Planned Parenthood Votes Ramps Up Efforts to Educate Virginia Voters on George Allen’s and Mitt Romney’s Harmful Agenda for Women

Planned Parenthood Votes Ramps Up Efforts to Educate Virginia Voters on George Allen’s and Mitt Romney’s Harmful Agenda for Women

At Monday’s Debate, Allen Revealed Again How Out of Touch He Is on Women’s Health

New Campaign Mailer “Julie” Hits Virginia Mailboxes

Washington, DC — On the heels of Virginia Senate Candidate George Allen’s revealing comment Monday night when he refused to condemn dangerous legislation proposed in the state General Assembly to restrict women’s access to health care, Planned Parenthood Votes is ramping up its campaign in Virginia to highlight additional similarities between George Allen and Mitt Romney on issues of importance to women, women’s health and women’s economic security.

Today, Planned Parenthood Votes is out with a new mailer in Virginia titled “Julie” — highlighting that “Mitt Romney and George Allen would go too far and interfere in personal health decisions that should be left up to a woman and her doctor.” The mailer is part of the organization’s campaign targeting women voters in key battleground states.

You can view the “Julie” mailer, which is going out to 212,000 households in Northern Virginia and Richmond, here.

The mailer highlights the positions that Romney and Allen share (copied below), and features a Planned Parenthood supporter, sharing her story about making a very difficult medical decision about her pregnancy after an abnormality was found, saying “my husband and I had to make a deeply personal decision. It was not easy, and it had nothing to do with politics.”

“The more women learn about Mitt Romney and George Allen’s record and positions on women’s health, the more appalled they are,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund. "On Monday, once again, George Allen showed voters just how out of touch he is on issues important to women’s health. Politics has no place in a woman’s personal medical decisions. Women voters in Virginia believe that, and in November their votes will reflect it.”

The mailer hits mailboxes after the heated debate between George Allen and Tim Kaine on Monday, where Allen, according to POLITICO, “punted and pivoted” in response to questions about proposals in the GOP-led General Assembly this year to require an ultrasound before women could get an abortion and to codify that life begins at conception, which could restrict women’s access to forms of birth control and insert the government into a woman’s personal medical decisions. So-called “personhood” amendments are so far out of the mainstream, they have even been rejected by voters in Mississippi — the most conservative state according to Gallup — by a 16-point margin.

Additional Virginia Mail Pieces: “Julie” is the third mail piece in a combined campaign from Planned Parenthood Votes and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which together are working to educate Virginia voters about the stark differences between President Obama and candidate Romney and to highlight the policy positions that Mitt Romney and George Allen share.

You can view the first Virginia mailer “Mitt Romney” from Planned Parenthood Action Fund (also went out in Ohio) here.
You can view the second Virginia mailer “It’s Personal” from Planned Parenthood Votes here.

Mitt Romney and George Allen on the issues:

Romney and Allen would overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to end safe, legal abortion, even in cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is at risk.
Romney and Allen would eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, denying women access to preventive health care, including cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, well-woman checkups, birth control and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
Romney and Allen would allow businesses to deny essential health care they object to, including coverage for birth control.
Romney and Allen’s plan would make a woman pay up to $600 more out of pocket for birth control and other preventive health care each year.