Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Doug Jones, Democratic candidate in the Alabama special election, has the power to curb the misogyny plaguing women across the country. Alabama women have the power send him to the U.S. Senate.

As a U.S. Attorney, Jones took action to put violent anti-choicers behind bars. He spearheaded the prosecution of Eric Rudolph–who bombed the New Woman All Women Health Care Center in Birmingham, and later admitted to bombing an additional abortion clinic and an Atlanta lesbian bar. “I was having breakfast just blocks away and ran to the scene,” Jones remembers. “The image of a bombed building and body of a police officer will remain with me for the rest of my life.”

Speaking to Chuck Todd on MSNBC in late September, Jones delivered his full and unconditional support for reproductive choice: “I am a firm believer that a woman should have the freedom to choose what happens to her own body and I will stand up for that and make sure that continues to happen,” Jones said. “I want to make sure that as we go forward people have access to contraception and access to the abortion that they might need if that’s what they choose to do.”

Jones was also taken action to convict violent white supremacists–successfully convicting Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry for murder 40 years after the church bombing in Birmingham that killed four young African American girls and galvanized the civil rights movement.

Jones stands in sharp contrast to opponent, Roy Moore, who has alienated even steadfast Republicans with statements revealing his misogynistic, homophobic, and hateful beliefs. Jones says: “America is a nation of laws, justice, equality and opportunity, and we must push back against those who threaten those fundamental American values.”

I agree, and so do Alabama’s women. Tai Hicks, president of Greater Birmingham NOW says: “Women, people of color and members of the LGBTIA community would sleep better at night knowing that Jones, not Moore is in the Senate. Alabamians have worked so hard to make life better for all her citizens; we cannot afford to go backward.”

Women across the U.S. are looking to the women of Alabama to show up to the polls on December 12. We’re calling on Alabama feminists to get out and vote for Doug Jones!

Contact
M.E. Ficarra, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

The National Organization for Women fiercely condemns the Trump administration’s manipulation of the judicial system to to prevent Jane Doe from receiving abortion care.

These despicable, underhanded tactics are nothing new. For years we have watched federal, state, and local lawmakers attempt to chip away at women’s constitutional rights to reproductive care.

Jane Doe’s story bring this reality into sharp focus, because the facts of the case are so devastating. The Trump administration is forcing an undocumented teenage girl to remain pregnant, with nearly incoherent logic predicated on the promotion of birth over the protection of women.

The burden is clearly undue–and, unsurprisingly, has been placed squarely on the shoulders of an already vulnerable young woman. We applaud her strength as she endures the Trump administration’s drawn out court case, and continues to raise her voice for access to reproductive rights.

She persists, and so we will resist. No other woman should be forced to endure what Jane Doe has. We demand #JusticeforJane, and an end to the legal hurdles that rob all women of their bodily autonomy.

Contact
M.E. Ficarra, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Rep. Frederica Wilson spoke out against Donald Trump. At the National Organization for Women, we are proud to raise our voices in support of her.

After Donald Trump’s callous phone call to Myeshia Johnson, the pregnant widow of fallen soldier Sgt. La David Johnson, Rep. Wilson publicly decried Trump’s offensive remarks. The congresswoman demonstrated fierce courage in speaking out; but her bravery has been met with threats and abuse from misogynistic individuals.

Rep. Wilson has been forced to miss votes in Washington, D.C. due to these threats–sharply emphasizing how sexism damages our democracy.

But Rep. Wilson’s story is about more than a few missed votes. The vicious backlash against the congresswoman is symptomatic of a larger problem that women face. Countless women, especially women of color, are living their own version of Wilson’s story–where they are silenced, shamed, and told by men that they don’t belong.

To the woman who are pushed aside by misogynists: keep pushing back. You belong here. And Rep. Wilson belongs in Congress. NOW is proud to support the congresswoman during this challenging time–along with women everywhere speaking truth to power.

Contact
M.E. Ficarra, press@now.org, 951-547-1241