NARAL... R.I.P.

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 10:33 AM on July 12, 2006.

Jane Hamsher, asking "Am I the only one who is horrified by the sad state of the pro-choice movement in this country?" notes that Joe Lieberman snatched the NARAL endorsement from netroots darling Ned Lamont.

Here's the deal, should someone say "but, but, but, Lieberman has a 99% rating from NARAL!!"

He does, but that's what makes it all the more sleazy. While Lieberman is sure to make the correct votes when it comes to legislation and opposition to pro-life judges, when it came to the single most important position with respect to reproductive freedom -- joining his party's filibuster of pro-life supreme court nominees who threaten to overturn Roe v. Wade -- he failed. He failed. He failed. And he failed knowing that this failure wouldn't be represented in his NARAL rating.

His VIABLE opponent, Ned Lamont's "reproductive freedom" page reads:

I absolutely support women’s right to complete and appropriate health care and to reproductive freedom. I will fight to make the morning after pill available over the counter, to make emergency contraception available to all rape victims, and to support the nomination and appointment of pro-choice judges.

I would have led the opposition to the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Alito, since he fundamentally tilts the balance on the court and jeopardizes a woman’s right to choose. South Dakota recently passed a bill which outlaws a woman’s right to an abortion even in the case of rape and incest; this law is certain to be decided by the newly-reconstituted U.S. Supreme Court.

Matt Stoller has the info for contacting NARAL and explains why they and Planned Parenthood have blown their political capital... (Firedoglake)

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Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.