NARAL and EMILYs List Release Joint Statement on Biden’s Response to Sexual Assault Allegations
NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILYs List Release Joint Statement on Biden’s Response to Sexual Assault Allegations
This morning, Vice President Joe Biden addressed Tara Reade’s allegations of sexual assault on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” as well as releasing a lengthy statement on the topic.
In response, Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following joint statement:
“It is critical that women be heard, that they be allowed to tell their stories without personal attacks or a system that shuts them down. Today, Joe Biden addressed Tara Reade’s claims. Voters deserve the chance to hear from Biden, especially given how much is at stake in this election, and today they did.
For too long, women have been ignored, dismissed or demeaned. At a time when women’s rights are constantly under attack, we know that women and women’s groups cannot solve these deeply entrenched issues alone. It’s on all of us to stand up and fight for a system that treats everyone equitably and protects all of our rights.
Just as Biden has listened and led in the past on the Violence Against Women Act, we now need him to lead us forward to create the sort of systems where survivors’ claims are taken seriously and justice and healing are possible.
This debate is about the next election, the most critical in our lifetime. Voters have a choice between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, whose actions have cost lives through this pandemic, who wants to end Roe v. Wade, who is constantly undermining our democracy, who has tried to rip away healthcare from millions, who has put children in cages and torn families apart, and more. Trump presents a threat to our communities, our freedoms, and our most cherished institutions and has never addressed the multiple credible allegations of sexual assault against him.
We will always fight for the rights of all women: to tell their stories, to make their own decisions about their futures, to access the full range of reproductive healthcare, and to take care of their families. 2020 is a pivotal moment in that fight.”
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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 50,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.
