National Organization for Women-New York State Deplores Assassination Attempt

ALBANY, NY (01/10/2011)(readMedia)-- Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D) has been a consistent supporter of women's rights, including women's reproductive freedom. In spite of being a pro-gun "Blue Dog" Democrat, she was persistently vilified by the right for her support of stem cell research and abortion choice. During her recent Congressional campaign she received several disturbing threats citing opposition along these lines. The first Jew ever elected to Congress from the State of Arizona, she was gunned down by a highly disturbed person who was known to count Adolph Hilter's Mein Kamph among his favorite works.

NOW-NYS President Marcia Pappas remarked that "of course no one can determine exactly what rhetoric inspires so unbalanced a person as Jared Lee Loughner. But the decades of assassinations of abortion providers, the ongoing fire bombings of women's clinics and temples, and the right wing Internet "cross hairs" logos specifically targeting Congresswoman Giffords, have certainly set the stage for such actions as Loughner's."

As Arizona's Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik commented after the murders, such rhetoric and threats as have become the political norm "have consequences." Pappas "deplores the shootings of Arizona and urges a more respectful dialogue about women's issues and politics in general."