Letter: The real ‘war on women’

Richard Goodwin’s personal attack on me in the local press deserves a response. His attack illustrates one of the unfortunate aspects of political discourse today — partisan opinions uninformed by the facts.

Like many Republicans and Democrats, Cory Gardner believes that the federal government has no business subsidizing abortion with taxpayer funds. Americans are deeply divided on the morality of abortion, and the government should not promote through subsidies one side of such a charged issue. However, even in this regard and contrary to the false assertions in recent political ads repeated by Goodwin, Gardner has consistently voted for exceptions when rape, incest or the life of the mother is involved.

Another charge leveled against Gardner in the so-called “war on women” is that he wants to deny women access to birth control. On the contrary, Gardner has sought to remove government restrictions on access to birth-control pills, which currently require a doctor’s prescription. Gardner has proposed removing this requirement so that the expense of seeking a doctor’s OK for this safe and proven method of birth control is not an impediment to obtaining the pill. Under Gardner’s approach, the pill would be just as accessible to adult women as aspirin at the corner drugstore. Mark Udall and his allies, however, oppose this common-sense change and are lying about Gardner’s position on contraception in a shameful attempt to politicize the issue and manipulate women voters.

The focus of the Udall camp in the Senate race is an attempt to distract from the fragile economic state in which so many women find themselves today, in large part as a result of misguided government policies that restrict jobs and opportunity. That is the real “war on women.”

Frieda Wallison

Chairwoman, Pitkin County Republicans, Old Snowmass