Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider, endorsed New Hampshire’s Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan on Thursday in her battle against incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte for the Granite State’s Senate seat.
“From her time in the state Senate to her work as governor, Maggie has been a tireless advocate for women and families in New Hampshire and across the country,” Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said in a statement.
Richards continued, “Maggie has always stood up against those who launch baseless attacks against healthcare providers like Planned Parenthood health centers.”
“Unfortunately, her opponent Sen. Kelly Ayotte is fighting to take us backwards. Ayotte believes Roe v. Wade should be overturned, supports letting employers deny contraceptive coverage, and has voted over and over to block women’s access to critical health services. New Hampshire’s women and families deserve better,” she added.
Ayotte has routinely supported Republican-led efforts to end the federal funding of Planned Parenthood, but simultaneously criticized a group of her colleagues last fall who sought to cancel federal funding of the organization by blocking a spending bill and potentially shutting the government down in the process.
“We all know where the votes are, and it’s not going to happen,” Ayotte said during a speech on the Senate floor. “I’m tired of the people on my side of the aisle who have been pushing this strategy, even though they know they don’t have the votes to pass it in the United States Senate, and they certainly don’t have the votes to override a presidential veto.”
Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Hassan comes just weeks after the group’s political apparatus, Planned Parenthood Votes, debuted their first TV ad this cycle that took aim at an incumbent Republican senator.
The ad blasted Ayotte for her “abysmal record on women’s health” and highlighted comments she’s made about overturning the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade.
A spokeswoman for the Ayotte campaign accused Planned Parenthood of spreading “false information” about the Republican senator and claimed Hassan had used the endorsement to distract New Hampshire voters from her prolonged absence from the state last month.
“Desperate to distract from the fact that she was out of state for 12 days last month, Gov. Hassan is using Washington special interests to spread fasle information about Kelly’s record of protecting access to mammograms, working to increase access to contraceptives, and supporting more funding for breast and ovarian cancer research,” Liz Johns wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
