FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2017
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Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, joined the latest episode of Pod Save America today to discuss why defending reproductive freedom is a winning electoral strategy for Democrats. Hogue has encouraged the Democratic Party to support candidates who will vote to protect and advance reproductive freedom, including abortion access, on behalf of the vast majority of Americans who support legal abortion.
The Pod Save America episode featuring Hogue’s interview can be found here (begins at 35:07).
From the interview:
“Seven in 10 Americans identify as being in support of legal access to abortion. It’s true in red states, it’s true in blue states. It’s true that a majority of rank-and-file Republicans support legal access to abortion and a plurality of pro-life individuals say they don’t want the government making that decision. So if you’re talking about running candidates that match their district, this is not a challenge for the Democrats to win the necessary consensus to put them over the margin of victory in elections. In fact, they’re going alienate more voters who actually are super alarmed about what’s going on in the country right now by telegraphing that they’re giving ground on them.”
[…]
“Even those who are not totally with us in the caucus are moving in that [pro-choice] direction. There is unanimity on not defunding Planned Parenthood. There was unanimity among the Democratic Party on full scale reproductive health services, including abortion for victims of sex trafficking. The country is actually moving in the direction of supporting the Democrats’ position on this, and what we don’t want is for Democrats to move in the opposite direction of the country at a time where this issue is victory for us.”
Recently, leading progressive groups, led by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Democracy for America (DFA), released a Statement of Principles when it comes to the Democratic Party and abortion. The Statement of Principles brings together groups that supported Secretary Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders in last year’s primary, and that represent a wide variety of progressive causes. Joining NARAL and DFA on the Statement of Principles are MoveOn Political Action, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, EMILY’s List, Working Families Party, Ultraviolet, Daily Kos, Demos, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Indivisible Project, American Federation of Teachers, and Social Security Works.
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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