TOPLINE Planned Parenthood plans to spend $40 million in the months leading up to the November election to support President Joe Biden and other Democrats, less than the organization has spent the last two election cycles despite an expected increase in voter turnout for the first presidential election since the right to an abortion was eliminated by the Supreme Court.
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The nonprofit, which provides reproductive healthcare to women in all 50 states, on Monday said it will spend the $40 million on canvassing programs, phone banking and advertising campaigns.
The sum is less than the record-breaking $50 million it spent in 2022 and the $45 million it spent in 2020, and a Planned Parenthood representative said the organization plans to spend less because other groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and House Majority PAC have promised to also spend millions campaigning on the issue.
Ianthe Metzger, senior director for Planned Parenthood advocacy communications, told Forbes that in 2022, “it was really just Planned Parenthood screaming about abortion,” while this year “there is a whole ecosystem talking about this issue.”
The House Majority PAC, a Super PAC focused on electing Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives, last month launched a $100 million abortion rights campaign called the Reproductive Freedom Accountability Fund and the ACLU said it will spend $25 million to campaign on issues like abortion.
Planned Parenthood said it will target voters in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire and New York.
In addition to supporting Biden in key battleground states, the money will be spent on securing Democratic victories for Congressional candidates and in some down-ballot races, like those for seats in the Nevada and Arizona statehouses.