(It’s been one of those days. I’ve known about this since the morning but just got back to a computer to put it up.)

CREDO Action, the progressive group, has put together a unique and hard-hitting campaign targeting 20 Democrats with nominally high scores on choice who voted for the restrictive Stupak amendment, which would effectively ban abortion services coverage for millions of Americans. They have a petition to those 20 lawmakers, and with every signature, they will add… a coathanger.

It’s an extreme tactic and a reaction to the extreme measures facilitated by these 20 Democrats. Significantly, this doesn’t target Bart Stupak, but those Democrats who voted for the bill who had good positions on choice before the vote. Four of them had 100% pro-choice scores from Planned Parenthood prior to the vote (Joe Baca, Zack Space, Chris Carney and Ciro Rodriguez), and all of them had scores over 67%. This was first ferreted out by FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver. This may say more about the scoring of pro-choice groups more than anything, but according to Silver also may represent some shakiness among these Dems about the political environment come 2010 (I’m not sure I agree with the latter – the tea party movement is much more focused on economic issues than social ones).

This is a very aggressive move by CREDO, signifying the passion around this issue in the progressive community.

The email, sent to 1 million supporters of CREDO, is below.

Subj. line: Send them coat hangers.
Headline: Did these Democrats forget what happens when women are
denied access to abortion?

We’re furious.

In a backroom deal brokered to get the votes necessary to pass the House health care bill, one amendment was allowed an up-or-down vote on the floor. The Stupak amendment — which passed on a vote of 240 to 194 — is the most serious assault on abortion rights in a generation.
What’s more, according to FiveThirtyEight.com, 20 of the 64 Democrats
who joined Republicans to pass the measure are nominally pro-choice.

Sign the petition, send a coat hanger.
http://www.sendacoathanger.com

Why did pro-choice Democrats vote to approve the Stupak Amendment?
We’re telling these 20 Democrats — all men — to reconsider their
vote and urge Congressional leadership to do everything they can to
ensure the health care bill that comes out of committee does not take
us back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions.

Sign our petition and we’ll send a coat hanger to the 20 formerly
pro-choice Democrats who voted to take away women’s rights.
If the Stupak amendment is allowed to stand, it would ban private
insurers who participate in the insurance exchange created by the
health care bill from covering abortion as a part of women’s
reproductive health care. Tens of millions of women would be affected.

These 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats need to hear that it is NOT ok
to throw women under the bus when it comes to passing health care.

Back in 1992, Working Assets helped its members send coat hangers to
Congress. Now, 17 years later, it’s time to do it again.

Please sign the petition, send a coat hanger, and tell your friends
about CREDO’s SendACoatHanger.com campaign.

Sincerely,

Laura Scher, CEO of CREDO Mobile
Michael Kieschnick, President of CREDO Mobile
Becky Bond, Political Director of CREDO Action