Led by none other than Mike Pence, Republicans have for years bashed their heads into the stone wall that is Planned Parenthood. The GOP's never-ending jihad to dismantle this singularly important healthcare provider for women has been spectacularly unsuccessful, and there's a good reason for it: Planned Parenthood is very popular with voters, and now we have some new data showing us just how popular it is—and how dangerous it is for politicians to attack it.
On Thursday—almost exactly a year after congressional Republicans tried to shut down the federal government in order to defund Planned Parenthood—the century-old non-profit women's clinic released a batch of polls in key Senate battlegrounds conducted by Public Policy Polling, and the results are very consistent. Not only do respondents universally have strongly positive views of Planned Parenthood, in every state, they say they're less likely to vote for Republican Senate candidates who support defunding it. Here's how the numbers break down:
- In North Carolina, 66 percent say they have a positive view of Planned Parenthood to just 30 percent who hold a negative opinion. By a 56-38 margin, these same voters say they're less likely to vote for GOP Sen. Richard Burr due to his support for defunding PP.
- In Nevada, it's 65-32 in favor of PP, and voters are less likely to support pro-defunding GOP Rep. Joe Heck by a 49-42 spread.
- In New Hampshire, voters like Planned Parenthood by a 63-34 margin, and they're less apt to back GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who of course also has voted to defund, by a 49-38 margin.
- And in Pennsylvania, the positive feelings about Planned Parenthood run at a 60-34 clip, while voters say they're less inclined to vote for GOP Sen. Pat Toomey, one of the most fanatic proponents of defunding, by a 53-35 margin.
Please donate $1 to each of these Daily Kos-endorsed Democratic women to help them protect Planned Parenthood.
These surveys can't be dismissed simply because of who commissioned them, because they confirm what we've seen for years in countless other polls: People simply like Planned Parenthood. Despite the GOP's best efforts to try to politicize it, wide majorities of voters value the services that Planned Parenthood provides. In New Hampshire, for example, 60 percent of self-identified independents view PP positively, and even 44 percent of Republicans are willing to say so! Similar patterns hold true in the other states PP polled. In this polarized age, that's pretty remarkable.
But here's the thing: We all know just how willing Republican-elected officials are to pursue policies that are deeply unpopular with the electorate. Look at their strident refusal to even consider enhancing background checks for gun buyers, for instance—an issue that similarly has overwhelming support in every poll. So we know that no matter how much it damages them, the GOP is going to keep trying to destroy Planned Parenthood at every opportunity it gets.
That's why we need stay on maximum guard and fight back hard. Fortunately, Daily Kos has endorsed excellent Democratic candidates in all four of these races, and as it happens, they're all women. That makes them the ideal messengers to hit their opponents for their hostility to Planned Parenthood and women's health, and they've been doing so relentlessly—see, for instance, this blistering ad Catherine Cortez Masto has been running in Nevada deservedly slamming Joe Heck.
Polling shows that all of these races are very close, and control of the Senate will hinge on them. These Democrats need our help to keep up the barrage so that they can win office and ensure Planned Parenthood's future.
Please give $1 to each of our endorsed Democratic women candidates to help them fight for Planned Parenthood.