NARAL National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League

NARAL National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Krissie and Lamisa

Overview • NARAL is a Pro-Choice non-profit organization. • It has approximately 20 state affiliates and approximately 1 million members. • NARAL Pro-Choice America also sponsors public sex education and tracks state and national legislation affecting laws regarding abortion, women's health and rights. • They are a single–issue, ideological group

Aims The NARAL programme has six parts: • Assist in the formation in all states of direct political action groups dedicated to the purpose of NARAL; • Serve as a clearing house for activities related to NARAL's purpose; • Create new materials for mass distribution which tell the repeal story dramatically and succinctly; • Train field workers to organize and stimulate legislative action; • Suggest direct action projects; • Raise funds for the above activities.

Methods • NARAL Pro-Choice America uses numerous tactics to lobby for liberalized access to abortion, both in the U. S. and elsewhere. - It sponsors lawsuits, - Donates money to politicians supportive of abortion rights through its political action committee, - organizes its members (especially through Internet communication and e-mail) to contact members of Congress and urge them to support NARAL's positions. - NARAL sponsors special events, most notably the March for Women's Lives in 2004. • In the Democratic presidential primaries 2008 , NARAL endorsed Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. NARAL had long supported Clinton through her political career. NARAL's political committee board was divided between Clinton and Obama supporters, but eventually voted unanimously to support the Illinois senator. NARAL officials said they were not snubbing Clinton, but rather they were acknowledging that Obama was likely to be the nominee and that there was a growing divide between black voters and white female activists. • NARAL criticized John Mc. Cain for using air quotes when talking about a woman's "health" concerns regarding abortion. • In an ad featuring anti-abortion terrorism survivor Emily Lyons and targeting U. S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, NARAL claimed that while U. S. Deputy Solicitor-General, Roberts supported "violent fringe groups and a convicted clinic bomber. " While Roberts did argue before the Supreme Court that a 19 th-century statute directed against the Ku Klux Klan did not apply to those protesting outside abortion clinics, the case in question occurred almost seven years before the bombing pictured in the ad and was entirely unrelated to clinic bombings. [8] The ad was retracted under pressure from other pro-choice groups as undercutting the credibility of the abortion rights cause. • They have a website which provides public education. For example they publish house members' and senators voting records on their website.

Success factors • The issue they target matters to many • They have approximately 1 million members, with 20 state affiliates • In September 2007, Verizon Wireless rejected NARAL’s application for a textmessaging short code, meaning that their customers would not get information about NARAL. Was a concern as 1 in 4 cell users have a Verizon phone. Through the use of media -The New York Times ran a front-page story on Verizon's actions. NARAL launched an activist alert. In less than two hours, they delivered 20, 000 email messages to Verizon. The media reports made a difference. A 62% jump in textmessaging subscribers, a 213% increase in web-site traffic, and nearly 200 anti. Verizon policy blog posts on The Huffington Post and other sites. Verizon reversed its decision less than 24 hours after the first story was published. • They have access points through the judiciary. For example Sharon Breitweiser of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming, reminded the public that a federal judge - Honaker twice pushed for legislation to ban abortion in the state. Honaker failed in the legislature, but then he joined with an anti-choice group to ban abortion through a ballot initiative. He lost. Honaker tried to downplay his record. NARAL generated 65, 000 messages from activists opposing Honaker's nomination, and organized several Wyoming – and Washington, D. C. – based organizations against Honaker. In 2008, he withrew his name.

Examples • http: //www. prochoiceamerica. org/aboutus/successes/fighting-against-corporate. html • • http: //www. prochoiceamerica. org/aboutus/successes/stopping-bush-courtnominee. html