A demonstrator opposed to the Senate Republican health-care holds a sign that reads “I Stand With Planned Parenthood’ while marching near the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The political arm of reproductive-rights group Planned Parenthood is launching its first ad against pushing ahead with nominating a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
With just under 45 days until Election Day, super PAC Planned Parenthood Votes told CNBC on Tuesday that the ad will be part of a much broader fight against President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. The ad is titled “Protect Justice Ginsburg’s Legacy Protect the People’s Seat.”
The six-figure ad buy will initially target voters in the key states of Arizona, Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania. Trump won all four states in 2016, although polls show Democratic nominee Joe Biden competitive or leading in each.
The ad leads with Ginsburg’s dying wish that she “will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
The ad goes on to say that “Donald Trump wants to replace her with another Supreme Court justice before the election, against her dying wish.”
The ad will fuel an increasingly heated fight between groups on both sides of the aisle. One side, including Planned Parenthood, argues that Trump’s pick will affect health care and women’s reproductive rights for years to come. Ginsburg was known as a defender of abortion rights.
“If Trump succeeds in filling this seat, his pick could be the deciding vote on civil rights, environmental protections, and access to health care, including abortion,” Jenny Lawson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes, said in a statement. “No one will feel these consequences more harshly than Black and Brown people, poor people, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and women, who already face tremendous discrimination and barriers to health care.”
Other organizations, such as the dark money group Judicial Crisis Network, claim that Republicans have the historical and political precedent to move ahead with a nominee.
Judicial Crisis Network announced on Monday that it was launching a $2.2 million digital and TV blitz with an ad called “Follow Precedent.” The ad will air nationwide on cable and in Colorado, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Utah, and Washington, D.C.
Republican lawmakers appear to have enough support to at least hold a full Senate vote. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, announced on Tuesday that he will support a call for a vote after Trump selects his Supreme Court nominee.
The president has said he will announce Ginsburg’s replacement Saturday.
