Press Release Michigan
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Charles Booker for U.S. Senate in Kentucky
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Charles Booker for U.S. Senate in Kentucky
Booker earns endorsement of nation’s leading reproductive freedom advocacy group
Washington, DC — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced its endorsement of Charles Booker for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Booker, a future leader for reproductive freedom, is running to unseat anti-choice incumbent Senator Rand Paul in this highly contested election.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Senator Rand Paul and his extremist colleagues who encouraged the Court to end Roe v. Wade have pushed abortion access out of reach for millions of people in Kentucky and across the country. It’s time for change. Charles Booker gives Kentuckians a chance to be represented by a leader who they can count on to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms. We’re proud to endorse him in this race and will be putting the full force of our members behind him to ensure he’s elected this November. ”
Rep. Charles Booker, candidate for U.S. Senate, said:
“This election is about fighting for the future of our democracy, and Kentucky is ground zero. Not only do we have an obligation to beat back a constitutional amendment that would strip Kentuckians of their right to control their own bodies, we also have the opportunity to remove one of the most extreme pro-forced birth politicians in Washington. Kentuckians are ready to transform our future, and I am proud to have the support of NARAL with us in this fight.”
Charles Booker represented Kentucky’s 43rd District in the state House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. He has committed to protecting and expanding abortion access by voting to lock the federal right to abortion into law. Booker is running to unseat Senator Rand Paul, who has been pushing to end abortion access since he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2011, earning him a single-digit score in NARAL’s Congressional Record on Reproductive Freedom nearly every year he has held office. Senator Paul was one of 228 anti-choice members of Congress who signed onto an amicus brief calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
In June, the Court did exactly that, ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 14 states—including Kentucky—have begun enforcing extreme bans on abortion. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
This endorsements come as NARAL Pro-Choice America is ramping up its work to elect candidates up and down the ballot during a critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.