Planned Parenthood will soon announce a campaign offensive that includes spending over $16 million in the upcoming midterm elections in 14 different states. This $16 million comes on top of the $2.4 million the organization already spent on Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s successful run for Virginia governor in 2013, Politico reports.
“The bottom line is: Many of these races are going to be determined by women and women voters. To the extent that we still have politicians who are running on a platform to repeal women’s access to health care and women’s rights, that’s a losing proposition,” Cecile Richard, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund said. “We will absolutely be on the offense on these issues.”
Planned Parenthood’s political arms, Planned Parenthood Action and Planned Parenthood votes, will focus their funds in key Senate and gubernatorial races, including the Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska, and Montana, Iowa, Michigan, and New Hampshire, and gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas. The organization will also donate to state legislative races in Arkansas, Iowa and Pennsylvania. That list could expand or change as the races continue, Planned Parenthood said.
Crossing the $18 million mark in Virginia’s election and the upcoming elections would make Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Votes two of the largest third-party spenders on Democratic campaigns, Politico says. This sum is much larger than the $4.2 million Planned Parenthood spent in the 2010 midterm election.
Republicans have unsuccessfully attempted to pull government funding from the pro-abortion, politically active Planned Parenthood, which received $540.6 million in taxpayer money in 2013.
In the 2013 Virginia governor’s election, McAuliffe considered Planned Parenthood a “key” part of his victory. “Planned Parenthood is a strong voice for women in Virginia and was a key partner in my run for governor,” McAuliffe said in a statement. He won women by nine points over his Republican opponent, Ken Cuccinelli. “The team at [Planned Parenthood] provided essential support to my campaign and highlighted issues around women’s health that provided a clear contrast between me and my opponent,” McAuliffe added.
— Alec Torres is a William F. Buckley Fellow at the National Review Institute.