Audio: Sen. Clinton answers your questions

Last week we asked TODAY’s readers if they had any questions that they would like to ask Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Given the challenges facing our country, it wasn’t surprising that most of your questions concerned serious issues. So we were pleased that the New York Senator agreed to answer a few of them after her interview with the show’s host Meredith Vieira. To listen to her answers in an audio interview, click on the MP3 button on the right.

The senator was invited on TODAY to talk about the possibility of her running for president in the 2008 election, the Iraq war, and the 10^th anniversary edition of “It Takes a Village.” [Watch her video interview for her answers on these topics.] We decided to ask her some readers’ questions on different topics. We asked Clinton if her views have changed about child development since she wrote “It Takes a Village” 10 years ago, what she thinks should be done to provide healthcare to the uninsured, and how she would protect women’s reproductive rights. Below is an edited transcript of our conversation:

TODAY: Senator Clinton, thank so much for joining us on TODAY on MSNBC.com.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton: Thank you.

TODAY: Last week we asked TODAY’s readers if they had any questions that they would like to ask you. And we got plenty. This morning, we’d like to ask you a few of them. The first one deals with your book — “It Takes a Village.” Anne E. from Lima, Ohio, would like to know if your views have changed since you wrote it 10 years ago.

Clinton: Well, my basic view that children need our attention our love, our discipline, and our guidance has not changed. I think that is the core of good parenting and good childrearing, and I believe that there isn’t any more important job than raising the next generation. I also think that children need education and health care. They need a secure environment, in which to grow up. So the basic necessities of life have certainly have not changed. It’s how we deliver them and how we purchase them that have undergone some changes.

In the book, 10 years ago, I talked about the impact of media on childrearing. And I was concerned about it then; I’m actually more concerned now. The explosion of media influences on our children is something that I didn’t have to face as a young mother. When I travel around New York and talk with young moms now, they worry about the Internet, what their children are doing, and who is possibly trying to ensnare them. They worry about the impact of violent videogames and television and movies, and all of the other influences. So, my view which was one of concern is now even more so. I’m trying to find way to help parents really control these influences. I’ve worked to try to do more research on what are the effects on our children of constant exposure to violence and sexual materials in the media. And what kinds of controls we can have for parents to exercise when it comes to the Internet. So those are some of the changes that I’ve seen.

And finally, 10 years ago, thankfully, we were not worrying about global terrorism. We are now. Being a senator from New York, I know the impact that the horrible attacks of 9/11 had on children and families. So I’m spending a lot of more of my time trying to figure out how we protect ourselves; how we keep our children optimistic and hopeful, but [also how] we, as the adults, remain vigilant to order to give them a safe and secure environment, and how we influence the rest of the world. Because, as I write in the new forward, how children are raised anywhere in the world can impact our own children right here at home.

TODAY: Our next question about health insurance is from Julie R. in San Diego. Her brother takes care of their father full time. But because he doesn’t have a job, he doesn’t have affordable health care. She wants to know what can be done for the uninsured.

Clinton: Well, I am committed to trying to help give our country a system of health care that is affordable, accessible and of high quality for every American, such as your brother. It is just wrong that in a country as rich of ours that we have more than 46 million Americans who are uninsured and million mores who are underinsured, which means when they actually need their insurance policy, it’s not there for them. I learned a lot back in ‘93 and ‘94 about how difficult the task would be to put together a policy that could deliver health care to every American. But I’m more hopeful now. Because in the early ‘90s, a lot of people didn’t really understand that this could mean them and their families. They thought it was about somebody else. And now there’s a greater awareness that the majority of people who are uninsured work. They may work outside the home for pay or, like your brother, inside the home as a caretaker. So we need to put our heads together and come up with a system that provides quality, affordable, accessible health care. And I want to be part of making that happen.

TODAY: Senator, do you have time for one more question?

Clinton: Sure.

TODAY: Sonya S. from Denver would like to know what you plan to do to protect women’s reproductive rights.

Clinton: Well, I want to do everything I can do to provide that women have a choice for such an intimate and difficult and sometimes tragic decision. One of the ways I want to do that is by providing more support for family planning. We’ve seen cutbacks in the last six years, so that responsible women, who want to do the right thing and postpone childrearing, often find it is out of their financial reach, or inconvenient, or difficult, in many ways, to obtain access to family planning.

I have a bill, which I have introduced over the last several years, saying let’s put prevention first; let’s make an investment in giving women the tools they need to make good decisions. That would be one of the best ways we could equip young women to take better care of themselves. And I will continue to support the right to choose. Because I think any other decision at the government level would mean incredible intrusion into family life and into personal intimate decision-making, which really is not possible without a tremendous amount of police and other vigilance that is really incompatible with our country and our values.

TODAY: Senator Clinton, thank you, for spending some time with us this morning.

Clinton: Thank you very much.

MORE FROM

How eating right can make you happy

How eating right can make you happy Over 50? Simple secrets to grow younger How one mom learned to translate baby cries Quiz: Test your smarts about children’s health ‘Stand by Her’: A breast cancer guide for men Cesar Millan: How to help your pup learn Mom's guide to a happy work-home balance The birds and bees: Talking sex with your child One mother’s battle to save her son from OCD The worst meals for kids   Add headlines to your news reader: