NEW YORK, Oct. 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Planned Parenthood NYC Votes PAC (PPNYC Votes PAC) is building momentum ahead of the 2020 election cycle. On Monday, October 21st, PPNYC Votes PAC raised more than $225,000 at its annual benefit to elect pro-reproductive rights leaders who will protect and advance sexual and reproductive health care and education in New York City and New York State.
More than 200 Planned Parenthood donors and allies, including Attorney General Letitia James, NY Senators Liz Krueger and Jen Metzger, Assembly Members Rebecca Seawright and Catalina Cruz, plus celebrity supporters Kate Beckinsale and Stephanie March packed 620 Loft & Garden to throw their support behind our mission secure New York's position as a progressive leader in protecting a wide-range of reproductive health care services, including safe, legal abortion.
Statement from Laura McQuade, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood NYC Votes PAC: "In the past two years, the work of PPNYC Votes PAC has helped build a city and state that centers access to sexual and reproductive health care as essential to the freedom, equity and prosperity of all New Yorkers. As abortion bans and severe restrictions are sweeping the nation, we must continue our work to make sure that New York is a safe haven for those who live in places where abortion access has been or will be denied."
The evening honord Jill Lafer, a fierce leader in the fight for sexual and reproductive health and advocacy for more than 30 years. Lafer, who currently serves on the board of the Planned Parenthood Political Action Committee, has been a longtime champion for increasing access to quality, affordable health care for all New Yorkers and people across the country.
Statement from Jill Lafer: "Programs, policies, advocacy, education and healthcare are important but can be best achieved only with elected officials who believe in and support our policies and goals. We must elect pro-sexual and reproductive rights champions and collaborate with them to achieve the best outcomes in health care for all our patients and our communities."
With a 95% win rate for endorsed candidates and an aggressive, multifaceted electoral program, PPNYC Votes PAC played a major role in flipping the New York State Senate in 2018. As a direct result of our work in the 2018 election cycle, we celebrated major legislative victories — including the passage of the Reproductive Health Act, a landmark law that ensures New Yorkers' right to access safe, legal abortion and to make their own health care decisions, regardless of what happens on the federal level. Other big wins included the passage of the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act, the Boss Bill, GENDA, the conversion therapy ban, and the maternal mortality review board.
Now with the extreme abortion bans sweeping the country, and the Supreme Court taking up its first abortion case since Trump hand-picked conservative justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, it is absolutely necessary to protect the seats we flipped in 2018 to defend and advance our legislative victories.
Planned Parenthood NYC Votes PAC is a political action committee that works to elect candidates who support our communities and the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services. PPNYC Votes PAC engages in electoral activity at the state and local level, including candidate endorsements, canvassing and phone banking in support of candidates, voter education, and grassroots organizing.
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