NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA CHALLENGES SEN. MCCAIN TO HELP PREVENT THE NEED FORABORTIONS

Washington, DC- NARAL Pro-Choice America, the nation’s leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, issued a challenge to Senator John McCain, along other with members of Congress who oppose the right to choose, urging them to support legislation that would reduce the need for abortions.

The challenge is part of an aggressive campaign by NARAL Pro-Choice America to seek common ground with its opponents in the “right-to-life” camp. In an ad placed in the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard NARAL Pro-Choice America asks those who oppose abortion to join them in a campaign to reduce the need for abortions. Specifically, the ad asks opponents of choice to join pro-choice groups in supporting The Prevention First Act introduced by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, himself an opponent of abortion rights. The bill seeks to reduce unintended pregnancies through commonsense steps to promote better access to birth control.

Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said: “I sincerely believe that prevention is an issue people on both sides of the abortion debate should agree on. I hope Senator McCain will work with Senator Reid to pass this commonsense approach to preventing unintended pregnancies, and open up the lines of communication to a healthy and productive dialogue.”

The Prevention First Act is a comprehensive family planning package that would expand access to and education about birth control, require equitable insurance coverage for birth control, and ensure that rape survivors receive factually accurate information about how to protect against pregnancy. It also provides funding for grants to establish teen pregnancy prevention programs and ensures that federally funded sex education contains medically accurate information about birth control.

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Contact: Ted Miller 202.973.3032