Although nobody would accuse Charlie Crist of being a paragon of consistency when it comes to the issue of abortion, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is now very pro-choice as he tries to rally his new base in his bid to oust Rick Scott this fall.
So when the Crist campaign opted to talk about their new ad attacking Scott for his record on abortion rights, they trotted out his running mate, Annette Taddeo, as well as Florida Planned Parenthood PAC Treasurer Barbara Zdravecky, to talk about it with reporters on a conference call.
In the ad, Scott gets dinged for his record on women's issues — from requiring mandatory ultrasounds to opposing Roe v. Wade to refusing to support new laws to ensure equal pay.
"We need a governor who will protect Roe Vs. Wade in our state and that candidate is Charlie Crist," said Taddeo. "It's wrong to overturn Roe Vs. Wade and restrict women's access to contraception."
The next governor of Florida will be naming at least one new member to the state's Supreme Court, and could possibly add three more. That's because Justices James C. Perry, Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince will all turn 70 at some time during the next governor’s term, with Perry scheduled to retire in 2017 and the six-year terms of the other three ending on the same day the new governor is sworn in (there is a dispute about who could actually replace them, which is why Florida voters will decide on the issue this fall, as Ashley Lopez with the Florida Center for Investigative Reportingexplains).
Both women referred to Crist's veto of a bill mandating that a woman get an ultrasound before she has an abortion — one Rick Scott later signed into law — as an indication of the gulf between the two men when it comes to abortion rights. Zdravecky lit into Scott for a number of other policies that the current governor has adopted.
"Rick Scott has cut funding to community clinics and to rape crisis centers," she began. "He slashed health care services for women and children, for first time mothers and even for newborns. These cuts included support for nurses who care for these very vulnerable Floridians, for at-risk first-time moms, for family planning, for immunizations, the life-saving tests for newborns and for HIV and STD testing. In other words, Rick Scott put his own political agenda over the needs of women."
When asked about his well-known record of being against abortion rights before he was for them, Annette Taddeo stood by her running mate.
"Charlie, I believe, has been consistent in the sense that he has his own religious beliefs," she said. "But he doesn't believe that the government should interfere in a woman's right to choose, and he proved it with the veto pen when they tried to pass this big bill with the ultrasound. So I think that he has been consistent in his proof of his personal beliefs and that's what we need to respect. We don't need the government interfering with people's religions and their own faith and their own belief of what they should do with their body. We certainly don't need men telling us women or the government telling us women and making decisions for us."
So when the Crist campaign opted to talk about their new ad attacking Scott for his record on abortion rights, they trotted out his running mate, Annette Taddeo, as well as Florida Planned Parenthood PAC Treasurer Barbara Zdravecky, to talk about it with reporters on a conference call.
In the ad, Scott gets dinged for his record on women's issues — from requiring mandatory ultrasounds to opposing Roe v. Wade to refusing to support new laws to ensure equal pay.
"We need a governor who will protect Roe Vs. Wade in our state and that candidate is Charlie Crist," said Taddeo. "It's wrong to overturn Roe Vs. Wade and restrict women's access to contraception."
The next governor of Florida will be naming at least one new member to the state's Supreme Court, and could possibly add three more. That's because Justices James C. Perry, Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince will all turn 70 at some time during the next governor’s term, with Perry scheduled to retire in 2017 and the six-year terms of the other three ending on the same day the new governor is sworn in (there is a dispute about who could actually replace them, which is why Florida voters will decide on the issue this fall, as Ashley Lopez with the Florida Center for Investigative Reportingexplains).
Both women referred to Crist's veto of a bill mandating that a woman get an ultrasound before she has an abortion — one Rick Scott later signed into law — as an indication of the gulf between the two men when it comes to abortion rights. Zdravecky lit into Scott for a number of other policies that the current governor has adopted.
"Rick Scott has cut funding to community clinics and to rape crisis centers," she began. "He slashed health care services for women and children, for first time mothers and even for newborns. These cuts included support for nurses who care for these very vulnerable Floridians, for at-risk first-time moms, for family planning, for immunizations, the life-saving tests for newborns and for HIV and STD testing. In other words, Rick Scott put his own political agenda over the needs of women."
When asked about his well-known record of being against abortion rights before he was for them, Annette Taddeo stood by her running mate.
"Charlie, I believe, has been consistent in the sense that he has his own religious beliefs," she said. "But he doesn't believe that the government should interfere in a woman's right to choose, and he proved it with the veto pen when they tried to pass this big bill with the ultrasound. So I think that he has been consistent in his proof of his personal beliefs and that's what we need to respect. We don't need the government interfering with people's religions and their own faith and their own belief of what they should do with their body. We certainly don't need men telling us women or the government telling us women and making decisions for us."