EMILY’s List places Speaker Johnson ‘On Notice’

EMILY’s List added new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a list of Republicans it is targeting for their views on abortion ahead of the 2024 election. 

“MAGA Mike Johnson and his supporters have made their plan to ban abortion crystal clear. Every single one of the Republicans EMILYs List has already put ‘On Notice’ voted to install Johnson as speaker, endorsing his radical agenda and showing their true priorities,” said EMILY’s List Interim President Jessica Mackler in a Friday release obtained by Punchbowl News. 

“There’s no excuse for being, or supporting, an anti-abortion election-denying conspiracy theorist, and our fundamental rights are in jeopardy with this extremist and his supporters in office,” Mackler continues.

The “On Notice” list by the abortion rights group that works to support women candidates was first reported on by Punchbowl News in February. Before Johnson was added, some of his Republican House colleagues, including Reps. Don Bacon (Neb.), Mike Garcia (Calif.) and Jen Kiggans (Va.) were on the list. 

Johnson’s views on abortion have recently come under scrutiny in the wake of his ascendancy to the Speakership. Comments made by Johnson have been unearthed by journalists in which he threatened “hard labor” for doctors who perform abortions and blamed school shootings on “radical feminism,” the sexual revolution and abortion rights. 

Democratic National Committee (DNC) national press secretary Sarafina Chitika told The Hill that Johnson “is an out-of-touch extremist who won Donald Trump’s approval by leading efforts to overturn the election, supporting a national abortion ban and slashing Social Security and Medicare, and spreading hateful vitriol about the LGBTQ community. This is the MAGA platform that’s taking over the GOP, but it’s wildly unpopular with voters.”

The Hill has reached out to Johnson’s office and EMILY’s List.