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Sunshine for
Women Book Summaries | Home |
1) Referring to a incident at an abortion clinic when she stood against anti-choice protesters: "The call to hate, the paranoia, the conspiracy theories, the manipulation of decent people's emotions, the robbing of those children's innocence, the gratuitous violence, were all being justified in the name of religious faith. This was not the religion of my childhood. This was not generous, loving, compassionate." page xi
2) "By playing on fear and hatred in its quest for votes and discovering that this paid off, the national leadership of the Republican party has sown a cancerous divisiveness across the land." page 5
3) "In 1965 the Supreme Court had ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that Connecticut could not prohibit married couples from using contraceptives or doctors from prescribing them because the Constitution guarantees a right to privacy for such reproductive matters." page 15
4) "In conventions to come, as in the Rule 32 battle, the new conservatives used our efforts to win equity for women as an excuse to label us as not true to conservative principles and thus not to be supported." page 27
5) From a speech by Pat Buchanan: "Reagan is leading a diverse army of political have-nots: Democrats with nowhere else to go, Independents who believe the parties have become both similar and corrupt by long association, and Republicans who believe that conflict, not compromise, is the essence of politics. . . ."[she added the emphasis, not me]
6) Regarding the pro-choice faction at the convention's party plank causus: "Our testimony was thoughtful and reasonable. We didn't want to dignify their crude wrath by shouting back, but now I believe we should have." page 63
7) From a speech by Liz Carpenter at Houston IWY International Women's Year convention in 1977: "Mr. President, members of Congress, until the women of the United States are full and equal operating citizens, your cry for human rights around this globe will have a very hollow ring." page 85
8) Remark by Gloria Steinem at the same conference: "If we're all lesbians, where are we getting all these babies to kill?" page 88
9) "It was step one in the kind of strategy that would guide the Reagan-Bush campaign - and their administration - whenever women's issues arose. First, say you're for women. Second, oppose any move that will give them real power but propose a measure or slogan that gives the appearance of doing so. Third, get some visible moderate women to agree publicly with your approach, but also ensure that they say the issue affecting women, whatever it is, is of lesser priority to the nation than other issues championed by the candidate, such as lower taxes and a strong defense. Fourth, firmly implement the antifeminist policy." page 129
10) "Reagan's unauthorized biographer, Lou Cannon, wrote, "The source of Reagan's inspiration was less the Constitution than the movies. His mind was filled with movie scenes more vivid to him than many actual events."" page 144
11) Referring to the candidacy of "feminist Mary Estill Buchanan, a 45-year-old mother of six and a long-standing Republican activist who had served the party and Colorado honorably" (page 149): "But the Moral Majority refused to endorse Buchanan, and Weyrich's Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress endorsed her Democratic opponent, Senator Gary Hart. Buchanan's race exemplified the lengths to which the antifeminist right would go to defeat feminist Republicans. Like Reagan, Buchanan was a defense hard-liner and a fiscal conservative - stands that Falwell's and Weyrich's organizations supposedly backed. On social issues, she and Hart held similar positions, although Hart was unquestionably the more liberal candidate overall. Yet the New Right called Buchanan a "traitor to the family" and likened her to a representative of Satan. Buchanan was not afraid of such accusations and gave as good as she got, calling the Moral Majority a " haven of hypocrisy" and standing her ground on her feminist positions. She lost by only one percentage point, 50 to 49 percent, although Colorado voted overwhelmingly for Reagan. It was one more proof that for the right, party loyalty was a one way street." page 150
12) Referring to a "human life" amendment sponsored by North Carolina's John East in 1981: "East's amendment championed the words of the Republican platform that gave a fertilized egg more rights than a woman." page 158
13) "In early 1984, after the White House had unceremoniously dumped Mary Loise Smith from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, we had determined that no feminist, not even one as honorable and loyal to the party as Smith, could survive the administration's harassment of women." page 171
14) Referring to the platform committee inserting "pro-life" language into the 1984 Republican Party platform: "Words respecting the views of pro-choice Republicans, so hard fought in 1976 and watered down in 1980, were gone. The new language was uncompromisingly anti-choice and included a new sentence: "The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed." It reaffirmed support for a Human Life Amendment and, harkening to the Hyde-Helms effort in 1981, added backing for legislation that would say the "Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to the unborn child." page 175
And when the planks were adopted: "And then, with only a few noes scattered among the tumult of yeses, the Republicans of 1984 adopted a platform that sanctioned the Religious Right and the New Right to go forth and slay the women warriors of the women's movement and all those others who stood in the way of their freedom to impose their will on others." page 175
15) "As political religious expert Allen Hertzke describes it, the Bush campaign discovered it could neutralize Robertson's influence in the superchurches by having a Bush backer request the same kind of help with church bulletins and meeting space." page 198 - maybe it would work for Democrats, too
16) At the 1988 Republican Party convention: "Marjorie Bell Chambers set off the spark. A former president of the American Association of University Women and chair of the US National Advisory Committed on Women during the late seventies, Chambers challenged the language of the 1984 abortion plank that said, "We believe the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed." She moved that the words "that cannot be infringed" be dropped, and she told the committee:
What I object to is the implication of these words, that in the conflict over which of two lives has the greater right to life, this statement implies the fetus will always have the greater right . . . [T]here are circumstances when the mother should have that right. . .
I ask with this phrase . . . where is the mother's inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in rearing the children she already has? "Cannot be infringed" says to me that men and fetuses have a right to life at all times but women lost that right when they become pregnant. . .
I consider [that] this implied government-forcing sacrificing, in all cases, of the mother for the fetus, especially a woman with other children, expresses religious intolerance for my beliefs and those of many who share my beliefs. . .
How can a woman fulfill her full potential if the federal government can deny her the right of control over her life? If she chooses to sacrifice her life, fine; but the federal government should not make that choice for her." page 218
17) "Once again, as in 1976 and 1980, women's rights had been traded. In this case, the New Right libertarians got protection for AIDS victims, while the Religious Right got its anti-abortion and school prayer planks. Until feminist women had a more influential place within the party's inner circle or were able to build a political force that outweighed the misogynists' influence, we were not going to overcome the party's official anti-women policies. To put it bluntly, in New Orleans the New Right libertarians were more powerful than the Bush political women." pages 223-224
18) At the 1992 Republican Party convention: "For a moment, the anti-choice Platform Committee members didn't talk. Then they found their voice. I felt as though we were at a National Right to Life convention: "The rights of unborn children is [sic] an inalienable civil right." "The Dred Scott and Roe. . . decision[s] are the same." "A woman has the choice to have sex, but she has the right to have a child." "America is great because she is good. We must stand for our principles and because George Bush wants it." " Page 270
19) "But the Religious Equality Amendment showed the Christian Coalition's true colors. The proposed amendment, with its wording yet to be finalized, says that "nothing in this Constitution shall be interpreted to prohibit the citizens of the United States from practicing religion in public places nor to prohibit states from facilitating the practice of religion from their citizens." On first glance, this amendment seems innocuous and in step with the majority views of Americans, who are considered to be the most religious people of all the western democracies when measured by numbers who regularly attend religious services and say they believe in God. But we are already an actively religious people. We do not need the government to ensure our practice of religion. The proposed amendment would tear down the wall separating church and state and allow state governments "to facilitate" the practice of religion. " page 291
20) "The party of less government except when it comes to women was now being asked to make another exception for religion. Republicans were again organizing against individual freedom and the Bill of Rights in order to help the Religious Right promote its social agenda. " page 291 - goes on to note that it is supported by Dole
21) "Fanaticism has been part of the anti-abortion movement from its beginning. What too few people have been willing to recognize is that fanaticism against women can easily turn into fanaticism in other areas." page 291
22) "The women's liberation movement believes in respect for the family and in the nurturing of children. It believes that family stability is enhanced by eliminating sexism so that respectful conduct between men and women can thrive. Yet this movement has been condemned by the ministers of the religious right - those of the Christian Coalition and their allies and those of Farrakhan's Nation of Islam - who charge that it has caused women to betray their rightful roles as wives and mothers and to reject their children." page 296
23) "The family, schools, and religious institutions create standards of conduct, but it is the nation's president who has the traditional role of uniting all Americans around a shared set of values. Sexism cannot be ended by government edict, but the president sets the tone and encourages citizens either to be tolerant and respectful of one another - or to look with anger or fear at those who are labeled as different, immoral, or inferior." page 296
24) "The women's movement believes in a morality that treats all human beings fairly. It believes in a family values ethic that respects women, men, and children equally. It stresses responsibility out of love, not guilt. It believes in freedom of religion and the right of each person to find his and her own religious experience without government dictate. Its beliefs are open and expansive, not exclusive and authoritarian." page 297
25) "No longer is America to be a place where citizens can expect their federal government to help them. No longer will their government see itself obliged to protect the poor and those who are victims of discrimination. Under the agenda of Gingrich and his colleagues, the federal government is to be discounted, demeaned, and dismantled. In its place, Americans are to turn for public action to religion and the market." page 297
26) "In 1996 the right has gotten what it wanted - a political party that will follow its social agenda, backed up by a cadre of women who will champion its sexist politics.
Until moderate Republicans finally refuse to go along with the New Majoritarian strategy, they will have no power to drive out the politics against women's equality that currently dominate the party. Not until they can build a grassroots political movement strong enough to defeat the right in delegate and candidate elections will the Republican party change. That is a long-range process. It may already be too late." page 298
27) "The anti-choice positions established in the 1980 platform will remain, but as before, the New Majoritarian strategists will have to prove, if only for the campaign, that the party is not a tool of radical elements. And as before, the New Right and the Religious Right will need moderate and old guard Republicans, not only for their money and votes but to give them legitimacy with independents and Democrats. Extremism does not play well to the national electorate, so hard-line positions will be "softened," as the Christian Coalition has already "softened" its message. Even as the would-be nominees play to the right's demands, they present themselves as middle-of-the-road. They know that Americans will reject any nominee whom they view as extreme." page 299
28) "The candidate we need must seek to bring Americans together, rather than depend on false demons that breed divisiveness to win votes. He (for there will be no mainstream woman candidate in 1996) must confront problems in a reasonable way, putting pragmatic and creative solutions above ideology.
And the candidate we need must truly believe that women and children have as much right to share in America's opportunities as men. He must prove by the policies he promises that his professed belied in women's equality is not a gimmick to win votes. It will not be enough for him to say he is for women's rights, as Reagan did, and then dissolve them. And he must show in launching his agenda for the family that he believes that raising a family is a partnership between husband and wife. Espousing a philosophy that requires a wife be subservient to her husband has no place in late-twentieth-century life."
29) "Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis wrote that "the greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachments by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." The Republican war against women will end only when those candidates who have embraced the party's bigotry are beaten at the polls. The war began when some ambitious ideologues discovered that backlash politics brought them power. It will end when Republican leader discover it loses them power." page 300
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Sunshine for Women encourages you to support our feminist sisters by purchasing their books, reading them, disseminating the ideas they contain, but most especially, by making their book available to our sisters, our daughters, and the community at large by requesting your school library, your public library, and area bookstores to carry their books. Remember it is not enough to write literature, history, and theology, we must pass these works on to future generations. Help us to preserve these works for a new generation by putting them on library bookshelves.