What You Need to Know About Pat Toomey Before Tonight's Debate

For Immediate Release: Oct. 24, 2016

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Pittsburgh, PA –– Pat Toomey has stood idly by as Donald Trump has insulted, demeaned, and disrespected women for months on the campaign trail. Nothing has been enough for Pat Toomey to renounce Trump –– not when Donald Trump said women should be punished for having an abortion or when Donald Trump was heard bragging about sexual assaulting women.

The fact is that Pat Toomey and Donald Trump agree on just about everything when it comes to women’s health. Pat Toomey wants to act on the hateful rhetoric that has become the centerpiece of Donald Trump’s campaign. Pat Toomey voted in favor of a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding –– Trump would have done the same. Pat Toomey wants to jail doctors for providing abortion –– so does Trump. And they both want to ban abortion in this country. It’s no wonder why Pat Toomey refuses to abandon Donald Trump -- they have the same vision for this country

Quote from Meghan Eirkson, Planned Parenthood Votes:

“After everything Donald Trump has done, Pat Toomey is still his silent supporter. Trump has demeaned, disrespected, and bullied women throughout his campaign. Even Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women wasn’t enough for Pat Toomey to renounce Trump. The truth is Pat Toomey wants to put into action much of the hateful rhetoric that Donald Trump has spread for months. Pat Toomey is dangerous for Pennsylvania and he is dangerous for women all over this country.

Pat Toomey’s Record

• Pat Toomey has voted to defund Planned Parenthood health centers seven times –– including a vote in favor of shutting down the entire federal government over funding for Planned Parenthood services. Over 90,000 Pennsylvanians rely on Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing every year.

• Pat Toomey puts his personal ideology above the will of Pennsylvanians. Polling shows that Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly support Planned Parenthood.

• Pat Toomey wants to ban safe and legal abortion and said he would support the repealof Roe v. Wade. He’s even shirking his constitutional duty by joining with fellow Republicans in refusing to consider the president’s Supreme Court nominee. An overwhelmingmajority of Pennsylvania voters are opposed to Toomey and his fellow Republican senators blockading the nominee. 

• Pat Toomey thinks  Roe. v. Wade was “wrongly decided.” 

• Pat Toomey is as extreme as it gets when it comes to access to abortion. Toomey supports putting doctors who perform abortions into jail. He shares this position with Donald Trump. 

• Pat Toomey has no understanding of the health care needs of women. Toomey has incorrectly referred to emergency contraception like Plan B as “abortion-inducing pills.”  

• Pat Toomey called the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision (which allows employers to deny their employees birth control) “great news.” 

• Pat Toomey wants to repeal the ACA and has voted multiple times to do so. More than 137 million Americans, including more than 55 million women, now have access to preventive services — including contraceptive coverage, breast cancer screenings, and well-woman visits — because of the Affordable Care Act. In Pennsylvania alone, there are over 2.5 million women who now have preventive services coverage, thanks to the ACA. [Roll Call Vote 51, 3/22/13; Roll Call Vote 9, 2/2/11; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: The Affordable Care Act is Improving Access to Preventive Services for Millions of Americans, 5/14/15]

• Pat Toomey called Obamacare’s birth control benefit, which ensures that women have access to  birth control without a copay, “ill-conceived.” This provision has made access to no-copay birth control available  for millions of women across the country. 

• Pat Toomey has voted multiple times against the Paycheck Fairness Act. 

• Pat Toomey has voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. 

• Pat Toomey cosponsored and voted for the Blunt Amendment, which would have allowed employer and health insurance companies to refuse to provide coverage for any essential health care service that they objected to on the basis of religious belief or moral convictions.  [Cosponsors: S.Amdt 1520, 2/9/12; S.Amdt. 1520 to S.Amdt. 1730 to S. 1813, Roll Call Vote 24, 3/1/12]

• Toomey served on the board of an online, for-profit school that offered bizarre teachings warning parents against  women’s studies classes, saying that their “daughter …  may even change her sexual orientation.”

• Toomey fully embraced the lies about Planned Parenthood perpetuated by the discredited videos from anti-abortion extremists.