Kamala Harris backers launch $15 million pro-abortion ad campaign in swing states

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 13, 2024 / 10:45 am

A political action committee that supports Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential candidacy launched a $15 million advertisement campaign in key battleground states that promotes the Democratic nominee’s pro-abortion political agenda.

The campaign, launched by American Bridge 21st Century on Thursday, will air television, radio, and digital advertisements promoting Harris’ support for abortion and criticizing former President Donald Trump. The advertisements will air in three important swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

“American Bridge’s program to defeat Donald Trump has always been about three things: abortion, democracy, and freedom,” Bradley Beychok, co-founder of American Bridge 21st Century, said in a statement.

“Voters in the Blue Wall states, especially women, will make or break this election,” Beychok continued. “That’s why American Bridge is putting their true stories about Trump’s threats to reproductive rights [abortion] at the forefront of our paid media program, and why we’re fighting to make sure that voters know how much is at stake this November.”

One of the television advertisements airing in Michigan opens with a resident who works as a physician’s assistant saying: “I think Kamala Harris understands the people I serve [because] she’s not going to stop until reproductive rights [abortion] are restored.”

“We know exactly where Trump stands on abortion,” the physician’s assistant continues. “When I heard him bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade, it gutted me.”

The advertisement quotes the former president taking credit for the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which allowed states to pass restrictions on abortion. Trump has campaigned on the position that abortion policies should be set by states but has said he would not sign a federal law that prohibits abortion.

Harris has said she would support legislation to codify Roe v. Wade’s abortion standards into federal law, which would prevent states from adopting pro-life laws that restrict abortion. In the Sept. 10 presidential debate, the vice president refused to say whether she supports late-term abortion. 

The advertisement alleges that Trump could restrict birth control and in vitro fertilization or sign a federal law that prohibits abortion. The former president has said he does not support federal restrictions on abortion or restrictions on birth control or in vitro fertilization.

This advertisement campaign builds on Harris’ emphasis on abortion policy as a key element of her 2024 presidential campaign. The vice president has led the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to promote abortion and has consistently supported abortion as a senator and as the attorney general of California.

American Bridge 21st Century intends to spend about $140 million on advertising campaigns to support Harris’ candidacy. The political action committee’s funders include billionaires Michael Moritz and Reid Hoffman, according to OpenSecrets.

Polls are showing tight races in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. According to averages compiled by RealClearPolling, Harris is ahead by less than two percentage points in Wisconsin and by less than one percentage point in Michigan. The polls show Harris and Trump virtually tied in Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, both mail-in and in-person early voting begins on Sept. 16. In Michigan, mail-in early voting begins on Sept. 26 and in-person early voting starts on Oct. 16. In Wisconsin, mail-in early voting begins on Sept. 19 and in-person early voting starts on Oct. 22.