Planned Parenthood said Thursday it would spend $20 million to support candidates in eight states this year, but that would not include Missouri, where Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is running for reelection.
McCaskill, who is a pro-choice senator, is facing a tough re-lection fight, but Planned Parenthood says they will be running advertisements and spending money on door-to-door efforts in states that will help Democrats take control of Congress.
Planned Parenthood feels their money could be used better in states they feel they have the opportunity to flip a Senate seat. President Trump, a harsh critic of the group, won Missouri by more than 18 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.
Initially, the women’s health organization, which provides abortions among other services, said it would try to help candidates in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which are all swing states.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund Director Deirdre Schifeling said Planned Parenthood is focusing on donating money to races they believe will be “a decisive factor.”
“Reproductive rights and health is at stake in this country and has been at stake for years, but especially this year,” Schifeling said. “We think this is critical — critical for protecting, and hopefully expanding, access to reproductive healthcare in the states.”
