EMILY’s List Statement on Birth Control Coverage

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock released this statement on the White House’s announcement of the birth control coverage benefit.

“We’re reassured that it appears that no woman, no matter where she works, will lose birth control coverage, but it’s outrageous and disheartening that this important step forward for women became a target of the far-right -- and a tool for desperate candidates, like Mitt Romney, trying to rally the most conservative primary voters to their side,” said Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY’s List. “Our EMILY’s List women have been fighting for what women need and deserve throughout this long year of overreaching by the radical right, and we’re committed to bringing them reinforcements on election day this November. Time and time again, we’ve seen leaders like Patty Murray, Barbara Boxer, Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill, and the other pro-choice Democratic women in the Senate making their voices clear on health care and other critical programs for women – and with a record number of pro-choice Democratic women running for the Senate this year, women donors, voters, and activists have an opportunity to expand that firewall for women and families and ensure that basic rights and opportunities are not compromised.”

In the 2009-2010 cycle, EMILY's List raised more than $38.5 million to support its mission of recruiting and supporting women candidates, helping them build strong campaigns, and mobilizing women voters to turn out and vote. With a community of more than 1,000,000 members across the country, EMILY's List is one of the largest political action committees in the nation. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY's List has worked to elect 87 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 16 to the U.S. Senate, nine governors, and hundreds of women to the state legislatures, state constitutional offices, and other key local offices. In the 2009-2010 cycle, EMILY's List had the largest number of members and donors in our 27 year history.