Cecile Richards: What would Ann (Richards) Do?

[babylonsister]

Cecile Richards

What Would Ann Do?

Posted June 10, 2008 | 01:00 PM (EST)



It's our time to put a president in the White House who cares about women's health, take back our country, and move once again with progress and commitment to the future. That's what Hillary Clinton said when she suspended her presidential campaign and that's what my mother Ann Richards would say if she were alive today. When Mom lost her reelection bid for governor of Texas to George Bush in 1994, she didn't just get over it, she went on with it -- on to campaign with gusto for hundreds of women and other progressive candidates across the country.

Mom required only one thing of the many folks who asked for her campaign help: a 100 percent belief in women's rights. If they didn't have it, they were out of luck. But if they stood up for women as she did, she would travel to the ends of the earth for them.

That's why if she were still around she would suit up and campaign for Senator Obama in the farthest corner of the farthest state. Mom would see in him a leader with a long and consistent record for standing up for women's health care, a man raised by a single mother, a father of two daughters, and a husband who supports women's rights 100 percent.

She'd see in him what we at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund see: a leader who will improve access to quality health care for women, a partner who will support and protect a woman's right to choose, and a president who will invest in prevention programs that help prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion.

Elections are about choices, and Mom would have said that women voting for John McCain would be like chickens choosing to vote for the Colonel. In 25 years in Washington, John McCain has consistently voted against women's health. McCain wants to overturn Roe v. Wade, opposes basic family planning programs, and voted against insurance coverage for birth control. He has a zero percent voting record from Planned Parenthood.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/what-would-ann-do_b_106291.html

[texastoast]

1. God, I miss her so

And her hair.

Oh, yes, Ann would be fighting for Obama. I can just hear her strong, witty style. Great photo.

[az chela]

2. Ann Richards was the best.This country would be a lot different

if w hadnt bought her job

[opihimoimoi]

3. America LOST 2 GREAT Women from Texas....Ann and Molly

Re Ann....She was the greatest with her wit and Texas Humor....Molly was Great for her PEN....Her writings went Far

I miss Both of them....

"George was born with a Silver Spoon in his Mouth"

[babylonsister]

5. See, Texas isn't all bad. Hopefully we'll be able to change the

current dynamic again soon! And I also loved them both.

[opihimoimoi]

6. Down with Tom DeLayed....he is despicable beyond belief....

[my2sense]

4. One of my favorites

She was one of my favorite female politicians. I cried the day shrub took her job. I was working at the Tx Child Protective Services and we all knew our funding would be cut under Bush.....it was a sad day for Texas and this country. How I wish she were here now to talk to some of these females that are planning to vote against their own interest.....

[babylonsister]

7. Didn't Bush win by trashing Ann, and lying about her? I recall some

flyers being sent out doing that. Such a despicable man he is.

[SharonAnn]

8. Something about Ann's gays coming to take people's guns.

[Prophet 451]

10. Pretty much

It was all God, guns and gays. That said, according to Molly Ivins (who was quite close to Ann Richards), her campaign wasn't the greatest either.

[J R]

9. I met her twice in Austin, she was the coolest sweetest lady...

The first time I met her I was working in my pepper and zinnia garden. I heard a lady's voice say to me, "That's a fine looking pepper garden you have." I almost fainted when I turned around and there stood Ann Richards! The second time I met her I accidentally stepped on her toe as I was backing out of a freezer at the corner market in Terrytown. I apologized and she was very gracious about the whole thing. She also frequented my favorite Austin area Thai restaurant, though I never saw her there, just the latest pic of her posing with the owner. From the little I knew of her she struck me as a kind wise intelligent person. What Karl Rove did to her political career is criminal.