Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC Pre-Lt. Governor’s Debate Memo

From Planned Parenthood Virginia:

TO:  Interested Parties
FROM: Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC, Cianti Stewart-Reid
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 2013
RE: Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC Pre-Lt. Governor’s Debate Memo

KEN CUCCINELLI AND E.W. JACKSON SHARE THE SAME EXTREME, OUT-OF-TOUCH VIEWS

In advance of the first lieutenant governor debate, I wanted to ensure that you have information about E.W. Jackson’s extreme views on women’s health and economic security that he shares with his running mate Ken Cuccinelli. The next lieutenant governor will most likely become the tiebreaking vote in the state senate. Ken Cuccinelli knows that if he wins, he needs E.W. Jackson as lieutenant governor to advance their extreme agenda for Virginia women – that is why the two have continued to campaign together at the top of the Virginia ticket. I hope you’ll consider including the health and economic impact that their extreme positions would have on Virginia women and families in your coverage of the debate.

KEN CUCCINELLI AND E.W. JACKSON’S EXTREME AGENDA FOR VIRGINIA WOMEN:

Both candidates are on a crusade to restrict access to safe and legal abortion.

·         Ken Cuccinelli has compared his ideological crusade to outlaw safe and legal abortion to the fight against slavery, a comparison that E.W. Jackson has stepped in to defend [WJLA, 3/19/13].

·         Ken Cuccinelli has co-sponsored and supported so-called “personhood” legislation that if enacted could interfere in personal and private medical decisions relating to safe and legal abortion and has said that his “ultimate goal” is to make abortion disappear in America [HB 2797, 2007].

·         E.W. Jackson has called for a fight to end all abortions.

A majority of Virginians support access to safe and legal abortion and oppose efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade.

·         In Virginia, 63 percent of voters believe abortion should remain legal in at least some or all cases. This is consistent with aQuinnipiac poll that found 63 percent of American voters agree with the Roe v. Wade ruling.

·         According to a Gallup poll of voters in 12 swing states (including Virginia), 39 percent of women cited abortion as the most important election issue for women. Women who cited abortion preferred Obama by a 3-1 margin. 

Both candidates oppose expanding access to affordable birth control.

·         Ken Cuccinelli has called the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit a “sterilization mandate” that people should be willing to “go to jail” to fight and as a state senator, voted against a measure that would have specified that contraception does not constitute abortion.

·         E.W. Jackson has said that the birth control benefit forces people to give out “abortion pills,” despite scientific evidence that emergency contraception (also called “the morning-after pill”), prevents pregnancy after sex. It does not cause an abortion.

A majority of Americans support the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit.

·         Seven in ten Americans (70 percent) believe that health insurance companies should be required to cover the full cost of birth control, just as they do for other preventive services.

Access to birth control is not just a health issue, it’s an economic issue.

·         58 percent of pill users cite noon-contraceptive health benefits as a contributing factor to using birth control, such as treating endometriosis, a leading cause of infertility in women.

·         More than a third of female voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control at some point in their lives, and as a result, used birth control inconsistently. That figure rises dramatically to 55 percent of women aged 18-34.

·         Availability of the pill is responsible for a third of women’s wage increases relative to men.

Both candidates want to defund Planned Parenthood health centers and cut off Virginia women from their preventive care services like birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings.

·         Ken Cuccinelli offered a budget amendment that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood health centers, in addition to thousands of dollars from the state budget dedicated to women’s health [HB 30, 2008, Amendment #2], and wrote a 2008 letter to the editor, in which he claimed Planned Parenthood is “all about abortion” and compared Planned Parenthood’s critical sex education programs to a marketing campaign [Virginian-Pilot, 3/7/08].

·         E.W. Jackson has made permanently defunding Planned Parenthood a part of his campaign platform and has even compared Planned Parenthood to a well-known, violent hate group [Politico, 5/19/13].

More than 24,000 women and men across Virginia come to Planned Parenthood health centers every year – not to make a political statement, but to get high-quality, affordable health care.

·         Planned Parenthood’s seven health centers in Virginia see 17,793 patients for birth control information and services, and conduct more than 7,500 breast exams and cervical cancer screenings.

·         One in five women in the U.S. has visited a Planned Parenthood health center at least once in her life.

·         More than 90 percent of the services Planned Parenthood health centers provide are preventive (cancer screenings, STD tests, birth control, etc.).

THE BOTTOM LINE IS: KEN CUCCINELLI NEEDS E.W JACKSON TO ADVANCE AN EXTREME ANTI-WOMEN’S HEALTH AGENDA THAT WOULD BE DISASTROUS FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH IN VIRGINIA.

“The stakes for Virginia women are high this election. Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam will work to protect and advance women’s rights in the commonwealth, not take us backwards. Virginia cannot risk Ken Cuccinelli and his extreme running mates who if elected would be disastrous for women’s health and economic security in Virginia,” saidExecutive Director of Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC, Cianti Stewart-Reid. 

# # #

Paid for by Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC.

Authorized by Terry McAuliffe, candidate for Governor.

Authorized by Ralph Northam, candidate for Lt. Governor.