FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2016
[email protected]
Tonight, following a months long campaign led by NARAL Pro-Choice America asking debate moderators to #AskAboutAbortion, Chris Wallace asked the presidential candidates about their views on abortion access. Over 50,000 NARAL and CREDO members, and the leaders of EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, CREDO, UltraViolet, All* Above All Action Fund, National Organization for Women, and Feminist Majority joined NARAL in calling on debate moderators to #AskAboutAbortion during the presidential debates. The #AskAboutAbortion campaign has reached over 26 million Twitter users.
Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, released the following statement:
“For the past eight months, NARAL and our members have called on the moderators of 15 primary and general election debates to #AskAboutAbortion and the access crisis that hurts so many people in this country. And tonight that happened, with Chris Wallace’s question about the Supreme Court and its position on Roe versus Wade.
“Hillary’s answer demonstrated her great strength and leadership: she has listened to real stories of real women who have faced these decisions; she has studied the crisis of abortion access, the closure of women’s health clinics and the real impact on public health; she focused on the every day issues that affect the majority of people, not hypothetical what ifs.
“Hillary Clinton trusts women to chart our own destinies, and she understands the complex, unique, and deeply personal choice each woman faces when considering an abortion. She demonstrated her command of an issue that impacts countless families and women in this country. She displayed compassion, she was thoughtful, and she pledged to preserve our right to choose if elected president. She’s our champion for reproductive rights for a reason.
“On the other hand, Donald Trump proved yet again that he’s a woman’s worst nightmare. When he doubled down on his pledge to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, he spit in the eye of the 7 in 10 Americans who believe that abortion should be legal. His factually inaccurate statements on abortion care prove that he has no business meddling in a woman’s personal health care decisions. No politician does. His answer was right in line with his dangerous worldview, where women are less than equal and do not have any form of bodily autonomy in our health care decisions, or in our interactions with men as demonstrated by his boasts about sexually assaulting women.
“Over 50,000 people signed petitions to call on debate moderators to #AskAboutAbortion because they, like Hillary Clinton, know that abortion is not a niche issue. It’s foundational to a woman’s ability to determine her own destiny. It is an issue close to the lives of Americans male and female, young and old, single and married, childless or parents. It’s a fundamental economic issue and deserves to be discussed without shame or stigma. Tonight reaffirmed that Hillary Clinton understands all of this, and that’s why we’re so proud to stand with her.”
#AskAboutAbortion was a nationwide digital campaign led by NARAL Pro-Choice America that started during the Democratic primaries encouraging moderators to ask a question about the crisis of abortion access in this country.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
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