By: Marieke van Rijn, Advocacy and Communications Intern
Our 100% pro-choice candidate of the day is Atif Qarni. Qarni is a former Marine and is currently an 8th grade math teacher at Beville Middle School in Prince William County who is running to represent District 13 in the Virginia House of Delegates. Qarni, a first time candidate, is running to defeat extreme anti-choice incumbent Bob Marshall. Qarni is a 100% pro-choice candidate because he believes that family planning decisions are personal and not something for the government to be involved inImage. If elected, Qarni promises to fight those who target Planned Parenthood and those who try to restrict access to contraception, prenatal care, and other health services for women. Qarni’s opponent Bob Marshall is in his 11th term and has been serving in the House of Delegates since 1991. During his tenure, Marshall has made pushing his anti-choice stance a priority, so much so that the mainstream Republican party regularly pressures him to back off on his extremism. Marshall is the author of the state’s fetal personhood bill and has stated that he doesn’t care if his anti-choice stance could stall or kill an important bill, because he puts his anti-choice stance above all else. With the federal government having been just shut down as a result of representatives putting their extreme anti-choice stances ahead of funding the government, electing someone who is willing to take similar actions in the General Assembly would just be absurd. Atif Qarni will focus on problem-solving, not creating problems by keeping women from being able to make their own medical decisions. We strongly encourage you to donate your time, money or resources to his campaign to ensure that Marshall will not use his anti-choice stance to obstruct the House of Delegates from properly governing Virginia.
http://prochoiceva.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/pro-choice-candidate-profile-atif-qarni-district-13/
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