ICYMI: Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations push to get voters to the polls

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it this morning, The Washington Post’s Health Brief highlighted Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations’ efforts to elect Vice President Kamala Harris, defeat Donald Trump, and win a governing trifecta. Abortion is still poised to be a top issue for voters this November — the majority of whom believe that politicians have no place in their personal medical decisions. 

This election, Planned Parenthood advocacy and political organizations will shine a light on the harmful records of candidates up and down the ballot who oppose abortion and make sure voters understand what's at stake for their lives and the lives of their families. Read the highlights from the Washington Post article below.

Washington Post: Planned Parenthood [advocacy and political organizations] push to get voters to the polls

• Planned Parenthood political and advocacy organizations will use a more than $40 million war chest to blitz GOP officeholders and candidates in an effort to flip the House and maintain Democratic control of the Senate and presidency.
• The plan is to focus on the records of Republicans who have repeatedly voted against access to abortion, contraceptives, in vitro fertilization or gender-affirming care for trans people.
• On Tuesday… Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced its endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.
• Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Action Fund president and CEO, called Harris “one of the fiercest voices we have on sexual and reproductive rights.” 
• “Having spent meaningful time and energy with abortion providers, patients, organizers and advocates, the Vice President’s presence takes the conversation around abortion rights to heights we’ve never seen before in a presidential campaign,” she said. “There’s no doubt that she will generate new energy for the future of the fight ahead.”
• Shwetika Baijal, who runs political initiatives for Planned Parenthood [Action Fund and Planned Parenthood Votes], said recent elections have shown that abortion drives voter turnout, especially among young people and people of color. An example of this is the 2022 Kansas primary election, in which voters from a red state turned out in record numbers shortly after the Dobbs decision to resoundingly protect abortion rights.
• The campaign is hoping to leverage this anger starting with races in several battleground states, including Arizona, Michigan and Nevada. The aggressive ad campaign has already hit multiple platforms, including podcasts like Call Her Daddy, a sex and relationship show, which has received an average of 5 million listeners a week.
• Baijal said calling attention to Republicans’ voting records is crucial now that many are backing away from long-held, hard-line antiabortion positions that are proving unpopular…. “We have to talk about what these people are trying to do, not what they’re saying,” Baijal says.

###

Planned Parenthood Votes is an independent expenditure political committee registered with the Federal Election Commission.