West Virginia: Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Announces 2018 General Election Candidate Endorsements

CHARLESTON, WV — Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic (PPVSAT) is proud to announce our endorsement of 6 pro-women’s health candidates for the 2018 general election. After the primary, PPVSAT endorsed an additional four candidates in the WV House of Delegates and two candidates in the WV Senate.

President Trump’s announcement of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh last month confirms that the right to access affordable health care is on the line, including in West Virginia. President Trump has made his litmus test crystal clear: he would only appoint biased justices who would strike down the Affordable Care Act, leaving millions without health care. Kavanaugh has a history of criticizing the Affordable Care Act and has questioned its constitutionality.

If confirmed, Kavanaugh would likely vote in a case that could take away health insurance coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, such as opioid addiction, cancer, diabetes, or even pregnancy -- that’s half of all West Virginians who have pre-existing conditions. More than 23,000 Planned Parenthood activists and supporters live in West Virginia and are poised to fight Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination and any Supreme Court nominee who does not affirm their commitment to uphold access to affordable health care.

“Kavanaugh’s nomination threatens to disproportionately impact our patients who already face systemic barriers to quality health care,” Alisa Clements, PPVSAT WV Director of Public Affairs, said. “We know that access to these fundamental services hangs in the balance until we have a pro-women’s health majority in the West Virginia legislature that represents the interests of all of the patients we serve, and believes in the constitutional right to bodily autonomy and self-determination.

“During this critical election year, PPVSAT endorsed a slate of candidates who can be counted on to protect and 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.

Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Newly Endorsed Candidates in the 2018 General Election:

WV House Districts
Jim Marion (HD-9)
Matthew Kerner (HD-45)
David Dinges (HD-66)
John Doyle (HD-67)

WV Senate Districts
Denny Longwell (SD-2)
Stephanie Zucker (SD-14)

Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic Previously Endorsed 2018 Candidates:

WV House Districts
Sean Hornbuckle (HD-16)
Jeanette M. Rowsey (HD-17)
Lacy Watson (HD-27)
Amanda Estep-Burton (HD-36)
Larry L. Rowe (HD-36)
Mike Pushkin (HD-37)
Tom Tull (HD-38)
Cody H. Thompson (HD-43)
Ed Larry (HD-47)
Mike Caputo (HD-50)
Barbara Evans Fleischauer (HD-51)
Evan Hansen (HD-51)
Rodney A. Pyles (HD-51)
Danielle Walker (HD-51)
Sammi Brown (HD-65)

WV Senate Districts
Bob Beach (SD-13)

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