NARAL Pro-Choice America Launches "Choice 2004 Fund" with National Pro-Choice Leaders

Washington, DC – NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation’s leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, today announced the launch of the Choice 2004 Fund, an aggressive nationwide drive to raise $25 million to support NARAL Pro-Choice America’s work to protect the right to choose at every level. The effort will be spearheaded by national pro-choice leaders, beginning with Governors Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Tom Vilsack of Iowa, and Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. Governor Richardson joined NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman in announcing the fund’s launch today.

Ms. Michelman made the following statement (quotes from Governors Richardson and Doyle follow):

“Spearheading our Choice 2004 Fund, these great governors will extend their pro-choice leadership beyond their states’ borders to make sure that across the country we have the resources to stand up against our well-funded, increasingly aggressive opposition. The Choice 2004 Fund will support every aspect of NARAL Pro-Choice America’s operations, helping us to educate and mobilize the pro-choice majority in 2004, and providing a boost to our aggressive plan to elect a pro-choice President.

In short, this A-team of some of America’s finest governors will work with us to make sure that we have the funds we need to fight the battles ahead in Congress, state legislatures, communities around the country, and the all-important race to see who will be the President who picks the next new justices to the Supreme Court.

By putting their weight behind our efforts, these respected national leaders are both highlighting the importance of the issue of reproductive freedom, and sending a powerful signal about NARAL Pro-Choice America’s ability to make a difference in this critical year.

We know we can make a difference because our message is powerful, our grassroots network is strong, and our policy of not accepting either corporate or union contributions gives us a unique ability to make a difference. This policy gives us what’s known as MCFL status, making us one of a small handful of organizations that will be allowed to run television, print, and radio ads expressly advocating the defeat of George Bush the election of his pro-choice opponent right up until Election Day.

The right to choose, and the right to privacy from which it stems, are under attack today as they never have been before. We have a Supreme Court that is no more than two justices away from completely overturning Roe v Wade, if new judges are in the mold of the ones President Bush has picked for lower courts. To point out just a few of this President’s picks, he’s named a judge who called Roe “an abominable decision,” another who wrote that a “wife’s duty is to be subservient to the husband,” and another still who Bush’s own White House Counsel accused of “an unconscionable act of judicial activism.” That doesn’t give me much confidence in what he’ll do if given the chance to shape the future of the highest court in the land.

There are those who say that rights can’t be lost in this country, that the freedom to choose could never be taken away. Yet slowly but surely, it is already happening, and the pace is getting quicker all the time. Last fall, President Bush crossed a new line when he signed the first-ever federal abortion ban into law. And right now, two states – Michigan and South Dakota – are moving forward on legislation that would end safe and legal abortion entirely, much like a number of states did in 1989 and 1990, the last time it appeared that the Supreme Court was ready to overturn Roe.

We know that it isn’t too late to make a difference, and we believe that with sufficient resources we can lead a mobilization of America’s pro-choice majority that will ensure that these efforts cannot succeed, that Roe remains connected, and that we can build a movement of lasting impact to preserve and extend the rights we cherish for future generations.”

Governor Richardson said: “When Kate asked me for my support, I said I’d gladly help lead this fundraising effort. I know the difference the pro-choice movement can make. With the help of NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico, we've made great strides in recent years to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion.”

Governor Doyle said: “We need to work together to defend a woman’s right to choose and keep government out of women’s most personal medical decisions. This next election will be critical to deciding whether we have a President, Congress, and Supreme Court that will fight to uphold Roe vs. Wade, or fight to overturn it. I’m proud to be joining with my fellow governors in this effort.”

Contact:
Ted Miller, 202.973.3032