New Bennet campaign TV ad highlights a Colorado woman’s personal abortion story, shedding light on reproductive health care before Roe v. Wade.
DENVER — Today, Michael released his campaign’s 11th ad of the general election. The minute-long ad, titled, “Horrifying,” tells the compelling story of Susan, who at the age of 21 received an illegal abortion in 1968, five years before the landmark Roe v Wade decision.
Susan’s powerful personal story tells Coloradans what it was like for women seeking reproductive health care before Roe v Wade. She sheds light on the anti-choice views of Michael’s opponent, sending a clear message to Colorado’s voters about who they should support this November to protect reproductive freedom.
Prior to the Roe v Wade ruling, women across the country who needed reproductive care put their own lives at risk in the process. In the wake of the Dobbs decision earlier this year, abortion rights have come under threat. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republican-led states have enacted dangerous abortion bans, and National Republicans have signaled their support for a national abortion ban should they take the Senate majority this November.
“For the first time in our country’s history since Reconstruction, we lost a fundamental constitutional freedom – one that we had for 50 years,” Michael told Colorado voters at a campaign event last month. “We cannot let the Supreme Court be the final word on Roe versus Wade, we have to elect a pro-choice majority in the Senate and a pro-choice majority in the House.”
Michael has always defended a woman’s right to choose during his time in the Senate, and he has a perfect score on Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s Congressional Scorecard. Every major statewide reproductive rights organization in Colorado has endorsed Michael’s reelection campaign this year, including Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Cobalt, and COLOR AF.
“Horrifying” is the third abortion-related TV ad Michael’s campaign has released ahead of the general election. The other two, titled “Not Even Close” and “Ban,” highlight why voters can’t trust Joe O’Dea on abortion, and why Coloradans need a leader like Michael fighting for reproductive freedom in the U.S. Senate.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL AD
With each passing week, it’s become increasingly clear that Coloradans cannot trust Joe O’Dea on abortion:
- Joe O’Dea not only voted for a statewide abortion ban in Colorado with no exceptions for rape or incest, he signed the petition to put it on the ballot
- Joe O’Dea opposes Colorado’s law that protects the right to choose.
- Joe O’Dea would have voted for all of Trump’s Supreme Court nominees who overturned Roe v. Wade
- Joe O’Dea said he would support a nationwide abortion ban.
- Joe O’Dea went as far as to say, “…you’ll see me help move the pro-life movement forward.”
- Joe O’Dea touted that he was endorsed by pro-life leaders who have supported abortion bans
- Joe O’Dea said he wanted to bring “balance to women’s rights.”
“Horrifying” Audio Transcript:
Michael: “I’m Michael Bennet, and I approve this message.”
Susan: “I had an illegal abortion when I was 21 years old. A friend of mine did the research and found a doctor, and he gave me an abortion, and I began to bleed uncontrollably and had to be taken to the hospital”
Susan: “And it’s absolutely a horrifying experience that no girl should ever, ever have to go through.”
Susan: “I’m telling my story now because young girls won’t remember what it was like to not be able to have an abortion, because it’s been legal for 50 years.”
Susan: “I know that Joe O’Dea is against the law that protects abortion access in Colorado, and that absolutely horrifies me.”
Susan: “And Joe O’Dea would give Mitch McConnell the majority he needs to ban abortion nationwide.”
Susan: “I would like to tell Joe O’Dea that he has no right to tell me what to do with my body.”
Susan: “We cannot go back. We cannot let young girls face this kind of experience. There’s no reason for us to do that.”
