Scarlett Johansson & Planned Parenthood Action Fund Partner for Women are Watching T-Shirt
For Immediate Release: Aug. 26, 2014
Scarlett Johansson Kicks Off Series of Celebrity-Designed Planned Parenthood Action Fund
T-Shirts Focused on Midterm Election
On heels of Supreme Court rulings that have sparked outrage, limited-edition shirts designed by leading celebrities underscore the role of women’s health in election
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund released a new limited-edition t-shirt designed by Scarlett Johansson – the first of three celebrity-designed t-shirts underscoring the stakes for young women in November’s election.
Next month, Planned Parenthood Action Fund will release a t-shirt designed by Gabrielle Union, star of the BET series Being Mary Jane, and in October the group will release a t-shirt designed byOrange is the New Black stars Natasha Lyonne and Selenis Leyva. The shirts are part of Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s Women Are Watching campaign, which educates and mobilizes young voters around women’s health and rights. In November, women’s health will be a deciding factor in key races in several states, including North Carolina, Alaska, and Colorado.
You can view or order the Scarlett Johansson T-shirt here.
The front of the shirt reads: Hey Politicians! The 1950s called…
And on the back continues: They want their sexism back!
The other two t-shirt designs will roll out later this summer and into the Fall and will be available on Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s e-store.
“When I heard that some politicians were cheering the Supreme Court’s decision to give bosses the right to interfere in our access to birth control, I thought I had woken up in another decade. Like many of my friends, I was appalled by the thought of men taking away women’s ability to make our own personal health care decisions. That’s when I knew I couldn’t sit on the sidelines and why I’m proud to support Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s Women are Watching campaign to ensure that young women know the high stakes for women’s health and rights this November,” said Scarlett Johansson.
“Women are watching, and we will fight for candidates who will ensure that birth control is affordable and who will protect access to safe and legal abortion. Women will be the key to the elections this November and it’s more important than ever that young women register to vote and vote for the candidate that will stand up and fight for them,” Johansson continued.
This is not the first time that Johansson has worked with Planned Parenthood. Last year, she recorded audio which played in Planned Parenthood health centers across the country, encouraging listeners to enroll in new, more affordable insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act. At the Democratic National Convention in 2012, Johansson made young women, preventive care and Planned Parenthood a central theme in her speech to engage young people, emphasizing the importance of their vote. In 2011 she filmed a 60-second “I Stand with Planned Parenthood” video, explaining the devastating impact that congressional assaults would have on millions of women who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for basic preventive health care.
“We’re proud to partner with Scarlett Johansson to engage and mobilize millions of young women in what is shaping up as a critical election from women. Women’s health and rights are under unprecedented attack, from the Texas State Capitol to the U.S. Supreme Court, and this November we’re fighting back. We’re going to make sure that women all across the country know where candidates stand on access to affordable birth control, Planned Parenthood’s preventive health services, and safe and legal abortion, and we’re going to elect leaders who trust women,” said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
The majority of Americans believe that a woman and her doctor, not politicians, should be making health care decisions. In fact, six in 10 young Americans believe abortion should be available in all or most cases, and 68 percent believe it should be available in their own community. Like the majorities of Americans, young Americans and especially young millennials of color, support the birth control benefit and are enraged and engaged around the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby, which gives bosses the legal right to deny their employees access to birth control coverage in their insurance plans.
Background on the Planned Parenthood Women are Watching campaign:
- Women’s health played the defining role in Terry McAuliffe’s gubernatorial victory last year in Virginia. He won women by nine points — matching Obama’s 2012 advantage with Virginia women, beating Obama’s 2008 advantage with Virginia women by two points, and flipping Republican Governor Bob McDonnell's eight point advantage with women that propelled him to victory in 2009. Notably, 20 percent of Virginia voters said abortion was the most important issue in determining their vote, and McAuliffe won 59 percent of those votes.
- Polling from the 2012 election shows that access to safe and legal abortion, affordable birth control, and basic health care access are motivating voting issues for women, who view them as core economic issues for their families. An overwhelming majority of women voters trust Planned Parenthood political and advocacy organizations when they speak out about issues affecting the health of women.
- A 2012 post-election report from the Sunlight Foundation on big winners and losers found that the Planned Parenthood Action Fund had a 98 percent return on investment — having supported 12 winning candidates and opposed 12 losing candidates.
- Learn more about the Women are Watching campaign at womenarewatching.org.