The Quickie: Planned Parenthood Votes Launches 2024 Electoral Program

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: PP Votes launches electoral program, PP Action Fund releases new data, and Abortion Access Now campaign.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD VOTES LAUNCHES 2024 ELECTORAL PROGRAM: Two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated federal abortion rights, as first reported in the Associated Press, Planned Parenthood Votes announced that Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations will spend $40 million during the 2024 election cycle. The “We Decide” program will make strategic investments to defend the White House and the Senate, take back the House, state legislatures, governor offices, and state supreme courts. Planned Parenthood Action Fund will also support critical abortion rights ballot measures across the country and launch voter registration efforts. 

“We won’t let them win. For politicians like Donald Trump who oppose abortion, ending Roe v Wade was just a warm-up lap. They may try to downplay, spin, or outright lie about their records, but the end goal has always been full control of our bodies and our medical decisions. The 2024 election is our time to decide,” said Jenny Lawson, executive director, Planned Parenthood Votes. “Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations are fighting to elect abortion rights champions, up and down the ballot. At no point in pregnancy is a politician more qualified to make decisions about your health than you and your health care providers. We demand the power to decide what's best for our families, our bodies, our lives, and our futures. When we decide – we win.”

Planned Parenthood Votes, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and local Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations are initially investing across 14 target states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The program will engage with voters through face-to-face conversations; phone calls; mail and digital advertising; events and more.

Read more about “We Decide” here and in the Associate Press here. 

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACTION FUND RELEASES NEW ANALYSIS ON IMPACT OF ABORTION BANS: On the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and strip away the federal constitutional right to abortion, Planned Parenthood Action Fund has released a new analysis that shows just how many people are living under these bans.

Over the last two years, 21 states have banned some or all abortions, including restrictions on lifesaving care for people with complications. Due to overlapping factors of discrimination, racism, and economic inequality in our health care system, Black women, trans and nonbinary people face the hardest barriers to accessing the care they need and deserve.  

Statement from Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

“This analysis only shows what we’ve known all along: Far too many women are living under abortion bans, and they are disproportionately Black women. We cannot let this remain our reality for much longer. Behind these numbers are real people with real lives — people who, for all kinds of reasons, need this potentially life-saving care. We’re the experts on our own lives and needs, and should be able to make decisions about our own bodies — not politicians.”

Read the full analysis here.

Alexis also joined Morning Joe on MSNBC to talk about the new data. 

“When we talk about the fact that abortion is health care, abortion is reproductive health care, and we know now that abortion bans have made pregnancy more dangerous, they have put us at more risk for outcomes in our pregnancies for being criminalized. The idea that people still yet don’t understand, on the opposite side of the aisle, that these bans are harming people, they’re harming patients, they’re putting at risk the majority of reproductive freedom across the country.

Watch the interview here read the coverage in NBC News here.

ANNOUNCEMENT: SEVERAL REPRO HEALTH, RIGHTS, AND JUSTICE ORGS LAUNCH ABORTION ACCESS NOW: Marking the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, leading reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations have launched the 'Abortion Access Now' campaign, collectively pledging a $100 million investment to advance abortion rights and access across the United States. The funding will help build a long-term federal strategy to codify the right to abortion, including lobbying efforts, grassroots organizing, public education, and comprehensive communication strategies to mobilize support and enact change. 

The 'Abortion Access Now' campaign is a collaborative effort led by: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice (Latina Institute), National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF), National Women's Law Center (NWLC), Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PP Action Fund), Reproductive Freedom for All, and Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE). 

The campaign issued the following statement:

"We envision a future where abortion, and all sexual and reproductive health care, is not only legal but also accessible, affordable, and free from stigma or fear. This campaign is committed to building and leading a broad, inclusive vision for abortion access, ensuring everyone can make fundamental decisions about their health and bodies with dignity and support. Together, we will secure the freedom to control our own bodies and care for ourselves, our families, and our communities."

Learn more about Abortion Access Now here and in Politico here. Watch the launch video here.