The Truth Behind the New Bush: He's the One out of the Mainstream

(Washington, DC) - George Bush is making a desperate attempt to distract Americans from his radical record and dangerous views on reproductive rights issues.    Bush’s real position is clear -- he has never backed away from his vow to “do everything in my power” to take away a woman’s right to choose[1].  His “pro-family” rhetoric is deeply at odds with his anti-family policies that would have the Federal Government make personal decisions that should be left to women and their families. 

Polls consistently show that a majority of Americans are pro-choice.  A recent poll showed that over 60% of Catholic voters favor legal abortion[2], and another survey found that 80% of all voters agree with the statement that abortion decisions should be made by women and their doctors, not the government.[3]

Nothing highlights how far out of the mainstream Bush’s views are than his own television ad, “Family Priorities.” While the ad manipulates viewers with visual images of younger women, Bush criticizes John Kerry for a position shared by 77% of American voters (including 66% of Republicans) – that high schools should educate teenagers about the availability of emergency contraception to help prevent unintended pregnancies.[4]  Federal and state governments have had broad public support in establishing school-based health care clinics to effectively reach young people.

George Bush has done everything within the power of his office to limit a woman’s right to choose.  He has attempted to pack the federal judiciary with judges appointed because of their extreme views on choice; nominees who have called the right to choose abominable, claimed that women cannot get pregnant as a result of rape, and been criticized by Bush’s own White House Counsel for “an unconscionable act of judicial activism.”  He has worked to deny access to birth control and to steer funds away from responsible sex education in favor of unreliable abstinence-only programs.    Most recently, his Department of Justice has tried to gain access to the private medical records of women who have had abortions.

If George Bush is re-elected, he will likely get the chance to remake the Supreme Court by adding new justices in the mold of his oft-cited models, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.   But he will only get that chance if he can keep America’s pro-choice majority distracted with misleading and distorted ads like the one released this week. We are here to make sure he can’t get away with it.

Contact:
Ted Miller, 202.973.3032