FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 17, 2024
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Dave Reichert Receives Donations and Public Praise from Anti-Abortion Extremist Groups
The Family Policy Institute of Washington called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “monumental victory”
Seattle, WA — They say you are who you surround yourself with, and Dave Reichert has gone out of his way to keep company with far-right MAGA extremists. As reported by The Stranger, Reichert’s campaign received $7,200 in donations from Larry Sundquist, chairman of the Family Policy Institute of Washington (FPIW), an extremist anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQIA+ group. The pro-Reichert political action committee, Washington 24, also received an additional $5,000 from Sundquist.
Here’s why Sundquist’s donations should concern Washington voters: FPIW called the overturning Roe v Wade a “monumental victory,” opposes IVF, and urges their followers to “fight against unrestricted abortion access in Washington.” The extremist group has even worked closely with organizations the Southern Poverty Law Center designates as hate groups, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, which supports the recriminalization of LGBTQIA+ adults.
Reichert’s friends at Firmly Planted Action, an anti-abortion extremist group that wants to “END ABORTION once and for all,” are also coming out strong for him – again. In a new Facebook post, the group’s president, Heidi St. John, urged her followers to vote for Reichert. In April, Reichert held his first town hall in years at Firmly Planted Action. There, Reichert told his supporters how Republicans could “unravel” affordable abortion services and even said, “It’s going to take, hopefully, [two] years of being in the governor’s office.”
“Dave Reichert is telling us exactly who he is and what he supports – from his votes to ban abortion in Congress to his ties to anti-abortion extremist groups that go against Washington values,” said Shasti Conrad, Chair of the WA State Democrats. “Reichert is wrong for Washington.”
Reichert’s congressional votes attacking reproductive health care and LGBTQIA+ rights include:
- Voted three times for a national abortion ban (October 2017, May 2015, and June 2013). Each would have criminalized doctors.
- Voted repeatedly to restrict access to contraception, including as recently as 2018.
- Voted AGAINST several pieces of legislation that protected women from being fired at work for getting an abortion or using birth control.
- Voted nearly twenty times to block federal funding for Planned Parenthood and affordable abortion services.
- Voted to allow health care providers to deny abortions in 2016.
- Voted to make it a crime to help abortion-seeking minors travel across state lines to avoid parental notification laws.
- Voted against protecting LGBTQIA+ children from discrimination at school.
- Voted to give religious institutions an exemption from protecting LGBTQIA+ workers against discrimination.
- Voted against a motion that would bar federal contractors from LGBTQIA+ discrimination
- Voted against preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
To learn more about the real Dave Reichert, visit ReichertRevealed.com.
The Washington State Democratic Party is committed to advancing progressive policy, empowering the grassroots, and ensuring Democratic victories up and down the ballot. Chair of the Washington Democrats, Shasti Conrad, is the first Indian-American woman to chair a major state party.
