Planned Parenthood Supporters Rallied Over the Weekend

Washington- This past weekend, Planned Parenthood patients and supporters organized rallies in more than 100 cities and communities across the country to show support for Planned Parenthood and to thank the Senators who voted “no” on Trumpcare. Planned Parenthood supporters joined with allies and coalition partners in organizing “Our Lives on the Line” rallies.

This past weekend’s rallies were the latest grassroots organizing show of force from Planned Parenthood supporters.  

Over the last several months, Planned Parenthood supporters have:

• Made more than 200,000 phone calls to members of Congress

• Organized more than 2,200 events across the country, including rallies, petition drops, phone banks, and marches

• Delivered over one million petition signatures to members of Congress in opposition to “defunding” Planned Parenthood.

Washington Post: “The momentum has been building, and after [Friday morning’s] historic takedown of this bill, we know that it is extraordinarily important for us to stand in our power and demonstrate that when Congress tries to take care away from millions of people who rely on Planned Parenthood, we are not backing down,” said Graeme Joeck, federal campaign director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “This has been a long road of eight months of hard organizing…”

Washington Post: “Planned Parenthood, which was threatened with zeroed-out federal funding if repeal succeeded, organized nationally and hyper-locally, with key states quickly growing their activist networks. In Maine, whose Republican senator, Susan Collins, became a reliable vote against repeal, Planned Parenthood began working against repeal immediately after the 2016 election. According to Nicole Clegg, vice president for public policy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, the local chapter signed up 300 new activists in the week after Trump’s victory. “I don’t think we ever took the foot off the pedal,” she said.”

Public News Service: “The rallies have more than 60 partner groups, including Organizing for America, the Women's March, the Tax March, the Science March, Planned Parenthood, plus multiple LGBTQ and environmental groups. The Phoenix event is to take place at 11 a.m. at the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS. Details are online at ourlivesontheline.org.”

LA Times:” In San Diego, the rally was focused on women’s healthcare. The proposed repeal bill included cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood. About 75 people rallied at Balboa Park wearing pink T-shirts reading, “I stand with Planned Parenthood.” They held signs that read “Together we fight for all” and “Resist,” eliciting honks from several drivers who passed.”

Time: “The Republican health care bill failed in the Senate after the defections of three key GOP members. But those votes — and many of the other obstacles that ultimately tripped-up the attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act — did not come out of thin air. They were enabled by a massive grassroots protest movement against any major cuts to health coverage that was organized mostly by and for women…. Thousands of new activists all across the country have spent the last seven months staging protests, visiting offices, writing postcards and making phone calls to urge their Senators to oppose the GOP health care plan. According to organizers, the vast majority of them were women.

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational and electoral activity, including voter education, grassroots organizing, and legislative advocacy.