Women and Politics

As if Focus on the Family’s Super Bowl ad hasn’t already sparked harsh criticism and anger, they decided to go ahead and double down.

Yes, the extreme anti-choice group has produced yet another commercial gem, which will be aired…wait for it…four times during the pregame show.

So now we don’t even have a chance to heat up our queso before having anti-choice rhetoric shoved down our throats.

I find the outright bias and audacity of CBS hard to put into words. Despite my frustration, I find myself laughing at this scenario, as it is truly ridiculous that such a hateful and divisive group is airing five ads during the most-watched sporting event of the year. Five.

Not to mention that it turns out CBS has been in bed with this group for months—helping with the writing of the ad to ensure it was approved for air. Beautiful.

And now, the latest pièce de résistance: “In fitting with the Super Bowl theme, the ad was made with a bit of humor in it,” says Focus on the Family CEO Jim Daly.

I’m sorry, what? Let me repeat that. The organization that founds itself on the sanctity of human life and wholesome family values has produced a humorous commercial about abortion.

And again, I say—can you even imagine the backlash that would occur if Planned Parenthood were to produce a humorous ad about abortion…how pro-choice supporters would be called unfeeling, cruel, and soulless baby haters?

Never before have I seen such a blatant double standard. Never before have I wanted nothing more than to walk into a TV Executive’s office and scream at the top of my lungs.

How has the anti-choice, anti-woman movement managed to hijack public discourse? How have we gotten to a place where their hurtful ideals are eagerly displayed to an audience of over 100 million people?

How did we get here? Studies show we have wide support for a person’s right to make their own personal, private health care decisions across this country. We have many pro-choice elected officials and activists.

But why, despite all this support, do I feel like we’re losing the battle and drowning in hateful ignorance? How do we win the fight back? How do we effectively speak out?

It seems we’re no match for corporate greed and wealthy socially conservative donors. Our voices can’t match their indoctrinating dogma and full wallets. But we must find a way. It just can’t be all about the money.

We must regain our ground in the fight for reproductive health freedoms. We have come too far to be hurled into a place where we have no control over our own bodies…where the public has no respect for women or reproductive rights.

How we get there, I don’t know. But I do know it has to start now, with people across the country in all levels of power. This means, especially, that we need to ensure the election of more pro-choice women to public leadership.

Because I’m here to tell you, Jim Daly, that there is nothing funny about abortion or your vicious campaign to control women. And there never will be.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

In response to the Tim Tebow Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad set to air during this Sunday’s game, former professional football player Sean James and Olympic Gold Medalist Al Joyner created an emotionally-moving response. Their message? Trust women with their own choices.

James and Joyner applaud Mrs. Tebow for making her own decision about what to do with her pregnancy.

Now let’s take a look at Focus on Family’s ad. This 30-second commercial is said to feature Tim Tebow’s mother talking about her decision to not terminate her pregnancy against the suggestions of doctors when she fell ill in the Philippines. The child she was carrying is Tim Tebow, one of the most well-known college football players in the country. The ad is said to end with the statement, “celebrate family, celebrate life.”

Any advocate for women’s reproductive rights should be able to see the glaring similarities between the two ads: choice. Mrs. Tebow was presented with a choice about whether or not to continue her pregnancy. She wasn’t forced by anyone to make a decision either way. She was in charge of her own health care decision.

Of course, Focus on Family completely disregards the ironic fact of Mrs. Tebow’s choice. It seems the existence of a popular football player should be evidence enough that all women should continue their pregnancies, despite any danger to themselves.

The not-so-coincidental elimination of the fact that Ms. Tebow chose to keep her child and the statement at the end which links “family” and “life” to not having an abortion is Focus on Family’s attempt to insert their anti-choice and anti-woman agenda into the minds of the millions of people watching the game on Sunday.

What if Ms. Tebow had decided her life was too much at risk to continue her pregnancy? Or perhaps she did not feel that she had the financial means to support another child? The reality of the situation is that one in every three women will be faced with the dilemma of whether or not to have an abortion at some point in their lives.

These decisions belong in the hands of women, not the government or socially conservative religious groups.

TAKE ACTION TODAY: Stop CBS from airing the anti-choice and sexist advertisement during the Super bowl.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

We all expect outrageous commercials during the Super Bowl. But CBS has taken sexist advertising to a whole new level by choosing to air an anti-choice ad sponsored by Focus on the Family.

Jehmu Greene, President of the Women’s Media Center (WMC), recently wrote a piece on Huffingon Post, which challenges CBS’ use of Super Bowl Sunday to promote their socially conservative agenda:

“Super Bowl advertising has always been a showcase of overt sexism. This year the biased barrage also includes CBS’s and the NFL’s decision to air a seemingly subtle ad highlighting college football star Tim Tebow’s story, sponsored by Focus on the Family, which aggressively works to strip women of medical choices. This decision should be seen as a referendum on the status of women in the media and marks the first time the Super Bowl will be used to push a polarizing, political agenda”.

Read the rest of Jehmu’s post here.

The Women’s Media Center has also simplified the reasoning behind why CBS should remove this ad in their Top 10 Reasons the NFL Should Tell CBS to Scrap the Ad .

Jehmu and WMC echo the voice of WCF and many other organizations in demanding that CBS to pull the ad and refrain from injecting Americans with anti-choice rhetoric during the Super Bowl.

Take action: join the Women’s Media Center and add your voice now!

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

WCF applauds Rep. Julie Hamos and Cheryle Jackson for two well-run campaigns. Thank you for taking the brave step of running for federal office and setting an example to women all around the country.

In a hard-fought race for the slot as the Democratic candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 10th congressional district, Julie Hamos was defeated by a mere 500 votes, with 99% of all precincts reporting. We hope that Hamos will continue to run for public office, as we desperately need experienced women who are dedicated to protecting women’s reproductive freedoms.

In spite of extreme media scrutiny, Cheryle Jackson ran a strong campaign for U.S. Senate. As a personal victim of the current lackluster health care system, Jackson serves as a fresh voice to U.S. politics. In her concession speech last night, Jackson said:

“Tonight we are here for a different kind of victory. Maybe not the victory we wanted but I view tonight as still a victory. I jumped into this race to give a voice to everyday people. People who are often overlooked by government”.

Women win and lose elections at the same rate of men. However, 50% less women even consider running, with only a fraction making the decision to become a candidate or run for higher office.

Research shows that women must be asked to run at least six times before they seriously consider running for public office. With only 17% of Congress being women, we must ensure that more women all across the country are running for office.

We only lose when women don’t run. Ask a woman you know today to run for office!

We are very proud of our endorsed candidates for their desire to bring about change, and strongly encourage them to run again, and for higher office, in the future.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

Last night Robin Kelly took her first step to becoming the next Illinois State Treasurer.

Her proven record of success and integrity earned her the Democratic nomination in yesterday’s primary. Robin served as the representative for the Illinois 38th legislative district in the State Assembly before being appointed to Chief of Staff of the current State Treasurer.

Throughout her time serving in public office, Robin has continuously proven herself as a strong advocate for the Illinois citizens. Congratulations, Robin, on a well-deserved victory.

She will face Republican Senator Dan Rutherford in November’s general election.

Click here to learn more about Kelly or get involved in her campaign.

This post was submitted by Jean Qiao, WCF Communications Fellow

What will it take for our country to realize that the lack of diversity in our government is severely impeding our progress? And how do we inspire more women to run for office to fix this problem? Research? Statistics? A heartfelt plea?

Well, I’ve got all three for you. Swanee Hunt, Former Ambassador to Austria and Founding Director of Women and Public Policy Program; and Kerry Healey, former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and co-chair of the Political Parity Project, have something to say: Women, start your campaigns.

Hunt and Healey, both seasoned political figures, use the concept of critical mass to support the need for more women: When at least 30% of any group is made up of women, the dynamics and workings of the organization changes, in many cases, for the better.

“Women collectively bring a broader perspective to the political debate, based on their different social roles and life experiences. That breadth is crucial in order to solve the many challenges society faces, including the current economic crisis, national security issues, and health care reform.”

With recent narrow defeat of the Stupak-Pitts amendment and Martha Coakley’s loss in the Massachusetts special election, there is no better time than now for women to become involved in politics. President Obama is determined to pass his health care bill this year. But with women having much less than a critical mass—17%—in Congress, we could very well end up with legislation that puts women’s reproductive rights in jeopardy.

So why aren’t women scrambling to fix this inequity? The problem seems to be twofold: Women don’t realize how much their voices are needed for the strength of our government, and they are much more hesitant to run for office than men.

“Women candidates are also often less confident of their own qualifications to serve, and do not want to run until they have achieved higher credentials than a typical male candidate.”

Studies show that a woman must be asked six times before seriously considering a run for office. And oftentimes after making that decision, women face double standards and harsher scrutiny.

Hunt and Healey call upon women to shed their fears and run for elected office. At a time in which the voices of women are needed more than ever in the political arena, women must be asked and encouraged to run.

“Women in the arena don’t need a brief, polite round of applause for their efforts; it’s not enough when they often have had to work twice as hard just to get into the fight. They need to be recruited, supported, and coached. Our political parties need to encourage women to run, donors need to open their wallets, and the media needs to stop with the random critiques of female candidates’ clothes or hair or belabored debates about whether a tear is from empathy, grief, or exhaustion.”

In order to protect our reproductive health choices and ensure that future legislation fully defends and expands women’s rights, we must not be afraid to take action and run for office.

Remember, when women run for office, they raise as much money as men and win just as often. But, as Martha Coakley reminded us, you can’t win if you don’t run.

In deciding to air a Focus on the Family ad during the Super Bowl, CBS executives have effectively outed themselves as anti-choice and anti-woman.

If CBS is trying to avoid controversial issues in Super Bowl commercials, I think it’s safe to say that they’ve failed miserably. Even putting aside the negative frenzy the ad has already caused, let’s remember that Focus on the Family is one of the most contentious, intolerant, and extreme organizations in existence.

Not to mention that reproductive rights is one of the most controversial and dividing issues of our time.

To approve an anti-choice spot and reject an ad for a male dating site (among their past rejections of progressive organizations) shows blatant hypocrisy and bias.

We can’t show two guys making out, but we can talk about abortion?

Defenders of CBS’ decision say yes—that despite its divisive and political message, the ad itself is positive and uncontroversial. Bill O’Reilly asks, how can anyone be offended about Tim Tebow being alive?

But now I have to ask: What if a pro-choice ad had been submitted for the Super Bowl? What if it featured an uplifting story like Tim Tebow’s?

Picture this: Fade in. Moving music plays. Video of children playing. A woman talks about how happy she is that the birth control pill was available to her. She wanted to make sure she became a mother when she was ready. Because of her ability to make that choice, she now has two children who she’s fully able to support. End on picture of happy family. Fade out.

And what if this ad was for Planned Parenthood or National Abortion Federation? Something tells me CBS wouldn’t approve their message to over 100 million Super Bowl viewers. And I don’t think Bill O’Reilly would deem this a “positive message.”

It seems both are making this decision solely based on the ad—not its message, political connotation, or extremely divisive views of the creating organization.

Many organizations, including WCF, are demanding that CBS pull the ad.

TAKE ACTION: Join the Women’s Media Center and add your voice now!

The issue of women’s reproductive health belongs in doctors’ offices, family discussions, and women’s hands.

It doesn’t belong in our government or with politicians. And it most certainly doesn’t belong in the Super Bowl.