The final balloon has dropped and the GOP Convention, intended to unify and present the case for why the Americans should vote Republican, is over. For mainstream Republican women, the Party platform, Party record, and Party rhetoric, despite speech points designed to woo "women," are more concerning than ever.
I am a fiscally conservative Republican who is also Pro-choice. For years I have worked to weigh my dedication to both - they are NOT mutually exclusive. I am pro-choice because of my stalwart beliefs in traditional conservative values that allow families control over their major life decisions and in a government whose role is to safeguard its citizens, not limit their choices.
I'm pro-choice because I believe in safe access to the full range of reproductive choices --education, abstinence, contraception, adoption, motherhood and safe, legal and rare abortion. I may disagree on abortion rights with many in my Party, but the Supreme Court ruling in Whole Women's Health, protecting access to abortion care pre-viability, is, for now, settled law. Republicans should now turn their focus on ways to actually lower the high rates of teen and unplanned pregnancy, as well as the rates of abortion in our nation.
True fiscal conservatives support reproductive planning, because if, when, and how many children to have impacts the economic viability of families and of taxpayers, perhaps more than any other issue.
Don't take my word for it; let me give you a few facts from one of the most lauded speakers at the GOP Convention, Ivanka Trump. Ms. Trump noted that women represent 46 percent of the US labor force and that 40 percent of American households have a female primary breadwinner.
She also highlighted research revealing that gender is no longer the major factor creating the greatest wage discrepancy in this country, motherhood is. That's right, reproductive choices ARE economic choices for millions of families and taxpayers.
I was thrilled (and a little surprised) to see convention delegates applaud Ivanka's call for equal pay for women and for improvements to our nation's labor laws. However, it is not just our labor laws that are outdated, but also anti-choice, anti-family planning laws which reflect a time when women were not recognized as a significant portion of the workforce or equal players in their family decisions.
Ivanka's call for affordable childcare is to be applauded, but equally important, and attainable, is a Republican plan to lower the rate of teen and unplanned pregnancy in our nation.
Take a look at a few more facts on how reproductive choices impact opportunity for teens and women, and how laws lowering access to reproductive health care adversely impact efforts to lower abortion rates and promote healthy families.
- U.S. women report that roughly half of all pregnancies are unplanned. More than 3 million annually; 40 percent of these pregnancies end in abortion.
Reducing teen and unplanned pregnancy will save billions in tax dollars; it will reduce poverty, increase educational achievement and workforce competitiveness, and improve health and social outcomes for children and families. Moreover, since unplanned pregnancy is the cause of the vast majority of the nation's abortions, reducing teen and unplanned pregnancy reduces abortion. See how much sense that makes?
If our Party truly stands for opportunity, promise and healthy families -- then why did our new Platform promote the most anti-choice, anti-family planning rhetoric in the history of the Party? And why did House Republicans just push a committee bill that cuts the very programs, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program and Title X, that are proven to lower the rates of teen and unplanned pregnancy?
Policies that allow women with children to thrive should not be novelties, they should be the norm. These are not my words but a line from Ms. Trump's speech that drew significant applause from the GOP standard-bearers on the floor of the Convention.
Mainstream women voters need more than just good words, in good speeches, we want good policy that help American families and their pocketbooks; policies that help American taxpayers and promote opportunity and economic prosperity for all. Ivanka, keep at it; those of us on the common-sense side of the reproductive rights debate welcome you anytime.