Senator Ben Cardin,Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland’s Fourth District and Democratic write-in candidate John LaFerla of the First District will be among the speakers on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 1 to 3 p.m., at a rally in Easton’s Idlewild Park for women’s rights.
The rally, sponsored by the Democratic Women’s Club of Talbot County, will also hear from Bishop Charles Cephas of the Full Gospel Church of God in Hurlock, Dr. Mila Kofman of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, state Delegate Heather Mizeur of Takoma Park, and Washington Times columnist Catherine Poe. This “Rally Against the War on Women” is the only Women for Obama event planned in Maryland during the presidential campaign.
“The point is to educate women about just what they have to lose in the upcoming election if Barack Obama is not re-elected,” said Joyce Scharch, president of the club.
Rally organizers said that Republicans would have a radical effect on the lives of millions of American women. The Paul Ryan budget, which Republican Mitt Romney said he would sign if he had the chance, would fundamentally change Medicare and Medicaid, both of which disproportionately benefit woman. Romney has promised to destroy Planned Parenthood, which provides a variety of health services to women. Ryan and Romney both support a constitutional amendment to declare that a fertilized egg has all the rights of a person, which would ban all abortions and most common forms of birth control. The Republican platform vows to outlaw abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Rep. Edwards is considered a rising star in national politics and is a frequent guest on TV news programs. She is known as a strong advocate for women’s rights, including the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which helps ensure that women are paid the same as men for doing the same work, and benefits such as insurance coverage for health screenings and contraceptives that are included in the Affordable Care Act.
Dr. LaFerla, an OB-GYN physician from Centreville, is running against incumbent Congressman Andy Harris, who voted against the
Affordable Care Act, against the Lilly Ledbetter Act and against other efforts that would benefit American women. He said recent Republican comments about “legitimate rape” and whether woman can “shut down” the pregnancy process during rape are “a giant step backward and one more example of the Republican Party’s War on Women.” His write-in campaign is supported by the Maryland Democratic Party.
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Jon LeTowt says
What “war on women”?