Planned Parenthood Votes, the super PAC branch of Planned Parenthood, played an active role in Pennsylvania during the 2018 election cycle and will once again be a key focus in the state for the upcoming presidential election. 

First reported by Politico, Planned Parenthood Votes announced that Pennsylvania is one of their nine states included in their initial $45 million investment for a battleground program that will fund grassroots organizing, digital, TV, radio, and mail programs. The $45 million initial investment to help “elect reproductive rights champions up and down the ballot in 2020,” is their largest electoral effort to date and the group expects “broader investments” moving forward. 

“This November, our very rights and freedoms are on the line,” said Ashley Lenker White, Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania PAC. “Who we elect, from the President of the United States to our state legislators in Harrisburg, will determine our access to birth control, cancer screenings, sex education, abortion access and more. And we know that what happens in Pennsylvania can make all the difference.”

The specific allocation for Pennsylvania has not been announced yet, but in the 2018 election the organization invested $2.5 million in Pennsylvania, which was their largest investment in the state ever for a midterm election. Overall, Planned Parenthood Votes spent a total of $30 million during the 2018 cycle, according to Politico.

During their 2018 effort in the state, the group said they knocked on 320,000 doors, made more than 50,000 phone calls and text messages, over 100,000 pieces of mail sent for legislative candidates, and Latinx-focused voter education efforts in the Lehigh Valley and Reading. 

The press release about the 2020 program said in addition to helping elect “reproductive rights champions,” it is also took a shot at President Donald Trump saying that the group is intending to “stop Trump’s anti-health care agenda in its tracks.” 

The Pennsylvania Republican Party did not immediately respond to comment about this investment. 

Planned Parenthood Votes is one of various groups that have already announced efforts in the state in opposing Trump’s reelection. American Bridge, a liberal Super PAC that describes itself as “the largest research, video tracking, and rapid response organization in Democratic politics” has launched a $50 million effort in four specific states that includes Pennsylvania. For Our Future, the nation’s “largest super PAC devoted to grassroots Democratic turnout,” announced in June it’s plan to spend $80-$90 million focusing on seven specific states that includes Pennsylvania. Priorities USA, a Democratic super PAC, announced in February that it has launched a $100 million program focusing on four specific states that includes Pennsylvania.