Kelly Ayotte’s anti-abortion votes the subject of a new $500,000 ad campaign

Put New Hampshire First, a group backed by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), has launched its first ad of the election cycle, targeting Republican candidate Kelly Ayotte for her extensive anti-abortion voting record in the US Senate and her continued support of Donald Trump and his extreme agenda. 

The advertisement, which is being broadcast on both TV and digital platforms as part of a $500,000 buy, highlights Ayotte’s support for a national abortion ban and her failure to protect in vitro fertilization (IVF) during her Senate term.

During her time in the Senate, Ayotte regularly voted in favor of national abortion bans and carried a 100% Rating From The National Right To Life Committee.

The ad also criticizes Ayotte’s role in confirming one of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, leading to several states enacting near-total abortion bans.  Ayotte served as Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s “sherpa” during his Senate confirmation.

RELATED: Ayotte held accountable for her work shaping far-right Supreme Court in new video following presidential immunity decision

Ayotte also consistently opposed access to IVF in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and attempted to allow insurers and employers to exclude IVF and other medical procedures from required coverage. Ayotte also co-sponsored legislation in 2011 to deny coverage for IVF if the “sponsor, issuer or other entity of the plan” had contrary religious beliefs. Ayotte later signed onto the so-called Blunt amendment to expand a rights-of-conscience clause in the ACA, which would further allow IVF exclusions if the “sponsor, issuer or other entity of the plan” had contrary religious beliefs.

“Kelly Ayotte is desperate for Granite Staters to forget her long and dangerous record of voting to ban abortion nationwide, opposing protections for IVF, and championing the end of Roe v. Wade,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien.

“But Granite Staters do remember, and they know they can’t trust a word she says. Granite Staters rejected Kelly Ayotte once before because they know she’s a self-interested politician who will say anything to get ahead, only to take aim once more at their most fundamental freedoms the first chance she gets. Granite Staters won’t let Kelly Ayotte take them backwards.”

The ad buy comes shortly after the New Hampshire Democratic Party launched a digital video campaign against Ayotte one day after the US Supreme Court issued a shock 6-3 ruling granting “absolute immunity” to criminal prosecution to Donald Trump for some of his actions taken while president as he tried to overturn the 2020 election results.