Groups ramp up election spending on anniversary of overturning of Roe v. Wade

null / Credit: Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 24, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

With Monday marking the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, several leading pro-abortion groups have announced plans to collectively spend over $100 million on efforts to advance “abortion rights” across America.

Meanwhile, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA), one of the nation’s top pro-life groups, plans to spend $92 million this election year. 

Pro-abortion coalition to spend $100 million

A coalition of nine pro-abortion groups calling itself “Abortion Access Now” announced on Monday a campaign to spend $100 million for pro-abortion efforts over the next decade.

The $100 million will be used over the next 10 years on lobbying efforts, grassroots organizing, public education, and communications campaigns to establish a federal right to abortion and to “expand abortion access and coverage,” the group said in a statement Monday.

“We envision a future where abortion … is not only legal but also accessible, affordable, and free from stigma or fear,” the campaign said in a June 24 statement.

Regina Moss, president and CEO of one of the coalition’s member groups, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, said that two years without Roe v. Wade has exposed “the fact that Roe has never been enough to secure full reproductive autonomy for our communities.”

“We are determined,” she went on, “to continue highlighting the importance of making our voices heard at the polls in a post-Roe world and advocating for policies that go beyond Roe to ensure that we can all make our own decisions about if, when, and how to grow our families in safe, healthy environments.”

In addition to these groups, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) marked the second anniversary of Roe’s overturning by releasing a slew of ads targeting Republicans for their pro-life positions.

Focus on 2024 elections

In the short term, Planned Parenthood Votes, the political arm of the world’s largest abortion organization, announced it would be devoting $40 million to digital, TV, mail, and phone advertising in favor of abortion ballot initiatives and pro-abortion candidates up and down the ballot this election year.

The abortion giant will be targeting eight states: Arizona, Georgia, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

According to a statement from Planned Parenthood Votes, local affiliated organizations will also be devoting resources to running “robust electoral campaigns” in California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio.

In the statement, Planned Parenthood Votes executive director Jenny Lawson said that “for politicians like Donald Trump who oppose abortion … the end goal has always been full control of our bodies and our medical decisions.”

Lawson said that Planned Parenthood “is fighting for a future with full reproductive freedom for all — no matter who you are, where you live, and how much money you make.”

“With abortion banned or restricted in 21 states and escalating attacks on birth control and IVF access, all the freedoms we’ve fought for are on the line this year,” she added.  

Planned Parenthood’s $40 million adds to the more than $25 million that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vowed in June to spend on state and national pro-abortion efforts this election cycle.

ACLU’s efforts will include digital and mail ads, paid media, and support for abortion ballot measures.

According to a June 5 statement, the ACLU will concentrate its campaign on 14 states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

What is the pro-life movement doing?

Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs at SBA, told CNA that her group is dedicating $92 million to voter contact election efforts this year.

SBA’s election efforts will use similar methods as those of Planned Parenthood and the ACLU but with the aim of “stop[ping] Joe Biden and the Democrats from banning states from having pro-life laws and mandating all-trimester abortion in every state across the country.”

This is the largest voter contact initiative in SBA’s history. Pritchard said the campaign will reach 10 million voters, focusing on eight key battleground states that she believes “will determine the outcome of the 2024 election.”

These states are Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Montana, and Georgia.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the pro-life movement has suffered several crushing defeats with sweeping abortion constitutional amendments passing in states like Ohio, Michigan, and California.

Pritchard, however, believes the problem primarily stems from messaging and inadequate spending rather than from voters’ not supporting the pro-life position.

“Pro-abortion activists’ No. 1 tactic is to spread misinformation on pregnant women’s ability to receive emergency care under pro-life laws because they know they will lose if they campaign on enshrining late-term abortion,” she said, adding that “the abortion industry can afford to pour millions into these races because they will see a [return on investment] when they can increase their profits at the expense of babies’ lives.”

Pritchard called on Republican leaders to be more vocal about challenging what she called “Big Abortion’s narrative” and to “inform voters how these amendments enshrine late-term abortion, jeopardize women’s health, and end parental rights.”