Harris campaign unveils three ads targeting Trump on abortion ahead of debate

Vice President Harris’s campaign on Saturday unveiled three new ads using former President Trump’s comments on reproductive health care to target him ahead of the upcoming debate.

The 30-second ad, titled “Told Us,” includes Trump saying, “for 54 years they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated and I did it and I’m proud to have done it.” The comments come from a townhall the former president participated in with Fox News in January.

The ad warned that Trump would want to go further and pass a national abortion ban. The GOP nominee has said he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban, but has declined to say whether he would veto such a ban if it made it to his desk

Another 30-second ad, called “Big Family,” is narrated by Alabama resident Latorya Beasley, who discussed how her embryo transfer was canceled after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in February that frozen embryos are children, threatening the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The last ad, a one-minute spot titled “Laurel,” is narrated by Wisconsin resident Laurel Marcinkus, who discussed how she couldn’t get treatment quickly after her labor had to be induced because of a blood clot in her uterus. Doctors at the time, she said, were afraid of prosecution for treating her.

“I almost died. That’s because of the decision that Donald Trump made,” Marcinkus said in the ad. The footage also includes a quote from the former president, saying that “there has to be some form of punishment for woman” who get abortions. The clip comes from an interview on MSNBC in 2016.

“Told Us” will run in battleground states and during high-viewership moments, including the return of popular primetime programming, the campaign said. The ads “Laurel” and “Big Family” will run as digital spots on platforms Hulu, Roku, YouTube, Paramount, Spotify and Pandora.

“Donald Trump is a fundamental threat to reproductive freedom — and you don’t have to take our word for it — Trump said it himself,” Harris spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement. “In fact, he’s said again and again that he’s ‘proud’ that he overturned Roe — a ruling which has harmed countless women, including Latorya and Laurel.”

The ads are part of the campaign’s $370 million investment in television and digital between Labor Day and Election Day.

The Harris campaign also launched a reproductive rights bus tour this week that Minnesota’s first lady Gwen Walz and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will join Tuesday. The two spouses will travel to Asheville and Raleigh, N.C., to highlight restrictive abortion laws passed in red states since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.