PANTS ON FIRE: We Fact Checked Kelly Ayotte’s Ad So You Don’t Have To
For Immediate Release: Sept. 28, 2016
Kelly Ayotte has been pinkwashing her record on women’s health since 2005. Now, as she faces the biggest political fight of her career, Ayotte has taken out multiple ads, sent direct mail, and pushed stories to rewrite her decade-long crusade to restrict reproductive and preventive health care access for New Hampshire women. Clearly, she’s has seen the polls: 73 percent of Granite Staters support access to safe and legal abortion and66 percent support Planned Parenthood — and she’s scrambling to hide her record. Unfortunately for Kelly Ayotte, Granite Staters remember that she’s voted six times to defund Planned Parenthood, repeal the Affordable Care Act, increase the cost of birth control, and wants to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Today, Kelly Ayotte is up with another egregious ad that completely rewrites her record on women’s health issues.
New Hampshire voters know the truth about Kelly Ayotte’s track record, and she can’t pinkwash it away. Here are the facts:
Proud of her role as AG??? FACT CHECK: Kelly Ayotte used her role as Attorney General to go on a one-woman crusade restricting access to abortion.
In her ad, Kelly Ayotte touts that she was once New Hampshire’s attorney general, but she conveniently omitted that as attorney general, she pushed to erode reproductive rights. In 2005, in defiance of New Hampshire’s then-governor, Ayotte used her role as attorney general to take an abortion restriction case all the way to the United States Supreme Court and argued that women’s health should not be protected by the Constitution. Kelly Ayotte’s lonely campaign to advance her anti-abortion agenda ultimately failed, and cost New Hampshire taxpayers $300,000 in legal fees.
FOR Equal Pay??? FACT CHECK: Kelly Ayotte voted against equal pay legislation four times
In her ad, Kelly Ayotte says she is “for equal pay.” In reality, Ayotte voted against equal pay legislation multiple times, and instead introduced what was referred to as a “stripped down version” of the Paycheck Fairness Act that fails to address the wage gap.
EXPAND Access??? FACT CHECK: Kelly Ayotte would make birth control more expensive.
In her ad, Kelly Ayotte claimed that she would “expand access to birth control.” The truth is, that just like Donald Trump, Kelly Ayotte supports repealing insurance coverage for no-copay birth control. Without insurance coverage, birth control pills can cost up to $600 a year, putting them out of reach for many women already struggling financially. Her over-the-counter birth control proposal also leaves out women who use birth control methods that can’t be stocked on store shelves, like IUDs. Ayotte has voted multiple times to repeal the Affordable Care Act and once said the law’s no-copay birth control benefit is “not a women’s rights issue.” In reality, the Affordable Care Act barred insurance companies from charging women more for coverage and expanded access to birth control with no copay. That progress needs to be built on, not taken away.
Strengthen Medicaid??? FACT CHECK: Kelly Ayotte wanted to raise the Medicare age eligibility, and turn Medicare into a voucher system
In her ad, Kelly Ayotte says she’s fighting to “strengthen and preserve Medicare.” The fact is that she voted to replace Medicare with a voucher system, which would mean that “[u]ltimately, Medicare beneficiaries could expect to pay significantly more for the same level of coverage they receive under Medicare now.” Additionally, she voted to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare by two years, to age 67, which the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare alled a “benefit cut.”
FIGHT for Mammograms??? FACT CHECK: Kelly Ayotte would make repeal the Affordable Care Act and wants to cut access to breast exams at Planned Parenthood.
In her ad, Kelly Ayotte says she’ll “protect access to mammograms.” The fact is that she has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act which has provided no-copay preventive health services, including mammograms, to nearly 300,000 women in the Granite State. She’s also voted to eliminate funding for Title X-funded community health centers and six times to defundPlanned Parenthood which threatens necessary access to breast cancer screenings for thousands of New Hampshire women.