McSexist: McCain's War on Women

A February Planned Parenthood poll of 1,205 women voters in 16
battleground states found that:

50 % of women voters don't know McCain's position on abortion
49 % of women who backed McCain were pro-choice, even though McCain is against women making their own choices..
46 % of women supporting McCain said they'd like to see Roe v. Wade upheld -- though McCain says he supports overturning the decision.

When they learned of his position on Roe, 36 percent of women who identified as both pro-choice and likely McCain voters said they would be less likely to vote for him.

Voting Record Snapshot:

• While voting in favor to include unborn children, McCain Voted AGAINST legislation to expand SCHIP's (State Children's Health Insurance Program) coverage to low-income children and pregnant women at least six times.

• Voted to require parental consent for teenagers who want access to contraceptives, but AGAINST an amendment to the Senate's 2006 budget that would have allocated $100 million for the prevention of teen pregnancy by providing education and contraceptives.

• McCain OPPOSED legislation requiring that abstinence-only programs be
  medically accurate and based in science.

• McCain voted to abolish funding for birth control and gynecological care for low-income women, and AGAINST funding for public education on emergency contraception.

• Voted AGAINST a measure that would require insurance companies to cover prescription contraception, despite the fact that many currently fund male reproductive pharmaceuticals, such as Viagra.

• In the 2000 primary, he was asked what he would do if his daughter Meghan, then 15, became pregnant. McCain said it would be a "family decision."
• However, if there is no access to contraception or abortion, there wouldn't be much of a decision to make, because Meghan wouldn't have been able to choose birth control to prevent becoming pregnant or have an abortion after the fact. Short of abstinence, this effectively leaves control of a woman's body and mind in men's hands and in the hands of the state cutting her out completely from her own self-determination.

• McCain has an equally dismal record on other issues central to women's lives -- pay equity, fighting workplace discrimination, and supporting programs that help working mothers and their families.
• McCain skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Had it passed the Senate, this bill would have restored the nterpretation of the protections for pay equity in the Civil Rights Act that was overturned in a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling.
• Though he didn't vote, he spoke against the bill on the campaign trail, saying in New Orleans: "They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households...it's hard for them to leave their families when they don't have somebody to take care of them."
• "In addition to suggesting women need to be taken care of, the statement shows a total lack of understanding of the case." "It's not because of training and education; it's because of discrimination," says NOW Executive Vice President Olga Vives. "And he doesn't seem to get that."

• In 1993, before voting in favor of the Family and Medical Leave Act --which, among other things, allows pregnant women to take unpaid maternity leave if it's not automatically offered in the workplace --McCain sought to weaken the measure. He proposed allowing the government to suspend the law if it found that the act would increase the cost to business.

• In 2002, Voted AGAINST a $3,000 tax credit to help seniors and their families cover long-term care

• Voted seven times for measures that cut or restricted funding for Medicaid, and 18 times for measures that cut or restricted Medicare

And how about a little glance into his PERSONAL record with women?

• "In his book The Real McCain, Cliff Schecter describes one stop during his 1992 Senate reelection bid. He writes, "At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, 'You're getting a little thin up there.' McCain's face reddened, and he responded, 'At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.' " (Schecter confirmed this remark with three reporters who were present when it was made.)"
• Then, there is McCain's response to a questioner in Hilton Head, S.C., last November, who asked, referring to Sen. Clinton: "How do we beat the bitch?" McCain responded: "Excellent question."

Ladies, we need to better inform ourselves and make sure that we are voting for a candidate that has a record of supporting the issues that affect our freedoms and rights as citizens the most.

Women ARE the majority. Let’s vote for our rights not against!

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To read the full article on Alternet click here McSexist: McCain's War on Women | Reproductive Justice and Gender | AlterNet