EMILY's List uses women dressed as bears to rally against pro-life candidates

A screen shot of the EMILY's List video

A pro-abortion group’s campaign against former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin uses women dressed as bears to claim she does not speak for women. In response, a leader of a pro-life women’s group said the campaign shows the group is “running scared” and criticized it for calling pro-life women candidates “backwards-looking.”

EMILY’s List, which backs pro-abortion candidates, launched its “Sarah Doesn’t Speak for Me” campaign on Tuesday at the National Press club to counter Palin’s influence and to oppose her favored candidates.

One ad used in the campaign shows several actresses wearing bear noses and furry hoods with bear ears. Trying to affect a playful demeanor, they responded to the Palin’s statement that “mamma grizzlies” attack when their cubs are threatened.

“Want to know what threatens me? My daughter not having the right to choose,” one bear woman says in the ad.

Another woman says they want to “protect our right to hibernate with whoever we choose.”

The EMILY’s List campaign against Palin seeks to rally support for female candidates who favor legal abortion. Its campaign website lists candidates endorsed by the Republican Palin and charges them with having “extreme views.”

All of the listed Palin-endorsed candidates are categorized by the group as “anti-choice.” The campaign also judges whether they are “against health care reform,” “pro-Big Business,” and standing “with Big Oil.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said that EMILY’s List is “running scared—and it shows.”

“Clearly, in this ‘Year of the Pro-Life Woman,’ which Sarah Palin helped make possible, women have found their political voices,” Dannenfelser said in a press release. “Pro-life ‘Mama Grizzlies’ represent the majority of women across the country.”

“We are looking for women leaders who affirm the best in women—who seek to include rather than exclude the rest of humanity as we find our fulfillment,” she added.