Anti-abortion group targets Democrats ahead of 2022

The Susan B. Anthony List, a conservative anti-abortion group, is targeting a number of House and Senate Democrats on their stances ahead of the 2022 midterm elections in a new six-figure campaign. 

The campaign, which includes a number of digital ads, press tours and phone calls, is set to take place while lawmakers are on recess this month. The Hill was the first outlet to report on the campaign. 

The group has labeled the Democrats targeted in the campaign “The Terrible 20” and focuses on Democratic lawmakers who refused to support the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal programs such as Medicaid from covering the costs of abortion services. 

“Senators and Representatives who insist on forcing taxpayers to fund abortion on demand and support barbaric, late abortions without limits must and will face the consequences of their extremism at the ballot box. SBA List’s ongoing campaign to expose abortion extremism in battleground states and districts includes a multi-faceted education campaign and even door-to-door visits from our field team,” said Susan B. Anthony List spokesperson Mallory Quigley. 

The lawmakers being targeted are Sens. Raphael Warnock (Ga.) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Reps. Deborah Ross (N.C.), Tom O’Halleran (Ariz.), Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Lucy McBath (Ga.), Carolyn Bordeaux (Ga.), Cindy Axne (Iowa), Sharice Davids (Kansas), Jared Golden (Maine), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Haley Stevens (Mich.), Christopher Pappas (N.H.), Tim Ryan (Ohio), Susan Wild (Pa.), Matt Cartwright (Pa.), Connor Lamb (Pa.), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Elaine Luria (Virginia) and Peter DeFazio (Oregon). 

The Hyde Amendment has been added to federal spending bills every year since 1976. Last month, it was not included in the spending bill introduced and then cleared by the House Appropriations labor and health and human services subcommittee.

Republicans and Democrats have supported the amendment in the past, but during last year’s presidential campaign, President Biden reversed his previous support for it and vowed to end it after coming under pressure from fellow Democrats and advocacy groups.

The abortion debate will likely play in next year’s midterms, as abortion rights groups are warning that the Supreme Court could use a Mississippi case to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.