LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – You would assume that Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan’s (PPAM) recent release of their 2022 General Election Endorsement Guide would be about candidates who champion sexual and reproductive health. And it is.
But that’s only part of it.
MORE NEWS: Illegal Alien With Michigan Commercial Drivers License Picked Up By ICE
PPAM, the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood in Michigan, says in their opening paragraph, “The candidates listed here have earned a Planned Parenthood endorsement by demonstrating a willingness to serve as a champion for sexual and reproductive health and for addressing the social determinants of health that intersect with and impact sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including but not limited to access to clean water; pollutant- free air and environments; the ability to earn a living wage; access to child care; access to quality education; access to health care regardless of age, race, or gender identity; voting rights; the impacts of racism; and equal protections for people of color across all social and economic systems, including health care and the criminal justice system.”
To earn the endorsement of PPAM, they say that the candidates must not only be committed to sharing PPAM’s values and agree to support and actively work toward policies that attain true sexual and reproductive health freedom, they must also commit to intersectional work that addresses the social determinants of health listed above.
Of the candidates they endorsed, 186 were Democrats, zero were Republicans and only a handful were non-partisan because they that’s how judicial nominees run in elections. In the Statewide race for Michigan Supreme Court, they are endorsing incumbent Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein and also attorney Kyra Harris Bolden, current Democratic Member of the Michigan House of Representatives.
Oddly enough, the guide has a key to identify their endorsements which includes a “D” for “Democrat” and an “R” for Republican, however the “R” is not used as no Republicans are endorsed.
In their guide, they also endorse Prop 2 (Promote the Vote) and Prop 3 (Reproductive Freedom for All.) We contacted PPAM about the issues that candidates must support in order to get their endorsement. Ashlea Phenicie, Communications Director at PPAM, responded, “Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan works to protect the rights of Michiganders to not only access the full range of reproductive health services, but also to raise families in a healthy and safe environment. To achieve this, we must consider candidates’ positions on a range of issues impacting the social determinants of health.”
On their website, the national Planned Parenthood organization does not branch out into supporting the same Democratic policies as the Michigan organization does and only talks about “intersectionality” as it relates to their global movement for reproductive freedom and they have links to individual Planned Parenthood locations around the country who support intersectionality.
MORE NEWS: Tlaib Picks a Side: El-Sayed Gets a Boost in Michigan’s Senate Scramble
Michigan News Source reached out to the national organization to ask if they feel that requiring candidates to commit to intersectionality would possibly dilute the goals of their organization, but did not respond to our request for comment.
