PRESS RELEASE from NARAL Pro-Choice America

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 15, 2012


NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC Endorses President Obama For Re-election
First political pro-choice group to endorse in 2008 stands with the president in 2012

Washington, D.C. – Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, released the following statement today, announcing that her organization’s political action committee has endorsed President Barack Obama for re-election.

“Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC endorses President Barack Obama for another term,” Keenan said. “President Obama has been committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose and making health care more accessible and affordable for women. Often looking ahead to the future of young women including his own daughters, President Obama’s administration has enacted critical reproductive-health policies that will touch generations to come.” 

The PAC members noted that President Obama’s commitment to women was made clear when his first-ever budget outline included medically accurate sex education. Going a step further, the president eliminated failed “abstinence-only” programs and replaced them with teen-pregnancy-prevention initiatives. His commitment to women’s health care goes beyond our borders as he rescinded the global gag rule, re-funded the U.N. family-planning program, and increased international family-planning funding at USAID by more than $30 million. And back here at home, the president won passage of the Affordable Care Act, the law that will bring 30 million Americans into a health-care system that includes affordable family-planning services, better access to contraception, and maternity care.

“At a time when anti-choice politicians have started an all-out War on Women, we must unite behind a leader with a proven record of trusting women to make decisions regarding their own health care. President Obama has been a tireless leader for women’s reproductive health, and NARAL Pro-Choice America will engage our one-million member activists and the pro-choice community to support him in this upcoming election.”

NARAL Pro-Choice America’s independent expenditure (IE) operation has kicked off the campaign by activating its Choice Action Network and releasing a new video highlighting President Obama’s dedication to women’s health and families. The IE team’s work will also include targeting a key bloc of women voters known as “Obama defectors,” who voted for the president in 2008, but aren’t yet committed to voting for him in November. Polling found that comparing the president’s pro-choice values to the anti-choice views of Mitt Romney moved these women to support the president once again by significant margins.

NARAL Pro-Choice America is committed to the re-election of President Obama because a Mitt Romney victory in November would be disastrous for women. Romney’s attacks on women’s health include vetoing legislation as Governor of Massachusetts that would ensure timely access to emergency contraception for survivors of rape and vowing to defund family health centers. Romney has even said he thinks Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act should be overturned—two of the most critical advances in women’s health in generations.

For a summary of Romney’s choice-related actions as governor and recent quotes, please visit NARAL Pro-Choice America’s website.

The independent expenditure video was produced by Envision Communications, a political communications firm lead by Peter Cari, Jennifer Burton and Maura Dougherty.

Polling conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.

For more information, please visit our Elections page.

Contact:
Ted Miller