PLANNED PARENTHOOD ILLINOIS ACTION ENDORSES LISA MADIGAN

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ILLINOIS ACTION ENDORSES LISA MADIGAN

Attorney General Madigan on the Correct Side of Hobby Lobby Case

Chicago (July 8, 2014) —  In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision granting employers the power to deny women’ reproductive healths benefits to their employees, Planned Parenthood Illinois Action announced its solid support today for Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s re-election campaign, emphasizing the importance of the Attorney General’s role in protecting reproductive freedom and healthcare for women. “In light of the recent ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, it is even more important that Illinoisans vote for a candidate who will stand up for a woman’s right to access birth control, which is basic healthcare for women. That candidate is Lisa Madigan,” said Carole Brite, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action.

In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Attorney General Madigan filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that for-profit corporations cannot force their religious beliefs onto their employees and refuse to cover reproductive health insurance to its employees.

“Planned Parenthood Illinois Action is endorsing Lisa Madigan because she believes that personal healthcare decisions should be left to a woman, her family, and her faith, with the counsel of her doctor or healthcare professional,” said Brite. “Lisa knows that women don’t turn to politicians or their bosses for advice about mammograms, prenatal care, or birth control. Politicians and bosses should not be involved in a woman’s personal medical decisions.”

“Banning access to contraceptives and reproductive healthcare is bad for the women of Illinois and bad for their families,” said Pamela Sutherland, Vice President of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action. “We need to re-elect Lisa Madigan because she is key to protecting our rights.  Unlike her opponent, she knows the Supreme Court got it wrong in Hobby Lobby and she believes Roe v. Wade should be protected, not overturned.”

Lisa Madigan is seeking re-election as Attorney General in November so that she can continue advocating for and protecting the people of Illinois, including women and their rights to reproductive healthcare. “I am proud to have Planned Parenthood’s endorsement, and I applaud its longstanding work to ensure all women have access to reproductive healthcare,” said Lisa Madigan. 

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Planned Parenthood Illinois Action (PPIA) is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL). For more information, visit www.ppiaction.org.

Contact:
Jacqueline Priego
312-592-6800

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This post was created by Planned Parenthood Illinois Action (PPIA). PPIA is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL).

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Technorati tags: Planned Parenthood

Not Your Boss’s Business

Not Your Boss’s Business

By Carole Brite

President & CEO

Planned Parenthood of Illinois

Carole Brite

Last week I listened to a young woman tell her moving story about what affordable birth control has meant for her. The story started with heartbreak and ended with a happy, thriving family.

Diagnosed with endometriosis at age 17, Courtney endured severe pain and far worse, a serious threat to her longstanding dream of being a mother someday.  The only way she managed through her difficult years college and grad school was to get low cost birth control—the most effective treatment—at Planned Parenthood of Illinois. Courtney is now 35, and her two young children are the biggest blessings in her life.

If the owners of two for-profit companies have their way, stories like Courtney’s may not have happy endings for millions of American women and families. This week the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in cases brought by Hobby Lobby, a for-profit chain of arts and crafts stores, and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp, for-profit cabinetmakers, whose owners claim that their personal beliefs should give them the privilege to pick and choose which parts of the health care law they comply with and which they do not. Despite the fact that the law requires insurance plans to cover birth control, they want the right to deny their employees this coverage.

The owners are cloaking their arguments in claims of religious freedom. Their own, that is. Not yours or mine or someone who works in their cabinet-making shop or rings up customers in an arts and crafts store.

And so the slippery slope begins. If your boss at the arts and craft store can say no to your birth control, what’s next? Imagine a world where your boss could deny your spouse access to a life-saving blood transfusion, or mental health services for your loved ones, or recommended vaccines for your children—all based on nothing more than his or her personal opinions. 

There is so much at stake here, not only for the 27 million women who are already eligible to receive birth control without a co-pay, but for the millions of other Americans who, if the court decides in favor of the owners, could lose coverage of the care they need if their bosses say they don’t believe in it.

Every day at Planned Parenthood, I see how the birth control services and other top quality preventive care we provide is helping women achieve their goals, maintain their health, plan their families, and live financially independent lives. Birth control is basic preventive health care for millions of American women—and the decision to use it should be made by a woman and her doctor, not her boss. Access to basic care should not be dependent upon where you work or your employer’s personal opinions.

We look to the Supreme Court to rule on the side of common sense in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties cases. Getting a job at an arts and crafts store is not the same as joining a church, and for-profit corporations are not the same as people who have religious beliefs.  

Your birth control is none of your boss’s business.

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This post was created by Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL). PPIL provides comprehensive reproductive healthcare services and education to more than 60,000 Illinoisans each year. Planned Parenthood Illinois Action (PPIA) is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of PPIL.

Connect with PPIL on Google+ and LinkedIn.
Connect with PPIA on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube.
Subscribe to our blog feed. 

Religion & Abortion

Our opposition usually states that they aren't harassing women, but merely praying outside the clinics. They use pulpits to spread word that a clinic is opening up and protests will occur. They use the Bible as their justification for opposing not just abortion but birth control. But are they right?

Garry Wills asks this question in his book, Head and Heart: American Christianities. In Martin Marty's discussion of the book he states that:

Wills contends, "It is not demonstrable that killing fetuses is killing persons. Not even the Evangelicals act as if it were. In that case, the woman seeking the abortion…is killing her own child." If the fetus is regarded as a person, why would the murderous mother be exempt from the death penalty, in which most Evangelicals believe? And many Evangelicals allow abortion in the case of rape or incest. That won't work: "We do not kill people because they had a criminal parent." Some allow for abortion to save a life. Wills asks, "Why should the mother be preferred over the 'child' if both are, equally, persons?" Why opt for the "certitude" of murder over only the "danger of death?"

This question of 'punishment' is at the center of the movement to criminalize women's health care. If you haven't seen it, there is an excellent video made in Libertyville, Illinois asking anti-choice protesters what the sentence would be for illegal abortions. Most have no idea, many have never thought about the sentence for illegal abortions. As much as the opposition would like to think that women are forced or talked into abortions, we aren't. We are agents in our lives.

In September, Feministing reported that one anti-choicer DID come up with a sentence - 15 years to life. Of course, he does recognize that women are making this choice themselves. I guess that's a bit of progress.


technorati tages: religion, abortion, bible, Martin Marty, University of Chicago, Garry Wills

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Illinois

The opponents of abortion believe that they have God on their side. And somehow we are to jump to the conclusion that those of us who support reproductive freedom don't. That is utterly false.

Today in the Aurora Beacon should be (I haven't seen it yet) an ad taken out by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Illinois. This is to remind everyone that some very God fearng people are on the side of Planned Parenthood and believe that contraception and yes, even abortion, are not in violation to their beliefs. Here is the text of the ad:

To the Good People of Aurora:

Protests against the new Planned Parenthood clinic in Aurora do not represent the views of the larger faith community and clergy. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice of Illinois represents over 40 different denominations and faith-based organizations.

We believe that women and families should be able to make reproductive health decisions according to their own religious beliefs and conscience. We believe that women are moral decision-makers. We advocate for a woman's right to make moral decisions about all aspects of her reproductive health, including the decision to terminate a pregnancy.

We arrive at this view from a range of different theological positions consistent with the teachings of our diverse faiths. Because of the many differences among our religious teachings, we believe the government and other people should not impose any one belief on all of us. To do so would violate the individual freedom of belief and conscience is embedded in our American way.

We the undersigned are pro faith, pro family, and pro choice. We support the programs and services of Planned Parenthood regarding women's reproductive health and self-determination. We call on all people of good faith to respect each other and not try to impose their beliefs on others. We urge everyone to work together to support comprehensive, quality health care and to let each individual make their own personal choices regarding what health care they will seek. We urge the city to let the clinic open.