Tag Archives: Women’s Rights

The day after the election and my message to the Republican Party!

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First of all I would like to congratulate President Obama for his victory on Tuesday night.And now, before I go any further, know this about me: I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. In politics, I support whoever shares my basic principles, values and hopes or comes the closest to sharing them.

In the country where I am allowed to vote, Switzerland, I don’t blindly vote for one party, but I look for whoever brings the best ideas, ideals and principles to the table. In America, as well as in Switzerland, to 60%- 70% I tend to agree with one party, but believe me when I say, that I know, recognise and respect a good principle or idea when I hear it, coming from really any party at all! Having said all of this, I will now make an attempt to explain my state of mind during election day, the day after and today (two days after).

My election day was probably the same as everyone elses in America with one exception. I had to stay up until 5 am to follow the news, when at 7 am I had to be at work (Switzerland is 6 hours ahead of the east cost). At 5 am I finally decided to go get 2 hours of sleep before having to be at work again, not knowing for sure who had won. My nerves had been on edge during the whole day and night. By 5 am I was a complete mess!

Before going to work I made sure to check for the final results and find out who would be the next President of the United States. Turning on my computer and going on the internet felt exactly the same way, as when I turned on my computer about a year ago to go check my results for some very important exams. It almost felt like my life depended on it. All nervous, sweaty and with some trouble breathing I finally saw that Obama had been re-elected!

Anyone who has been reading my blog knows that I criticise Obama for quite a few things he’s done over the last four years and that criticism is not about to end. But here is why this election was so personal and emotional to me. As a progressive thinking woman, my core conviction didn’t really give me a choice in this election. To me, this election was not about the economy. I don’t live in America at this point, so this might not be such a big surprise. This election to me was about a woman’s right to choose, my homosexual friends being able to marry who they love, young people like me who don’t come from wealthy families to have a faire chance at getting a college or university degree, campaign finance reform, immigration reform and last but not least about health care.

I took the health care system in Switzerland and Germany (where I’ve lived for the last 6 years) for granted until the whole fight over Obamacare began. And then I started to realise what it means to live in a country where your basic health care rights are not even up for debate!

Anyway. The day after the election I had a normal work day and that was tough. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because no one I work with really knew about the election much less cared about it at all. I felt very emotional all day. And then in the evening I was finally able to go out for some victory drinks with friends from Romania and Texas and talk about everything I had been keeping in all day.

Today, two days after the election, reality has sunken back in. While I am still eternally grateful for the choice the majority of Americans made on Tuesday, I am also painfully aware of the fact that politics WILL continue as usual. Obama is still the polarizing African-American President he was for the last four years. Many people actually hate this man with a passion and that isn’t about to change either.

So here is a message from me, Clarissa Frankfurt, to the Republican Party and every Republican who is feeling devastated and disappointed after this election:

Prior to the formation of the conservative coalition, which helped realign the Democratic and Republican party ideologies in the mid-1960s, the party historically advocated classical liberalism, paleoconservatism, and progressivism. Many of the ideas and ideals that this party was founded on I appreciate very much. The Republican Party has been on the right side of history many times before, but you should know that you are no longer this party. You want to fight extremists over seas and yet you allowed for extremist to take over your party a few years ago. You should know that you are not only letting people like me down, but also your very own and by that I mean Republicans who do not share the extreme views of the Tea Party. It is your responsibility to separate yourselves from the extreme movement that is polarizing America. Please, find your way back to your own values! Do it for the sake of Democracy in your own country!…

Let me just explain what I mean by that: The Republican Party is still in control of the House of Representatives and it shouldn’t be any other way. Because in a real Democracy a Government cannot be run by one party only. Probably the two most important aspects of a Democracy are the protection of minorities (religious, ethnical and yes, also political) and the Opposition in the Government. Your role as the Opposition in your Government is one that comes with great responsibility. It is to question the government of the day and hold them accountable to the public. America wouldn’t be half the Democracy if there wasn’t a strong Opposition. When I said before that being the Opposition is a responsibility, I ment that! What is obviously not meant by that is to make it impossible for the President to do his job. A serious Opposition cannot block everything they disagree with, otherwise Democracies all over the world wouldn’t even function. Obviously there is a difference in ideology. But if the Ruling Party and the Opposition take their responsibility serious everything that needs to get that can get done. Just to state the obvious: The Opposition will most of the time not have it their way and that doesn’t give them the right to make it impossible for the Ruling Party to govern the country. Because as a Democracy will have it, the Opposition will have it their way once they are elected to be the Ruling Party!!!

What about this so-called War On Women?

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The term “War on Women” is a catchphrase used to describe all the legislatures that are seen as restricting reproductive rights, mainly through Republican Party initiatives.

To start off, here are some numbers for you: Alone in 2011, 1100 provisions restricting women’s reproductive rights were introduced by state legislatures across the United States. Only in the first quarter of 2012, 944 provisions were introduced in state legislatures, of which half would restrict access to abortion.

The World Health Organisation defines reproductive rights as follows: “Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.”

To name only a few examples of what these rights include: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices etc. etc. etc. Please note, that these rights are not only rights for women, but rights for couples and individuals and thereby also rights for men!

What does it mean to have a right? It means you have the choice whether or not to exercise that right. If you don’t like what a specific right permits you to do, then I say just don’t do it. If you have the freedom to be anti or pro abortion for example, what makes you think you can force your political or moral view on someone else by prohibiting them by law to exercise their part of the freedom?

I will know compare the abortion situation in Switzerland and America to try to make a point. Abortion in Switzerland is legal during the first trimester, upon condition of counseling, for women who state that they are in distress. It is also legal with medical indications – threat of severe physical or psychological damage to the woman – at any later time. Health insurance is compulsory for all people living in Switzerland and abortions are covered. Persons performing illegal abortions are subject to payment of a monetary penalty or imprisonment of up to five years. A woman who procures an illegal abortion is subject to a payment of a monetary penalty or imprisonment of up until three years.

Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Roe established a “trimester” system, such that states were prohibited from banning abortion early in pregnancy but allowed to impose increasing restrictions or outright bans later in pregnancy. The health care coverage of abortion doesn’t even come close to what we have in Switzerland.

So far so good. But now to the current development of the abortion matter:

In Switzerland the tendency is for even more liberalisation. Initiatives we’ve had to vote on, that abortion not be covered by the health insurance anymore or even that abortions be banned all together, were declined by the swiss people with more than 70%.

In America, many states passed legislation in 2011 and 2012 requiring women to undergo government-mandated ultrasounds. Some states require women to look at the ultrasound or even listen to the heart beat. In some cases women are forced to undergo transvaginal ultrasounds. In February 2011, South Dakota state legislators considered a bill that would change that state’s definition of justifiable homicide to allow the killing of abortion providers. A Kansas bill passed March 2012 requires doctors to warn women seeking abortions that they are linked to breast cancer, a claim that has been refuted by the medical community. In February 2012, Republican Congressman Darrell Issa convened an all-male panel addressing contraceptive mandates for health insurers. The legislative policy initiative described as a War on Women has included a drive to eliminate state and federal funding for Planned Parenthood. Texas, Indiana and Kansas have passed legislation in an effort to defund the organization. Luckily though, a court has stepped in to protect Planned Parenthood funds in Indiana. If that could only serve as an example!

Needless to say, everything that’s happening in America right now around reproductive rights is very peculiar. I will say that I’m not a fan of the term “War on Women”. But when i hear men like Richard Mourdock or Todd Akin talk about women not being able to get pregnant from “legitimate rape”, or when rape does result in a pregnancy, that it was something God intended, I have to sit back and ask myself, if maybe there is something to the idea of this “War on Women”??

For me it’s clear, and all the women and yes, normal thinking men should realize that there’s something cooking here! Both men and women can be pro-life! And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you cannot just apply “your truth” on everyone else’s lives, much less force others to abide by “your rules” by pushing for discriminatory legislation.

This brings me to this years presidential elections!

In a 1994 debate with Senator Ted Kennedy, Romney said: “One of the great things about our nation … is that we’re each entitled to have strong personal beliefs, and we encourage other people to do the same. But as a nation, we recognize the right of all people to believe as they want and not to impose our beliefs on other people. I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a U.S. Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it, and I sustain and support that law, and the right of a woman to make that choice, and my personal beliefs, like the personal beliefs of other people, should not be brought into a political campaign.“

At the May 2007 Republican Presidential debate in South Carolina, Romney stated that “Roe v. Wade has gone to such an extent that we’ve cheapened the value of human life.” He has promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing the states to individually decide on the legality of abortion. Throughout the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney vowed that he would eliminate all federal funding for Planned Parenthood if elected.

I personally find it very sad, that Romney’s position on this subject matter has changed from a progressive view to what i would call a regressive, unmodernised and outdated view. I truly believe that we owe it to all the men and women who have fought for the women of the current generations to have more opportunity, more rights and a better chance at equality than ever before, to not let everything they went through be in vain.

Women have no right to see themselves as victims here. Don’t feel sorry for yourselves! Stand up and say something! Take action! You’re not week or powerless and therefore don’t get to assume the role of victims. So many men with their heads on straight are fighting this fight with us. And if generations of women could be strong before us, so can we. Get motivated and see this as an opportunity that can’t be wasted! And don’t forget about the respectable men along the way that have been on the right side of history!