FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 29, 2006
NARAL PRO-CHOICE MARYLAND ENDORSES
MIKE LENETT FOR STATE SENATE
(Silver Spring, Maryland) –Today, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland, the state’s leading advocate for personal privacy and a woman’s right to choose, announced its endorsement of Mike Lenett for Maryland State Senate District 19. Lenett is running to fill the seat of retiring Senator Leonard H. Teitelbaum.
“We firmly believe that Mike Lenett is the best candidate,” said Ariana Kelly, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland. “While we are proud of the 100% pro-choice records of all the candidates, we need more than a good voting record and Mike Lenett has the most leadership potential in the State Senate on women’s rights issues. We need more active pro-choice leaders in the Senate. Marylanders are tired of divisive attacks on a woman’s right to choose. If elected, Mike Lenett will make reproductive health care one of his main priorities. He has already pledged to support commonsense bills to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion. He believes that it is time for our elected officials to unify behind better access to birth control, honest, realistic sex education and improved family-planning services. NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland will work hard to elect pro-choice candidate Mike Lenett for State Senate and we will have a strong presence at the polls on September 12.”
“I am extremely proud to receive this endorsement and vow to be a leader for women’s rights issues. It is an embarrassment to our state that we cannot pass Emergency Contraception legislation. We are talking about legislation that gives women easier access to emergency birth control and reduces the number of abortions in our state. This is something we all should be able to agree on. We need to take back this issue from the extremists who believe the government should decide these issues. Private decisions about a woman’s health should be made by that woman and no one else.”
“We’ve had success in fighting off extremist legislation in the past, but we still have a way to go to ensure women’s reproductive health care needs are met in Maryland,” said Kelly. “Mike will help us meet these challenges.” The state of Maryland ranks 28th in reproductive service availability according to the Guttmacher Institute.
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Contact: Ariana Kelly, 301-565-4154