WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading reproductive health care provider and abortion rights advocacy organization, plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of , pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot.
The effort, which breaks the group's previous $45 million spending record set in 2020, comes about two months after , the landmark 1973 case that created a constitutional right to have an abortion. It will be waged by the organization's political and advocacy arms and will focus on governor's offices, U.S. Senate seats and legislative races in nine states where abortion rights could be restricted or expanded depending on the outcome at the ballot.
The historic proportions of the midterm campaign, when less money is usually spent, were made possible by , touching off a tectonic shift in the politics of abortion. Now, for the first time, Republicans who have long campaigned against abortion and Roe v. Wade will face voters on an issue that is no longer hypothetical and carries real life consequences.
Planned Parenthood says its spending will help remind voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin what's at stake in a bid to drive turnout by Democratic and independent voters.
鈥淲ho wins in these midterm elections will determine whether a state has access to abortion and potentially determine whether we will face a national abortion ban,鈥� said Jenny Lawson, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes. 鈥淲e will be clear about who is on which side.鈥�
found a majority of Americans think Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide. More than half of the respondents said they feel at least somewhat 鈥渟ad鈥� or 鈥渁ngry鈥� about the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision.
Earlier this month in red-state Kansas, a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the legislature to advance a ban on abortion.
Whether it truly is a galvanizing issue will become clear after Election Day, Nov. 8.
鈥淲e say this every cycle: 鈥楾his is the important election,'鈥� said Amy Kennedy, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes in Georgia. 鈥淔or us, this really is the most important election cycle of our life.鈥�
Planned Parenthood says it intends to contact 6 million voters through door knocking, phone calls, digital advertising, mailers and radio ads. It has already run some TV ads in Wisconsin, where Republicans control the statehouse and where Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson are up for reelection.
It also is launching a website, .
While the Supreme Court's ruling in June effectively left setting abortion policy to the states, Planned Parenthood says it is also investing in U.S. Senate races because , though such a measure would almost certainly be vetoed by President Joe Biden.
Democrats and their allies have long tried, without much success, to energize supporters by focusing on abortion. But the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision clarified the stakes as never before. In roughly a dozen states led by Republicans, abortion has already been banned or heavily restricted. Many more are expected to follow.
鈥淲hen people go to vote this November, nearly half of the folks voting could be living in a state that either has already banned abortion or is quickly moving to ban abortion. These are entirely new circumstances,鈥� Lawson said. 鈥淭here are a lot of issues people care about, certainly, but the state of abortion access is absolutely one of the defining issues this November."
___
Follow AP's coverage of the midterm elections at .
Brian Slodysko, The Associated Press
