HELLO FROM EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN:

HELLO FROM EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN - merchants slogan: "We don't have it but we can get it for you."

Monday, October 29, 2012

AN OPEN LETTER FROM A FRIEND

Friends,

I'm sitting at my computer this morning wondering if I really want to send this out to all of you, but I REALLY feel compelled to do something, so please bear with me a moment.....

We have all been bombarded with ads, emails, phone calls, etc. during the past month(s) regarding the upcoming election. Well, I've been able to handle all this until this week...now I'm just plain angry! Fifty years ago, many of you (myself included) were working for equal rights for women in the work place and in our personal lives. We've fought that battle, and now politicians are coming out of the woodwork making statements like "if a woman is raped and becomes pregnant, God must have intended that and that child is "A GIFT FROM GOD!" (Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock) Makes me wonder if I stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone!

Now, I'm a Christian and I've wavered at times in my life on the issue of abortion, but these politicians are putting me over the edge! I don't believe any rapist is an ambassador of the Almighty! This has gone beyond the issue of whether we feel we are Republican or Democrat. In my opinion, this is just plain extreme. Rape is rape! I believe
that a woman's decisions regarding her health and reproductive issues should only have to be discussed and decided between her and her doctor and her family. I believe many of you feel the same way.

The comments that we are hearing from MANY far-right political candidates are not fantasy. This is truly how they feel...ALL ABORTIONS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, even in the case of possible death of the mother. You can fact check this one: Gov. Romney stated he would be "delighted" to sign a bill making all abortions illegal in this country. (This is what he said earlier in the campaign...recent statements he has made are less clear.) Now, I'm past the age where I have to personally worry about this issue, but what about our daughters, our granddaughters. I don't have any but if I did, I'd want them to have the freedom to make intelligent choices about their own bodies. We need to think in terms of the future and the generations of women to come.

My dear women friends, we have a very serious choice to make in nine days. I know I will be voting for candidates who understand that women can make intelligent choices, and who appreciate that women deserve equal pay for equal work. President Obama signed the Lily Ledbetter Act which addresses that very issue. I'm afraid we have a lot to lose if we don't make our voices heard. Please share this with other female friends (and males, too) if you like.

Thanks for taking the time to read this....I appreciate all of you! Please vote on Nov. 6!

Most sincerely,

Judy

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