CV NEWS FEED // The Biden campaign launched an advertisement on Friday targeting purple states by criticizing the GOP’s pro-life stance.
The one minute video ad is part of a $25 million ad campaign that will run for 16 weeks. The pro-abortion ad will target toss-up states, running in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
“Reproductive health care decisions are among the most personal a woman will ever make. They are choices that should be made between you and your doctor,” the ad says over a montage of a woman holding a newborn and another woman carrying a construction helmet.
The video features pro-life comments from former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. “And the last people who should be involved are these guys,” a female voiceover says.
“I’m the one that got rid of Roe v. Wade,” Trump says in a sound bite, while a red-filtered photo of the former president’s face plays close-up.
DeSantis, who is challenging Trump for the GOP nomination and who signed a bill in Florida prohibiting abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy, when the preborn baby’s heartbeat can be detected, is shown saying, “I believe in a culture of life.”
Next, the ad targets Scott, another GOP presidential hopeful.
“If I were president of the United States, I would literally sign the most conservative pro-life legislation,” says Scott.
The clip also features a video clip of Trump saying “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who procure illegal abortions.
Then, over the smiling faces of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, the voiceover promises that “President Biden and Vice President Harris are determined to restore Roe v. Wade, and they will never allow a national abortion ban to become law.”
“As long as they are in office, decisions about your body will be made by you, not by them.”
The Biden/Harris 2024 campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodríguez, said in a statement on Friday that the campaign will champion the recodification of Roe v. Wade.
“On Wednesday, MAGA Republicans came to the debate stage and boasted about their support to strip women of the right to make their own health care decisions,” said Rodríguez, referring to the first Republican presidential primary debate. “President Biden and Vice President Harris stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans against these bans, and for codifying Roe into law.”
“Our second Catholic president continues to make clear that he sacrifices Catholic teaching at the altar of abortion,” said Tommy Valentine, Deputy Political Director at CatholicVote. “This is not some sort of good faith disagreement – he holds our Catholic values in contempt and there is no excuse for it.”
The GOP presidential hopefuls have different positions on how best to move the pro-life movement forward now that abortion regulation is once again up to the states. Both Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence said they supported a 15 week national ban in the debate on Wednesday. DeSantis signed a six week abortion ban, but has suggested that the decision be left to the states. Trump has criticized DeSantis, calling his Florida legislation “too harsh,” but has also said that the abortion issue should be resolved by the states.
