Pro-Choice Group Emily's List Hopes to Elect First Female President

Emily’s List, an influential progressive pro-choice group, will announce next week the first national campaign to elect a woman to the White House in 2016.

Emily’s List President Stephanie Schriock said the group was “ready to put a Democratic woman in the Oval Office, and that starts with putting a woman on the Democratic ticket in 2016.”

Those comments have led political observers to believe the group is laying the foundation to campaign for Hillary Clinton in 2016 even though other female Democrats, like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), may also run. 

Democrats created a talking point in 2012 of a “war on women,” accusing Republicans such as presidential candidate Mitt Romney of wanting to confiscate women’s contraceptives and limiting their access to basic medical care. 

The narrative was spurred primarily by negative reactions to Sandra Fluke, an activist who later campaigned for Barack Obama’s reelection, who insisted that the government force Catholic university Georgetown to violate its religious principles and fund student health insurance policies which would cover contraception.

Fluke attended an Emily’s List event in January 2013 to celebrate the swearing in of 27 candidates Emily’s List supported in 2012 elections.