Reply #58: sharing the tent without apologies

[noamnety]

That's what I'm getting at, exactly. We need to scream more about the birth control restrictions between now and the elections. On the other forum, where I asked what do you think of first when you hear the phrase "reproduction rights," here's what I got so far:

13 abortion
7 restricting who's allowed to be a parent
9 combo of abortion and birth control
2 high tech fertilization
2 stem cell research
2 castration
2 population control
1 annoying feminists
1 copyrights - gotta love the graphic design community!
1 Inheritance rights of children created from frozen sperm (because of media story today)
0 birth control

I believe this list will tell you where the media focus is right now, during the campaign season. I want to move birth control from the bottom to the top of the list between now and November.

Everytime abortion comes up as an issue, the response should include a strong statement about birth control. Never deny our position - that's something Rove would do, pretend we support one position when we actually support another - that's immoral and I would be angry if we went there. But I don't believe there is anything wrong with shifting the focus. If they say "Kerry supports abortion" the counter should be a quick correction that he supports the right of individuals to make that choice for themselves, followed immediately by a lengthier discussion of the impact of the Bush policies on birth control, and the shift to deny the right to have sex unless you are trying to create a baby. Make that the debate.

If a Bush supporter talks about pro-choice, don't assume they are referring to abortion. Have the discussion as if you assume they mean having the right to chose to use birth control, until they state otherwise.