Some NARAL State Affiliates, Abortion-Rights Advocates Upset About National PAC's Obama Endorsement

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 19 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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An announcement from NARAL Pro-Choice America's political action committee Wednesday that it has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president has created an "uproar" among some of its state affiliates and other abortion-rights advocates, who say that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has as good a record on reproductive rights as Obama and that there was no need to "take sides" in the Democratic primary, the New York Times reports (Seelye, New York Times, 5/16). Several state affiliates have "made clear" that they had no say in the national group's PAC decision to endorse Obama and are remaining neutral in the presidential race, the Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" reports. NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliates only make endorsements in state races (Rhee, "Political Intelligence," Boston Globe, 5/15).

According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch's "Political Fix," NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri on Wednesday made 8,500 automated calls declaring its neutrality in response to complaints from some abortion-rights advocates who were upset about the endorsement. "In our membership demographic, a lot of longtime women's rights supporters are strong supporters of Hillary Clinton," NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri Executive Director Pamela Sumners said, adding, "If we had been consulted, we would have said, 'Let this play out'" (Mannies, "Political Fix," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 5/14). Affiliates opposed to the endorsement also included New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington state.

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan said it is important to make the endorsement now because Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who opposes abortion rights, is getting a "free ride" in the presidential race. Elizabeth Schipp, political director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, added that there is a feeling on the PAC board that endorsing a black man at this point in the campaign might help the organization discard its image as a group for white women only. "Has it been in the past?" Schipp asked, adding, "Yes. Do I think the face of the choice movement is different today and do I hope NARAL plays a role in that? You bet."

According to the Times, Clinton's supporters "in the blogosphere" said they perceived the endorsement of Obama as a "badly timed gratuitous slap" at Clinton as she "grapples with the likely end of her quest for the presidency" (New York Times, 5/16). In a statement announcing the endorsement, Kennan praised Clinton's record of supporting abortion rights but said that she believes Obama will secure the Democratic nomination and that he "steadfastly supports and defends a woman's right to make the most personal, private decisions regarding her reproductive health without interference from government or politicians" (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/15).

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