Planned Parenthood, under assault from conservatives and at risk of losing its government funding, is firing back at critics with a new ad campaign and alleging their real aim is to outlaw abortion.

After weeks of bad PR over videos of its executives discussing fetal tissue and organs, the group is unveiling a six-figure broadcast and cable ad buy Tuesday that will run in the states of four vulnerable Republican senators, according to details obtained by POLITICO. The lawmakers could be key to deciding whether a fight over the group’s funding triggers a federal government shutdown this fall.


“First, Pat Toomey voted to defund Planned Parenthood — risking health care for millions of women. Now, Republicans want to shut down the government — to block funding for Planned Parenthood. What would a shutdown mean for Pennsylvania?” a narrator asks in the 30-second spot. It’s followed by a veteran, a senior citizen, a mother with a toddler and small-business owner asking what a shutdown would mean for various government programs, such as Social Security and Head Start.

Similar spots will target Republican Sens. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire and Rob Portman in Ohio.

The ad campaign builds upon the group’s strategy during the August congressional recess of enlisting backers to rally to its defense. The group has set up a rapid-response communications operation, conducted polling and instructed its state affiliates to alert local advocates who want to defend the group to attend town halls, engage in “lobby days” and share their stories of how Planned Parenthood provided access to health care.

The group is also running a national digital ad campaign geared to get supporters to contact members of Congress.

This is hardly the first attempt by Republicans to defund Planned Parenthood, but the effort has gained widespread support among congressional Republicans in the wake of the release of the secretly taped videos. Planned Parenthood officials have denied any impropriety, saying they have followed federal laws regulating fetal tissue.

The imbroglio and ensuing calls to halt funding for the group has increased the possibility of a government shutdown this fall. Already 18 House Republicans have publicly said they won’t support any government funding bill that provides taxpayer money for Planned Parenthood, which receives roughly $540 million in government funds annually.

Dawn Laguens, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said the group is taking this latest attempt to cut off its federal funding seriously. She described the current political environment as the most serious threat to Roe v. Wade since the landmark Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion rights was handed down in 1973.

“It is a serious and obviously coordinated attack to get rid of abortion in this country, to recriminalize abortion in this country, to destroy Planned Parenthood because Planned Parenthood stands up for women’s rights, freedom and ability to access care that women and their doctors decide they need,” Laguens said in an interview.

This week’s ads follow late-July ads by Planned Parenthood in West Virginia, Indiana and Washington, D.C. targeting key senators whose support for Planned Parenthood was seen as being in jeopardy. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana broke with their Democratic colleagues and voted to defund Planned Parenthood before the August recess. The group spent about $290,000 on that batch of spots, according to The Tracking Firm, a data company.

In addition to the ads, Planned Parenthood has collected more than 900,000 signatures from people opposed to denying taxpayer funds to the group. Planned Parenthood also has increased the number of organizations offering statements of support to more than 340 other groups, including the New England Journal of Medicine. And it released a poll last week that it commissioned showing a majority of voters in the Senate and presidential battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Hampshire oppose both defunding the group and shutting down the government over the issue.

The group has also been active on the ground. Supporters attended a town hall by Manchin last week and asked questions about his recent vote. In Iowa, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst was asked about her bill and vote to defund Planned Parenthood. Volunteers and supporters are also delivering 1,400 notes to Washington Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell thanking them for their vote backing the group.

Meanwhile, on the legal front, Planned Parenthood on Monday asked a Florida judge to block enforcement of what it says is a new state definition of when a first-trimester abortion can take place.

Earlier this month, a Florida state agency cited three Planned Parenthood clinics for performing “second” trimester abortions that it was not licensed to perform. But the women’s health group said in court documents that the state had suddenly changed the definition of second trimester from 14 weeks gestation to 12 weeks gestation. Planned Parenthood is asking for a temporary emergency injunction and clarity on the abortion policy.

The threat of a government shutdown combined with the 2016 GOP presidential primary guarantee a protracted battle for Planned Parenthood and its allies. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas, both Republican presidential hopefuls, have said they will push amendments to cut off the group’s federal funding.

And early Republican front-runner Donald Trump also faced a number of questions about Planned Parenthood during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Though Trump couldn’t say whether he had ever contributed to Planned Parenthood, he said the group needs to stop providing access to abortions.

“Look, Planned Parenthood has to stop with the abortions. A lot of people consider it an abortion clinic,” Trump told NBC’s Chuck Todd. “I think those tapes that I saw over the last— the five tapes or the six tapes, I think they were outrageous. I think they were terrible, disgusting by any standpoint. And they have to stop.”

Groups that oppose abortion rights are seizing on the defund movement, with activists holding more than 200 rallies at Planned Parenthood clinics and at the district offices of lawmakers.

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said the Planned Parenthood videos have created an “inflection” point for the movement. She said there is an opportunity for even broader reforms and that the group is also focused on a 20-week abortion bill that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has pledged the chamber will take up this fall. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced the bill in June and the House has already passed similar legislation.

And Concerned Women for America has taken part in rallies and encouraged supporters to attend town halls and arrange individual meetings with lawmakers.

CWA’s Penny Nance said the group is focused on House leaders and other congressional allies.

“We are taking nothing for granted and feel optimistic about our efforts. However, we also recognize that this is not a sprint but a marathon that we have been training for for a decade,” Nance said. “We don’t relish a government shutdown and hope to avoid it. However, if there is anything worth fighting for, it’s defenseless babies and their exploited mothers. This issue goes to the very heart of our humanity and we are determined to win.”

Jennifer Haberkorn contributed to this report.