Jenny Lawson is the executive director of the new website, Planned Parenthood Votes. When it comes to talking about November’s midterm elections, she is unequivocal.
Lawson tells Associated Press (AP), “Who wins in these midterm elections will determine whether a state has access to abortion and potentially determine whether we will face a national abortion ban. … We will be clear about who is on which side.” And that’s why Planned Parenthood has committed to a $50 million spend on the driving turnout in Republican-led states.
Planned Parenthood is breaking records, AP reports, topping the $45 million the organization spent on election-year efforts in 2020. This November, the group is focusing on gubernatorial races, Senate seats, and congressional races in the nine states where abortion care is most severely limited: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
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Amy Kennedy, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Votes in Georgia, says, “We say this every cycle: ‘This is the important election.’ … For us, this really is the most important election cycle of our life.”
Planned Parenthood recently launched the website Take Control 2022 as part of the Planned Parenthood Votes campaign. The new site serves as a hub for information on key races and candidates and how to get involved in Planned Parenthood advocacy.
“The Supreme Court and anti-abortion rights politicians have stripped people of their constitutional right to abortion and the ability to make personal health care decisions,” Lawson writes a press release. “Should these out-of-touch politicians gain or stay in power, they will continue doing everything they can to ban all abortion, throw health care providers and pregnant people in jail, and endanger the health and lives of pregnant people across the country. This is not what the American people want. This November, voters are going to take control by electing reproductive health care champions, up and down the ballot, who trust us to make our own decisions about our bodies, our lives, and our futures.”
In addition to the nine most at-risk states, Planned Parenthood Votes will also focus on local advocacy and political power in states such as Colorado, California, Maine, Ohio, and Florida, hoping to reach up to 6 million voters via door knocking, phone banking, paid TV and digital ads, and more.
According to a USA Today/Suffolk poll, 64% of Democratic voters say they’re both sad and outraged by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June, which effectively overturned the legal protections for abortion access granted by Roe v. Wade. These voters are more motivated now than ever to vote in the midterms—which typically have a far lower turnout than presidential election years.
A Gallup poll taken in August found that concerns about abortion ranked as a top-five issue inspiring voters this year. And a recent KFF survey found that 73%, or six in ten people identifying as women voters, are “more motivated” to vote this November thanks to the fall of Roe.
“Big stakes require big investment, which is why this fall, Planned Parenthood advocacy, and political organizations will run our largest-ever electoral campaign to preserve and expand abortion access in as many states as possible,” Lawson says. “From now until Election Day, we’ll make sure voters know who’s on their side and channel their dissent into political power at the ballot box.”
Abortion rights, climate change, and gun safety are all on the ballot this fall. Click to start writing Postcards to Democratic-leaning voters in targeted House districts today.
