The Blue America live guest this Tuesday is Dr. David Gill, the super-progressive prairie populist who just won a tough primary battle in central Illinois against a Machine-backed corporate conservative. Now he has to face another conservative, this time a crusty old Republican, Tim Johnson. This isn't the first time David has run against Johnson. But it's the first time they're running in an evenly matched district. In the previous races it was a 60-40 GOP district. After the recent redistricting it leans blue by one point. And Dr. Gill isn't just some garden variety Democrat. Wait 'til you meet him at C&L on Tuesday!
Actually... don't wait. Someone asked him why he keeps running. I liked his explanation. I think you will too.
"I do this for Charlotte. And I do it for her daughter, her granddaughters and her great-granddaughters.
Charlotte sent me a letter with her story and a modest contribution on March 13. She told me she had been a rape victim as a teenager. She didn't have access to emergency contraception. Abortion services weren't safe and legal. She was fortunate to find a courageous doctor.
Now, Charlotte is 80 and she never wants any American woman to face the lack of health care options she faced.
The Republican War on Women is an attempt to roll back our nation to the 1940s. As an emergency physician, I've seen first-hand what happens when women and girls don't have safe reproductive health options.
My position is clear and simple. I am 100% pro-choice. I support access to emergency contraception for all women who need it. I believe that insurance plans should be required to cover birth control, just as they cover diabetes medications or blood pressure pills.
Some have suggested that it's time to move on and stop talking about these issues, now that I have won the Primary.
I disagree. As you can see from this video clip from the MoveOn rally in Springfield a few days ago, I'm still speaking out.
My opponent six-term incumbent Congressman Tim Johnson and his colleagues in Washington are endangering the lives of American women with their extreme views.
Tim Johnson isn't consistent on much, but he has remained steadfast in opposing critical health services for women. He wants to cut access to reproductive services. He is against women making their own choices about their own bodies. He wants to limit access to birth control for millions of American women. I refuse to let Tim Johnson and his conservative friends win this war that they started.
...I'm focused on the fight to defeat Tim Johnson and the dangerous conservative movement that is seeking to roll back women's rights 50 years.
Dr. Gill is asking C&L readers to contribute to his campaign for a simple reason-- for 80-year old Charlotte and for the millions of other women who remember what it was like before they had access to safe and legal reproductive health services. You can do it here at the Blue America ActBlue page, where David is the newest addition.
Link to article from Crooks and Liars
