Planned Parenthood Action Fund Comment On Georgia’s 6th Congressional Race
For Immediate Release: April 19, 2017
Jon Ossoff Receives a Plurality of the Vote, Run Off Against Ousted Susan G. Komen Executive Karen Handel
Atlanta, Georgia - Planned Parenthood Action Fund congratulates Jon Ossoff on receiving a plurality of the vote in the special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. Because Georgia law requires a majority of vote, the race will go to a runoff against Former Georgia Secretary of State and ousted Susan G. Komen executive Karen Handel.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsed Jon Ossoff for Georgia's 6th Congressional District because he has been fighting to protect access to reproductive health care throughout his career. The Action Fund invested in a six-figure campaign in support of Jon Ossoff. Digital ads complemented a ground effort which has reached over 15,000 people in door-to-door canvasses and over 70,000 people in a mail campaign. The banner and video ads lifted up Jon Ossoff’s strong record on protecting women’s health and rights and how he would be a champion for women in Washington, DC.
Quote from Deirdre Schifeling, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:
Today, Georgians sent a message: they want reproductive health care champions, like Jon Ossoff, in Washington, DC. Women marched to the polls to elect a candidate who will make protecting women’s programs and access to healthcare a top priority.
Candace Fowler, Board Chair, Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates:
It was clear in our conversations with more than 15,000 Georgian voters that Georgians want leaders fierce and proven champion for women and families, like Jon Ossoff. Jon Ossoff is the only candidate we trust to fight attacks on access to care at Planned Parenthood health centers, which thousands of Georgia women rely on for birth control, STD testing and treatment, and cancer screenings.
Extreme politicians in DC are mounting the biggest attack on women’s health in a generation, and blocking access to care at Planned Parenthood health centers is their top priority. Week after week, politicians in DC are pushing to eliminate women’s programs and “defund” Planned Parenthood. What is at stake is the basic right of women to access health care without interference from politicians.
Anti-women’s health care extremist Karen Handel will run against Ossoff in the run off. Handel does not understand what’s at stake for Georgia women and families, campaigning on an extreme agenda of blocking access to care at Planned Parenthood health centers and believing government should intervene in women’s health care decisions. As the senior vp of public policy of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Handel drove the decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. Called “one of the great PR faux pas of the decade,” it cost Komen $77 million, or 22% of the foundation’s income, collected via contributions, sponsorships and entry fees for its sponsored races in 2012, compared to the year before according to the Los Angeles Times.