NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Targets Key State Legislative Races
Synopsis: Pre-Primary release outlining the contributions NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts has made to key legislative races in the Commonwealth.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2004
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
Targets Key State Legislative Races;
Mobilizes Pro-Choice Voters to Get to the Polls
Boston, MA – On the eve of the September 14th Primary Election, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, the state’s leading advocate for women’s rights to privacy and reproductive choice, will play a key role in contacting and turning-out pro-choice voters in targeted races across the state where a woman’s right to choose is viewed as a defining issue.
“With many legislative races being decided by a few hundred ballots, pro-choice voters can make the difference between a victory or loss for a pro-choice candidate,” said Melissa Kogut, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. “With a net gain of just five pro-choice seats, the Massachusetts House of Representatives will have a pro-choice majority for the very first time. This would make a real difference for women’s reproductive health in the Commonwealth and we’re working hard to make this happen.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts has mobilized numerous volunteers to work directly on the campaigns of targeted candidates including John Keenan (7th Essex) and Melissa Murgo (16th Worcester). Hundreds of phone calls have also been generated to identify pro-choice voters in these districts. These identified supporters were later sent persuasive campaign mail produced by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts highlighting the candidates’ positions on choice.
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts has also spent resources to bolster two additional campaigns where the candidate’s position on choice is a defining issue. These include Avi Green (26th Middlesex), and Rep. Doug Petersen (8th Essex).
Earlier this month, the 2004 NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Pro-Choice Voter’s Guide, containing choice ratings and endorsements in the Commonwealth’s 200 state legislative races, was sent via postal and electronic mail to nearly 20,000 pro-choice supporters across the state. The guide can be viewed online at www.ProChoiceMass.org.
The NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts Political Action Committee invited candidates in state legislative races to complete questionnaires gauging positions on issues ranging from access to Emergency Contraception (EC) to restrictions on accessible abortion services. The PAC issued endorsements and candidate ratings based upon evaluation of questionnaires or voting histories on past choice issues including the Contraceptives Coverage Bill (2002) and the Buffer Zone Bill (2000).
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