And so it begins

MILWAUKEE – President Obama has opened the first significant lead of the 2012 campaign in the nation's dozen top battleground states, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, boosted by a huge shift of women to his side.

In the fifth Swing States survey taken since last fall, Obama leads Republican front-runner Mitt Romney 51%-42% among registered voters just a month after the president had trailed him by two percentage points.

The biggest change came among women under 50. In mid-February, just under half of those voters supported Obama. Now more than six in 10 do while Romney's support among them has dropped by 14 points, to 30%. The president leads him 2-1 in this group.

…

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina says Romney's promise to "end Planned Parenthood" — the former Massachusetts governor says he wants to eliminate federal funding for the group — and his endorsement of an amendment that would allow employers to refuse to cover contraception in health care plans have created "severe problems" for him in the general election.

"Romney's run to the right may be winning him Tea Party votes," Messina said in an interview, but he says it's demonstrated that "American women can't trust Romney to stand up for them."

Read the full article here.

When the Republicans started with their bullshit against women, I mentioned that in the 2008 election, women made up 53% of those who voted, and that we were not going to forget this.

Well, right on, Sisters! [fist in the air] We have received your message loud and clear, Republicans, and we are responding accordingly. Millions of women use Planned Parenthood every year, with only a small percentage of that for the purpose of abortions; they do good work in providing basic health care to millions of American women. The threat of cutting off all funds to the organization is seriously not cool. A bill introduced by a Republican legislator in Arizona would allow businesses to require a doctor’s note to show that a woman was using birth control for medical purposes, not for birth control. There is some talk of allowing employers to not pay for birth control if they have a “moral objection” to it. Perhaps they would like to accompany us to our doctors’ appointments to ensure that we don’t discuss anything they deem to be out of line or “morally objectionable.” Or maybe someone from the RNC will observe during my next pelvic exam, just to make sure I don’t deviate from acceptable topics, and so they can get a rundown on the general state of my uterus.

We are paying attention, and we are not liking what we’re seeing. I’m sure that Mittens will pivot to the center in the general election, and he’ll try to say that he didn’t mean it that way, or that he was taken out of context, and he’ll try to pretend that he cares about women’s health. He doesn’t. There is videotape to prove it. Women don’t forget much, or haven’t you figured that out yet, Mittens? We’re listening to what you are saying now. And we’ll be voting in November. You can put THAT in your ballot box and stuff it.

Throwing the baby out with the bath water

A few days ago, I read an article in our local paper about the ongoing efforts of a state representative to halt funding for Indiana's Planned Parenthood sites.

To give you a little background, late last year, a videotape surfaced in which a 20-year-old woman was posing as a 13-year-old girl. (I'm not sure who this woman was working for.) When she told PP workers that she was pregnant, and her boyfriend was 18 (or something like that--a legal adult, at any rate), the workers said that they didn't want to talk about that. Apparently, if workers find out that there is the possibility of abuse or statutory rape, they must report it to authorities. These workers ignored the information.

Obviously, they were wrong to do so. But this representative, Jackie Walorski, took steps to start an investigation, and in the meantime, asked the state to stop funds to all of our state Planned Parenthood offices. That bothered me enough at the time, but when I read the latest article, I decided to write to her.

The two workers in question no longer work for Planned Parenthood. However, Walorski is still attempting to stop funding, and according to the article I read, was asking for contributions on her website to continue her efforts. From what I understood, that's not really illegal, but there was something to do with the timeframe of when she was asking for donations--it all seemed horribly convoluted, and to me, it's all beside the point! When I read that she was still pursuing a cut-off of funds, that was it. I wrote to her.

Dear Representative Walorski,

As a woman, one of my concerns is that all women have access to information about women's health issues, and access to birth control. I have been reading with interest the saga of Planned Parenthood and your efforts to cut off their funding because of the recent videos that surfaced and raised concerns about the mandatory reporting of child abuse.

I do not dispute that Planned Parenthood must adhere strictly to those guidelines in order to protect children. However, the employees responsible are no longer working for the organization, and while enforcing the law is an admirable goal, your desire to cut off their funding is shortsighted and not conducive to women's health.

Do whatever needs to be done to enforce the mandatory reporting rule, but I strongly urge you to stop your efforts to cut off their funding. Planned Parenthood helps millions of women gain access to health screenings and birth control that they would never be able to afford otherwise. As a microbiologist, I saw first-hand the rampant spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and Planned Parenthood works hard to try to educate and assist women in the prevention of these diseases.

Cutting off their funding because of this incident is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. This is a worthwhile organization, and I urge you to desist in your attempts to stop their funding.

Thank you for your time.

*****

I know that not everyone is a fan of Planned Parenthood, and you're entitled to your opinion. If you feel the need to comment here with your opposition to the organization, I won't stop you (unless you get nasty with me), but I also won't be drawn into a debate about it. I believe they do important work in helping women (and men--PP is not restricted to women only) get health screenings that they might never get otherwise, screenings that can sometimes save lives. They provide birth control to men and women of all ages, preventing unplanned pregnancies. They assist local and state health departments in the tracking and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, some of which can be passed congenitally to fetuses. They help with prenatal care for those young women who are pregnant.

For quite a few years, during college and after my divorce, I went to Planned Parenthood, and was grateful for their services and was happy to support them. As a young woman, I was in a position where I could pay for their services, and I felt that my payments went towards helping others who were unable to afford care.

No, I believe Walorski is wrong to attempt to stop funding to Planned Parenthood. She hasn't been successful so far, and I don't believe she will be. She promises to respond to all letters, but I've heard nothing yet. Possible abuse absolutely must be reported in order to protect children. PP has said that the laws and their policies are clear, they have fired the employees in question, and they are retraining their workers in the regulations. Walorski's attempt to cut off funding is nothing more than political posturing, and she is ignoring the health care needs of thousands of Indiana residents, especially women. Shame on her!

*****

A final word today, this one about the "Miracle on the Hudson." In such rough times, how great is it to see these true professionals, including Captain Sullenberger, bring their passengers to safety under some very dire circumstances? The last person out was the Captain, after walking the plane and making sure that all his passengers were safely out. And how wonderful was it to see the Coast Guard and ferry workers speed to the scene and rescue each and every passenger? I guess there's something to be said for being a part of the "liberal elite" that lives in New York City. Apparently it confers some sort of bravery gene. A standing ovation for every single person involved in this rescue. Amazing, heartening, and very, very inspiring. Let's hear it for the good ones. Huzzah!