Planned Parenthood Votes released an ad on Wednesday as part of the organization's $1 million TV and radio ad buy in Virginia, a state currently involved in a heated gubernatorial race.
The ad attacks Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli, whose record on women's rights issues has come under harsh scrutiny throughout the campaign. In addition to his opposition to abortion, Cuccinelli co-sponsored a bill while in the Virginia Senate that would have defined life as beginning at fertilization, thereby granting full legal rights to embryos. The "personhood" bill, which eventually did not pass, could have rendered certain forms of contraception illegal.
The ad attacks Cuccinelli, who has been trying to court female voters, for interfering with access to birth control, opposing emergency contraception, and attempting to ban abortion. The ad asks women voters, "Ken Cuccinelli doesn't trust women, so how can we trust Ken Cuccinelli?"
In recent weeks, Cuccinelli has tried to redefine his record on women's rights as he lags in the polls behind Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe. In addition to denying that he had previously tried to interefere with access to contraception, Cuccinelli told a crowd at an August campaign event that he was "not going to touch contraception as governor." Check out the Planned Parenthood Votes ad below.
