Resounding Silence

As the Republican National Convention comes to a close, I am thinking about all of the issues that were discussed. I am thinking about the McCain campaign’s references to peace and yet they support the war in Iraq. I am thinking about the references made to the poor “working their way up” and yet poor people were harassed with physical violence while protesting outside the convention center. I am thinking about the opposition to government spending, yet there is no problem with spending billions and billions on the war. I guess spending is only a problem when the money is being used to provide healthcare to America’s disadvantaged children.

In thinking about all the issues, I noticed that there was resounding silence when it came to the issue of women’s rights. I wondered why. Could it be that the speech writers knew this was important to the women of America and they would rather avoid the topic? Why didn’t they come right out and say what their policies would do to American women; how women’s right to make private medical decisions could be taken away; how thousands of women, men, girls and boys would continue to be infected with preventable sexually transmitted diseases because the government refuses to support comprehensive sexuality education?

Those of us who have dedicated our lives to the fight for human rights saw through all of the meaningless rhetoric and we want change. Avoiding women’s rights issues will not make them go away. Ignore them, and you are ignoring millions of American women, women who will not sit silently and let their rights be obliterated. Women matter and oh yes, we vote!