Clinton campaign targets women in suburban Philly, including indies and Republicans

Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign is launching an effort to mobilize women supporters in Pennsylvania, including appeals targeted to persuade independent and Republican women in the four suburban collar counties around Philadelphia to back the former secretary of state for president.

Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, and Emily's List president Stephanie Schriock are scheduled to travel Wednesday to women-to-women phone banks and organizing events in Philadelphia and the suburbs to advocate for Clinton.

The campaign has invited women and their personal networks to attend organizing coffees for discussions of what's at stake in the election for them and their families, with a particular focus on women's health care and reproductive rights.

Republican nominee Donald Trump has said that women should be punished for having abortions, and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, was a leader of the movement to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood when he was in Congress and pushed through a law as governor restricting abortion access in Indiana.

The events come as Clinton has surged to a lead in Pennsylvania polling, and as prominent Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have endorsed the Democrat, saying that Trump is unsuited for the presidency.

Hillary for Pennsylvania has opened offices in all four collar counties and six in Philadelphia, and it has been hosting weekly Wednesday evening women-to-women phone banks, which are expected to continue through November 8.

The Philadelphia suburbs are central to either party's chances of carrying Pennsylvania. Public polling has found weakness for Trump in the suburbs and among women.

In the latest Franklin & Marshall poll, released last Thursday, Clinton is leading Trump among women in Pennsylvania by 21 points, and by a 40-point margin among all voters in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday finds Clinton ahead among women in the state, 59 percent to 36 percent.

In 2012, President Obama lost Chester County to Republican Mitt Romney, 49.7 percent to 49.2 percent. The president won Delaware County by 60 percent to 39 percent; Montgomery County 57 percent to 42 percent and Bucks County 50 percent to 49 percent.