Memo to Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin: Sisterhood is Powerful!

When I thought about it, I realized the Obama camp deploying Sen. Hillary Clinton to bash Sarah Palin could effectively polarize women across the nation on issues of great importance to them and would more than likely result in a step backward for women’s rights. Consequently, I drew on past experience in these matters to write an op-ed published today by the Huffington Post in its Offthebus feature.

Here’s how I made my case:

“The latest viral rumor has it the Obama camp has asked Hillary Clinton to push back against Sarah Palin, the governor from Alaska. A word of caution: pitting a long-time liberal who has fought hard for a woman's right to choose against a pro-life conservative is guaranteed to bring front and center the explosive abortion issue that has effectively hamstrung the Democratic Party since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

“Given the media are noted more for fueling the flames of controversy than brokering peace accords, we might be in for an all out culture war in the remaining weeks of the 2008 presidential campaign.

“The alternative is for local leaders to ignore the media and instead assist their communities in finding common ground where they might at least have a chance to resolve their differences.

“I speak from experience.

“The trouble began at the opening of Planned Parenthood's Express Care clinic in my suburban neighborhood in Woodbury, Minnesota, a couple of years ago. Nancy Kiolbasa, executive director of the St. Croix Valley Life Care Center in nearby Stillwater helped organize protests against the clinic.

‘“By the time I entered the fray, news accounts had already highlighted some pretty inflammatory rhetoric. The May 28, 2006, online edition of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that unidentified protest organizers had labeled Planned Parenthood's Woodbury venture ‘an obscene sex clinic.’

“The same article quoted Darrel Kloeckner, a member of the board of the St. Croix Valley Life Care Center: ‘When Planned Parenthood slithers out into the suburban areas, we have to stop it.’

‘“Checking out the St. Croix Valley Life Care Center's website (no longer available), I found an item called, ‘The Spin,’ by humanlife.org. It compared support for the reproductive rights of women to advocating "pro-choice for graffiti, kiddie porn, and prostitution.’

“Having recently read Jim Wallis' book, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, I was inspired to make separate calls that afternoon to pro-lifer Nancy Kiolbasa and Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.”

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