Planned Parenthood Action Fund Launches Radio Ads in Districts Where Members Voted to Bar Planned Parenthood from Providing Preventive Health Services Through Federal Programs

Ad Highlights That Congress Members Voted Against Women’s Health

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced today it is immediately launching radio ads in eight Congressional districts to highlight House members’ votes to bar Planned Parenthood from providing preventive health services through federal programs. The failed proposal would have taken the most basic care away from millions of women who rely on Planned Parenthood’s health centers.

Here is a transcript of the radio ad.

“Americans need to know that members of Congress who voted against Planned Parenthood were voting against access to basic and preventive health care, like Pap tests, cancer screenings and birth control,” said Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

The radio spot, titled “Courtney’s Story,” features a woman recounting how Planned Parenthood gave her the basic care she needed to stay healthy and have a son. The full ad script is below.

The ads are running in the congressional districts of Reps. Allen West (FL-22), Joe Walsh (IL-08), Randy Hultgren (IL-14), Frank Guinta (NH-01), Ann Marie Buerkle (NY-25), Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08), Pat Meehan (PA-07), and Mark Critz (PA-12).

“Courtney’s story is the story of women we see every year,” said Richards. “That’s why we are educating the public about how some members of Congress voted to deny Courtney and women like her access to basic, preventive health care.”

Three million patients receive care from Planned Parenthood each year, and one woman in five has received care from Planned Parenthood at some point.

More than 90 percent of the health care Planned Parenthood provides — and 100 percent of the care it provides through federal programs — is preventive. Every year, Planned Parenthood’s doctors and nurses carry out nearly one million screenings for cervical cancer and 830,000 breast exams. Its health centers also provide affordable birth control to nearly 2.5 million patients and perform nearly four million tests for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representative passed, but the U.S. Senate rightly rejected, an extreme proposal to bar Planned Parenthood from providing preventive health service including birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and STI (including HIV) testing to patients who are covered by Medicaid and other federal programs.

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Radio Script:

Radio Ad: “Courtney’s Story”

V/O: For more than 90 years, Planned Parenthood has provided vital basic health care for women and families. Here’s Courtney’s story.

Courtney: I have endometrioses, which is something that frequently causes infertility. I’ve always known that one of my biggest life goals was to be a mom. If I had not been able to go to Planned Parenthood, I don’t think I could have afforded the medication I needed.

V/O: But Congressman [XXX] voted to betray Courtney and the thousands of women and families in [state] who rely on Planned Parenthood.

Courtney: When I needed the care, Planned Parenthood was able to provide that for me. Had Planned Parenthood not been there, I don’t think I could have maintained my health enough to have my son. It’s frightening to think that a service like that could be taken away from other women.

V/O: Call Congressman [XXX] at [number] and ask him why he voted to cut the breast exams, Pap tests, and birth control that [state] women count on. Paid for by Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Learn more at plannedparenthoodaction.org.