NARAL Speaks Out About Hillary Clinton

The National Abortion Rights Action League’s Pro-Choice America Political Action Committee has decided to speak out about Democrat presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, who has maintained a 100 percent voting record on “issues of reproductive rights” while a U.S. senator from New York, pushed “comprehensive health care” as first lady. NARAL hasn’t forgotten, even though it endorsed her presidential primary opponent in 2008: President Barack Obama.

In a statement issued Tuesday, NARAL President Ilyse Hogue offered her organization’s endorsement:

“Today, I am thrilled to announce that the NARAL Pro-Choice America PAC has voted to endorse Hillary Clinton for president. Hillary has what it takes to fight Republican attacks on women’s reproductive rights, and has the vision and experience to ensure women and families thrive. The stakes this election could not be higher: combating virulent anti-choice rhetoric from the GOP, the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice in the next term who could preserve our rights and freedoms, and the ability to influence a myriad of state and federal laws that impose extreme ideology on Americans’ personal decisions about when and how to grow our families.

“Decisions made in the next several years will determine how women and families fare in the United States for decades to come. We need not just a worthy ally, but a champion with a demonstrated record of fighting for reproductive freedom and economic justice. Hillary Clinton is that champion. She has spent her entire life leading on equal opportunity for women and families—as a private citizen, first lady, United States senator and secretary of state. Together with our members in all 50 states, we stand committed and eager to work hard and elect Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States. Hillary will be a champion for us all.

“In our conversations with Secretary Clinton and her campaign, it was abundantly clear that her experience at home and abroad has underscored her understanding of the truths we experience every day: first, that if women and girls cannot control when and how we grow our families, everything else we aspire to from education to healthy parenting to economic stability to professional achievement moves further out of reach and, second, when we can control our reproduction, we thrive, our families thrive and our country thrives.”

NARAL has also mobilized its field operation in Iowa on behalf of the Clinton campaign.

“Organizers across Iowa have spent months knocking on doors and meeting with Iowans talking to them about the importance of reproductive freedom in their lives,” the organization said in a press release about the endorsement. “Using voter modeling, NARAL Pro-Choice America has targeted first-time caucus goers and veterans alike, with a special focus on mobilizing voters whose only participation thus far has been at the 2008 caucus.”