An open letter: "Yes, Virginia. There is a state more demeaning to women than you."

You’ve probably heard about the Virginia ultrasound bill that has been in the news.

But did you realize Pennsylvania has a bill pending that’s even worse? The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is poised to take up HB1077, the disingenuously titled “Women’s Right to Know Act”.

Are you ready to stop the cruel, demeaning attacks on women in Pennsylvania? Click here and urge your representative to vote NO on HB 1077 and stop this demeaning andunnecessary bill from becoming law in Pennsylvania. 

Don't let them shut down abortion access in PA!

It's shocking, but this is really happening.

When legislators return to Harrisburg this month, they will be considering legislation that would drastically chip away at access to safe, legal abortion in Pennsylvania. We need YOU to stand with us against their full-scale attack on women's health! Mark your calendar to join hundreds of women's health supporters at a historic rally in Harrisburg on September 27.

Need a ride to the rally? TODAY is the deadline to register for a spot on a bus. Click here to sign up today!

These dangerous bills could cause a public health crisis in Pennsylvania by making abortion care inaccessible in the state. We have seen this sort of dangerous legislation pass in other states - and we cannot let it happen here in Pennsylvania! Let's join together as a strong and unified voice, declaring to Pennsylvania - and the Nation - that we will not allow these attacks to continue.

Add your voice and join us in Harrisburg on September 27!

This IS really happening. Let's do everything we can in the precious little time we have to tell our legislators to STOP their dangerous attacks on women's health and rights. Let's let them know: We've had enough!

Today is the deadline to register for a ride on the bus to Harrisburg. Please, click here to join us.

We hope to see you there!

Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates
Keystone Progress

1000 Women Leaders say "We've had enough!"

We need your help. The Pennsylvania legislature is on the verge of passing new abortion regulations that are so burdensome that many safe, compassionate and pro-women providers are expected to close. Another bill that would prevent women from using their health insurance to cover abortion care is one step away from final passage. Another bill to force doctors to ask women to look at their ultrasound image and listen to a fetal heartbeat before abortion is waiting in the wings. In the meantime, women are suffering from a failing economy and a sluggish recovery that has not produced jobs for women; from widespread wage discrimination; from harassment, violence, and abuse; from hunger and poverty; from lack of health care; from a lack of affordable housing and transportation; and from inadequate support for their family responsibilities. Our state government’s answer to these real problems is, Let’s pass another abortion restriction!In fact, in the first six months of this year, the Pennsylvania legislature acted on anti-abortion legislation on fully one-third of its voting session days. Had enough? As a leader in your community, we are asking you to join the 1000 Women Leaders campaign to send a message to the Pennsylvania legislature that we’ve had enough. 1000 Women Leaders is a shared initiative of the Women’s Law Project and Pennsylvanians for Choice, a statewide coalition of reproductive health advocates and providers. Our goal is to shift the focus of our state government away from restricting abortion and toward solving the problems of real women in communities across the Commonwealth. How to participate: All we ask is that you add your name to the rapidly growing list of women leaders (see below) who think the Pennsylvania legislature should stop passing new abortion restrictions and start solving women’s real problems. We will share the list with these leaders at a rally at the state capitol scheduled for Tuesday, September 27th. We hope you’ll be there. Yes, please add my name to the 1000 Women Leaders List! If, in addition to lending the force of your name, you are also in a position to make a contribution, we will put all funds raised from the 1000 Women Leaders initiative into a paid media campaign to publicize our message. Contributions are tax-deductable. And if you’d like to spread the word to another woman whose name is missing from the 1000 Women Leaders list, please pass this message along through your networks. Also, if you would like to participate in our social media campaign and learn more about the rally on September 27th, visit www.wevehadenoughpa.org. The We’ve Had Enough campaign is also a project of Pennsylvanians for Choice and is committed to planning the September rally and educating Pennsylvanians about this dangerous legislation. 1000 Women Leaders (affiliations are listed for identification purposes only)

Amanda S. Aronoff, Executive Director WOMEN'S WAY Suzanne Sheehan Becker Jessica Beckett-McWalter, Esq. Kathy Black, President Philadelphia Coalition of Labor Union women Jen Boulanger Allentown Women's Center Jeanne K.C. Clark, Chair Shadyside Dems, Democratic Committee Seventh Ward, City of Pittsburgh Jennifer R. Clarke, Executive Director Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Melissa M. Craig Gerianne Tringali DiPiano, President & CEO FemmePharma Global Healthcare, Inc. Barbara Burgos DiTullio WomenVote PA Anna Doering AD Consulting Julie Drendall JoAnne A. Epps Nancy O'Mara Ezold, Esq. Sara K. Faisetty Allentown Women's Center Kristyn Felman, MPH, LSW Cynthia Figueroa Alma Speed Fox Susan Frietsche, Esq., Senior Staff Attorney Women's Law Project Terry Gillen Carol Goertzel, President & CEO Pathways PA Nancy Bregstein Gordon Brenda Green CHOICE PA Wendy Grube, Ph.D., CRNP Barbara Hafer Hafer and Associates, LLC Honorable Babette Josephs Pennsylvania House of Representatives Carol Ann Kell Eve Biskind Klothen Vicki W. Kramer V. Kramer & Associates Judith N. Lasker, Ph.D. Dept. Sociology & Anthropology, Lehigh University Roberta D. Liebenberg, Esq. Gail Lopez-Henriques, Esq. Carol A. Mager, Esq. Dorothy Mann Lynn A. Marks Tara Marks La'Tasha D. Mayes New Voices Pennsylvania: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice Kate Michelman, Former President NARAL Pro-Choice America Leslie Anne Miller, Esq., LLC Diane Mohney, Recording Secretary Philadelphia Coalition of Labor Union Women Dr. Lynne Ann Molter, Professor & Chair Dept. of Engineering, Swarthmore College Kimberly C. Oxholm Nancy Reese, Chief Creative Officer Akoya Sarah Ricks, Board of Trustees Women's Law Project Mary Catherine Roper, Staff Attorney American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania Judith A. Ruszkowski Margaret Sadler Susan Schewel, Executive Director Women's Medical Fund Carolyn Scott Dayle Steinberg, President & CEO Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania Sylvia Stengle Martha Swartz, Esq. Stella M. Tsai, Esq. Carol E. Tracy, Esq., Executive Director Women's Law Project Deborah A. Williq, Esq. Kathleen J. Wilson, Vice President Pennsylvania NOW

Statewide Coalition Condemns Proposed Abortion Ban

The following press release was sent to media throughout Pennsylvania on September 30, 2010 by Pennsylvanians for Choice. Pennsylvanians for Choice is a coalition of pro-choice organizations and their allies whose mission is to protect and enhance reproductive health care for all Pennsylvanians. Member organizations include: Pennsylvania NOW, Inc., the Women’s Law Project, Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union, WOMEN’S WAY, the Women’s Medical Fund, and CHOICE.

Pittsburgh, PA: Today Pennsylvanians for Choice, a statewide coalition of pro-choice organizations, denounced proposed legislation that would severely restrict access to abortion care in Pennsylvania. Senate Bill 1399, introduced by Senator Don White (R-11) would ban private insurance plans sold in Pennsylvania’s state exchange, created under health care reform, from covering even medically necessary abortion procedures.

“Today, most private insurance plans cover abortion care,” said Susan Frietsche, Senior Staff Attorney at the Women’s Law Project. “Senator White’s proposal would leave women worse off than they were before health care reform began.” Under Senator White’s bill, no abortion plan that contracts with the state exchange would be permitted to cover abortion except in the narrowest circumstances.


With an estimated 80% of private insurance plans currently covering abortion procedures, coalition spokespeople said that a ban of this magnitude would have a devastating effect on Pennsylvania women.


"Aside from having some of the oldest and most stringent abortion laws in the nation, Pennsylvania, like every other state, is bound by the Nelson abortion provision to the federal health care law,” said Sari Stevens, Executive Director of the Harrisburg-based Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates. Under the Nelson abortion provision, any health insurance plan that contracts with the exchange is required to implement a complex system of segregation to ensure no federal funds are used for abortion coverage - including the collection of two separate payments from the beneficiary, one for abortion coverage and one for all other health care coverage.

“Poll after poll shows that Pennsylvanians are not interested in reopening the debate around abortion. I urge Pennsylvania lawmakers to follow the lead of their constituents and support measures to prevent unintended pregnancy in the first place,” added Stevens. The insurance exchanges, slated to be available for enrollment in 2014, will serve those who do not have access to employer-based health plans including the unemployed and small business employees.


The proposed ban would deny insurance plans participating in the exchange from covering abortion care except in cases where the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or where the life of the woman is in danger. Frietsche pointed out that “in the Medicaid context, Pennsylvania courts have already ruled that it’s unconstitutional to make rape survivors jump through the kind of insulting and burdensome hoops this bill would create.” The bill would require rape survivors to “personally” report the crime and identify the assailant, if known, within 72 hours in order for their health insurance to cover an abortion procedure.


“The White bill is a throwback to the days when society blamed rape victims for somehow being responsible for the violence that was done to them,” Frietsche commented. “Pennsylvania lawmakers really should have moved beyond these gender stereotypes by now.”


“Instead of denying Pennsylvania women access to fundamental reproductive health care services, politicians should be working to protect and advance women’s health,” concluded Rebecca Foley of the Philadelphia-based nonprofit WOMEN’S WAY. “This proposed ban will leave many Pennsylvania women without coverage for safe, legal, and critical care.”

How are progressive organizations responding to Palin? NARAL

I’m heading home from Denver and my ears are still ringing from the roar of the crowd that celebrated this amazing moment in Mile-High Stadium. Sen. Barack Obama is the leader our country needs right now - and I can’t wait to get home to start the final leg of our fight to put him into the White House.

And now we know what we’re up against, with Sen. John McCain’s announcement moments ago that anti-choice Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is his pick for vice president.

By picking Palin, we now risk having two anti-choice extremists who will push a rigid anti-choice agenda. Any remaining doubts about McCain’s extreme anti-choice position should be put to rest when voters learn about the combined anti-choice records of Palin and McCain.

Speak out for the future of a woman’s right to choose by making a donation to NARAL Pro-Choice America to help elect Sen. Obama.

We must reach hundreds of thousands of Independent and Republican pro-choice women in suburban and exurban swing districts this fall - and we need your help to do it.

Palin is not just anti-choice, she’s opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. [Juneau Empire, “Abortion Draws Clear Divide in State Races,” accessed 8/29/08 and Anchorage Daily News, “Governor’s Race: Top contenders meet one last time to debate,” 11/03/06.] Palin is also a member of the anti-choice group Feminists for Life.

We can’t let McCain-Palin continue George Bush’s rigid and extreme anti-choice legacy.

Help defeat John McCain and Sarah Palin, and help NARAL Pro-Choice America protect choice at every level. Donate today.

Thank you for everything that you do.
My best,

Nancy KeenanPresident, NARAL Pro-Choice America