Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) received Planned Parenthood’s 2023 Champion of Reproductive Health Award for her work highlighting how the Dobbs decision – which repealed the constitutional right to abortion – disproportionately affects low-income families and particularly women of color. Strickland is a leader in the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus and the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus.
“I’m honored to be Planned Parenthood’s 2023 Champion of Reproductive Health,” said Strickland. “In the face of increasing and systematic restrictions on women’s rights, I am committed now more than ever to ensuring that all women, regardless of where they live or their economic background, have equitable access to safe and affordable reproductive healthcare.”
The Champion of Reproductive Health Award honors leaders of reproductive healthcare who continue to support the right to choose within Black communities.
Strickland has a strong record and commitment to championing reproductive healthcare, protecting a woman’s right to choose, and using her platform to highlight how the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe disproportionately affects women of color. Last Congress, the House passed her Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which would protect women’s right to travel across state lines for reproductive care including abortions, without criminal punishment. She also led a bicameral push to create a reproductive health travel fund to provide grant assistance for women who are forced to travel long distances for reproductive and abortion care.
Planned Parenthood also honored other influential champions for reproductive rights, including actress Leslie Jones who received the Entertainer of the Year award, journalist Imara Jones who received the Advocate of the Year award, the PP Gen Action Chapter which received Planned Parenthood Generation Action’s HBCU Youth Award, and Kentucky State University student Eric McPheeters who received the Human Rights Campaign’s HBCU Youth Award
U.S. Representative Marilyn Strickland serves on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. She is the Congressional Black Caucus whip, a member of the New Democrat Coalition, one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress, and the first African-American elected to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.
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