Planned Parenthood Advocates of
In this Issue:
- Planned
Parenthood’s Presidential Election Update
- Five
Questions to Help You Get at the Truth about John McCain
- The
Real Scoop on John McCain
- McCain’s Potential Impact on Wisconsin
- PPAWI
Endorses
Planned
Parenthood’s Presidential Election Update
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the advocacy and political arm of Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, has not made an endorsement in the
presidential election yet because both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are 100 percent
pro-choice.
Learn more about the Democratic candidates and watch
their speeches from the Planned Parenthood Annual Conference here.
Meanwhile, Republican
frontrunner John McCain is ardently anti-choice — he wants to make abortion
illegal and overturn Roe v. Wade.
Learn more about John McCain's real record on
women's health.
Five Questions to
Help You Get at the Truth about John McCain
Planned Parenthood Advocates of
ü
Senator McCain, do you believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned?
ü
In
ü
Why have you voted against
commonsense prevention measures like increased funding for family planning that
would reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion?
ü
Do you believe contraception helps
stop the spread of AIDS and other STIs?
ü
Do you support policies that
encourage responsible sex education that includes information about both
abstinence and contraception in our schools – or do you back the Bush
policy of funding ineffective abstinence-only education?
If you
don’t get a straight answer, here’s what John McCain truly stands
for:
×
Sen. McCain supports overturning Roe v.
Wade.
In February 2007, the AP reported, “Republican
presidential candidate John McCain, looking to improve his standing with the
party's conservative voters, said Sunday the court decision that legalized
abortion should be overturned. ‘I do not support Roe v. Wade. It should be overturned,’ the
×
Sen. McCain says Roe v. Wade was a
“bad decision.”
In May 2007, during an appearance on Meet the Press,
Sen. McCain reiterated his support for overturning Roe v. Wade, saying, “I have stated time after time after
time that Roe v. Wade was a bad
decision, that I support a woman--the, the rights of the unborn.” [NBC
Meet the Press,
×
Sen. McCain claims ignorance about sex education and contraception.
Q: “What about grants for sex education in the
instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy,
which is just
abstinence?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I
think I support the president’s policy.”
Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think
contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”
Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”
[New York Times: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/mccain-stumbles-on-hiv-prevention/]
×
Sen. McCain opposed legislation requiring abstinence-only programs be medically
accurate,
and scientifically-based.
McCain voted NO on legislation that would help reduce the
number of teen pregnancies by requiring abstinence-only programs be medically
accurate/ scientifically-based, and by improving funding for programs to
teach comprehensive, medically accurate sexuality education and other programs
to prevent unintended teen pregnancies. [Lautenberg/Menendez Teen Pregnancy
Prevention Amendment, S.Amdt. 4689 to S. 403, vote
214,
×
Sen. McCain opposed $100 million to prevent unintended and teen pregnancies.
In 2005, McCain voted NO to allocate $100 million
to “expand access to preventive health care services that reduce
unintended pregnancy (including teen pregnancy), reduce the number of
abortions, and improve access to women's health care.” Funding could be
used for programs such as family planning services, teenage pregnancy
prevention programs, public education programs for
emergency contraception. [Appropriation
to expand access to preventive health care services; Senate Amendment 244 to S
Con Res 18; vote number 2005-75,
The Real Scoop on
John McCain
As part of its
effort to educate voters on Sen. John McCain’s anti-health care record,
Planned Parenthood Action Fund launched an online ad posted to the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel web site.
Why was
the online ad needed? Many voters, according to a report by NPR released last
week, still think that Sen. McCain supports abortion rights. Nothing could be
further from the truth. View Sen. McCain’s scorecard
from Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
McCain’s
views on a woman’s access to health care and safe, legal abortion
services are out of step with a majority of voters, according to two recent
polls conducted in 2007. In a Quinnipiac Poll, 62 percent of voters supported Roe v. Wade. In the same poll, by a
20-point margin, voters believe abortion should be legal (57–37); among
independent voters, that margin increases to 26 points (59–33). In a Mellman poll of 600
“Sen.
McCain believes government has the right to interfere with the most personal
and often the most difficult decisions affecting a women’s health,”
said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
“Most Americans believe just the opposite and, as more voters realize
Sen. McCain’s ardent anti-choice position, this will be an issue for him
in the general election.”
“The
more voters learn about Sen. McCain’s anti-women’s health record,
the more resistance he will face from the majority of voters, especially among
moderate Republicans and independents here in Wisconsin who support Roe v. Wade and affordable access to
family planning,” said Lisa Boyce, executive director of Planned
Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin (PPAWI).
McCain’s
Potential Impact on Wisconsin
A McCain
Administration would be bad news for the women of
In 1985,
pro-choice state legislators failed in their valiant attempts to repeal
the Criminal Abortion Statute (Wis. Stat. § 940.04). At that time, however, a
provision now contained in Wis. Stat. § 940.13 did pass, which removes the
fines and penalties for women, creating a legal conflict in the statutes and
requiring a court to weigh in on which statute should prevail. PPAWI Executive Director Lisa Boyce told the News Wire
that as long as § 940.04 remains on the books, women are at risk of
prosecution.
“While
some say the criminal abortion statute does not apply to women because of the
passage of § 940.13, § 940.04 still exists on the books and presents a conflict
that only a court could resolve,” said Boyce. “This is why we
need to pass the Women's Health and Safety Act now (Senate Bill 398/Assembly
Bill 749)—the best way to protect women from prosecution is to repeal the
statute altogether so there would be no question in a post-Roe world.”
PPAWI
Endorses
PPAWI is pleased to
announce its endorsement of Lena Taylor for Milwaukee County Executive.
Cervical Cancer Prevention Act
(Senate Bill 252/Assembly Bill 492)
This bill
would require the Department of Public Instruction and Department of Health and
Family Services (DHFS) to collect information on the Human Papilloma
Virus (HPV) and then make the information available to school districts. The information would then have to be given
to parents of students enrolled in grades 6-12. This important first step could
help prevent the spread of HPV and cervical cancer in
Compassionate Care for Rape
Victims (Senate Bill 129/Assembly Bill 377)
This bill, which recently passed both houses of the Wisconsin
Legislature, requires that hospitals providing emergency services to rape
victims give information about emergency contraception and dispense if
requested by the patient.
Birth Control Protection Act
(Senate Bill 232/Assembly Bill 467)
This bill
requires all
“One
look at Lena Taylor’s stellar women’s health care record tells you
what health care advocates of this state have long recognized—Lena Taylor
understands what we need to move Wisconsin forward. She’ll no doubt be
the same positive agent for change in
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