Abortion rights group backs Quinn, Giannoulias, Preckwinkle

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The political arm of Planned Parenthood issued its endorsements today for the Feb. 2 Democratic primary, backing Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate, Gov. Pat Quinn for election to a full term and Chicago Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, 4th, for the Cook County Board president nomination.

The endorsement of Giannoulias, the state’s first-term treasurer, could assist him in a contest in which Cheryle Robinson Jackson, a former Chicago Urban League president and once a top aide to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is the lone woman on the Democratic side. Jackson has pushed women’s advocacy and her opposition to abortion-funding restrictions in the federal health care reform debate.

Planned Parenthood said it opted to make a Cook County Board president endorsement for the first time in its history because of the role the county plays in health care. Preckwinkle, in a four-way battle for the nomination that includes Board President Todd Stroger, previously has been backed by the organization in her aldermanic races.

Quinn is being challenged for the Democratic nomination for governor by three-term state Comptroller Dan Hynes.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/12/abortion-rights-group-backs-quinn-giannoulias-preckwinkle.html