Talking with people, Aurora is a great person and in many ways a great candidate. That said, great candidates don’t avoid the question like this and they don’t let Mike Madigan’s people dictate the entire campaign. I don’t blame her for the drivel below, I blame her for letting Madigan’s team shit all over the base and local communities.
Terry Cosgrove’s complaint is valid. But it goes far beyond the very important discussion of access to information on reproductive health. It goes to the First Amendment, it goes to local control of libraries, it goes to demagoguing someone who you may disagree with and claiming she’s leaving your children unprotected from child predators. I don’t know many local librarians who would do that, but I do know many who might have better answers for their individual library than what some in Springfield or the Illinois Review think is the best solution.
Pretending Cosgrove and Personal PAC are doing this randomly is nothing more than covering one’s ears and saying you can’t hear anything. The point goes directly to access over information for reproductive health. That’s not irrelevant to reproductive freedom or being truly free to choose. If Austriaco is for mandating filters, she should stand for that. If she isn’t, she should explain why the hell her campaign is sending out this garbage.
From: Friends of Aurora Austriaco <auroraforstaterep@gmail.com>
Subject: Women’s Access to Health Care
To: “Austriaco, Aurora”
Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 1:51 PM
Dear Supporter of Choice:
I wanted to take the time to respond to the e-mail you received from Terry Cosgrove questioning my commitment to women’s health care and education.
The record must be set straight. The fact is that I fully support reproductive freedom and ensuring that women can make informed decisions about their health. Indeed, what is ironic, and perplexing, is that a woman such as myself who will fight to protect reproductive freedoms is being attacked by a group committed to the same goal.
The fact of the matter is that Personal PAC has fully endorsed my opponent, Rosemary Mulligan, in my campaign for state representative, despite my 100% commitment to women’s reproductive freedom. I believe the residents of the 65th District are fortunate to have two pro-choice candidates on the November ballot, which is why it is so discouraging that an organization that is supposed to fight for the reproductive rights of women would spend its time and resources battling a candidate who supports a woman’s right to choose.
For those of you who have supported my candidacy, I want to thank you for your continued encouragement and support. If you have any questions at all about this or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact me at my campaign office at 847-292-5902.
Very truly yours