McBush: Eliminating women's access to health care, one term at a time.

Planned Parenthood PA Advocates reproductive freedom fighters held a visibility outside John McCain’s York town hall meeting yesterday, to let residents in on McCain’s dirty little secret.

During his 25 years in Congress, the Republican presidential candidate has consistently voted against medically accurate sex education, birth control, and even family planning funding to pay for breast and cervical cancer screenings for low-income and uninsured women. He’s earned a 0% rating from Planned Parenthood Action Fund for his long history of votes against women’s health.

You might wonder, “How does one earn a 0% rating without my hearing about it?”

The simple answer is that McCain doesn’t want you to know. Thanks to his reputation as a "maverick," many Americans have come to think of him as a moderate. As many as half of women who support John McCain actually think he's pro-choice. Asked about his views on insurance coverage of birth control in July, McCain flat-out told a reporter, "I certainly do not want to discuss that issue."

But McCain can't hide from his voting record if pro-family planning, pro-choice voters choose to make it an issue, as Planned Parenthood supporters did in York on Tuesday. Holding signs with slogans such as "Stop McCain's War on Women," supporters encouraged passerby to Know McCain. Check out these three media spots featuring Planned Parenthood:

1. Anne Laird of Planned Parenthood PA Advocates was featured on the local WPMT FOX43 news coverage of John McCain's stop in York, PA on August 12. Click here to see Anne and several PPPA signs, including a great slogan from Sari Stevens: "McBush: Eliminating women's access to health care, one term at a time."
2. Sara Reed of Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn was featured in a York Dispatch article about the event:
   
   "As John McCain supporters streamed into the York Expo Center Tuesday, they passed a couple dozen sign-bearing opponents protesting his stance on abortion rights, the Iraq War and the economy.
   
   'It's important for us to educate women and men about John McCain,' said Sara Reed, who works for Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn. Planned Parenthood staff and volunteers were holding handmade signs to bring attention to McCain's voting record, which has received a zero percent approval rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for his votes on sex education, birth control and abortion rights. The action fund gave Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama a 100 percent approval rating for his support of abortion rights and other reproduction-related issues."
3. Planned Parenthood interns are featured in YouTube coverage of the event by Keystone Progress, a Pennsylvania progressive advocacy organization

I wish I could write about seeing McCain firsthand. I wish I could say that I'd asked a question of the senator, that I'd been able to raise this issue with him directly. Unfortunately, I'm not a registered Republican with a conservative reputation. McCain's campaign pre-screened everyone requesting a ticket to the event, and only people fitting that description (and their children) were admitted. Doesn't this negate the implication of a "town hall" meeting? Only one side of the town is allowed to present their opinion.

Obviously, this meant that McCain faced only his supporters, and wasn't challenged with any tough questions. Given the layout of the York Expo Center, where the meeting was held, McCain didn't even have to see the signs or hear the chants of those who showed up to voice their disagreement. Hardly preperation for leading a diverse nation, where one isn't just the president of people who already agree with you.

America needs a president who respects all constituents, including women. McCain has spent the past 25 years telling us he will not be that president. America needs a president who listens to and considers all points of view. At least in York, the McCain campaign made it clear that only conservatives can have a seat at the table.

- Cassie, Harrisburg.

Going door-to-door for State Rep. Matt Smith

I can’t believe it is past the middle of the summer already! I have finally started working with State Representative Matt Smith on his campaign. Most days it is just us going door-to-door, canvassing in his district. Luckily, we’ve been getting an exceptionally positive response.

Saturday, I helped in his event to have supporters come together and door an afternoon’s worth of door to door. The only two real complaints? Lots and lots of steps and the unbearable heat! I even got to meet his family Saturday; he has the cutest baby daughter!

We have been working on a kind of weird schedule, so it goes a lot day by day, but we usually work for at least a couple of hours. I miss working in the office, but it is nice to get my hands dirty doing work! I hope everyone is doing well across the state!

- Lauren, Pittsburgh

PPPA interns lay the groundwork for election work!

Remember "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" essays in grade school? Well, if I had to write one now as a 23-year-old recent college graduate, I'd have to say that the last four weeks of my summer have been interesting and inspiring to say the least. Being offered the opportunity to be a Planned Parenthood Campaign Organizer intern has been one of the most exciting, enriching experiences I've had. My days are filled with work that, while perhaps isn't the most glamorous or fabulous, is always exciting and challenging. And in the midst of an economically questionable summer in which many Americans are partaking in "staycations" instead of stealing away to exotic locales, I'd venture to say that not only is my summer work exciting, it's also pretty important.

Jenn and I have been working out of John Siptroth's campaign office in Marshalls Creek. We're really lucky in that we have an awesome setup. We have the entire headquarters to ourselves, complete with a plethora of office supplies, a computer, fax machine, and phones. Basically, we're laying a lot of the groundwork for things that will happen later in the campaign as we approach the election. We've streamlined databases, organized the headquarters completely, set up two MySpace pages (Women for Siptroth and Vets for Siptroth), make countless phone and walk lists, and coordinated the setup and volunteer staffing for the recently-held American Freedom Festival in East Stroudsburg, among other things. (Which also included a very Lucy and Ethel-esque hours long hunt for curling ribbon around downtown Stroudsburg…) So on the campaign end of things, it's been a lot of computer work, but I realize how crucial this foundation is in making sure that John is re-elected and can continue to advocate for our issues (among other issues of course!) in HD 189.

As far as our PPPA stuff goes, Jenn and I have done lots of phone calls and crowd canvassing, but we have even more exciting things on the horizon. On Wednesday, we're tabling the Mae show at Crocodile Rock in Allentown. We're gunning to meet AND exceed our Million Strong goal at this event. After that, we're hosting a house party at my house a week from Thursday and hopefully petitioning at MusikFest in Bethlehem and one of the upcoming Warped Tour dates. There's a lot to look forward to and a lot of really exciting work to be done as we continue on this particular summer adventure!

- Joy, Northeast PA

Tireless and determined volunteers aid the campaign

As the seventh week of my internship with Planned Parenthood and the campaign of Representative Barbara McIlvaine Smith is beginning, I am realizing just how much I have learned already. For the past six weeks, Ashley and I have worked on Barb’s campaign with Lani, the campaign manager, and various dedicated and eccentric volunteers. We started working out of Lani’s house for the first two weeks and then opened our campaign office in downtown West Chester, where we feel welcomed and at home. Every day, we make phone calls, enter data, stuff envelopes, come up with new GOTV (Get Out The Vote) ideas, work on Barb’s Facebook and Myspace, write fundraising letters, and try to get to know the district a little bit better.

I have met so many volunteers who are committed to ensuring Barb’s re-election, even if they do not reside in the 156^th district. From Leslie, who stuffs palm cards in doorknob bags while she watches the Phillies games to Richard, affectionately known as Baba, who pokes into the office multiple times a week to give us his fresh, new ideas and engage us in conversation that seems like it never ends, Barb’s volunteers are tireless and determined; they believe that Barb is the best person for the job because of her ethics and her dedication to important and progressive issues. For these same reasons, I have morphed into a huge Barb supporter and find myself talking to Ashley almost every day about how we wish we lived in the district so that we could vote for her in November.

I really feel like I am not only gaining valuable experience for my own benefit this summer, but I am also making a difference by working on the McIlvaine Smith campaign because Barb is an excellent representative. She is dedicated to ethics reform in Harrisburg, an issue that needs to be addressed desperately if our state legislature truly wants to affect positive change for the people of Pennsylvania. Barb is most concerned with three issues besides ethics reform: the environment, education and healthcare. She is pro-choice and very supportive of Planned Parenthood’s issues. Barb is a regular citizen who decided to take a stand for what she believed in for the benefit of her community, district and state. Because I am grateful for her courageous work in an area of the commonwealth that is not always very receptive to democrats holding office and change in the status quo, I am enjoying my internship that much more. In Barb, I have found a leader to learn from, to fight for and most of all, to admire.

- Molly, Southeast PA

Learning to love canvassing

The majority of my time is spent working with the Rick Taylor Campaign
in House District 151. I am having a very positive experience working
within the Rick Taylor family. My day-to-day boss, Rob, is an efficient
field director with a wicked sense of humor. There are several interns
all of whom are young, active, and pleasant to work with. In addition,
it has been an honor getting to know Monica (my partner). The energy
within the campaign office is infectious. I have grown to love
canvassing; I look forward to my daily canvass. There is a great duality
to canvassing: it is an efficient way to gain votes and ID residents
while simultaneously offering an opportunity to glimpse into people's
eccentric and bizarre ways of life.

From the Planned Parenthood side of things, Monica and I have been
trained with clinic advocacy. There is a Planned Parenthood clinic
within close walking distance from Rick Taylor's campaign office. The
clinic should be a great way to get more C4 opt-ins and ID Planned
Parenthood supporters.

I feel pro-active and inspired on a day-to-day basis doing my work for
this internship.

- Annie, Southeast PA

Does your vote matter?

As an intern for Planned Parenthood, I’ve found that the most important task at hand is to educate voters about the importance of women’s health in politics, and then come November, inspire them to vote! However, many Americans are skeptical about voting. We think, in the overall outcome of the 2008 election, my vote won’t really matter, right? After all, according to the Federal Elections Commission, 122,267,553 people voted in the last presidential election.[1] There is just no way that as an individual, my vote will make a difference on the outcome.

But, to me, voting is more than whether my candidate wins or loses. It’s about my voice being counted – I want to send the message to all politicians that young people vote, women vote, and (more importantly) young, pro-choice women vote - therefore they are going to have to listen to what we are saying. When I started working as an intern for Planned Parenthood, I found out about their One Million Strong Campaign, and I was ecstatic! The first thing we can do as a coalition of one million people is demand that women’s health be a priority in this election. John McCain has an extreme (and extremely scary) record on women’s health, but right now the issue is just not being talked about, and people simply don’t know. Secondly, we can gain the strength in numbers to start turning politics in Pennsylvania and across the country around to support women. That’s why I willingly spend my time calling strangers, petitioning in the streets, and signing up new members in the health center. For me, none of these tasks are easy, but this is a grassroots movement built one member at a time.

If we really do get 1,000,000 people to the polls to vote for a pro-choice, pro-women’s health, pro-family planning president, our impact as voters goes from miniscule to enormous. Yes, 1 in 123,000,000 is not such great odds. But, being 1 in every 123 voters is not such a bad impact after all, huh?

- Lindsay, Harrisburg

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[1] Source: Federal Elections Commission Electoral and Popular Vote Summary

Maybe we’ll even make the local news

Getting a campaign office up and running isn’t always the most interesting task, but it makes such a difference to the candidate in the end. So in the last three weeks I’ve spent a great deal of time helping the Siptroth campaign organize its electronic resources – creating/updating databases, generating reports, etc. As I have a lot of experience with this sort of work, I feel I have made a significant impact.

One fun and interesting thing I have done is I’ve also made a MySpace page, “Vets for Siptroth,” to try to rally support for the representative among the local veteran crowd, or at least get the word out to others that he’s really working for veteran’s issues.

What I’m really excited about are our upcoming plans – organizing some visibility or protests when Senator John McCain comes to north east Pennsylvania on July 23, and crowd canvassing and tabling at local music events. Yes, that’s right, McCain is going to be in the area and we’re so taking advantage of that – gathering a bunch of people, making signs, basically making sure as many people as possible know how out of line with mainstream values the Senator is. And hey – maybe we’ll even make the local news and be able to get the word out for on public TV about McCain’s horrible record on women’s health!

- Jenn, Northeast PA

To all my fellow choice supporters:

I have officially been a Planned Parenthood Campaign Organizer intern for about five weeks, and have already seen the benefit of working for this fabulous organization. As a Planned Parenthood organizer on Rep. Barbara McIlvaine Smith's campaign for re-election, I have had the pleasure of speaking with many pro-choice voters in her district. The overwhelming amount of gratitude for our efforts as an organization has perpetually made the calls with uninterested anti-choice voters much more tolerable; however, while I have encountered my fair share of anti-choice voters unwilling to listen to our message, I have also found a small, precious group who were swayed. After overcoming some of my initial nerves when calling people who I had first inappropriately stereotyped as anti-choice, I finally became comfortable discussing these sensitive issues with unlikely choice supporters. Once my confidence level increased, so did my success at recruiting more pro-choice voters!

Working toward opting in Pennsylvania's goal of 25,501 choice voters to the One Million Strong Campaign has helped to bridge my studies and my passion for social justice. As a double major in Political Science and Women's Studies, I was asked to serve as a member on the President's Commission on Women at my university this past academic year. The Commission worked to evaluate the gender climate on my school's campus as well as hiring a full time director for our Women's center and improving women's health services provided. As an advocate for victims of sexual assault, rape and violence on campus, I was disappointed that I had to FIGHT for the administration to even pay attention to the HIGH number of women needing access to emergency contraception and rape counseling through the college's health center. Without a counselor specializing in rape and sexual assault victims on campus, students who are victims of sexual violence can only talk to general counselors who treat hundreds of other students. Realizing that victims really had no where to turn, especially in a highly anti-choice area where only anti-choice organizations exist, I found myself feeling incredibly hopeless.

I admittedly stumbled into the Planned Parenthood Campaign Organizer internship this summer, having the good fortune of meeting two lovely Planned Parenthood Grassroots Organizers at a college internship fair. After talking with them for a few minutes and giving them my resume, I walked away feeling like I had found where I belonged. Sick of fighting with an administration that was not receptive to what the women on their campus needed, I found a group of strong, like minded individuals who all enjoyed fighting for what I fight for: the freedom to make choices about our bodies and live as individuals free of persecution. I could not have been any luckier or happier to have found this group.

-- Ashley, Southeast PA

Nobody asks us about the budget...

When people ask me what I am doing this summer, I tell them I am working for Planned Parenthood. I get a lot of questions on what my internship entails, but basically I am an intern for the Action Fund part of the organization. The Action Fund is the political and public policy arm of Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania. Since it’s an election year, you can imagine we’re pretty busy!

The job isn’t glamorous, some of my friends are constantly flying to different cities, making over $20 an hour and living near the beach; my tan isn’t fantastic working in an office in downtown Pittsburgh. It may not be fabulous, but my job is important. My internship is an innovative new program being used across the state. I am one half of an intern pair working in Western Pennsylvania for a pro-choice candidate, and also giving part of my time to Planned Parenthood’s mission.

Local elections are time consuming, and require a lot of hard work. I study politics in school and nobody ever tells you how much work is done just for a local election! My partner Dayna and I are working on Representative Matt Smith’s reelection campaign and although, shockingly, they haven’t asked for our input on passing the budget in Harrisburg, we are working on cultivating his supporters from 2006; trying to gather up people to host coffees and meet and greets with him. In a week or so we will start canvassing the neighborhoods in his district for people who we expect to be pro-choice. Politics aren’t attractive all the time, but someone needs to “make the sausage” (as my father says).

So, while nobody cares what I think about the state budget, or the Presidential election, I am a cog in the machine that has to keep running. By calling supporters and getting out the vote we can keep pro-choice people in office and make sure women’s health issues are protected. But I am always willing to give my opinions on the budget, or anything else, if anyone ever asks.

- Lauren, Pittsburgh

Always a busy day in Harrisburg

As a public affairs intern at the state advocacy office, I have to be ready for anything. One of the things I love most about my position is that there’s never a dull moment, and the day’s schedule can change at any time. Last week, I was enjoying my usual bus trip into the office. As we passed Soldier’s Grove, bright yellow and red Wendy’s trucks were blocking traffic. I could see Wendy’s employees setting up booths and tents on the lawn across from the Capitol Complex. Later that day, Lindsay (my fellow intern) and I walked to the Grove to sign-up new One Million Strong supporters.

On several occasions, Lindsay and I have worked independently while Anne and Sari have been on business trips. It’s a great honor that they trust us to open and close the office by ourselves, and to work entire days without supervision. Even alone in the office, there’s still lots to be done! On one such day, I learned a new software, emailed a band manager about tabling at a show, wrote a blurb about Campaign Organizer Action Camp 2008 for the national office, and contacted public policy staff about a public affairs meeting, among other things.

Of course, another fun aspect of this internship has been meeting all the other interns and making friends. Planned Parenthood Facebook and MySpace accounts make it easy to keep it touch with everyone, even though we’re spread across the state. Plus, we’ll each be updating this blog throughout the summer, for your entertainment and ours!

- Cassie, Harrisburg