Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Announces First Round of 2018 West VirginiaEndorsements
For Immediate Release: April 23, 2018 (Updated: April 23, 2018, 6:23 p.m.)
CHARLESTON, W.V. — Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic (PPVSAT) is proud to announce our first round of candidate endorsements for the 2018 midterm election cycle. The PPVSAT board oversees the endorsement process and assesses candidates based on their positions on reproductive health issues, including access to birth control, evidence based sex education and safe, legal abortion services.
During the 2018 legislative session, 14 anti-abortion bills were introduced to chip away at access to safe, legal abortion care, including the most egregious attack we’ve seen on women in West Virginia to date. In the final weeks of the 60-day legislative session, anti-women’s health politicians passed an anti-abortion ballot measure that aims to ban safe, legal abortion as a range of reproductive health services covered under the state’s Medicaid program, as well as enact a complete ban on safe, legal abortion services in the state. During the midterm election in November, West Virginians will now cast their vote on a ballot question that aims to ban safe, legal abortion. PPVSAT proudly endorsed seven incumbent primary candidates who all voted against the anti-abortion ballot measure.
As a result of these attacks on access to lifesaving reproductive health care, Planned Parenthood has seen an outpouring of support in the form of donations, volunteer activism and grassroots mobilization. More than 23,000 Planned Parenthood activists and supporters live in West Virginia.
“Women, men and young people of West Virginia don’t want to see the clock rolled back any further on access to reproductive health care in our state,” Alisa Clements, West Virginia Director of Public Affairs, said. “A PPVSAT endorsement sends a strong signal to pro-women’s health voters that these candidates can be counted on to promote access to basic reproductive health care such as birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings and family planning in the state legislature, and that they support a woman’s right to make her own deeply personal pregnancy decisions, no matter what.”
PPVSAT is the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT), engaging in voter education, lobbying work and advocating for public policies that will protect and expand access to the range of reproductive health services PPSAT provides in our Vienna health center.
PPVSAT will announce additional candidate endorsements following the West Virginia primary on Tuesday, May 8.
Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Endorsed Candidates in the 2018 Primary Election:
WV Senate Districts
Carla J. Jones (SD-2)
WV House Districts
Jeanette M. Rowsey (HD-17)
Lacy Watson (HD-27)
Amanda Estep-Burton (HD-36)
Tom Tull (HD-38)
Monica Addington (HD-41)
Cody H. Thompson (HD-43)
Ed Larry (HD-47)
Evan Hansen (HD-51)
Danielle Walker (HD-51)
Sammi Brown (HD-65)
Incumbent Endorsements
WV Senate District
Bob Beach (SD-13)
WV House District
Sean Hornbuckle (HD-16)
Larry L. Rowe (HD-36)
Mike Pushkin (HD-37)
Mike Caputo (HD-50)
Barbara Evans Fleischauer (HD-51)
Rodney A. Pyles (HD-51)