Protect Women’s Health and Register to Vote on January 21

Planned Parenthood Hosting Voter Registration Drive in San Francisco

(San Francisco, CA) – On January 21, Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific (PPSP) is hosting a voter registration drive in San Francisco to ensure that more eligible voters who support women’s health and rights make their voices heard.

“We know that the most effective way to protect and advance women’s health is to support lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington, DC who recognize women and their families must have access to affordable health care and the right to make their own medical decisions without government interference,” said Heather Estes, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific. 

In 2011, 92 laws were enacted in 24 states that restrict women’s access to lifesaving preventive health care and abortion services.  This is triple the number enacted in 2010.  More extreme attacks are expected in 2012.  At the federal level, conservative lawmakers came close to shutting down the government in an effort to defund Planned Parenthood. 

“With the unprecedented attacks on women’s health across the nation in 2011 and more expected in 2012, we believe that the weekend of the 39^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is a particularly fitting time to conduct a voter registration drive,” Estes said.

Planned Parenthood volunteers will be registering people to vote in San Francisco on Saturday, January 21 from 8a to 4p at the following locations:

• ·         Ferry Building Farmer’s Market:  8a to Noon
• ·         24^th Street and Mission:  8a to Noon
• ·         Union Square:  Noon to 4p
• ·         deYoung Museum:  Noon to 4p

“Four decades after the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that the right to privacy in the Constitution protects a woman’s right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy or have a safe, legal abortion, Planned Parenthood continues to work tirelessly so that women and their families have access to affordable, life-saving health care services,” Estes continued.