Boehner's Terrible Record on Choice
Rep. John Boehner already is plotting to attack choice when he becomes speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives next January. Less than 48 hours after polls closed, Boehner did exactly what we expected him to do: make attacking a woman's right to choose a cornerstone of his agenda.
Maybe you're thinking, "Wait a minute, didn't Boehner campaign on jobs and the economy? Isn't calling for attacks on choice inconsistent with the 'limited government' he talks about?"
Yeah, we thought you'd think that--so here's a New York Times article that spells out Boehner's anti-choice agenda.
So, how is Boehner on choice? Let's go to his record; it goes from bad to worse.
Boehner was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, and has cast 142 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. All 142 were anti-choice! That's right: in 20 years in Congress, Boehner voted in favor of a woman's right to choose exactly zero times.
Here's a "greatest hits" list of Boehner's anti-choice votes:
- He voted 17 times to deny women in the military - who are defending our freedom overseas - the right to use their own, private funds for abortion care at overseas military hospitals. [House vote #109 (5/22/91); House vote #163 (6/4/92); House vote #458 (10/3/92); House vote #382 (6/15/95); House vote #641 (9/7/95); House vote #642 (9/7/95); House vote #167 (5/14/96); House vote #217 (6/19/97); House vote #171 (5/20/98); House vote #184 (6/9/99); House vote #203 (5/18/00); House vote #357 (9/25/01); House vote #153 (5/10/02); House vote #215 (5/22/03); House vote #197 (5/19/04); House vote #216 (5/25/05); House vote #136 (5/10/06)]
- He voted four times to ban the District of Columbia from using its own local funds for abortion care for low-income women. [House vote #534 (10/27/93); House vote #332 (7/22/96); House vote #408 (8/6/98); House vote #570 (7/16/09)]
- He voted twice against insurance coverage of contraception for federal employees - a provision of the law that ensures health plans cover birth control equally with other prescription medications. [House vote #290 (7/16/98); House vote #493 (10/7/98)]
- Boehner voted eight times against clinic protection for women and their doctors. [House vote #580 (11/18/93); House vote #582 (11/18/93); House vote #66 (3/17/94); House vote #68 (3/17/94); House vote #157 (5/5/94); House vote #158 (5/5/94); House vote #159 (5/5/94); House vote #125 (2/14/95)]
- He voted twice against the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows Americans to take time off work to care for a child or sick family-member. [House vote #443 (9/30/92); House vote #22 (2/3/93)]
- He voted for the notorious Stupak amendment, which would have banned abortion coverage to women in the new health system, even those buying health insurance entirely with their own money. [House vote #884 (11/7/09); House vote #166 (3/21/10)]
- John Boehner even voted (twice!) to deny federal funding of abortion care to survivors of rape and incest. [House vote #619 (8/3/95); House vote #51 (3/7/96)]
He's already a co-sponsor of the dangerous "Stupak on Steroids" bill. This bill is even worse than the original Stupak amendment. It would ban coverage of abortion in the new health-care system and impose a tax on Americans with private insurance plans that include abortion coverage. Eighty-seven percent of private plans currently include such coverage.
Boehner will "lead" a House of Representatives with at least 79 new anti-choice members. We must stand up to these attacks starting now! Send a message to John Boehner that you won't let him and his extreme cohorts attack our right to choose!
Tags| Share this post: | Tweet |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Boehner's Terrible Record on Choice.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.blogforchoice.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/3633
Search the Blog
Unfortunately, for those of us who support "free choice", Mr. Boehner reflects a tradition indicative of his own family's background (he's the product of a couple having twelve children)!
How can such a person be persuaded to encourage the right of women to choose whether or not to have a child? He represents another example of a religiously oriented person who would never question the views of his own church! The only future for those of us confronting such a decision-maker is to keep trying even though we recognize he will not change his position. How anyone can oppose abortion when a rape has taken place is incomprehensible! It's as if he believed God meant this to happen to the unfortunate girl. You can't convince such a person of how wrong he is except if such an occurrence should happen to one of his children! He might then reconsider.