Lawless and Rhode Island Women Present Langevin with Report Card; Shows Him that We DO Care About the Right to Choose

WARWICK, RI – Jennifer Lawless, candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives from Rhode Island’s 2nd congressional district, yesterday held a press conference outside of her opponent’s district office in Warwick. She joined Carolyn Mark, President of Rhode Island’s chapter of the National Organization for Women, and Mary Ann Sorrentino, former Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island, as well as a group of over fifty Rhode Islanders, to send the clear message to Representative James Langevin that Rhode Island women DO care about their right to choose.

Said Lawless, “Jim Langevin cannot deny the fact that most Rhode Islanders believe that abortion is a personal, private decision that should be made between a woman, her doctor, her family, and her God. Jim Langevin and the U.S. Congress should not be involved in the personal, private decisions of Rhode Island women.

“I could stand here today and talk about his eleven votes to support President Bush’s ‘stay the course’ strategy in Iraq. I could stand here today and talk about his belief that the federal government should strip Americans of the right to privacy. But I’m standing here today, outside Jim Langevin’s office, to join with women and activists from across the state to make a bold statement: Rhode Island women care about the right to choose.”

Since he was elected to Congress, Langevin has voted 27 times against a woman’s right to choose, including votes that would: deny women in the military the right to obtain abortion care at their base hospitals, even if they pay for the procedure themselves; cancel family-planning dollars to overseas clinics that, with their own, non-U.S. funds, provide abortion care or medical counseling that includes mention of abortion; and imprison anyone other than a parent who accompanies a young woman to the doctor for abortion care out of state, including family members and the clergy. E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post has even called Langevin one of the “staunchest opponents of abortion in the House.”

Lawless also presented Langevin with a 3 foot by 5 foot report card. Langevin’s grades on the report card were: F for the Iraq War, F for Reproductive Freedom, F for Privacy Rights, and A for Voting with President Bush. She said, “I’m a teacher, so I give out grades for a living. And today, I bring a report card grading Jim Langevin on issues that matter a lot. On the war in Iraq, I give Jim Langevin an F. On women’s reproductive freedom, I give Jim Langevin an F. On the right to privacy, I give Jim Langevin an F. On the bright side, though, on supporting President Bush, I give Jim Langevin an A. As a teacher, I can tell you that that is not a good grade point average.”