Women and families are the big winners in the 2006 election. Americans sent a clear signal yesterday in support of a woman's right to choose. Anti-choice extremists lost by a landslide.
Voters rejected extreme policies and politicians. By a wide margin, voters
defeated attempts to criminalize abortion in South Dakota - where at least two state Senators who supported the abortion ban (Sen. Bill Earley and Sen. Dick Kelly) were voted out of office. Voters
rejected extremist attorney general Phill Kline in Kansas, who attempted to seize women's confidential medical records. Dangerous abortion restrictions for teens were
rejected in Oregon. In Ohio, pro-choice, pro-family planning Governor Ted Strickland
defeated extremist Ken Blackwell who supported legislation even more extreme than South Dakota's abortion ban. In Wisconsin, women's health champion Jim Doyle
defeated hardliner Mark Green, who co-authored legislation allowing health care providers to deny women access to birth control. And with
Representative Nancy Pelosi poised to serve as Speaker of the House, we are optimistic about a national shift toward support for women's healthcare.
But the action didn't stop on Election Day.
This morning we stand before the U.S. Supreme Court in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood to present our challenge to the dangerous federal abortion ban. We will ask the court to strike down a law that would take personal, moral decision making away from women and families and put it in the hands of politicians. Perhaps even more than yesterday's elections, the court's decision in this case will help shape the future of reproductive freedom.