A liberal judicial advocacy group is running ads that call on Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine to oppose President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court.
The ads from Demand Justice, which is working to tank Trump’s pick to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, focus on the president’s prior comments about wanting to name justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that established a woman’s right to an abortion.
“If Donald Trump has his way, the next Supreme Court pick will turn the court against a woman’s constitutional right to safe, legal abortion,” the 30-second spot stated.
The ads aim to pressure Collins and Murkowski to oppose the president’s forthcoming nominee, which he is set to announce Monday.
“Senator Susan Collins could be the deciding vote on Trump’s pick for justice. She claims to support a woman’s right to have an abortion, so why won’t she rule out voting for Trump’s anti-choice picks?” the narrator asked.
[Related: Susan Collins: There are people on Trump’s Supreme Court list ‘whom I could not support’]
Collins said she would not support a nominee who demonstrates a “hostility” to Roe, and said a candidate who would overturn the landmark decision “would indicate an activity agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have.”
Both Collins and Murkowski have said they support abortion rights. Their votes are pivotal in the Senate, where there are just 50 Republican voting members.
Politico reported Tuesday that the TV ads will run in Maine and Alaska starting Thursday, and radio ads will start next week.
Demand Justice expects to spend $5 million as part of its efforts to oppose the president’s Supreme Court nominee and will also focus on Democratic Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
The three are up for re-election in November and supported Justice Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court last year.
Ads will start in Indiana, North Dakota, and West Virginia after Trump announces his nominee to replace Kennedy and focus on Obamacare, according to Politico.
Trump told Fox News in an interview he would “probably not” ask Supreme Court candidates whether they would vote to overturn Roe.
Senate Democrats and groups like Demand Justice, though, are focusing on the future of abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act in their efforts to sink the president’s Supreme Court nominee.
The president has interviewed seven possible Supreme Court nominees this week. Federal appeals court judges Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and Amy Coney Barrett are reportedly the front-runners.
[Also read: Elizabeth Warren worried Trump will nominate an ‘extremist’ judge to Supreme Court]
