Abortion Rights Ballot Measure Campaign Ads Take On Government Interference And Highlight Human Toll Of Extreme Bans

WASHINGTON – Abortion rights ballot measure campaign ads are hitting airwaves in purple and red states across the country. Their focus: highlighting the human toll of extreme abortion bans and denouncing government interference. 

The ads are designed to engage voters across the political spectrum in purple and red states where abortion is on the ballot this November. 

“We know real life people, sharing their real life experiences with extreme abortion bans, are incredibly powerful messengers,” said Kelly Hall, Executive Director of the Fairness Project and leading ballot campaign strategist. “We’re honored to help uplift their stories.”

The Fairness Project has committed more to reproductive rights ballot measure campaigns than any other entity this cycle and is a significant strategic partner of abortion rights ballot initiatives, committing $30 million this election cycle to protect and expand abortion rights in key purple and red states where abortion is on the ballot. 

The organization noted that several dozen ads will run before the election that feature deeply personal stories about the impact of extreme abortion bans, and it highlighted several airing now.

 A new ad from Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, airing on television networks across the state in support of Constitutional Initiative 128, uplifts the voice of a woman who needed an abortion after learning she had lost her child during an ultrasound. She tells viewers, “it doesn’t make sense as Montanans to have the government telling us what we can do with our bodies.”

Another ad released by Florida’s Yes on 4 campaign features Deborah and Lee, a couple from Lakeland Florida. The video recounts their harrowing experience under Florida’s extreme abortion ban that forced Deborah to continue a painful pregnancy, carry her child from 23 weeks to 37 weeks, and give birth, knowing her son would die 92 minutes later. 

In another ad, a couple explain how Arizona’s highly restrictive anti-abortion law meant that the loss of their child was compounded by a delay in care that nearly nearly cost the mother’s life. “Government had no right to do that to our family,” the husband affirms, urging a “yes” vote on Proposition 139, which would restore reproductive rights in the state.

“Over the past three years, thousands of volunteers have collected millions of signatures from voters across the country and political spectrum who want to see an end to these cruel abortion bans. We’ve learned a lot from all of them,” said Hall. “All of those conversations have confirmed a lot of things we believed, such as the fact that abortion is not a partisan issue, and people of all political stripes want common sense laws that protect women, families, and healthcare providers. The right to make one’s own medical decisions resonates with voters in even some of the most conservative states.” 

“We’ve seen time and time again that personal stories that distill the human toll of these bans are incredibly powerful, because these horrors could happen to anyone. Allowing voters to correct these injustices directly at the ballot box is what makes citizen-led ballot measures the most empowering tool of our democracy,” she added.

Hall also shared another key theme throughout abortion rights advertisements this election cycle: government interference. 

“Freedom is a core value for Americans across the political spectrum,” continued Hall. “Voters deserve to know when extremist politicians want to interfere in their lives and take away their freedom.” 

A television ad released by Florida’s Yes on 4 campaign and funded with support from the Fairness Project titled “Before” details the state government’s extreme abortion ban that starts before most women even know they’re pregnant or can consult with a doctor, calling it “a ban where government decides, not you.” 

A Yes on Amendment 3 ad currently running on television networks across Missouri features a woman holding the hand of her husband sharing her own experience with miscarriage and how the essential abortion care she received thereafter is banned under current Missouri law. The ad is funded by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom with support from the Fairness Project and implores voters to approve Amendment 3 “because these decisions belong to us, not politicians.”

The hard-hitting ads are being run by campaigns supported by the Fairness Project’s $30 million commitment to winning abortion rights ballot measures this election cycle. The ads will run through election day, complementing the grassroots outreach, GOTV efforts, and one-on-one conversations abortion rights campaigns are having with voters. 

The Fairness Project, widely considered the nation’s ballot measure leader, provides crucial resources, technical expertise, strategic support, and more to campaigns on the ground in multiple states.

Since 2022, 22 GOP-led state legislatures have enacted severe restrictions or outright bans on abortion. In response, the Fairness Project has directed its national campaign and fundraising operation to restore and protect reproductive rights with citizen-initiated ballot measures. As of today, abortion rights are undefeated at the ballot box, winning in seven states.