Politics

Planned Parenthood Six-Figure Ad Buy Targets Susan Collins For Supporting Kavanaugh

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Planned Parenthood has targeted Republican Main Sen. Susan Collins with a six-figure media buy highlighting Collins’ support for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, according to the Hill.

The nation’s largest abortion provider launched the ad campaign against Collins Thursday with an ad that criticizes the senator’s support for Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court in light of his dissenting vote on a recent abortion ruling.

“Susan Collins trusted Brett Kavanaugh to protect safe, legal abortion,” says a female narrator in the ad, first reported by The Hill. “But she was wrong. Kavanaugh voted against abortion the first chance he got. Susan Collins can’t be trusted to protect our reproductive health and rights.”

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The ad refers to the Supreme Court decision in June Medical Services v. Russo, in which Chief Justice John Roberts sided with liberal members of the court in the close 5-4 ruling that struck down a pro-life Louisiana law. Kavanaugh voted against striking down the pro-life law, and wrote a dissenting opinion.

The ad calls on Maine voters to “tell Susan Collins to reject Trump’s extreme judicial nominees,” and emphasizes that Collins had expressed confidence that Kavanaugh would protect Supreme Court precedent on abortion access.

“Susan Collins was warned by Mainers that Brett Kavanaugh couldn’t be trusted to protect their reproductive health and rights, but she failed to listen,” Sarah Standiford, national campaign director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement to The Hill.

Collins’ holds one of five Republican Senate seats that Cook Political Report considers toss-ups in the 2020 general election.

“It’s unfortunate, but not surprising, that Planned Parenthood chooses to spend this cash on a partisan campaign against Senator Collins instead of focusing on what it claims its mission is — to provide healthcare to women,” Collins campaign spokesman Kevin Kelly told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.

The Collins campaign noted that Planned Parenthood previously did not endorse Collins her 2008 or 2014 elections and actively campaigned for Collins’ opponent in 2008. In 2017, Planned Parenthood spoke out in support of Collins, and former Planned Parenthood President Cecil Richards praised her as “an outspoken champion for women’s health.”