{"id":15202,"date":"2018-03-01T21:27:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T21:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2018\/03\/01\/planned-parenthood-plans-major-political-effort-in-key-states-for-2018-midterms\/"},"modified":"2018-03-01T21:27:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T21:27:00","slug":"planned-parenthood-plans-major-political-effort-in-key-states-for-2018-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/planned-parenthood-plans-major-political-effort-in-key-states-for-2018-midterms\/","title":{"rendered":"Planned Parenthood Plans Major Political Effort In Key States For 2018 Midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Don Gonyea<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Supporters of Planned Parenthood dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale<\/em> protest last June outside the Capitol against Senate Republicans’ health care bill.<\/p>\n

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AFP Contributor\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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AFP Contributor\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Add Planned Parenthood to the list of organizations looking to take advantage of President Trump’s low approval ratings<\/a> in the 2018 midterm elections.<\/p>\n

The organization is not new to the rough-and-tumble of electoral politics \u2014 and has often itself become a top issue for Republicans looking to slash federal funding for the organization \u2014 but this year Planned Parenthood Votes and Planned Parenthood Action Fund will launch their biggest-ever push to try to tip the balance in Congress and in key states.<\/p>\n

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Planned Parenthood sees the Trump administration as a threat and, with a Republican-controlled Congress, sees the danger to abortion rights as great as it has been in decades. But the upside for progressive groups is that Trump has also inspired a newly energized movement in protest of his policies. The best example of this so far is the massive Women’s March on Washington, D.C., a year ago, a day after Trump’s inauguration, and the hundreds of smaller marches across the country on that day and since.<\/p>\n

Deirdre Schifeling, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, which along with Planned Parenthood Action Fund constitutes Planned Parenthood’s political operation, says the group has committed an initial investment of $20 million to be used mostly on Senate and gubernatorial contests in eight states.<\/p>\n

“We will be supporting candidates who support reproductive rights,” Schifeling says, adding that such rights are “really at stake in the country, especially this year.” She says “we support candidates who support access to Planned Parenthood and who support women and all people making their own health care decisions without interference from politicians.”<\/p>\n