Reproductive Freedom For All announced a $23.5 million midterm election campaign on Tuesday, the largest investment the organization has ever made in a non-presidential cycle. The reproductive rights group plans to target five battleground states—Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, California, and Georgia—with an emphasis on flipping congressional districts by electing candidates who support abortion access.
The announcement falls on the four-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion nationwide. The ruling returned the question of abortion regulation to individual states, a development that reproductive rights advocates have been fighting since 2022.
What the Left Is Saying
Reproductive Freedom For All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju said in a statement that abortion remains more popular than any individual politician, but that Trump-aligned Republican candidates are out of step with voters on the issue. "What's not popular is Trump and the MAGA movement, who continue to lose voter support with every new attack on abortion access," Timmaraju said. "Instead of lowering costs or helping families plan their futures, MAGA Republicans have advanced policies that make it harder for people to decide whether, when, and how to grow their families."
Timmaraju described the current landscape as urgent, noting that 21 states have enacted abortion bans or severe restrictions since the Dobbs decision. "We've won most of the state battles," she said in an interview, adding that federal legislative action is now essential. "If we don't win at the federal level, we cannot restore access in all 50 states, and that's becoming more and more urgent."
Democratic strategists have argued that abortion rights remain a potent electoral issue even as other concerns like inflation have gained prominence. Supporters say preserving access to reproductive healthcare motivates core Democratic voters and can appeal to swing voters who support exceptions for rape, incest, or maternal health emergencies.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservatives have countered that voters in 2024 demonstrated abortion rights ballot measures do not necessarily translate into votes against Republican candidates. In multiple states where such measures passed, voters also supported Donald Trump and down-ballot Republicans, suggesting the issue alone may not be determinative in competitive races.
Critics of expansive federal abortion protections argue the matter should remain with individual states, as the Supreme Court ruled. Social conservative groups have maintained that their coalition remains strong despite losses on ballot measures, pointing to continued Republican victories in congressional and state legislative contests where candidates opposed abortion access.
Opponents of the RFFA campaign have noted that polling on abstract support for "abortion access" often differs from support for specific legislation, including late-term procedures or taxpayer-funded abortions. Some Republican strategists have suggested focusing messaging on Democratic proposals they characterize as extreme rather than engaging directly on the abortion question.
What the Numbers Show
The $23.5 million commitment represents Reproductive Freedom For All's largest midterm investment in its history, according to the organization. The group declined to specify how the money would be allocated between advertising, field operations, and other campaign activities.
An RFFA-commissioned poll of voters in battleground House districts found that 80 percent said it is important for lawmakers to protect access to reproductive care, including 58 percent who said it is very important. Half of respondents said Congress should pass laws protecting abortion access nationwide.
The poll included an oversample of voters who did not support Kamala Harris in 2024 but voted yes on abortion rights ballot measures in Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada—voters the group identifies as potential targets for persuasion in competitive House races.
Since the Dobbs decision, 21 states have enacted abortion bans or significant restrictions. Seven states currently have abortion access preserved through ballot measures passed by voters, including several that also supported Republican candidates in recent elections.
The Bottom Line
The RFFA campaign signals reproductive rights groups are investing heavily in down-ballot races despite abortion slipping from the top tier of national electoral concerns compared to previous cycles. The group's strategy targets a specific voter segment—independents and soft Republicans who support some form of abortion access but may not vote Democratic on other issues.
Whether that coalition can produce measurable gains in congressional races remains to be seen. The 2024 election cycle offered a mixed signal: abortion rights measures passed in multiple states, yet those same electorates also elected Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress and returned Trump to the White House. How voters parse their positions on reproductive rights from their choices in competitive House and Senate races will likely determine whether groups like RFFA achieve their electoral objectives this fall.