Become A Rapid Responder

It's not always easy to talk about choice - especially if some of your friends and family don't see eye to eye with you - so NARAL put together key points for you to bring up and ideas for getting the word out. Check it out and use it often - from now until Election Day! It's up to people like us to get vocal, right now, about the importance of voting pro-choice come November.

What to say
Get the word out about what's at stake

The right to safe and legal abortion is under attack. Anti-choice extremists are making abortion more difficult and dangerous at the national and state levels.

• Supreme Court: Two anti-choice Justices have been appointed to the Supreme Court - giving the far right enough votes to severely undermine privacy and freedom to choose. If Bush gets the chance to name one more anti-choice nominee, without pro-choice leadership in the U.S. Senate, Roe v. Wade could be overturned.
• State bans: South Dakota banned abortion. Louisiana passed a ban on abortion to go into effect if Roe is overturned. 12 other states, including Ohio, Georgia, and Missouri, are considering or have considered similar abortion bans. And 15 states already have an abortion ban on the books. Without pro-choice governors and legislatures, more bans will likely be passed.

Access to birth control is under attack. For the 98% of American women who use birth control during their reproductive years, birth control is basic and essential health care. But the far right still tries to block access to it.

• 
  "Morning-after" pill: For years, President Bush's top political appointees at the FDA have refused to approve the "morning-after" pill for over-the-counter use, even though FDA scientists overwhelmingly recommended that access be improved.
• Pharmacy refusals: Renegade pharmacists across the country are refusing to fill legal, valid prescriptions for birth control. State legislators are proposing bills that would protect these pharmacists and allow this discrimination against women to continue.

Honest, age-appropriate, and medically accurate sex education is under attack. The Bush administration has significantly increased funding for unproven "abstinence-only" programs, putting America's teens at risk. These programs fail to equip our young people with the information they need to protect themselves against unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. The current anti-choice leadership in Congress will likely continue to fund these risky programs - unless we stop them in November.

How to say it

Quick and easy ways to get the word out

Use your network of family, friends, and colleagues.

• Print out these anti-choice leaders' fact cards, and bring them along to parties and get-togethers. You'll have the facts at your fingertips.
  Talk to your family about how you'll vote in November. Hey, talking to family about politics ain't always easy. But you might have some allies you didn't know about.
  Ask your friends how they feel about choice. Odds are that you'll learn something new about your friends and have a great conversation to boot!

Use the internet.

• Watch our new movie, 'Creatures from the Far Right,' about the anti-choice monsters lurking in our government and what you can do to stop them. Then, pass it along.
  Post information to your MySpace, Friendster, or FaceBook profiles. Click here to download our message, paste it into the bulletin box, and post it to your network.

Print out our flyers and put them up at work or your local coffee shop, laundromat, or grocery store.

• Show your community why you're voting for pro-choice candidates at all levels this year. It's not enough to BE pro-choice -- it's time to VOTE pro-choice. Download our "5 reasons why I'm voting pro-choice this November" flyer.
  What exactly would happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned? Our opponents are trying to downplay what might happen to a woman's right to choose.Download our 'If Roe Fell' flyer to find out what could really happen - even in traditionally pro-choice states. The answers might surprise you.

Do you live in a community where it's hard to talk about your pro-choice values? One way to find people nearby who share your beliefs is through our network of 24 state affiliates. Click here for information on our state affiliates, and soon you'll be hooked up with people who feel as strongly about choice as you do.