October 15, 2019

A Democrat Finally Talked About Women’s Rights at a Debate. Moderators Immediately Pivoted to Jobs.

Hello there, Kamala.

Kamala Harris.John Minchillo/AP

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For the first time since the first round of Democratic debates nearly four months ago, a Democratic candidate finally brought up reproductive health care onstage—and she did it without a direct prompt.

“This is the sixth debate we have had in this presidential cycle; not nearly one word with all of the discussions about health care, on women’s access to reproductive health care, which is under full-on attack in America today,” said California Sen. Kamala Harris. “It’s outrageous.”

Harris refocused the discussion during a contentious back-and-forth over Medicare for All to make her point, saying that Republicans are putting women’s lives at risk with their extreme anti-abortion policies. “There are states that have passed laws that will virtually prevent women from having access to reproductive healthcare,” she said, “and it is not an exaggeration to say that women will die—poor women, women of color will die because these Republican legislators in these various states who are out of touch with America are telling women what to do with our bodies.”

In June, after a six-week ban on abortion passed in the Georgia legislature, the candidates pledged their support onstage for a woman’s right to choose. Eight other states have passed bans on abortion that stand in direct challenge to the rights established in Roe v. Wade, and the Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case on the constitutionality of a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.

Harris was primed to make this point, as she did on Twitter last month after the debates: 

After Harris made her point, the moderators quickly pivoted to other candidates….to ask about jobs.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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