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Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsing 5 Senate Democrats in reelection bids

Demonstrators hold signs as they rally outside the Supreme Court building during the Women's March in Washington, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Abortion rights and anti-abortion activists held rallies Saturday in Washington and across the country to call attention to the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on June 24, 2022, which upended the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPFA) announced Monday that it is backing five Senate Democrats in their reelection bids.

The abortions rights group is endorsing Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), and Jon Tester (Mont.). Brown and Tester are among three Democrats up for reelection this year in states that former President Trump won in 2020.

Politico Playbook was the first to report the endorsements. The announcement comes as the party looks to make abortion a key issue again heading into 2024.

“These senators have been loud, unapologetic allies in the fight for reproductive freedom, and we need them to continue this critical work. They believe — like the majority of the country — that abortion is health care and that reproductive health care decisions should stay between patients and their medical providers, not politicians,” PPFA President Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.

Senate Democrats are defending twice as many seats next fall as Republicans, including a handful of members in battleground states such as West Virginia, Ohio, Montana, Nevada and Arizona.

Democrats are still waiting on key incumbents — Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — to make their decisions over whether they will pursue reelection.

Manchin, who has also flirted with a presidential bid, has said he’ll decide his plans later this year. Sinema has stayed mum on her timeline.