Allyson Schwartz scored a major endorsement today from the Political Action Committee of Planned Parenthood.

“The Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania PAC is thrilled to announce its endorsement of Allyson Schwartz for Governor,” said Sari Stevens, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates and PAC. “Allyson has a distinguished record advocating for women’s health and economic security and will be a strong ally in the Governor’s office.”

“It’s unacceptable that women are still fighting to get access to the care they need in 2014 – it’s time for a powerful voice to stand up when legislators try to tell women what health care decisions they can make and push for offensive legislation meant only to create obstacles to safe, legal care,” Schwartz said.

“And it is absolutely unacceptable that Governor Corbett’s response to these obstacles is telling women to ‘just close your eyes.’ Pennsylvania women deserve better.”

While the support from Planned Parenthood is a victory for the Schwartz campaign, it is not a surprising one. The Congresswoman began her career in public service by co-founding the Elizabeth Blackwell Women’s Health Center. Schwartz described her work in an email announcing the endorsement.

“At the age of 26, I established one of the first women’s health centers in Pennsylvania — just two years after Roe vs. Wade,” Schwartz writes. “People told me it would be too hard, that it could not be done. But I knew women deserved access to affordable, quality health services.”

Other Democratic candidates for Governor include former Department of Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf, State Treasurer Rob McCord, former Auditor General Jack Wagner, former DEP Secretaries Katie McGinty and John Hanger, and Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz.