Letter to the Editor by Lauren B. Simonds, M.S.W., Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington:

On behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, I am writing to clarify for SeattlePI.com readers the nature and true content of our recent membership communication about Susan Hutchison and her candidacy for King County executive

Contrary to what Joel Connelly has written twice now [July 21, 2009 and July 27, 2009], our email did in fact include a statement from Ms. Hutchison on reproductive health care. At the very top of the email we included part of the statement that she sent us in lieu of completing our candidate questionnaire. Since Mr. Connelly overlooked this statement twice, here it is again: “The issues surrounding abortion are not relevant to the King County executive race."

Mr. Connelly questions how NARAL can label Ms. Hutchison a threat to low-income women’s access to birth control and other family planning – even though it is clearly spelled out in our email. We outlined the many ways in which King County funds and supports critical family planning care to the county’s most marginalized women and teens. In the current budget climate, it is crucial to know where the executive candidates stand on the nine family planning clinics run by the county, the school-based health centers the county funds in conjunction with the City of Seattle and other entities, and the comprehensive sex education curriculum the county provides to local schools free of charge. The issue of women’s health care is very relevant to the King County executive race, and not simply a “social issue,” as Ms. Hutchison implied in an interview with SeattlePI.com columnist Chris Grygiel (July 20, 2009). An interview where she stated yet again, “As I've said about abortion - the whole choice/life debate, and I've been very clear about this - it is not relevant to the King County executive's race.” We need an executive who will be an advocate for women’s health, not one who doesn’t even see how it is a county issue. In a strongly pro-choice county, Hutchison is the only candidate in the race who refuses to answer even basic questions about her position on the right to choose and family planning care.

Finally, as someone who has worked at two abortion clinics and has a personal understanding of the threats against women’s health care workers and patients, I take extreme offense at Mr. Connelly’s insinuation that we are using the assassination of Dr. Tiller simply for our own monetary gain. Beyond the unspeakable loss for his family, Dr. Tiller’s murder is a loss not only for the women he served, but for the many doctors he trained and mentored. Dr. Tiller’s murder is a tragic reminder of the threats abortion providers face every day and the need for increased protection from violent anti-choice extremism. That is why NARAL Pro-Choice Washington wants a King County executive candidate who will work with county law enforcement to secure our clinics and enforce the laws that should protect them.

If Mr. Connelly continues to feel the need to malign NARAL Pro-Choice Washington’s efforts to advocate for increased access to family planning care and to educate our members about the candidates’ positions on the right to choose, I simply request that he stop misrepresenting our positions with unfounded accusations.