Newark's Mayor Cory Booker argued that the GOP is "denying women access to healthcare."
"You see, there's some people in the Republican Party that believe that when they say all men are created equal, that they are leaving out women," he said.
Speakers at the event veered away from discussing abortion, despite the fact that Planned Parenthood is the nation's largest abortion provider.
"It's not just about abortion," said actress Aisha Tyler, a Planned Parenthood national board member.
When discussing the organization and surrounding issues in the months leading up to the election, she advised the crowd, "don't let it be about abortion," shift the focus to "women's health."
The transition in emphasis may have been in response to polls that indicate Americans who identify as "pro-choice" are at an all-time low.
In addition, Democrats for Life of America recently announced that nearly one in three Democrats self-identifies as pro-life. The organization made an attempt to expand the party's 2012 platform to include pro-life positions in addition to pro-abortion views, but its request was rejected.
While they acknowledged that significantly lower rates of women supported the Democratic Party in the 2010 election, speakers at the Planned Parenthood rally did not address the growing numbers of pro-life Americans, and instead focused on the "extreme" views of those who oppose abortion and the contraception mandate.
Georgetown University law graduate Sandra Fluke also spoke at the rally, highlighting the importance of the 2012 election.
Fluke has become a hero for the push to promote the contraception mandate since she testified before a U.S. House committee in February on why she believed religious institutions such as Georgetown University should be required to provide free contraception to students.
The 31-year-old recounted stories of fellow students who allegedly suffered because they were unable to treat medical conditions with contraceptives, even though the university's student health care plan was later shown to cover birth control if needed for medical purposes rather than contraceptive ones.
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Fluke told rally attendees to spread the word that women will die from lack of health care if Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are elected.
"This is personal," she stressed.
Michelle La Rosa is deputy editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. She has worked for CNA since 2011. She studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.