Press Release California
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Celebrates State Representative Summer Lee’s Victory in the Democratic Primary for Pennsylvania’s 12th U.S. Congressional District
For Immediate Release: Friday, May 20, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Washington — Today, NARAL-endorsed State Representative Summer Lee won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania to represent the state’s 12th U.S. Congressional District. State Rep. Lee now advances to the November general election.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response to Rep. Lee’s victory:
“With recent reports indicating a majority of Supreme Court justices plan to strike down Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion, we need champions for reproductive freedom like State Rep. Lee in Congress now more than ever. NARAL and our members were proud to endorse Lee, and we look forward to continuing to mobilize voters to elect her and other candidates determined to protect and expand our freedom to decide if, when, and how to raise our families.”
State Rep. Lee, the first Black woman to represent Western Pennsylvania in the state legislature, has consistently voted to expand abortion access for all–opposing a barrage of dangerous bills introduced by anti-choice extremists in the state House. If elected, Lee will be the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress.
State Rep. Lee’s primary victory comes as NARAL Pro-Choice America is ramping up its work to elect candidates up and down the ballot during a critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. Soon, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue its final decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—a case about Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that directly challenges Roe v. Wade. A recent leak of the Court’s draft majority opinion confirmed that the Court is poised to overturn Roe and end the constitutional right to abortion as we know it.
If the landmark abortion rights decision is undone, 28 states are expected to take action to prohibit abortion outright. If Roe is overturned and states move swiftly to ban abortion, it is predicted that there would be a 1,169% increase in women of reproductive age whose nearest abortion provider would be in Pennsylvania—from 170,000 to 2.1 million people.
Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.