The American Civil Liberties Union is pressuring Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine to defend abortion rights in the days before President Trump unveils his Supreme Court nominee.
The ACLU launched a cable and broadcast TV ad campaign in Maine and Alaska on Friday that calls on the two senators to demand Trump’s nominee take a public stance on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a woman’s right to an abortion.
[Also read: Abortion rights groups hit Susan Collins with ads on SCOTUS vote]
“Sen. Susan Collins has always been an independent voice for our state. When politicians tried to undermine the liberty of women, she stood up and said no,” the narrator states in the ad that will run in Maine. “We need her now more than ever.”
The ad argues that “Americans need to know whether the nominee will protect the right of women to make their own healthcare decisions.”
The 30-second TV spots will run through Monday, when Trump will announce his pick to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“President Trump has promised to replace Justice Kennedy with someone who would take away the constitutional right to have an abortion altogether,” Faiz Shakir, national political director of the ACLU, said in a statement. “Americans are firmly opposed to Trump’s agenda of restricting basic rights and freedom of women. And for Sens. Collins and Murkowski, who have stood strong against past attempts by politicians to undermine the liberty of women, this is no time to gamble those rights away.”
Liberal advocacy groups are targeting Collins and Murkowski, as well as a handful of other vulnerable Senate Democrats, and pushing them to oppose Trump’s pick.
With only 50 voting Republicans in the Senate, Collins and Murkowski’s votes are pivotal, and Collins has already said she will oppose a nominee who shows a “hostility” to Roe.
