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
Monday, September 19, 2011
Don't let them shut down abortion access in PA!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Progressive Groups Stand United In Support Of Planned Parenthood
Washington, DC -- Today, Media Matters Action Network joined 26 progressive organizations in sending a letter to members of Congress to express their “opposition to any effort to defund Planned Parenthood.” Planned Parenthood has come under attack from conservatives after Lila Rose, an Andrew Breitbart-promoted videographer, presented heavily edited video she claims proves the organization engaged in systemic criminal activities.
The letter reads, in part:
These attacks are not about the issue of choice. Instead they are designed to systematically vilify and destroy institutions dedicated to helping America’s most vulnerable citizens with "evidence" that does not support their claims. They're about disempowering those who don’t share their world view. And they're about intimidating those in desperate need of help.
BACKGROUND
This week, Rose’s organization, Live Action, released the latest in a series of heavily edited videos that it claims exposes what the group calls “Planned Parenthood’s cover-up of child sex trafficking.” Of course, that isn’t the case at all. Planned Parenthood had already reported the “potential sex trafficking” to law enforcement officials.
That’s why Media Matters Action Network has joined 26 organizations, including EMILY’s List, People For The American Way, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Service Employees International Union in standing united against any effort to defund Planned Parenthood.
The full text of the letter reads:
Dear Members of Congress,
Right-wing groups are once again attempting to destroy an organization dedicated to providing crucial primary care services to Americans that need them most. Armed with heavily edited videos, countless lies, and a shameless echo chamber that repeats unfounded accusations ad nauseam, they’ve now turned their sights to Planned Parenthood, which offers a range of important health and reproductive services that help both women and men prevent unintended pregnancies and provide screenings for cervical and other cancers.
We are writing to inform you that our organizations stand united in opposition to any effort to defund Planned Parenthood.
These attacks are not about the issue of choice. Instead they are designed to systematically vilify and destroy institutions dedicated to helping America’s most vulnerable citizens with "evidence" that does not support their claims. They're about disempowering those who don’t share their world view. And they're about intimidating those in desperate need of help.
Your constituents sent you to Washington to be a strong advocate for their interests and stand up for the quintessential American values of justice and fairness -- and this latest digital witch hunt is neither just nor fair.
Sincerely,
Julian Bond, Board Chairman Emeritus, NAACP
Accountable America
African American Ministers in Action
Alliance for Justice
Center for Community Change
Center for Media & Democracy
Common Cause
Courage Campaign
CREDO Action
Demos
EMILY's List
Feminist Majority Foundation
Friends of the Earth
Keystone Progress
Media Matters Action Network
Midwest Academy
MoveOn.org Political Action
NARAL Pro-Choice America
National People's Action
People For the American Way
ProgressNow
Project Vote
Public Campaign
Service Employees International Union
Sierra Club
USAction
Voices for Progress
###
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Planned Parenthood Statement on Virginia Videotapes
Statement by Stuart Schear, Vice President for Communications, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, on Virginia video tapes released by Live Action:
Today, Live Action, an anti-abortion groups led by Lila Rose, a self-described “extremist”[1], who has called for abortions to take place in public[2] and has vowed to “take down” Planned Parenthood, released videotapes secretly taped at Planned Parenthood Health Centers in Virginia.
In a recent round of secret videotaping in January 2011, at least four health centers in Virginia received visits in a short period of time from persons claiming to be involved in the sex trade, involving vulnerable minors. Local authorities, as well as federal authorities, were alerted to these visits. In this morning’s publicized tape, the Planned Parenthood staff member reacted professionally to a highly unusual person posing as a patient. After the encounter, the staff member immediately notified her supervisor, who subsequently notified members of Planned Parenthood’s national security team, who are working with the FBI, which is investigating these visits.
It is clear that Live Action is coordinating its activities to support legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to defund Planned Parenthood by stripping it of Title X family planning funding, which Planned Parenthood’s local affiliates receive to provide low-income women with birth control, family planning, and preventive care, including lifesaving screenings for breast and cervical cancer.
In the past, Live Action has heavily edited tapes to create the impression that Planned Parenthood staff are not acting professionally or following the law. Planned Parenthood’s first analysis is that this new tape from Virginia is edited, and we believe the members of the press should be able to view the raw, unedited footage of any tapes that have been made public.
[1] http://articles.latimes.com/
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Friday, October 22, 2010
12 organization enthusiastically endorsing progressive candidates
These 12 leading progressive groups are working together to assure victory for progressive candidates. Check out the endorsements of over 200 candidates across PA.
www.paprogressivevotersguide.org
Friday, October 1, 2010
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.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Coalition of Progressive Groups Announces First Gubernatorial Debate
Coalition of Progressive Groups Announces First Gubernatorial Debate
All five major Democratic candidates have agreed to face off on January 29, 2010
(HARRISBURG, PA)—A coalition of self-described progressive organizations is hosting the first debate of the 2010 race for governor as a part of the Pennsylvania Progressive Summit. All five Democratic candidates have agreed to participate.
Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, Philadelphia Businessman Tom Knox, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Auditor General Jack Wagner will face questions from an audience made up of progressive activists and leaders from across the state. Tom Corbett and Jim Gerlach were invited to participate but have not yet responded.
The debate will be held on January 29, 2010 at 7:00 PM at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey on Lindle Rd. in Swatara Township. It will be hosted by a coalition of progressive organizations, including Keystone Progress, the Service Employees International Union PA State Council, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, Alliance for American Manufacturing, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776, Planned Parenthood PA Advocates, United Steelworkers, and PennAction. Dozens of other organizations are already part of the planning process for the debate.
“We are excited about the impact that our gubernatorial debate will have,” said Eileen Connelly, Executive Director of SEIU PA State Council. “Since this is likely to be the first debate, the progressive community will help to set the agenda for the entire campaign.”
Questions will come from the sponsoring organizations and from the audience, which will be made up of participants in the Pennsylvania Progressive Summit. Hundreds of progressive grassroots and netroots leaders and activists will be gathering the weekend of the debate to network and discuss the progressive agenda for 2010.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Philly to Palin: The Irish Pub is not foreign policy experience
www.keystoneprogress.org
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Planned Parenthood Action Fund: McCain will say anything to get elected
Asks McCain Campaign to Pull Down Misleading Attack Ad
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund calls on the McCain-Palin campaign to immediately pull down their dishonest ad attacking Senator Barack Obama for supporting a bill intended to help protect children from sexual predators. The ad is doubly misleading because it misrepresents the substance of the bill. In 2003, Planned Parenthood worked with Illinois state legislators to introduce the bill highlighted in Senator McCain's negative ad. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund also released it's own ad in response to the McCain campaign's false and dishonest attack ad against Sen. Obama. The ad, called "Another Politician," sets the record straight on Obama's support for a bill intended to help children recognize inappropriate touching and highlights John McCain's propensity to play loose with the facts.
"John McCain's latest ad is yet another example that he will say anything to get elected," said Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards. "In ad after ad, he's made false statements and twisted the facts. In this case, he is dishonestly attacking Senator Obama and distorting a bill that Planned Parenthood helped introduce in the Illinois State Legislature and which was intended to protect children.
In January 2008, Mitt Romney echoed a similar sentiment, telling FOX News, "I think Senator McCain is willing to say anything to try and get elected. He's been looking for this job for a long, long time."
Illinois State SB 99, the bill that the McCain campaign highlights in their negative ad, states "Course material and instruction shall teach pupils to not make unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances and how to say no to unwanted sexual advances and shall include information about verbal, physical, and visual sexual harassment, including without limitation nonconsensual sexual advances, nonconsensual physical sexual contact, and rape by an acquaintance." Planned Parenthood along with other health care advocacy and education groups, including the Illinois Parent Teacher Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, and the Illinois Public Health Association, supported the bill that would have taught kindergartners how to recognize inappropriate touching and how to defend against sexual predators.
Yesterday, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund sent a letter to McCain-Palin campaign manager Steve Schmidt, asking that the dishonest ad immediately be taken off the air.
"We are asking the McCain campaign to take down their attack ad because it is patently false and dishonest. The American public deserve better," said Richards. "Until the McCain campaign pulls its ad, Planned Parenthood will run its ad to set the record straight." CQ reports that the McCain campaign "did not respond to questions about the ad, including whether McCain thinks it is bad for young children to learn in school about how to avoid predators." Planned Parenthood's ad will air in the markets where the McCain campaign's dishonest ad is airing, currently in the Pittsburgh and Denver markets.
Several analyses and fact checks of the McCain campaign's attack ad have criticized the ad, finding that it is a "factual failure" and "seriously distort(s) the record."
The New York Times: McCain's ad "distorts" Obama's record: The New York Times reports that McCain's ad "severely distorts" Obama's record and is "recycling old and discredited arguments." The Times goes on to report that "The advertisement, then, also misrepresents what the bill meant by "comprehensive." The instruction the bill required was comprehensive in that it called for a curriculum that went from kindergarten and through high school, not in the sense that kindergarteners would have been fully exposed to the entire gamut of sex-related issues." [The New York Times, 9/11/08]
The Washington Post: The McCain ad "fails test": The Washington Post examined the "education" ad created by McCain and said that political ads "should not misrepresent the record of the other side and should clearly distinguish quotes from non-partisan news sources from standard political rhetoric. The McCain 'education' ad fails this test." [The Washington Post, 9/11/08]
Factcheck.org: McCain ad is a "Factual Failure": Factcheck.org writes, "A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's 'one accomplishment' in the area of education was 'legislation to teach "comprehensive sex education" to kindergarteners.' But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004. Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only 'age appropriate' material and a no-questions-asked opt-out policy for parents, was not his accomplishment to claim in any case, since he was not even a cosponsor – and the bill never left the state Senate." [Factcheck.org; 9/10/08]
Congressional Quartely: McCain makes "dubious" claims about Obama's character. CQ writes, "McCain appears to be banking on the assumption that he has enough credibility with voters that he can maintain their faith in his character even if he makes dubious claims about Obama's…. [T]he underlying suggestion of 'Education' -- that Obama favors teaching 5-year-olds the kind of sex ed taught to high school students -- is a significant stretch." [CQ, 9/11/08]
"Another Politician" Ad
backup:http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/images/091208_Another_Politician_Backup.pdf
Planned Parenthood Action Fund letter to McCain-Palin campaign:http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/files/091108_Letter_to_McCain_on_Ad.pdf
http://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/
Sunday, August 31, 2008
How are progressive organizations responding to Palin? Planned Parenthood
Yesterday morning, on my way back from the high of the Democratic National Convention, I learned that Sen. John McCain chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential pick. Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Stop Bush's Sellout of Women's Health
Planned Parenthood is gravely concerned that the Bush administration is considering a new HHS rule that would undermine women's access to health care and information. The rule would allow federal funding that is specifically designed to prevent unintended pregnancy and promote reproductive health to instead be used by facilities and providers that refuse to offer comprehensive birth control and reproductive health care services.
This proposed rule will put women's access to birth control and the information they need to make health care decisions at risk. The proposed rule will radically redefine abortion to include some of the most common and effective methods of birth control. As a result, women's ability to manage their own health care is at risk of being compromised by politics and ideology.
We have a chance to stop it. Please complete the form below to say "no" to President Bush's massive family planning sell-out. Thank you.