Why Women Must Vote in 2012

By Eleanor Smeal
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The blog carnival is launching HERvotes, a campaign which will continue until Election 2012. Women must mobilize, register, and flex our electoral might to hold onto our crucial health and economic rights. Join the effort by tweeting #HERvotes and most of all, registering to vote and voting like our lives depend upon it.

The Feminist Majority Foundation is proud to join a major coalition of organizations, HERvotes, which is growing, representing millions of American women in an effort to mobilize women voters in 2012 around preserving women’s Health and Economic rights.

Right now, a slew of historic gains for women are under threat of being weakened, cut, or eliminated by extremist policies at the local, state and federal level.

HERvotes has released a list of the top 10 historic advances for women’s lives and security that are under threat.

These attacks–on Medicaid, on Social Security, on Medicare, on the Affordable Care Act, on the Equal Pay Act, on the Violence Against Women Act, on family-planning, on workplace protections against sex discrimination, and more–are attacks against women, plain and simple.

These laws weave the safety net that ensures that women and other vulnerable populations are protected at times when we are ill, poor, unemployed or discriminated against. It’s unjust for leaders to prioritize Wall Street corporations over Main Street women and families.

Our best hope to keep the safety net in place is our collective voting power. That’s why, from now through Labor Day, Ms., the Feminist Majority Foundation and dozens of other women’s groups will be blogging about the real-life effects of the attacks on women’s rights. Check back here daily for more women raising their voices in defense of our rights.

It’s been an honor to work with a number of extraordinary women to launch this campaign–and the list continues to grow! My heartfelt thanks to:

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