ICYMI: Planned Parenthood Advocacy and Political Organizations Engage Hundreds of Supporters at Spelhouse Homecoming

More than 400 Georgians pledge to vote in this year’s midterm elections

ATLANTA — Last weekend, Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations attended the 2022 Spelhouse Student Tailgate Experience where more than 400 Georgia voters pledged to vote for candidates who will protect abortion rights.

The annual HBCU homecoming brings together thousands of students, alumni, and supporters of Spelman and Morehouse Colleges in Atlanta to celebrate these historic institutions. With Election Day less than 20 days away and the future of abortion access on the line, Planned Parenthood Votes joined in the action on Saturday to mobilize this key demographic to support the reproductive rights champions on the ballot.

Planned Parenthood Votes’ colorful “Take Control”-branded food truck was a major hit, serving up berry and chocolate hazelnut beignets.Planned Parenthood Votes and Planned Parenthood Action Fund organizers and volunteers passed out swag and engaged with scores of Spelman and Morehouse students and alumni who overwhelmingly expressed their excitement to vote in the upcoming election — with many reporting they had already cast their early ballots.

Photos by @MikeD.ShotMe

As evidenced by poll after poll and confirmed by Spelhouse supporters, abortion is a key motivating issue for voters: Of the 436 pledges to vote collected on Saturday, 380 were from new supporters.

Restoring and protecting abortion access is personal to Georgians who have been forced to live under Gov. Brian Kemp’s six-week abortion ban since July, when it was allowed to take effect for the first time since Kemp signed it into law in 2019. For more than three months now, people past the earliest stages of pregnancy have been completely cut off from essential health care in their state.

At Spelhouse, organizers talked to a recent Morehouse graduate who said he was outraged by the state’s abortion ban, especially knowing the statistics around Black maternal health: In Georgia, Black women experience maternal mortality and pregnancy complications at a rate more than two times that of white women.

Statement from Jamesa Bailey, director of Black campaigns, Planned Parenthood Votes:

“HBCU homecoming is a cultural experience like no other, and the importance of being in community with Black folks in a post-Roe Georgia ahead of this critical election cannot be overstated. The energy on the ground at Spelhouse further proved what we already know: Georgians are fired up and ready to vote for candidates like Stacey Abrams and Rev. Raphael Warnock who will work to restore, protect and expand their fundamental freedoms, including the right to abortion.”

Statement from Amy Kennedy, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes in Georgia:

“Georgians know exactly what is at stake in this year’s midterms. They have been living with the consequences of failed leaders like Brian Kemp who put politics over people for far too long. Planned Parenthood Votes will continue to educate, organize, and mobilize Georgians to the polls in this consequential election for reproductive freedom and our ability to control our own bodies. We will do everything in our power to ensure every voter knows exactly who will defend their rights and who will try to undermine them.”

The Spelhouse activation is part of Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations’ 2022 electoral program, “Take Control,” which represents the groups’ largest-ever investment in an electoral cycle. The program will help elect champions for sexual and reproductive health care and rights, including abortion, up and down the ballot and all across the country. The strategic investments will focus on states positioned to either restrict or expand access to sexual and reproductive health care.

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Planned Parenthood Votes is an independent expenditure political committee registered with the Federal Election Commission and an independent committee registered with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.