Americans for Contraception group makes six-figure digital ad buy against four Ohio GOP congressmen

A new advocacy group called Americans for Contraception is targeting four Ohio Republican U.S. Congressmen with a six-figure advertising buy in the lead up to the Nov. 8 election, criticizing them for their votes against the “Right to Contraception Act” introduced by Democrats following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning national abortion rights.

The series of ads target U.S. Reps. Troy Balderson, of Zanesville; Mike Carey, of Columbus; Steve Chabot, of Cincinnati; and David Joyce, of Chagrin Falls. Ads against Chabot went up earlier this month, while the ads against the other three were slated to begin running yesterday, Thursday, a spokesperson for the group said.

Chabot’s congressional race is one of only three in Ohio considered competitive by election analysts at the Cook Political Report. They list it as a Republican toss-up. None of the other three GOP congressmen’s reelection bids are considered competitive by the analysts.

The Right to Contraception Act included protections for condoms, IUDs, the pill, patches, emergency contraception, and the ring. A total of 220 Democrats and eight Republicans in the U.S. House supported the bill, while 195 Republicans and zero Democrats opposed it.

The new six-figure ad campaign – appearing on streaming services, YouTube, and Twitter – urges viewers to tell the congressmen to protect contraception, as the legislation could likely come up for a vote again before the end of the year.

“We launched this campaign to urge people to contact Congressman Chabot and his extremist colleagues with the message that 90% of Americans support contraception, and they better vote to protect it,” said Joanne Pickrell, an Ohio-based political consultant representing Americans for Contraception in a news release. “The Right to Contraception Act  – which Chabot and 194 of his colleagues voted against in July – could well come up for a vote again before the end of the year.”

The move by Congressional Democrats to introduce legislation to protect contraception came after Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas called on the court to “reconsider” other rights after revoking abortion rights, pointing to previous cases that revolved around access to contraception and same-sex marriage.

In Ohio, Statehouse Republicans have introduced a bill that would limit access to some forms of birth control such as IUDs, and the sponsor of a separate abortion ban has said she would entertain a debate on attempting to ban birth control.

Asked to clarify for voters their views on contraception as well as the proposed bill, none of the four campaigns responded to an email Tuesday afternoon.

Only one Ohio Republican Congressman voted for the contraception bill, U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, of Rocky River, who is not seeking reelection.

Gonzalez was joined by Republican Reps. Joyce, Carey, and Michael Turner, from Dayton, in a separate vote to support same-sex and interracial marriage.