The Party Platform: Dem's Drop "Safe, Legal and Rare" Language From Abortion Position

Posted by Cara, Feministe at 1:49 PM on August 13, 2008.

Is the newly released Democratic Party Platform a feminist document?

That's what Dana Goldstein argues. I personally wouldn't go so far, but I do have to say that I'm very pleasantly surprised. From Dana:

The draft of the Democratic Party platform, principally written by Obama's Senate policy director, the estimable Karen Kornbluh, is a remarkably feminist document, one befitting of a political party that, this year, came exceedingly close to nominating a woman. In the summer of 2006, I heard Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York speak on the Hill, lamenting that the lily livered John Kerry team had, for the first time in decades, removed support for the Equal Rights Amendment from the party platform. Well, this year the ERA is back, alongside a truly unequivocal statement of support for reproductive rights, an unprecedented statement in opposition to sexism, and new sections on equal pay, women's economic struggles, work-family balance, and violence against women.

It's clear that care was taken to involve members of Hillary Clinton's circle in the document's drafting (perhaps Dana Singiser), or to at least take their concerns to heart. Clinton's run is presented in the document as a feminist historical feat, and in the foreign policy section, the draft borrows the language of Clinton's celebrated 1995 speech to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing: "Our policies will recognize that human rights are women's rights and that women's rights are human rights." Reflecting Obama's own long-standing interest in international development, the documented continues, "Women make up the majority of the poor in the world. So we will expand access to women's' economic development opportunities and seek to expand microcredit."

Now, I haven't had the time to read the whole 55 page document (pdf), and probably won't for some time, but I did jump to the relevant bits that directly mention women, and I am fairly impressed. First of all, the acknowledgment of the women-poverty link that Dana mentions greatly pleases me. As does support for ERA being back, the statement against sexism, and of course, what everyone is talking about -- the new statement on reproductive rights. Not only have they dropped the "safe, legal and rare" bullshit, they've strengthened their support for abortion rights for all women, the right to access birth control, and services for rape survivors.  They've also supported the right of women to have a child in a way that doesn't come off as attempting to appeal to conservatives as much as it does a genuine attempt (and of course, only a start) to employ a reproductive justice framework:

The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

The Democratic Party also strongly supports access to affordable family planning services and comprehensive age-appropriate sex education which empowers people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.

The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.

Okay, I'll admit it ... that kind of thrills me a little bit. Notice how it doesn't say that they promote or want to encourage women to make the decision to have a child, but instead they simply support that decision and want to make it easier on women who make it? Notice the lack of implication that having a child is a more moral or better choice than abortion, but instead treat it as an equally valid one? Impressive! The "safe, legal and rare" bullshit has always rankled me, and I'm glad to see it gone. And I can't tell you how pleased I am to see that they chose to include a bit, even a tiny one, about sexual assault in the reproductive health care platform (another unquoted bit on page 12). I do think it belongs there -- and I have a post more about this area coming soon.

Though I'm not sure how unprecedented it is, I also like the additional bit they have on violence against women:

Ending violence against women must be a top priority. We will create a special advisor to the president regarding violence against women. We will increase funding to domestic violence and sexual assault prevention programs. We will strengthen sexual assault and domestic violence laws, support the Violence Against Women Act, and provide job security to survivors. Our foreign policy will be sensitive to issues of aggression against women around the world.

I'm happy with what I've read so far. And feeling a little bit better about voting Democrat. But I also wouldn't be at all surprised if there were complaints, and valid ones. As I said, I've only read what I'm talking about right now.

So what do you think, dear readers?

Tagged as: feminism, democrats, women's rights, hillary clinton, democratic party platform

Cara blogs regularly at The Curvature and Feministe.