Planned Parenthood to spend $40m to boost Biden, Democrats ahead of November

Planned Parenthood Votes will spend $40 million to boost President Biden and key congressional Democrats ahead of November’s elections, the organization announced Monday. 

Planned Parenthood, along with its associated advocacy and political arms, are the nation’s leading reproductive health-care provider and abortion rights advocacy organizations.

The announcement from its political and advocacy arms came on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, as Democrats and reproductive advocacy groups aim to tap into voter anger about GOP-led efforts to restrict access to abortion and other reproductive rights. 

The group will initially invest in battleground presidential states Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin. It will also spend money on congressional races in Montana, New Hampshire and New York, where the winners will likely help swing control of the House and Senate. 

The program will reach voters through volunteer and paid canvassing; phone banking; and digital, TV and mail advertising. It will focus on races up and down the ballot, including state legislatures, governor offices and state supreme courts. 

“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,” Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, said in a statement.  “We’ll make sure lawmakers are unapologetic fighters for your right to control your own body — or we’ll vote them out.”  

Reproductive rights have been front and center politically in the two years since the conservative Supreme Court majority ended Roe v. Wade, with some states enshrining abortion rights while nearly two dozen have enacted severe restrictions that effectively ban the procedure. 

Democrats have repeatedly tied Trump to the restrictive abortion policies enacted in Texas, Florida and other conservative states, highlighting stories of women who have been unable to get proper health care as a result. 

In November, several states including Arizona, Montana, Nevada and Florida will vote on abortion ballot initiatives, which Planned Parenthood said it will help fund.