of the famed "Stupak amendment" and has been described by some as “one of the most anti-choice members of the House.” His selection as chair of this important subcommittee "presages a major shift on abortion and family planning," according to The New York Times, and Pitts has already announced that he will use his new position to push for a ban on the use of federal subsidies “to pay for any abortion, or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion.” (A stance that's so 2009, mind you, when the issue became a sticking point in health care reform, or better yet, 1976, when the Hyde Amendment, which already bans federal funding for abortions, was established.)

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After the Election: A Future Worth Fighting For

The midterm elections have certainly altered the landscape. Conservatives, as predicted, captured control of the House, made significant gains in the Senate, and will take up residence in a host of new Governor’s mansions nationwide. For those of us who spend our lives fighting for equality and social justice, there’s plenty of reason for deep concern: health care legislation, unemployment benefits, investments in child care, and protecting a woman’s right to choose are all up for attack given this new balance of power.

Many progressives have greeted this news with an understandable level of despair. But as we enter this new chapter in our nation’s political life -- we at the Ms. Foundation encourage you to forgo despair in favor of something much more powerful: a belief in the ability and tenacity of grassroots organizations to engage communities and build momentum -- even in the face of the political challenges currently before us.

This belief buoys us right now, and for good reason. We know the work our grantee partners do every day to push for policies at the local, state and national levels that will benefit women and families. We know that their organizing and advocacy makes a difference in communities across the country -- whether they’re fighting in New York for the passage of a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (signed into law just this year) or demanding that California’s new governor undo drastic budget cuts that will otherwise leave 80,000 low-income families without access to child care.

We are hopeful because we know that the ongoing economic crisis presents a moment of opportunity for systemic social change -- one that our grantees will fight for no matter who holds the power in Congress. Our grantee partners are working from the ground up to build a new economy based on a new set of values and principles – an economy that puts those directly affected by the economic crisis and most marginalized from the centers of power (very often women) at the forefront of creating powerful policy solutions. They do this by pushing for green and other non-traditional jobs for women; by organizing in state-wide coalitions to fight for paid sick leave; by launching campaigns to ensure that local workers have access to living wages that keep them out of poverty; and by implementing creative organizing strategies that connect grassroots solutions to national platforms for greater impact.

Whatever the media may have told you, the grassroots progressive movement hasn’t lost its steam. The organizations we fund are steadfast and stalwart; they fight for equality in good times and in bad. They fought to advance social justice in the 111th Congress and will continue to do so during the 112th – whatever the political climate may be.

One thing is for certain: now, more than ever, progressive grassroots organizations need our help in holding the line against regressive measures, and in pushing forward local and state-based initiatives that expand opportunities for us all. They will need our support as they continue to build larger and stronger and constituencies, the only hope in paving the road to a more progressive political future.

The problems we face today are insurmountable only if we stop believing that change really is possible and the future worth fighting for. Women working at the grassroots every day are creating that future by meeting basic needs and healing families and communities. Will you join them?

Sara K. Gould, President and CEO

Susan Wefald, Executive Vice President and COO

Ms. Foundation on CNN.com: What's Pushing Women Away From Voting?

Read the following Ms. Foundation commentary published today on CNN.com:

What's Pushing Women Away From Voting?

By Sara K. Gould, President & CEO and Susan Wefald, Executive Vice President & COO, Ms. Foundation for Women
Special to CNN

(CNN) -- It's been a record year for women in politics. In 2010, 36 women -- more than ever before in our nation's history -- filed to run for U.S. Senate. Fourteen of them have won their primaries -- another record.

Historic gains also have been made on the House side, with 262 women filing this year to run for a congressional seat -- 40 more than in 1992, the so-called "Year of the Woman," when major records were set for women's participation in political races nationwide.

It doesn't stop there. According to the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University, 10 women in eight states have been chosen as their party's nominee for governor, tying a previous record. And whatever happens in Oklahoma and New Mexico on November 2, they'll be swearing in a woman as the new governor come January since both major parties nominated a female to run for the open seat.

With so many women candidates declaring their readiness and excitement to lead on a national stage, it's tempting to assume that women voters might be feeling similarly energized. But recent polling indicates that something quite different is happening.

In reaching out for the opinions of likely voters, CNN/Opinion Research Corp. found that 23 percent of women polled described themselves as "extremely enthusiastic" about voting in the upcoming elections, compared with 38 percent of men. This apparent lack of "enthusiasm" among women voters has been echoed in other national surveys as well, including a poll last month by The New York Times and CBS News.

So why are women registering lower levels of excitement about the midterm elections?

First there's the economy: Unemployment rates are going nowhere and governmental benefits seem perpetually on the brink of being axed. Women are increasingly finding themselves both overburdened (two-thirds of U.S. families now rely on a woman's earnings to survive) and out of work (the unemployment rate for single mothers has more than doubled since 2007 and is at its highest in 25 years).

And their growing despondency over the economic situation -- at home and at large -- may be dampening any desire to race to the ballot box.

Then there's the current state of American political affairs, with its take-no-prisoners, race-to-the-bottom mentality. With so many fires to put out in their own backyards, women -- and many men -- may finally have had enough of the adversarial, sometimes violent, rhetoric that our political contests have lately taken on.

In too many states, these midterm elections have devolved into little more than headline-grabbing "character wars." Instead of providing opportunities to talk about the policies we need to pull our nation out of its dismal state, campaigns and the media have frustratingly focused attention on tales of witchcraft and fluoride-fears, on purported marital infidelities and religious bona fides.

In a context in which 13.9 percent of women are now officially living in poverty (the highest rate in 15 years) and facing long-term unemployment, it's not surprising that women lack enthusiasm for voting. What's missing, for most women, are the political narratives about the things that matter to them: good jobs, clean air, health care and what it will really take to rebuild our national economy.

What our decades of work with thousands of grass-roots leaders across America have taught us is that women are impressed by solutions, not sound and fury. They want leaders who understand and take seriously the challenges that families of all shapes and sizes now face in trying to put food on the table; leaders who have a plan, for example, for ensuring that quality, affordable child care and health care are available to all who need it.

But however unenthused women may feel about these upcoming elections, from where we stand their participation is desperately needed.

As one of our grantees, the National Women's Law Center, recently pointed out, over the next few months Congress will make landmark decisions about "whether to extend unemployment insurance benefits, whether to repeal new provisions making it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and whether to invest in families struggling to make ends meet." Women's votes have the power to influence how those decisions get made.

With so much about the future of our nation at stake this Election Day, women must show up at the polls and make their voices heard -- because when we do, we advance a vision of America where equality and justice are more than just catchphrases. The rhetoric of this political season may not be what we want or like, but times are simply too tough for millions of women to sit this one out.