BY SAM SPOKONY | America’s culture wars can often become so entangled in rhetoric that the basic issues are lost in a heap of politics. But when it comes to women’s rights, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, representing New York’s eighth Congressional district, doesn’t hesitate to remind his constituents — or anyone else — exactly what he’s doing in the plainest terms.
“This is a war, and we’ve got to win it,” said Nadler, addressing a group convened by the Lower Manhattan Democrats (L.M.D.) club on Greenwich Street on Tues., May 29.
Nadler was referring to what he and many political allies have called the “war on women,” which Democrats consider to include a wide array of recent attacks on equal rights legislation, abortion and contraceptive use by politicians across the aisle.
At the L.M.D. meeting, Nadler was joined by Sonia Ossorio, president of the NYC branch of the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.). While both Nadler and Ossorio were delivering talks to an audience much smaller than what they’re perhaps generally accustomed to — around 40 people were present — each acknowledged a palpable sense of urgency regarding the far right’s latest, at times religion-fed, efforts.
“In my lifetime, I have never experienced such a vehement and sustained backlash against women, and what we’re seeing is just shocking,” said Ossorio. “Who would ever think we would see a bill passed that says it’s legal to let a woman die in the emergency room before giving her a life-saving abortion?”
That particular bill, known as the Protect Life Act, which prohibits women from buying health insurance plans that cover abortion under Obamacare, was passed by the House of Representatives last October. While the bill’s success in a Democrat-controlled Senate is highly doubtful, it has epitomized the lengths House Republicans will go to try to roll back pre-existing abortion laws while they’re in the majority.
Nadler, who has held a House seat since 1992 and whose current district includes parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, noted at the L.M.D. meeting that the representational disadvantage he faces in the House has had a massive impact on the Democrats’ ability to promote progressive legislation for women throughout all levels of government. He also pointedly stressed, as many others have, the growing importance of the upcoming presidential race and its potential effect on the nation’s highest court.
“If there’s one more Supreme Court appointment by a Republican president,” said Nadler, “none of the legislation protecting abortion rights will survive.”
He added, “If Obama is reelected and we have a Democratic majority in the House and Senate, we can actually make some progress. If not, the new administration could very well end up doing something like de-funding Planned Parenthood.”
Nadler also informed the L.M.D. group of the newest Republican-led “obstacle” he would seek to overcome in a debate the next morning. It involved the so-called Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (P.R.E.N.D.A.), a bill that would make it a felony for health clinics to perform or assist in any way in an abortion based on the baby’s sex.
In his remarks to the House on May 30, Nadler characterized the Republicans’ attempt to pass the bill as “election year politics at its absolute worst.” He went on to slam it for being “facially unconstitutional” in light of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, in that the restrictions the proposed law places on doctors would essentially bar a woman from having an abortion altogether once she learns the baby’s sex.
P.R.E.N.D.A., which was introduced by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), has since failed when Republicans attempted to accelerate the passage of the bill in a “suspension of the rules” vote, in which a two-thirds majority is required rather than a simple majority (51 percent). The vote, which ran almost squarely along party lines, saw support from only 20 out of 190 House Democrats, none of whom are from New York.
Legislators have the option to bring the bill up for a vote again.
Nadler believes that the “war on women” — marked by bills like P.R.E.N.D.A. as well as setbacks such as his own failed attempt to increase funding for grants under the Violence Against Women Act — is fundamentally due to the fact that Americans are still adjusting to relatively recent societal changes that favor women’s rights.
“Women’s equality is still a radical notion,” he told the L.M.D. audience in response to a question from a member of the club. “The invention of contraception was the first fundamental change in the human condition since the invention of agriculture, and we’re still very much in a period of transition.
“Since people don’t live for 800 years, our job now is to make the changes happen as rapidly as possible so that the generations to come can enjoy these rights,” added Nadler, prompting an outburst of applause.
One of the reasons L.M.D. decided to hold the May 29 event was to show support for besieged women in other parts of the nation — many of whom do not yet enjoy the same legislative rights as New Yorkers do, according to L.M.D. President Robin Forst.
“We’re fortunate thus far that we don’t confront these issues as much here, but I think this is really about a national battleground,” said Forst. “Maybe people will be motivated to work on behalf of women’s rights in those states where they’re really being compromised.”
Another important and more practical aspect of the fight for women’s rights, especially as the presidential election approaches, will be its portrayal in the national media to audiences of all political persuasions. Ossario, who worked as a journalist before devoting her efforts to the N.O.W., went so far as to admit that she believes an outspoken male champion like Nadler is to some degree more valuable than a female voice.
“It gives it more seriousness, more gravitas, because it can be easier to dismiss a woman and say, ‘Oh, it’s just about women,’” she said before addressing the L.M.D. crowd.
Meanwhile, Nadler is working to reintroduce the Equal Rights Amendment and toward passing House bills such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which would require employers to provide accommodations for pregnant employees. The Equal Rights Amendment, which first failed in 1982, states simply that people can’t be denied equal rights on account of their gender.
Rita Henley Jensen, the founder and editor of Women’s eNews, a national online publication based in Lower Manhattan, told the Downtown Express that Nadler’s legacy in that regard has to some degree already been cemented.
“Women who are actively fighting for their rights often have nowhere else to go but to the Democrats at election time,” said Jensen. “I think some Democrats have become complacent when it comes to assuming they have female support.”
“But Jerry Nadler,” she added, “is certainly not one of them.”
