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Activism ReportWould Nikki Haley uphold Women's rights?
The percentage of voters who are Republicans is now 28% and independents, 41% are the largest block of voters. This is why it is so important that independents get involved in the primaries or caucuses even if it would mean signing up as a Republic temporarily.
Nikki Haley seems to be backed by Wall St as was Biden in the last election. He got $74 million for his campaign from Wall St. I am very skeptical that Haley can withstand the pressure she would be under to bow to trans rights/ideology if she was president. Look at how fixated Biden was on this issue.
I know people who know her personally. She's a shill and not very bright. She will go where the wind blows. She's not a women's rights advocate.
"She's a shill and not very bright. She will go where the wind blows."
In other words, she's a politician like all the rest. No one to pin our hopes to.
I know no politicians in my woke state who are true women's rights advocates, which would include being for women's sex based, and reproductive, rights; against surrogacy, and the buying of sex; understanding that male violence is epidemic and a life long threat to all females, etc.etc etc
Nikki Haley is a warmonger who is funded by the military industrial complex. There isn’t a place on Earth she doesn’t want to bomb into oblivion.
She's said she's against a federal abortion ban, but she's made it pretty clear she doesn't care about women but simply knows that taking such an unpopular position would be bad for votes. That doesn't give me much confidence because it's pretty much the same answer all the conservative supreme court justices gave in their appointment hearings.
My generalizing gauge for if a candidate is pro-woman is if they support women's right to abortion. If yes, I dig further. If no, then nope.
Haley gets a C- score from me based on what I read in this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/2023/10/10/nikki-haley-abortion-comments/
"Would Haley uphold women's rights?" I doubt it, but it depends on what you mean by "women's rights." That is an ambiguous term that can cover many points.
It would be interesting if Haley won the Republican primaries. It'd make the Republican party look like less of a misogynistic clown show, for sure. But based on current Republican primary polls, Trump is the ringleader in the red circus. We'll see.
Yeah, the Republicans thought they could control the populist movement they started way back even before the Tea Party, but they unleashed a beast they cannot control. The Venn diagram between party-line Rep and general right-wing populists is shifting more and more to the latter bc the Rep gave up any ideological partyline a long time ago, and the working class/poor know this. The lack of trust is well-earned. Trump is not seen as committed to the Rep beltway and therefore still seen as an outsider. He will win the primaries and the Rep will have to deal with their bad faith deal with the devil.
I think one question to ask is who is donating to her campaign and what are their interests.
At this moment, it bears reminding that we have to grade her on a curve with Biden, Trump, and unlikely but still holding on, DeSantis, because that's where we are with this, not grade against what we want in a candidate.
In other words, everything sucks.
And what about Robert Kennedy Jr?
RKF is pro-trans. Though he also hasn't really looked into the issue it seems.
Can you reference your source for this? I saw him dodging the question, not supporting.
I'm honestly tempted to vote for RFK Jr. because I live in a very politically-safe blue state, as a sign of disapproval to the Democratic party for not daring to have a primary. Biden is fucking ancient and I bet many, like me, voted him in as a "not Trump." Polling has literally shown that "nameless faceless Democrat" wins over Biden in a primary!
I like RFK Jr's message of working together, bipartisanism, and fucking off with "red v blue" political party bullshit.
RFK Jr is also pro-trans.
Also look into how vindictive and abusive he was to his first wife.
You can also vote Dean Phillips in the D primary, if the party hasn't purposely left his name off the ballot in your state. I'm not a fan but he's another option for a protest vote.
When RFK was asked about the "trans" issue, I saw him dodging the topic, not supporting it. Maybe you saw an interview I haven't? Regardless, he will get my vote if he makes it on the ballot. The man is truly against "big pharma", he's an environmentalist and absolutely has a respect for the natural order of the world and reality. All of that says to me that he will not be beholden to the trans industry and will certainly not be in favor of harming children like is happening now.
Call it a long shot, Marianne Williamson is still running too, but at the moment the Democratic Party is basically pretending they don't exist and they have even less chance of winning than the not-Trump GOP candidates if they remain this ignored.
Reading over the posts, it seems that the majority of those who responded don't think that Haley will stand for women on abortion rights. This, as others have pointed out, will be the basis of the Democrats' (Biden's) claim that they are fighting for women's rights. Under Biden's administration, though, funding for planned parenthood was overwhelmingly redirected to trans medical care. I would say it's no skin off of Biden's nose to support abortion rights and no skin off the noses of his handlers. Is Haley a "shill"? Of course because she is a politician.
On the other hand, DeSantis has "lost" the battle since the first day he entered the race because he stood up against trans demands. He is a "dictator, fascist, transphobe, hater, nazi, tyrant..." In fact DeSantis has said that he would be fine with a 15 week Federal abortion ruling. He is a policy wonk primarily.
The underbelly of the trans movement is largely what makes it so much more harmful to women and the future than any other current political issue.
Under Biden's administration, though, funding for planned parenthood was overwhelmingly redirected to trans medical care.
What does the Biden's administration have to do with a nonprofit organization redirecting their funding? How does Biden's administration have control over what PP chooses to spend their money on?
Based on this article from 2015, the funding PP receives from the government is mainly in the form of Medicaid reimbursements:
Those public funds come from two programs: Medicaid, the health care program targeted at lower-income Americans, and Title X, a federal family planning program that likewise primarily serves lower-income Americans. The overwhelming majority of federal funding to Planned Parenthood comes from Medicaid — 75 percent, according to a Planned Parenthood spokesman.
This other article points out that PP does get some grants from the government, mostly from HHS. The amount granted is much smaller than the amount they get in Medicaid reimbursements.
While I understand it's frustrating that PP has been focused on funding transgender ideology, PP still provides valuable services to women for women's health. And I don't understand how even if PP did refocus on transgender ideology, how Biden's administration is responsible for their redirection.
Your information about Medicaid shows how government funding for PP under the Biden administration has been averted to medical treatment for trans identifying people. Medicaid is probably the primary medical coverage source for most TIP.
Your information about Medicaid shows how government funding for PP under the Biden administration has been averted to medical treatment for trans identifying people.
Do you have sources for that claim? How does my information "show" that? That seems to be a wild speculation.
As a personal anecdote, I used to be on Medicaid with my family. My stepmother and I used PP for birth control, UTIs, breast exams, and gynecological exams. They provided extremely valuable services to us as women.
Again, I do understand it's frustrating that PP is supporting transgender ideology. PP still provides valuable services for women for women's sexual health, including abortion. And this still doesn't explain how the Biden administration is responsible for PP's choice in redirecting their funding, PP is not a government organization that any president's administration has direct control over.
And this still doesn't explain how the Biden administration is responsible for PP's choice in redirecting their funding, PP is not a government organization that any president's administration has direct control over.
PP is going where the money is naturally and that money from the article you cited is government money The overwhelming majority of federal funding to Planned Parenthood comes from Medicaid — 75 percent, according to a Planned Parenthood
True PP is not a government organization but without the 75% of Medicaid funding they wouldn't exist.
I should have said government funds for PP have largely been "diverted" from abortion care to transgender care.
PP has proudly announced that most of their clinics offer transgender affirming care. It's an administrative decision to focus on providing affirmative care and the government is paying out bundles for their (PP) decision to do so. But to answer your question, I have no way of confirming how much of government Medicaid payments go to transgender care vs. abortion care or care for women's health.
From google: > Planned Parenthood Federation of America affiliates received about $148 million in HHS grants or cooperative agreements and $1.54 billion in Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP payments
from the Daily Beast: Defunding Planned Parenthood would affect cancer screenings and HIV tests. But it would also damage what might be the largest provider of transgender health care in the United States Feb 2022
Defunding Planned Parenthood would affect cancer screenings and HIV tests. But it would also damage what might be the largest provider of transgender health care in the United States
True PP is not a government organization but without the 75% of Medicaid funding they wouldn't exist.
It is not "funding" in the form of the government giving them money in advance like a grant, it is reimbursements from people on Medicaid going there to get health services, like me and my stepmother did. Again, where is a source that states that the 75% of funding they get from Medicaid reimbursements is largely from transgender procedures?
PP has proudly announced that most of their clinics offer transgender affirming care.
"Most clinics" offering transgender care does not mean that most of the care in clinics is transgender care.
But it would also damage what might be the largest provider of transgender health care in the United States
Again, PP being the "largest provider" of transgender care does not mean that the largest amount of care they provide is transgender care.
I just went and looked at PP's 2022 annual report, and they state STI testing is the largest share of their medical services at 49%. The next highest is [majorly] female contraceptives at 26%.
"Transgender services" as stated in footnote 7 falls under "other services" which is 4% of the pie chart. However, on page 29, there is a detailed breakdown of what "other services" entails. "Transgender services" falls even further into a subcategory called "other procedures" which is approximately half of the 4% of "other services," so by basic calculations, transgender care is less than 2% of the services PP has funded in 2022. By the statistics on this page, there are more abortion services being provided than all "other procedures" services, which "transgender services" has to share with many services like some of the following:
7 Some examples in this category include WIC services (a federally funded nutrition program for low-income women, infants, and children up to the age of five), pediatric care, transgender services, other adult preventive care, and high complexity visits, including infertility service.
Very likely I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for PP but they are under the thumb of the Biden administration. If they didn't provide transgender affirming care they wouldn't get any government funding and government funding is what keeps them going. In this instance I believe the Daily Beast and the planned parenthood spokesperson in their interview when she said that PP is one or even is the foremost treatment provider for transgender affirmation in the world. But also I think PP has helped a lot of women and I would never want to see them defunded.
So that I don't keep repeating the same ideas and arguments, I would say that so many resources for women have been trampled down or ruined by the Biden's administration requirements that transgender care tops everything.
How is PP "under the thumb of the Biden administration"?
I would argue Trump's administration has tried to do more to manipulate PP's procedures and services to be anti-women than Biden's administration has, an excerpt from this article:
The Trump administration did manage last year to push Planned Parenthood clinics out of the federal family planning program. It approved stricter rules about Title X recipients referring for abortion services. The rules, finalized in August 2019, ban grantees from referring for abortions and require clinics to “establish and maintain physical separation” from the provision of abortion. Planned Parenthood announced shortly afterward that it would no longer participate in the program.
That loss of revenue to Planned Parenthood, about $60 million, may not be reflected until the 2019-2020 fiscal report. When asked what the report might show, Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Lauren Kokum responded “we cannot predict what future revenues will be.”
It appears to me that Trump's administration did more manipulative actions to change PP's services to be anti-woman than whatever is being claimed that Biden's administration has done (which again, so far I have been provided no sources that prove the claim that Biden's administration is somehow responsible for redirecting PP's funding towards transgender services).
I still do not see any valid points being made to justify than the Biden administration is responsible for PP's choice in redirecting their funding towards transgender services, and upon further researching, I have even ended up finding that transgender services use less than 2% of PP's funding.
The government of the Biden administration is providing hefty funding for transgender medical care but also they have made it a stipulation that medicaid/medicare patients must receive transgender medical affirming care (hormones, puberty blockers, surgery) Planned Parenthood needs medicaid patients. Try a search for Planned Parenthood here on Ovarit and you will discover how invested they are in transgender care. If medicaid didn't provide coverage for transgender treatment, PP wouldn't be chasing it.
Biden has been fixated on it for awhile. It seems to be something he supports aside from the money. Partly because he sees it as a chance to be ahead in the "right side of history" as gay rights part 2.0. And partly because of a trans friend of his late son who is close to his family. Haley's republican voters for the most part aren't gender woo & while she might be tempted by the money she has to support some of the base's views. Same with abortion. Though I think with that, she would moderate her views to get votes in the general but be ok with stricter bans once she won an election & hope that moderate voters would have to concentrate on the states & not blame her if she ran for re-election.
Yes it does make sense that Haley would support her Republican base in the end but campaign finance seems to top all else. The story about Biden's son's trans friend has been discussed here and I think it could on the surface be considered a reason why Biden supports all things trans. However is this the cart coming before the horse? Money and the obligations it entails, then a carefully devised reason for why Biden is so committed. I don't buy it.
There is this from her website:
"Haley has always said boys should use boys’ bathrooms and girls should use girls’ bathrooms. In 2016, Haley argued that South Carolina didn’t need a bathroom bill because there was little demand for it, and when necessary, individuals could use a private bathroom. Ron DeSantis had the same position as a gubernatorial candidate in 2018."
And this:
"Haley opposes gender-changing surgeries and puberty blockers for minors and is on record saying as much multiple times. Fact checkers denounced DeSantis’ lie here."
I think she'd do more than any other republican candidate and she knows what a woman is, unlike the current democratic incumbent.
She's the lesser of two evils
I believe she will support women's rights over trans bs. More of the Republican Party is coalescing around a platform to restrict "gender affirming care" and to protect women's sports. I'd like to see them speak out more on the plight of women's prisons.
Haley on women's sports in 2021: https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2021/2/09/nikki-haley-calls-trans-inclusion-sports-attack-womens-rights
It's pretty interesting to me how the phrase "women's rights" has been used here seemingly exclusively in relation to trans ideology. No mention of any women's rights that might currently be under attack by Nikki Haley or her party, just... trans ideology. Is that the best we can hope for now, trans opposition? What about our other rights?
Haley is a conservative Republican and proudly counts herself among the most anti-choice governors in the United States. She doesn't believe in autonomy for women other than herself, and her opposition to trans bullshit is built on the same foundation of gross gender essentialism as its advocates.
It seems like you want U.S. citizens who read and post on Ovarit to vote Republican, which is certainly well within your rights, but trying to use "uphold[ing] women's rights" as a pretense probably isn't very useful given their candidates' voting records and public statements. Haley, for one, recently admitted during a debate that she'll support any federal limit on abortion that will pass. But, like, yeah. Go sisterhood, because no trans?
Hard to have women’s rights when there are no women
imo, laws disproportionately or exclusively oppressing women as embodied human beings can and will continue to be passed long after women are eliminated as a sort of theoretical political class. So I don't think voting for politicians who would gladly pass laws that oppress women can ever reasonably be considered "upholding women's rights," even if those same politicians have done us a solid by acknowledging that women are real. If that's what counts as women's rights, we've set the bar much too low.
…read this 10x until it really sinks in.
Women cannot have specific rights in the law, if in the law, women are men. I don’t think anyone here would be satisfied with mere verbal or ceremonial acknowledgment. I think women’s rights here means establishing women as a coherent class based on sex in the law.
Not only has it really sunk in, I see it as a foregone conclusion. My opinion is that what's being referred to as "women's rights" here is no longer attainable in the U.S., least of all by way of the executive branch. I see those battles as having happened years ago, and I think we didn't win, and now, to get away from men, we have no choice but to go into underground women's networks like our foremothers and their foremothers and theirs.
Trans ideology had already been made the law of the land in many places by the time, for example, Roe v. Wade was overturned by Trump's appointees to the Supreme Court. Even though women were already a legal fiction in so many aspects of local and federal law, women were and are still harmed when abortion bans have gone into effect, and we've still benefited when they've been lifted. Meanwhile, we lost what I see as the deciding war (accuracy on birth certificates) before the sterilisation of minor children due to genderfeels even entered the wider public consciousness. TRAs did a very fine job of not only quickly passing lots of far-reaching astroturfed misogynist legislation under most people's radar, but rooting deep. They knew how impossible shit like that would be to undo. Part of their design was: What could even the woman-friendliest president do about it now? Could she change back all the state-issued IDs by fiat, so everyone goes back to listing their actual sex and not whatever their mental illness told them to list that day? I don't think the toothpaste is going back in the tube.
So I guess I just don't see a way to establish women as a coherent class based on sex in U.S. law, in 2024. To me, the cat's [ear headphones are] out of the bag and men will fight like hell to maintain what they believe is their gender-given right to women's spaces and sexuality. Hundreds of thousands of men have already been allowed to change the sex listed on their birth certificate, passport, and all other legal documentation. Even in the midst of being genocided, Anthony Reed is still legally considered "female." But even if Republicans were going to come out as pro-establishment of women as a sex and legal class, I feel like they've telegraphed pretty clearly that their main interest in doing so is potentially being able to use that same designation as a cudgel down the line. And so women's bodily autonomy will continue to be physically limited by law, even if and when women are formally legally differentiated from men.
Sobering assessment of the situation. I suppose the best case scenario might be that in 5 years we have a president that realizes the harms of the infiltration of men into women's category and the madness ends there, and meanwhile we have thousands of men claiming to be women for 60 plus years until they die off. Odds are Haley will not be involved.
Is the battle for women's rights already lost here in the US? Maybe, but women who are speaking up deserve our support. When I see the term "underground movement," I immediately think of the most chilling SF story I ever read, A Boy and His Dog Truly a horrible story.
The abortion battle for the Republicans is now only a fight for the extremists of the party but perhaps you count Haley as an extremist. How will Republicans use women's rights as a cudgel in the future?
The bar is that low, and we need to face that reality.
Thanks for the clearing up what is essential in this coming election. I just don't have the mindset to quibble about my use of a broad term "women's rights" I have ordered but not read yet, Kara Dansky's book The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls and yet I will very likely vote for Democrats for state and local representation.