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Jill Stein on AbortionGreen Party presidential nominee; Former Challenger for MA Governor |
And remember what happened under Richard Nixon, one of the most oppressive, regressive, dishonest presidents out there. Remember what we got because we had a movement in the streets. The power is ours. We got women's right to choose by pushing the Supreme Court, which is an institution that's amenable to public pressure. We brought the troops home from Vietnam. We got the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act and OSHA, and established workers' health and safety.
People have been systematically disempowered by our media. We're fed this corporate brainwashing many times a day that we are powerless. And therefore we have to choose between two oppressors. And it's really important to reject that lesser evil-ism and stand up and fight for the greater good. The greater good here has been lost in the battle between the evils.
We endorse women's right to use contraception and, when they choose, to have an abortion. This right cannot be limited to women's age or marital status. Contraception and abortion must be included in all health insurance policies in the U.S., and any state government must be able to legally offer these services free of charge to women at the poverty level.
STEIN: Religion and healthcare have nothing to do with each other. It should not be the prerogative of an employer to exercise his personal beliefs in determining the healthcare of his employees. Healthcare is a human right and we need to provide it through "Medicare for all". It needs to be a system that does away with this divide and conquer mentality that pits the religious community against the health of employees. It doesn't make any sense. We have a right to healthcare and there is a way to make it affordable.
A: Real choice must include more than the choice of whether or not to have an abortion, and must begin with an informed choice about preventing unintended pregnancy. By providing all women with reproductive health care and family planning, as part of a program of health care as a human right, we can greatly reduce the need for abortion. Giving women real choices for education opportunities and good paying jobs will also reduce unintended pregnancies. Abortion is a necessary health care option, but will decline as women's choices expand upstream of unwanted pregnancy.
STEIN: On healthcare, it is every woman and every man's right to have complete healthcare through a Medicare-for-all plan, which is the only way that we can actually get to complete coverage. It provides comprehensive care, so that it's not up to your boss, as the president basically validated by agreeing to relieve businesses where employers objected on religious grounds to the coverage of birth control. In fact, birth control should not be up to your employer, nor should vaccinations or blood transfusions or any other aspect of healthcare that might be objected to on religious grounds. Healthcare is a human right. We should be providing it now for everyone. It will also save us trillions of dollars over the coming decade.
A: Yes, allow the exploration of any stem cell regardless of the source.
A: No, but providing birth control, sex education, and social services could help reduce the number of abortions.
Q: Should the government require health insurance companies to provide free birth control?
A: Yes.