Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Candidates in Four Key Red-to-Blue U.S. House Races in California
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Candidates in Four Key Red-to-Blue U.S. House Races in California
California — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced four critical endorsements for the U.S. House of Representatives: Dr. Kermit Jones (CA-03), former Assemblymember Christy Smith (CA-27), Will Rollins (CA-41), and Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen (CA-45). These candidates are running to represent Californians in the U.S. House of Representatives in key Red-to-Blue districts.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“California has been at the forefront of the fight to proactively expand access to abortion care—and electing these four candidates is an opportunity to bring that same spirit to Congress. As MAGA extremists pull out all the stops to ban abortion outright, we’ll be working alongside our 300,000 members across the Golden State to turn out in these critical Red-to-Blue districts.”
These NARAL-endorsed candidates bring a wealth of experience and strong commitments to protect and advance reproductive freedom in Congress. Based on his experience as a physician, Dr. Kermit Jones has committed to strengthening and expanding equitable health care access. Christy Smith, a former state assemblymember, has made reproductive freedom a top focus of her campaign—sharing her personal experience with making the best decision for herself and her family. Will Rollins, formerly an assistant U.S. attorney, has condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and demanded action from Congress and the Department of Justice to protect abortion rights. Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen is a strong supporter of abortion rights and has vowed to increase funding for reproductive health care services. All four candidates have committed to protecting and expanding abortion access by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 14 states have begun enforcing extreme bans on abortion. States like California, which is home to more than a quarter of the nation’s health care facilities that provide abortion care, are playing an outsized role in providing access to out-of-state abortion care. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
These endorsements come 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. NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country. 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 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.