Virginia Gubernatorial Race: Calling All Single-Minded Women Voters!
Attention all women voters in Virginia: You are currently the Democrat’s target of the gubernatorial race in your state! Commercial and radio ads are rolling out right now to persuade you how to vote. Are they informing you on decisions of both candidates Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli on issues such as jobs, the Virginia economy, the environment or education? No, of course not. Apparently, those are not issues of concern for women of Virginia. After all, women are only concerned about their reproductive rights–and Planned Parenthood is making sure your single-minded concern is being fully addressed.
The campaign of Terry McAuliffe and Planned Parenthood are banking on the fact that women voters in Virginia are one-issue voters. Planned Parenthood has spent $1 million dollars in campaign ads to attack pro-life, Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli. Cosmopolitan magazine recently had an article defining the 3 most important reasons not to vote for Cuccinelli and they were (drum roll…) contraception, abortion and sex. As a Virginia woman, I am offended that a popular women’s magazine would narrowly define a gubernatorial campaign by a social issue. It would seem as if the feminist movement wouldn’t want to so narrowly define political decisions based upon the female anatomy. However, according to Cosmo, women are not concerned about the broader issues of society in making an informed choice for governor.
Now while it is true that Ken Cuccinelli is pro-life and does oppose nearly all types of abortion, his efforts in the state of Virginia have been to defund Planned Parenthood of Virginia residents’ tax dollars, not abortion services. Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s leading providers of abortions. As Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli has fought to make sure that both men and women who are pro-life are not required to pay for abortion services that go against their religious beliefs and that are protected under the First Amendment. Emily Buchanan of Women Speak Out- Virginia has stated in support of Cuccinelli, “Ken is a faithful, devout Christian and an authentic pro-life champion who fought to defund Planned Parenthood of our taxpayer dollars. He was even the first Attorney General to take on Obamacare because it forces you and I to fund abortions.”
While Cuccinelli has been completely transparent on where he stands on abortion in Virginia. Terry McAuliffe refuses to answer questions on where he stands regarding tax payer funded abortions. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List has alleged, “Terry McAuliffe supports a platform of abortion on-demand at any time, for any reason, paid for by Virginia taxpayers. That means he supports a platform of sex-selective abortion, late term abortion, partial-birth abortion, and abortions on teenage girls without parental consent- all paid for by Virginia tax payers.” McAuliffe has made great efforts to ignore questions from the mainstream press on stating exactly what his position is regarding abortion in Virginia and refuting these claims by pro-life groups. For a campaign that uses the social issue of abortion as its number one target for female voters, it would be helpful to make an informed choice knowing exactly where a candidate stood on the issue itself.
The most ironic thing in the whole ad campaign funded by Planned Parenthood is that they claim that Ken Cuccinelli is “intruding” on a woman’s most personal decision. An ad featuring Planned Parenthood’s President Cecile Richards begins by stating, “Women make hundreds of decisions each day: little ones, big ones and we make them ourselves.” This seems slightly hypocritical considering they are influencing and even intruding on women to make a voting choice limited to one decision only: abortion. Then again, Planned Parenthood is the leading provider of abortions based upon the very lucrative money-making business of abortion services.
A gubernatorial campaign is based on numerous issues that relate to women and to so narrowly define it by abortion only is an affront to the women of Virginia. On November 5th an election will be held for the next governor of the state of Virginia. Ken Cuccinelli is running on his record as Attorney General and his campaign has not tried to persuade women voters based on one social issue. Terry McAuliffe on the other hand has allowed the big money-making business of Planned Parenthood to influence women based on fear and intimidation. Virginia women want to be informed of all issues, both big and small, that relate to their personal decision to elect the next Governor–and it seems that Ken Cuccinelli is the only candidate letting women make that decision for themselves.
