Pro-life group to spend $78M ahead of midterm elections, focus on battleground states
A prominent pro-life activist organization expects to spend $78 million during the 2022 midterm election cycle, hoping to reach at least 8 million eligible voters through a combination of door-to-door campaigning, voter mail and media advertisements.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a national grassroots advocacy organization that opposes abortion and boasts around 900,000 members, will lead voter outreach efforts in battleground states like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
SBA Pro-Life America Communications Director Mary Owens told The Christian Post that the nonprofit might "add more to what we are doing in the future" as they are "constantly evaluating" the situation.
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"This election cycle, SBA Pro-Life America and its entities plan to spend $78 million. We are on track to reach 8 million voters across battleground states," Owens said.
"We will reach 4 million voters directly at their doors. The rest of the voters we will reach via TV and radio ads, digital ads, and direct voter mail."
In November, midterm elections will be held for all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 seats in the U.S. Senate as control of both houses of Congress are up for grabs. Among the many state-level offices that have elections in 2022 are 36 governorships.
Owens spoke of her organization having "boots on the ground" in battleground states to "educate voters on the life issue and expose the Democrats' pro-abortion extremism."
According to Owens, SBA has visited over 542,000 homes in Arizona, voicing support for Republican challenger Blake Masters in his race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, which Real Clear Politics ranks as a "toss-up." The organization also endorsed Tiffany Shedd for Arizona attorney general.
The group's canvassers have also visited more than 465,000 homes in Florida, having endorsed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Ron DeSantis and House candidate Anna Paulina Luna.
While Rubio has been in the Senate for over a decade, he faces a tough challenge from Democratic Rep. Val Demmings. According to the Real Clear Politics average of polling for the Florida Senate race, Rubio leads by about 2.8 percentage points.
SBA Pro-Life America canvassers have also visited more than 287,000 homes in Georgia, endorsing former NFL player Herschel Walker for his U.S. Senate bid against incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock. The group also backs Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in his rematch against Democrat Stacey Abrams.
The Real Clear Politics average of polling in the Georgia Senate race shows Warnock with just a 0.3 percentage point lead over Walker, while Kemp holds a 6.6 percentage point lead over Abrams.
'Encourage faithful Americans'
SBA is not the only pro-life advocacy group heavily involved in the midterms. The social conservative organization Concerned Women for America is also active in many races.
CWA CEO and President Penny Nance told CP that her organization has around 500,000 supporters and activists at the grassroots level nationwide.
The "election integrity" issue is a key effort, according to Nance, which will involve "recruiting poll workers and poll watchers and training them to secure the vote, especially in key states."
CWA will also launch a bus tour called "She Prays, She Votes," which is scheduled to travel to Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, among other states.
Both Ohio and Pennsylvania have open Senate seats. Real Clear Politics ranks the Pennsylvania Senate race as a "toss-up," with its average of polling showing Democrat Lt. Gov. John Fetterman with a 4 percentage point lead over the Trump-endorsed Mehmet Oz.
Real Clear Politics ranks the Ohio Senate race as "leans GOP," with Republican J.D. Vance holding a 2.2 percentage point lead over Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan.
Nance told CP that the goal of the bus tour is "to encourage faithful Americans to pray for the elections and vote for those with strong moral character that will further the causes of life, religious liberty, educational choice, parental rights, and other key issues."
"Every candidate should be talking about the extremism of pro-abortion advocates that allow abortion to the ninth month of pregnancy when the baby is clearly viable outside the womb," said Nance.
"Abortion advocates are out of step with the two-thirds of the American people who believe there must be restrictions on abortion."
The possible impact of Dobbs
On June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Thomas Dobbs, et. al. v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that abortion was not a constitutional right and that states could make their own laws on abortion.
The decision overturned the 1973 landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade and has pushed the issue of abortion into national headlines, with the possibility that it will impact the midterm elections.
Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, plans to spend up to $50 million on its voter outreach efforts in 2022, breaking its previous election cycle spending record of $45 million set in 2020.
On its midterm campaign website, Planned Parenthood lists six races as "races to watch," including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
According to The Associated Press, the abortion giant aims to reach over 6 million voters through canvassing, phone calls, digital advertising, mailers and radio ads.
Emily's List, a political action committee that helps elect female candidates in favor of abortion rights, launched a midterm campaign tour in August that will run through several states, including New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado, Michigan, Georgia, Kansas, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
Nance of CWA said, "with the Dobbs decision, candidates have had the opportunity to lead on the essential issue of our time."
"Since Dobbs allowed the democratic process to work, rather than having unelected judges imposing their preferred abortion policy by judicial fiat, electing representatives that will protect the unborn in state and federal law is critically important," Nance said.
"Any candidate who believes in the dignity and worth of every human life should be championing the Dobbs decision and the importance of it to let abortion decisions be in the hands of the American people."
Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, another pro-life organization working to influence the midterms, said the Dobbs ruling "has increased interest in abortion as a voting issue."
Tobias and her organization "fully expect, as in previous years, that pro-life people will turn out and make the difference for pro-life candidates."
"Democrats have already shown their determination to establish a federal law that allows abortion on demand for all nine months of pregnancy for any reason, even as a method of birth control," she added.
"And they want tax dollars to pay for it. If they maintain control of the U.S. House and add one or two more seats in the Senate, their goal will become a reality."
