Planned Parenthood committees endorse Dalton

Two Planned Parenthood political committees on Thursday gave their “strong endorsement” to Walter Dalton’s campaign for governor.

“The stakes have never been higher,” says a news release issued by Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of North Carolina, which are separate entities from the women’s health-care nonprofit organizations.

“There’s no question that last year’s legislative session was the worst on record for women’s health,” says Melissa Reed, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Health Systems Action Fund. “Given the legislature’s current leadership, we know women’s health will likely be their primary target once again in 2013. We need a governor who will stand strong for women’s health and that’s Walter Dalton.”

Paige Johnson, VP of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Central N.C., adds that there’s a reason Dalton’s Republican opponent, Pat McCrory, isn’t at the Republican National Convention in Tampa this week.

“He has carefully crafted a moderate image in North Carolina to appeal to swing voters, most of whom are women,” Johnson says. “But women are watching and we won’t be fooled.”

Last session, the General Assembly cut Planned Parenthood out of its budget, and imposed new restrictions on abortions, and then overrode Gov. Bev Perdue’s vetoes of those bills. But the organization replaced the lost funding by applying directly to the federal government, and succeeded in asking a federal judge to halt implementation of the abortion law.