Statement from EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock on Rep. Robert Dold's Vote on H.R.3
As the GOP War on Women continues, EMILY's List warns: "Today's vote isn't going away before November."
WASHINGTON — Today, Republican leaders in Congress, followed by Rep. Robert Dold, continued their war on women by passing one of the most extreme anti-woman measures ever, H.R.3, by a vote of 251 to 175.
"Robert Dold can try to appear moderate all he wants, but after today's vote there's no way Illinois will buy it," said EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock. "Dold showed his true colors by standing with his Republican leaders and against the women of Illinois. Dold may have run on job creation, but he has done nothing to create jobs since getting to Washington. Instead, he's done plenty to take away women's freedoms and their opportunities to keep themselves and their families healthy.
"Today's vote isn't going away before November. The EMILY's List community is already fired up to take his seat back in 2012. It has never been more critical that we elect more Democratic women to fight back against this radical extremism."
Not only does H.R. 3 raise taxes on small businesses in an attempt to make it impossible to purchase abortion care coverage — even with an individual's own money — it imposes even more draconian measures than already exist on those who seek these services.
As has been reported in Mother Jones, H.R.3 could compel the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to audit rape and incest survivors who seek abortion services. And while Republicans publicly claimed to have caved to public outcry and removed a provision to redefine rape, they are still attempting to do exactly that. A committee report for H.R. 3 explicitly excludes statutory rape from acceptable exemptions to the federal subsidy ban, a dramatic departure from present law.
In the 2009-2010 cycle, EMILY's List raised more than $38.5 million to support its mission of recruiting and supporting women candidates, helping them build strong campaigns, and mobilizing women voters to turn out and vote. With a community of more than 900,000 members across the country, EMILY's List is one of the largest political action committees in the nation. Since its founding in 1985, EMILY's List has worked to elect 84 pro-choice Democratic women to the U.S. House, 16 to the U.S. Senate, nine governors, and hundreds of women to the state legislatures, state constitutional offices, and other key local offices. In the 2009-2010 cycle, EMILY's List had the largest number of members and donors in our 25 year history.
For more information on EMILY's List, please visit www.emilyslist.org .