DNC launches digital ad campaign hitting Republicans on abortion

The Democratic National Committee launched a five-figure digital ad buy on Wednesday hitting Republicans over the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The ad buy will target 18- to 55-year-old women on Facebook and YouTube in a number of battleground states. The ad cites comment​s from former Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggesting they would be in favor of a nationwide abortion ban.

Pence called for a nationwide ban on the procedure on Friday, saying “we must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.”

Meanwhile, McCarthy told CNN on Friday that he would support legislation to codify a 15-week ban on abortion. McConnell said in May that a nationwide abortion ban would be “possible” if Roe was overturned, but said on Monday that a federal abortion would be unlikely.

“I think the issue is going to be decided at the state level. Any such measure would require 60 votes in the Senate. Neither side on this issue has had 60 in my memory,” McConnell said.

The DNC’s ad campaign is the latest effort from Democrats to tie Republicans to the Supreme Court’s decision, which rocked the country last week. On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood Action Fund launched a $1.5 million television ad buy in Wisconsin hitting incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) over the issue.

Last week, the DNC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a website titled DefendChoice.com ahead of the midterms, while the DSCC released their own online video hitting GOP Senate candidates over their stances on abortion access.

Polling has shown that most Americans are against the high court’s decision. A CBS News-YouGov poll released Sunday, 52 percent of voters said the decision was a “step backward,” while 31 percent said it was a “step forward.”

However, Republicans argue that abortion will not dominate kitchen table issues like inflation and the economy going into November. On Wednesday, the Republican State Leadership Committee released an internal polling memo showing only 8 percent of voters saying they considered abortion to be the most important issue to them, while 37 percent said the same about the high cost of living and inflation.