Open Letter from NOW to Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania

December 9, 2004

Several weeks ago, millions of Pennsylvanians — and indeed the whole nation — watched as lesser men crafted a loyalty oath for you that truly flies in the face of your independent, bipartisan Senate record covering almost three decades.

When you assume the duties and responsibilities of the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, NOW's hundreds of thousands members and supporters across the nation will be watching you as well. We will be especially vigilant since the lives, health, safety and equal opportunities for girls and women will be very much in your hands as you schedule hearings and votes in your committee.

We call on you now to rise to the occasion as a model for the nation with your respect for the law and your keen knowledge of how the Senate must work in a bipartisan manner. Your leadership will be pivotal on judicial nominees, crime and violence issues, fairness and equality concerns as well as women's reproductive and legal rights Your actions will affect the welfare of millions of women, children and families.

While we understand the intense pressure that you have been under in the past months, with the campaign and the post-election controversy about your chairmanship, we believe that some of your promises simply do not ring true with your decades of support for fairness and equality. We truly hope that you will consider the interests of all women as you pick up the gavel and bring the committee to order.

NOW is requesting a meeting with you in the near future in the spirit of "equal time" and as a healthy antidote to your recent gathering with the fundamentalist men who have co-opted and misrepresented the notion of family values. It is important for us to meet, especially to discuss the areas where we have so many mutual concerns, including stopping violence against women, reducing hate crimes and providing girls and women the full access to health care and family planning services that is their legal right. We will be contacting your office after the holidays to schedule an appointment.

Sincerely,

Kim Gandy, NOW President
Karen Johnson, Executive Vice President
Olga Vives, Action Vice President
Terry O'Neill, Membership Vice President