PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S ENDORSEMENT

If Bob Casey Jr. is so pro-life, why is Planned Parenthood backing him????????

Planned Parenthood PA Associates, Planned Parenthood’s state public affairs office, has launched a website, “The Haunting of Rick Santorum,” attacking Senator Rick Santorum for his “extreme” views.

The website attacks statements by Santorum (taken out of context, of course), but it seems to only attack on those issues where Casey and Planned Parenthood are in agreement. The site makes no mention of Santorum authoring the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, which Planned Parenthood is challenging in court, nor any of the other pro-life initiatives the Senator has undertaken. Is it because Casey also supports them? It appears so.

Planned Parenthood Highlights Birth Control: “On Family Planning: ‘I’m not a believer in birth control . . . I don’t think it works. I think it’s harmful to women.’” (Planned Parenthood PA Associates Website, http://www.ppaction.org/planned_pa/senate-canvas-intro.html, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Casey (Falsely) Attacks On Birth Control: A PA Democrat Party/Casey campaign ad says, “He would allow states to ban all forms of birth control … even for married couples.”

Planned Parenthood Highlights Working Women: “On Women with Careers: ‘The radical feminists [have] succeeded in undermining the traditional family and convincing women that professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.’” (Planned Parenthood PA Associates Website, http://www.ppaction.org/planned_pa/senate-canvas-intro.html, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Casey Attacks On Working Women: “Casey said he has heard from working mothers, some Republican, about Santorum’s assertion. ‘What they don’t need is a politician in Washington telling them they don’t need that second income,’ Casey said.” (Dan Nephin, “Casey Tells AFL-CIO That Santorum Has Not Been Held Accountable,” The Associated Press, April 4, 2006)

Planned Parenthood Highlights Education: “On Education: ‘It’s amazing that so many kids turn out to be fairly normal considering the weird socialization they get in public schools.’” (Planned Parenthood PA Associates Website, http://www.ppaction.org/planned_pa/senate-canvas-intro.html, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Casey Attacks On Education: “Rick Santorum has certainly helped demonstrate that he is out of step with Pennsylvania. He has spent a great deal of time promoting his book that compares public education to ‘weird socialization’ and rejects the notion that a college education is a good way for ‘poor, lo-skill, unmarried mothers’ to move up the economic ladder. Santorum actually wrote this stuff on paper, published it, and then went on national television and said it again and again. Unbelievable.” (Jay Reiff, “The Clock Is Ticking To Beat Rick Santorum,” Bob Casey For Pennsylvania Committee E-Mail, September 28, 2005)

Planned Parenthood Highlights Privacy: “On Privacy: ‘If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.’” (Planned Parenthood PA Associates Website, http://www.ppaction.org/planned_pa/senate-canvas-intro.html, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Casey Attacks On Privacy: “He doesn’t believe in the right to privacy . . . . We don’t believe that. We don’t believe that.” (Bob Casey Jr., Remarks Before Human Rights Campaign Gala, Philadelphia, PA, February 18, 2006)

Planned Parenthood called S. 3, The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, (sponsored by Santorum) a “dangerous ban on abortion, endangering women’s lives for political gain.” (Planned Parenthood Website, http://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy-issues/public-affairs/Bush-War-on-Women-6069.htm, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, supported by both Santorum and Casey, was opposed by Planned Parenthood: “But defenders of freedom cannot wait idly by, hoping that a man whose record demonstrates that he is hostile toward the right to privacy and women’s rights will do the right thing.” (Planned Parenthood Website, http://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy-issues/courts-judiciary/john-roberts-6580.htm, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, supported by both Santorum and Casey, was opposed by Planned Parenthood. “Planned Parenthood opposes the nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Alito could radically transform the Supreme Court and create a direct threat to the health and safety of American women.” (Planned Parenthood Website, http://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy-issues/courts-judiciary/samuel-alito-6593.htm, Accessed November 2, 2006)

Planned Parenthood said, “The dangerous reality of the [Unborn Victims Of Violence Act] . . . is that it would elevate the legal status of the fetus to that of an adult human being, the first step in eroding a woman’s right to choose.” Santorum was a co-sponsor. (Planned Parenthood Website, http://www.plannedparenthood.org/centralnc/community-outreach.htm, Accessed November 2, 2006)