Et cetera What women want?
ET CETERA What women want? On October 21, the Senate passed a bill that would ban partial-birth abortion, a procedure in which the fetus is partially delivered in order to facilitate the...
...Only 30 percent of those polled endorsed making abortion "generally available to those who want it...
...Yet even if the CAW poll is imperfect, it makes clear yet again how out of touch groups like NOW are with the women they claim to represent...
...On October 21, the Senate passed a bill that would ban partial-birth abortion, a procedure in which the fetus is partially delivered in order to facilitate the termination of life...
...Most surveys suggest that a majority of Americans favor restrictions on abortion, but not an outright ban...
...Of course, poll results are notoriously difficult to assess...
...More tellingly, only 41 percent of those polled responded that "keeping abortion legal" should be a "top priority" for the women's movement...
...At the very least, the CAW poll indicates there is far more agreement among women on issues like reducing sexual harassment and providing adequate child care than on abortion.on...
...According to a recent poll conducted by the Center for the Advancement of Women (CAW), a generally liberal think tank headed by a former president of Planned Parenthood, 51 percent of American women support banning abortion completely or allowing it only in cases of rape or incest...
...But there is no consensus among women on this issue or, for that matter, on the question of abortion in general...
...Reading NOW's Web site, you would think there is no more important issue facing women today: "Feminists and other supporters of reproductive rights won't stand for any attempt to send us back to pre-Roe days when countless women died from illegal abortions," said NOW president Kim Gandy...
...Planned Parenthood and the National Organization of Women (NOW) are among the most vociferous opponents of the bill...
...NOW, after all, is the same group that endorsed Carol Moseley Braun for president, a decision that even the New York Times said "was a peculiar way to enhance the clout of women in politics...
...President George W. Bush is expected to sign the bill into law...
...Much depends on who is polled and how the questions are phrased...
...Reducing domestic violence and sexual assault" and "equal pay for equal work" were among ten issues deemed more important, with 92 and 90 percent support respectively...
Vol. 130 • November 2003 • No. 19
