Don’t Miss this exciting profile of an up and coming Pro-Life star, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). Cathy is also the mother of special needs child and the founder of the Down Syndrome Caucus.
From The Weekly Standard:
“Third-term representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers doesn’t fit the mold of the female member of Congress. Unlike at least three-quarters of them, she’s a Republican. And unlike about seven-eighths of them, she’s staunchly pro-life.
After serving 10 years in the Washington state legislature, Cathy McMorris was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 from the Fifth District, which includes Spokane. At the end of her first term, she married Brian Rodgers, a retired Navy pilot, who now plays ‘Mr. Mom’ for the couple’s 23-month-old son, Cole.
Cole has Down syndrome, and McMorris Rodgers’s experience with him inspired her to launch the congressional Down Syndrome Caucus last spring. In particular, she was worried about institutional barriers that stand in the way of people with Down syndrome.
When Cole was born, the Rodgerses were advised not to put any assets in his name in order to increase his odds of qualifying for Medicaid. ‘I think there’s something wrong with the system that is driving a person into poverty rather than really focusing on, ‘Okay, how do we make this person self-sufficient and able to reach his full potential?’ McMorris Rodgers told me…
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports pro-life women running for office, told me she thinks women like Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Sarah Palin are transforming the idea of what it means to be a woman in politics, giving young women role models different from the traditional liberal female politician. Dannenfelser’s organization has supported McMorris Rodgers since her first run for Congress.
Dannenfelser thinks McMorris Rodgers possesses a special authority when she talks about issues relating to the innate worth of human beings. ‘The facts are the facts. Somehow, the presenter of the facts in certain debates sometimes matters more than the facts themselves,’ she said. ‘For her to say human beings aren’t all about utility, she speaks with authority, because she’s living it.’
As for McMorris Rodgers, her strategy going forward is to focus on reminding people of the value that every person has. ‘I’ve long thought that we need to reach people’s hearts on this issue,” she said, pointing to the effect ultrasound technology has had on parents, who now can see their children before they’re born. ‘I think that’s having an impact on society and that people are asking themselves the question, when does life begin?'”
