NurseWeek

$10 million ad campaign beats on Bush

By Patrick Spero
Health24News
October 12, 2000


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Washington (H24N). Planned Parenthood, the oldest non-profit organization designed to promote awareness of and protect women's reproductive rights, has launched for the first time ever an advertising campaign against a presidential candidate, in this case Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush.

The $10 million ad campaign officially launched Oct. 2 consists of both direct mail and television advertising. The advertisements feature pro-choice Republican women who, in the ads, express concern about Bush's policy on women's reproductive rights. Planned Parenthood directed the ads towards "the block of moderate independent and Republican women voters many believe will be the deciding factor in the outcome of the election."

Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood, described the campaign's mission " to educate pro-choice, pro-family planning voters about what is at stake on Election Day in Congress and the White House and the stark differences between the candidates for president and for Congress."

Feldt, explaining why the 84-year-old non-partisan organization is entering the presidential fray, stressed the importance this election may bear on the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion.

"The future of Roe v. Wade and the direction of the Supreme Court on a whole range of civil and reproductive rights issues hangs in the balance," she said. "We are reaching out to tell them [pro-choice voters] that battles we thought were won long ago could return just days after the election.

"What is at stake is no less than the future of reproductive choice in America."

The Supreme Court has become an issue in the presidential campaign because it is expected that whoever wins the Nov. 7 election will, during his tenure as president, appoint at least two Supreme Court justices, a position held for life.

Feldt described Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore as "pro-choice and he supports the family planning and responsible sex education programs that help prevent the need for abortion."

As for Bush, she said he is a candidate who "supports a ban on abortion and a gag rule on family planning. George W. Bush does not trust women to make their own choices."

The ads will target seven key swing states: Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. Feldt also described the numerous state and local affiliates of Planned Parenthood that will also be spearheading local campaigns to promulgate the national organization's stance.

The organization plans to dedicate $7 million to its television advertising campaign and allocate the remaining $3 million to "grassroots efforts." The funds and advertisements will be funneled through Planned Parenthood's political action committee Planned Parenthood Action Fund.