For Immediate Release: June 15, 2018
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice America today announced its endorsement of Danny O’Connor in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District.
“We need members of Congress like Danny O’Connor who will stand up and fight back against Trump’s anti-choice, anti-woman agenda,” said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “We know we can count on Danny O’Connor to protect and expand reproductive freedom for women and families across Ohio and we are proud to endorse him for Congress.”
“With the rights of women and families under near constant attack by the GOP in Ohio, we need allies we can trust to go to Washington and stand up to these attacks,” said NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director, Kellie Copeland. “We know that Danny O’Connor will raise the bar for leaders in Ohio to make reproductive freedom a top priority for all Ohioans and we are proud to support him.”
“I’m honored to have the support of NARAL because the men and women in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District deserve a representative in Congress who will stand up to politicians in Washington who want to block funding or take access to crucial family planning and preventative care services away,” said O’Connor. “Together, we’re going to fight to preserve and expand access to reproductive health care.”
Danny O’Connor is running for Congress against anti-choice Troy Balderson in a special election on August 7th for Ohio’s 12th district. After growing up and attending school in Ohio, O’Connor started his own law practice and worked as the Franklin County Recorder, where he created the department’s first paid family leave program for its employees.
Balderson is a current member of the Ohio state senate and has an expansive anti-choice record. He has consistently worked to undermine women and families in Ohio by pushing anti-choice legislation. Balderson co-sponsored a cruel and unnecessary bill, otherwise known as the “Heartbeat Bill” abortion ban (HB493), that would make accessing an abortion illegal before women even find out that they are pregnant. This bill was so extreme, even Governor Kasich vetoed the legislation. Balderson advocated for a bill that would prohibit the use of public funds for basic women’s health programs. He has vowed to fight to ban abortion later in pregnancy and to defund Planned Parenthood and has declared himself to be “100% pro-life.”
NARAL’s political program for the 2018 general election is the organization’s largest ever midterm political program to advance candidates fighting for “our values, our future, our vote.” NARAL is investing in diverse candidates up and down the ballot in 19 states, mobilizing members and voters through mail, phones, digital ads, door to door canvassing, TV ads, and rallies that hold anti-choice candidates accountable and lift up pro-choice champions. To read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates, click here.