The Real Rossi

We Can’t Trust Rossi to Protect a Woman’s Right to Choose

DINO ROSSI’S EXTREME ANTI-CHOICE VIEWS

Dino Rossi’s Record on Choice is Dangerously Out of Step with Washington Women, Washington Voters, and 20th Century America

Right to Choose: Rossi Speaks Favorably of Women’s Rights Circa 1890. Asked about his position on a woman’s right to choose, Republican Dino Rossi’s invoked the late 19th Century, suggesting “options and alternatives” from an era before womeneven had the right to vote.

Rossi: “We need to give options and alternatives. Back 90-100 years ago we had options and alternatives. We had homes for unwed mothers. We had various different avenues. Not just saying no, but giving alternatives. And I see that as the right-to-life movementmoving towards that direction, which I think is healthy.” [Speech to King County Young Republicans, 1992]

Rossi: “Maybe” Rape & Incest Victims Should Have the Right to Choose. Responding to a question about a woman’s right to choose at an AWB forum in 2004, Rossi emphasized the word “maybe.”

Rossi: “I think the way I've always approached it is I've always said that I believe that, you know, abortion was never intended for anything other than maybe the cases of rape, incest, or the life of the mother.” [Speech to Association of Washington Business, February 2004]

Rossi Concedes His Personal Religious Beliefs Drive His Anti-Choice Views; Suggests That, On Balance, Washingtonians Don’t Care. Responding to another question about a woman’s right to choose at an AWB forum in 2004, Rossi acknowledged his extreme anti-choice views are rooted, at least in part, in his personal religious beliefs.

Rossi: “I'm finding that most people are not – that's not their number one issue, number one. And the fact that my wife and I are both Catholic, that does factor into this as well. And so that issue is not one that is really going to make this hinge either way because you have people on both sides of this issue, but it's a small portion that will actually move the election in either direction.” [Speech to Association of Washington Business, February 2004]

Rossi Worked Actively Against Roe v. Wade in Washington State. Rossi boasted about working against Initiative 120, which codified Roe v. Wade into state law.

Rossi: “I believe in the sanctity of innocent human life, and that's one of the reasons I worked against Initiative 120. And I learned a lot from working against the initiative. And one of the things I learned was that I think the right-to-life message is coming through, starting to come through slowly. I think also that – the evidence – the Initiative 120 only won by a half a percent.” [Speech to King County Young Republicans, 1992]

Rossi: “Homes for Unwed Mothers” Alternatives to Abortion Only Because Total Ban Impractical. In the same speech where Rossi invoked women’s rights circa the end of the 19th Century, Rossi openly spoke about a total ban on a woman’s right to choose – not opposing it, but suggesting it was merely impractical.

Rossi: “Back 90-100 years ago we had options and alternatives. We had homes for unwed mothers. We had various different avenues. Not just saying no, but giving alternatives. And I see that as the right-to-life movement moving towards that direction, which I think is healthy. Because if you banned – just banned it across Washington State people would go to Oregon and you'd have the same result.” [Speech to King County Young Republicans, 1992]

Rossi’s Outlier Position on Choice Even Alienated Republicans. Dino Rossi’s far-right stance on abortion has never been in line with Washington voters, even those from his own party. In 1992 the Journal American noted that Rossi’s “…support of further limits on abortion rights in the state has further alienated moderates of both parties in the 5th.” Rossi’s extremism doesn’t end with the issue of choice, either. After the Republican primary in 1992, the Snoqualmie Valley Reporter highlighted the uncompromising nature of Rossi’s supporters, saying “All three of Rossi’s former GOP foes indicated Rossi’s right-wing, or Christian fundamentalist, support will alienate many voters in a district loaded with moderates.” [Journal American, 10/5/92; Snoqualmie Valley Reporter, 9/23/92]

Rossi Now Evades Abortion Issue Despite Years of Staunch Opposition. Throughout his career Dino Rossi has voiced opposition to a woman’s right to choose, but recently he has become evasive on the issue. In response to a question on abortion at a meeting of the Association of Washington business in 2004, Rossi said “I’ve never even sponsored bills on that issue, and the Supreme Court has really taken that out of the state’s hands, so I have about as much control over that as I do with world peace or the earth crashing into the sun.” [Speech to Association of Washington Business, February, 2004]

Rossi Voted Twice to Mandate Parental Notification Before an Abortion. Rossi voted in 1997 and 1998 to require that parents of pregnant girls under the age of 18 be notified prior to an abortion – a stance which puts more young women at risk of violence and flies in the face of the American Medical Association’s recommendations. According to NARAL “The American Medical Association takes the position that: ‘Physicians should not feel or be compelled to require minors to involve their parents before deciding whether to undergo an abortion. . . . [M]inors should ultimately be allowed to decide whether parental involvement is appropriate.’” NARAL also notes the Supreme Court’s opinion that “Mere notification of pregnancy is frequently a flashpoint for battering and violence within the family. The number of battering incidents is high during the pregnancy and often the worst abuse can be associated with pregnancy.” [SB 6290, 2/16/98, Rossi – yea; SB 5255, 3/19/97 Rossi – Yea; ProChoiceAmerica.org, accessed 10/18/07]

Rossi Cosponsored and Voted for Abstinence-Only Education Programs. Rossi cosponsored legislation which authorized the Department of Public Health to apply for federal funds to promote abstinence-only education. Abstinence-only programs were attacked at the time as ineffective and a waste of taxpayer dollars – a criticism largely validated by recent studies. As Martha Kempner at the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States commented earlier this year, “Abstinence-only was an experiment and it failed.” [SB 5592, 1997; Washington Post, 4/14/07]

Rossi Repeatedly Opposed Allowing the Department of Social & Health Services to Provide Contraception to Poor Families. In 1999 and 2001 Dino Rossi voted against increasing poor Washingtonian’s access to contraception through the state’s Department of Social and Health Services. Both bills Rossi voted against allowed DSHS to seek waivers from the Federal Health Care Financing Administration so they could expand Medicaid coverage of family planning services to persons with incomes up to 200% of poverty. Family planning services included all federal FDA approved contraceptives, sterilization services, and medical services associated with use of contraceptive and sterilization services, interpretive services, and comprehensive educational services, including abstinence education, necessary to aid individuals to avoid unintended pregnancy. [SB 5465 3/16/1999, Rossi – Nay; SB 5186, 3/9/01, Rossi – Nay]

Rossi attended the Human Life of Washington March in Olympia. In January of 2000 Dino Rossi attended the Human Life of Washington March in Olympia, an annual anti-choice event to “memorialize the deaths of some 38 million preborn babies nationally.” [NARAL Pro-Choice Washington Fact Sheet]