Conservative column fails to truly assess relationship between Republicans, women

Dear Daily Orange readers and editors:

In response to Wednesday’s column written by Michael Stikkel, women and women’s health are actually not a part of the Republican platform. The truth in this could not be any more obvious.

You don’t have to be a political analyst to realize that just because women spoke at the Republican National Convention doesn’t mean their voices were worth listening to. Just listing off names of women who spoke doesn’t really give merit. Not to mention, the women who spoke at the RNC failed to mention the fact that their party wants to revoke basic women’s health care.

Now, I’m not here to badger the RNC or attack the Republican Party as a whole, because from my experience working in women’s health care, I have had the pleasure of working with some Republicans who do support women’s rights and access to affordable health care.

Regardless of partisanship, we should not tokenize women as entities of a platform, nor should we spread rumors about women’s health care (birth control isn’t mandated or free). Women’s health care doesn’t mean just birth control or abortions, and it certainly doesn’t give political parties the right to speak on behalf of women either.

However, the women’s vote and their access to health care is simple in this election season. Women’s health care equals the opportunity to life, liberty and happiness. Just like their counterparts, women should have equal access to health care, and there should be no question when it comes to government programs assisting this, because should gender really be a determining factor in your health care costs? Does that make it fair that women pay more for health care? What the Democratic Party is trying to do is ensure women have these rights and opportunities, not throw them a bone.

Remember that women are watching during this election season, regardless of political affiliation, and they will vote. So before you go around labeling our health care rights and using us a ploy to get your representative in office, get to know us first and let us speak! That’s what President Barack Obama did anyway.

Erin Carhart

Class of 2014

Policy studies and women’s and gender studies dual major