Planned Parenthood is hitting the road for its Women are Watching bus tour, stopping in Columbia today to talk to voters about “what’s at stake for women’s health in November.”
“In light of U.S. Senate Candidate Todd Akin’s recent comments on ‘legitimate rape,’ the rally couldn’t come at a better time to highlight the importance of women’s issues in this election,” the organization said in a press release.
The event happens today at 5:30 p.m. at State Representative Mary Still’s campaign office at 200 Old Highway 63 South (just south of Broadway).
“Planned Parenthood Action Fund sees firsthand the people who are being hurt by policies that attack women’s health, so we know why this election matters so much,” the release states. “Through this unprecedented bus tour, voters will hear directly from women in their own communities who would be hurt by policies that politicians like Mitt Romney and Todd Akin support.”
The nonprofit notes that the tour is part of Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s largest-ever campaign effort, which the organization has undertaken “because so much is at stake for women’s health in this election and because women will decide the outcome of this election.”
“Efforts to eliminate access to birth control, cancer screenings, and basic preventive health services started in Congress 18 months ago,” the statement continues. “Now we’re seeing cuts and attacks that put women’s health at risk in states like Texas – which is a preview of what Mitt Romney would do all across America.”
The event is fueled no doubt by Akin’s comments about abortion and rape, which Planned Parenthood says “clearly illustrated exactly why politicians should not be meddling in women’s personal medical decisions. His medically and factually inaccurate statement during a television interview on Sunday about pregnancy resulting from rape is shocking and offensive, yet not surprising.”