DNC Chairman Kaine Should Veto Anti-Choice Legislation

NARAL Pro-Choice America--in partnership with NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia--issued a nationwide activist alert calling on Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who also serves as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to veto legislation that would funnel thousands of dollars to fake clinics that discourage women from choosing legal abortion.

By opposing this measure, Gov. Kaine will uphold the strong pro-choice platform the Democratic Party adopted last August and stop an anti-choice bill from becoming law in his state.

The bill in question is SB817, which authorizes the creation of special license plates bearing "Choose Life." A portion of the funds from the sale of these plates would be distributed to so-called anti-choice "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs) in Virginia.

Gov. Kaine has done the right thing before. He rejected federal "abstinence-only" funding, which sent a clear signal that he supports non-ideological, fact-based solutions to the problem of unintended pregnancies. If he were to sign SB817 into law, it would stand at odds with that decision, as many of these CPCs deliberately withhold from women accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased medical information.

For years, the anti-choice movement has tried to restrict, control, and manipulate the information doctors give women facing unplanned pregnancies. Unable to shut down legitimate public-health clinics, they are instead building a network of CPCs across the country.

Some people view these operations as harmless centers that offer women free pregnancy tests. Unfortunately, this is not exactly true. Most CPCs actually have an anti-choice agenda and use deceptive, intimidating, and emotionally manipulative tactics to block women from learning the facts about, or choosing, legal abortion. Some of these organizations even give women medically inaccurate information about abortion, claiming the procedure is dangerous and can cause breast cancer, infertility, and mental illness.

For a real-life example of the dangers of a CPC, watch this video (the CPC segment begins at 4:48):

We all agree that women are entitled to accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased medical information with which they can make their own decisions. The government should support legitimate reproductive-health centers that meet this standard of care. The government should not be in the business of supporting organizations that attempt to coerce women into making one decision over another.

During this time of economic crisis, when more and more of Virginia's women are losing health-care coverage, the Commonwealth of Virginia should focus its efforts on promoting legitimate, comprehensive health-care options instead of CPCs whose missions have nothing to do with health care and everything to do with a political agenda.

Please take action to urge Gov. Tim Kaine to veto this legislation.

Make no mistake - these license plates have the potential to generate thousands of dollars in revenue for these organizations. Florida's DMV reports that, in that state, the "Choose Life" license plate generates over $65,000 a month for CPCs.

Gov. Kaine is expected to make his decision in the coming days, so please take action ASAP.

Comments

[pg44]

I personally lobbied my representatives. I wrote to the Governor more than once.

Gov. Tim Kaine has signed the bill approving a "Choose Life" license plate. Funds raised from these plates will help fund crisis pregnancy centers in Virginia, which are often deceptive, religious based, non-medical establishments masquerading as clinics for pregnant women. This law will do nothing to help women--it's sole purpose is to fund an anti-choice agenda.

So much for the DNC Chair supporting the DNC platform, women, and pro-choice Democratic voters.

[Paul Burke]

AstroTurf health clinics - don't need tax payer money promoting them....

Paul Burke
Author-Journey Home

[ge86]

Thanks for a great post. I sincerely hope Governor Kaine listens to the national outcry about this. In a troubled economy, what we DON'T need is money being funneled to organizations that mislead women with medically inaccurate information.

[Puzlfxr]

"The government should not be in the business of supporting organizations that attempt to coerce women into making one decision over another"

if that statement is correct then so should this one

Tax dollars and special tax status should not go to organizations that attempt to coerce women into making one decision over another.

referring to planned parenthood of course.

[NYC]

planned, means planned... not anything more and planned parenthood councils on birth control and adoption

[ge86]

Planned Parenthood does provide women with all their options - parenting, abortion, and adoption - without coercion.

[jess2]

Regardless of whether either the CPC network or Planned Parenthood is attempting to coerce women into making a particular kind of decision, I hope we can all agree that no organization that advertises itself as a health clinic should be disseminating intentionally misleading or inaccurate medical information -- much less with the endorsement of government funding. It is a cruel and malicious thing to do, and it demonstrates that the people who run CPCs do not actually care about the often scared, usually vulnerable women who walk through their doors seeking neutral information, support, and guidance.

[vt brent]

you have to veto this governor kaine! the state has no business at all in promoting facilities that manipulate pregnant women. i have heard that some CPC's will flat out lie to women to scare them into carrying a child and not address the full range of choices available to these women. i'm sorry, but we need to support clinics and doctors who actually provide medically accurate and unbiased information.

[Rimser]

Nancy . . . Great article. Aren't these CPCs licensed by the State? Can't the State require that, if they are accepting State funds (i.e. from license plates), they hold to a certain standard? Meaning these centers must be required to provide all relevant information. If they don't, they lose their license and their funding. We need more women's clinics all over the country, but not to the detriment of those they are supposed to serve.

[JessInVA]

Hey Rimser, I checked that out, and by and large, CPCs in Virginia are unregulated and unlicensed (though a few have taken steps to become licensed medical clinics). What's more, the bill in question, SB817, does not require that the CPCs be licensed to be eligible for funding, but rather only requires them to be affiliated with a national organization called Heartbeat International.

[NYC]

Nancy... do you really need to write an article, why don't you just get Obama to make it happen, you did endorse him in the primary, didn't he give you his blackberry address???­??????????

[ydaba09]

What these clinics are doing is wrong! It is unconstitutional and manipulative. Gov Tim Kaine should do the right thing and veto The legislation that would stop thousands of dollars from going to clinics that discourage women from having abortions. Getting an abortion should be the Women’s decision, and the government and anti-choice centers like the CPC’s should not be involved in the decision by using scare tactics to get the women to decide to have an abortion. If what the CPCS are deliberately
withholding accurate and unbiased Medical information and telling women that abortion can cause breast cancer, mental illness andall types of illness than these places Should be shut down. It’s in a women’s right to privacy which is a life without the intrusion of the government in her decision to get an abortion Which was established in the 1973 supreme court case of Roe vs Wade. What the
CPC’s are doing is discouraging women from a right that they have-to an abortion if they desire to. Children shouldn’t be born tomothers that cannot raise them-its in the best interest of the mother and the child.