Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Healey Hiding From Women's Groups

Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey is reportedly refusing to answer questions from women's rights groups as she makes her run for Governor. From the Boston Globe:

Healey, a Republican who has repeatedly cast herself as a supporter of abortion rights, declined to answer written questions or be interviewed by the local chapters of the National Organization for Women, the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund, and the National Abortion Rights Action League.
Healey's campaign claims that they get hundreds of questionnaires and can't possibly answer all of them. That hardly seems like a good enough excuse. It's not like the National Organization for Women is just some chump with a blog. If I sent the Healey campaign a questionnaire, I would expect to be ignored, but these are long standing, well respected groups who would not be openly hostile to a Healey endorsement (the way a group like MoveOn or Democracy for America would be).

Now, it's true that these groups are more closely aligned with Democrats than Republicans in general, but if Healey wants to escape from Governor Mitt Romney's conservative shadow, wouldn't it be prudent to at least try for their endorsement? Endorsements from these types of interest groups wouldn't make or break her candidacy, but at least answering their questions would go a long way toward assuring the public that her pro-choice views are not going to 'evolve' the way the Governor's have. If she supports reproductive rights, then what does she have to fear by answering a questionnaire? Is she worried about alienating the few conservative Republicans left in Massachusetts?

The Supreme Court is becoming more conservative. It is not inconceivable that the legality of abortions could be tossed back to the states under the next Governor's term. Whether you agree with abortion or not, the public deserves to know the candidates full stances, beyond just "I'm prochoice".