False attacks to the contrary, women who are committed to Barack's candidacy can be confident that he is equally committed to our reproductive rights.
Days before the New Hampshire primary the Clinton campaign put out a piece of mail questioning Barack's record on choice in the Illinois state senate. Though leaders in the choice community have repeatedly asserted that he has been a loyal ally and partner in protecting women's health, the Clinton campaign continues with its spurious charges.
One Clinton supporter was so offended by the dishonesty of these attacks that she is now supporting Senator Obama. A mail piece explains her decision to withdraw her support.
Yesterday, leaders from Planned Parenthood in Illinois and grateful advocates from other states held a call with press to once again commend Barack's true record. Several news outlets covered the call: the Boston Globe, Time magazine's blog, and the Chicago Tribune, excerpted below.
The Swamp – Chicago Tribune By Mike DorningApparently sharing the conclusion of several analysts that Barack Obama was wounded in New Hampshire in part by direct-mail literature questioning his commitment to abortion rights, the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign launched a new effort shore up his abortion-rights bona fides with a conference call a few minutes ago.The literature against Obama has focused on a series of “present” votes Obama cast as a state legislator on controversial measures to restrict abortion rights. A present vote allows a legislator to avoid a public stand for or against a measure. The Clinton campaign and two pro-abortion rights groups supportive of her candidacy—EMILY’s List and National Organization for Women—have used those votes to question Obama’s commitment to abortion rights...Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, vouched again in the conference call that Obama’s present votes were made a the request of Illinois abortion-rights advocates.“It was our strategy from Planned Parenthood,” Sutherland said.“Sen. Obama was key to that present-vote strategy,” She continued. “He was always gong to be no votes on all of these bills. But we specifically asked him to vote present because he was so respected among his fellow Democrats that, if he did the present vote, they would follow suit. And that ended up being the case. They did follow suit. And not only did many of the Democrats follow suit. So did a couple of Republicans follow suit."“It actually worked, because the then-Senate President was no longer able to use these votes against candidates in their races,” Sutherland added.Jan Nicolay, co-chair of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, also vouched for Obama’s pro-abortion-rights commitment, saying he was the only one of the presidential candidates to send money to aide with a ballot initiative to overturn a nearly complete ban on abortion that the South Dakota legislature passed.
The Swamp – Chicago Tribune
By Mike Dorning
Apparently sharing the conclusion of several analysts that Barack Obama was wounded in New Hampshire in part by direct-mail literature questioning his commitment to abortion rights, the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign launched a new effort shore up his abortion-rights bona fides with a conference call a few minutes ago.
The literature against Obama has focused on a series of “present” votes Obama cast as a state legislator on controversial measures to restrict abortion rights. A present vote allows a legislator to avoid a public stand for or against a measure. The Clinton campaign and two pro-abortion rights groups supportive of her candidacy—EMILY’s List and National Organization for Women—have used those votes to question Obama’s commitment to abortion rights...
Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, vouched again in the conference call that Obama’s present votes were made a the request of Illinois abortion-rights advocates.
“It was our strategy from Planned Parenthood,” Sutherland said.
“Sen. Obama was key to that present-vote strategy,” She continued. “He was always gong to be no votes on all of these bills. But we specifically asked him to vote present because he was so respected among his fellow Democrats that, if he did the present vote, they would follow suit. And that ended up being the case. They did follow suit. And not only did many of the Democrats follow suit. So did a couple of Republicans follow suit."
“It actually worked, because the then-Senate President was no longer able to use these votes against candidates in their races,” Sutherland added.
Jan Nicolay, co-chair of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families, also vouched for Obama’s pro-abortion-rights commitment, saying he was the only one of the presidential candidates to send money to aide with a ballot initiative to overturn a nearly complete ban on abortion that the South Dakota legislature passed.
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