More than 1 Million Pro-Life Activists to Flood Congressional District Offices with Calls to Defund Planned Parenthood
Expose Planned Parenthood Coalition Mobilizes Grassroots to Call for Defunding in Congressional Districts
WASHINGTON, March 21, 2011 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Today, the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), Family Research Council Action (FRC Action), 40 Days for Life, Students for Life of America (SFLA), Concerned Women for America (CWA), Catholic Vote, LifeNews.com, American Values and Catholic Advocate launched a grassroots campaign to flood the phones of Members of Congress, asking them to defund Planned Parenthood in the Continuing Resolution (CR). From Monday, March 21 to Friday, March 25, SBA List and other members of the Expose Planned Parenthood coalition will mobilize pro-life activists to call and visit district offices and attend town hall meetings while their representatives are in their home districts, asking them to defund Planned Parenthood in the next CR.
"The momentum behind defunding Planned Parenthood is building," said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "The message from the grassroots has been clear: the time to end taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood is right now. Whether in a short-term or long-term Continuing Resolution, defunding Planned Parenthood in this bill is a non-negotiable."
Lila Rose, President of Live Action, filmed a grassroots call-to-action in the nation's capital, announcing the Week of Action campaign.
Available here, the video asks pro-life activists to join in the effort to defund Planned Parenthood of the $363 million it receives in government funds each year by contacting their Members of Congress during the Week of Action.
The effort comes on the heels of a successful 13-district SBA List "Women Speak Out: Defund Planned Parenthood" bus tour conducted between March 7 – 11, which rallied pro-life grassroots activists across Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. SBA List Project Director Marilyn Musgrave and Live Action President, Lila Rose led tour stops including press conferences with local pro-life leaders, thanking Members who voted for Rep. Mike Pence's amendment to defund Planned Parenthood in the Continuing Resolution (CR) and targeting those who voted against the measure.
The tour was a part of a larger $200,000 grassroots campaign including radio and television ads thanking Members for their votes to defund Planned Parenthood. Overall, the Expose Planned Parenthood grassroots effort to defund Planned Parenthood has drawn more than 1.2 million contacts to Congress through e-mails, phone calls and petitions.
The Susan B. Anthony List spent $11 million during the 2010 midterm election cycle. Overall, the SBA List was involved in 90 races including 62 wins and 28 losses. Successes included: defeating 15 of 20 so-called "pro-life" Democrats who voted for abortion funding in the health care reform bill; increasing the number of pro-life women in the House by 70 percent; filling the void of pro-life women in the U.S. Senate and increasing the number of pro-life women governors from one to four.
