A women’s group launched another attack ad against Assemblyman Sean Hanna, a Republican running against Monroe County Legislator Ted O’Brien, a Democrat, for the state Senate.
NARAL Pro-Choice New York, which has already run ads against Hanna on websites, started running a radio ad Thursday. They’re pushing for O’Brien to take the seat, which is open after Sen. James Alesi, R-Perinton, retired.
“On Nov. 6 Rochester area women can either be safe, or we can be sorry,” the ad begins.
“Sean Hanna votes with the same extremists who want to shut down Planned Parenthood, even though Planned Parenthood is the only access many women have to cancer screenings,” it continues.
The ad directs listeners to badforwomen.com, which it says was created by New York women. The site said it is paid for my NARAL.
“Our right to choose is under attack, even in New York state. Ted O’Brien is the only state Senate candidate who supports the right of every woman to make her own decisions about birth control and pregnancy without government interference,” it said. “That’s why Ted O’Brien has been endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice New York, who is responsible for the content of this message.”
Hanna’s campaign did not have an immediate response.
He has said that he would support pro-life legislation that carried exceptions for women who became pregnant as a result of rape or incest, but his position on this issue is moot—it’s already been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It is not a legislative issue. It’s just something that the Democrats bring up every election cycle to try to tag Republicans with unfair labels,” Hanna told Gannett’s Albany Bureau earlier this month. “What they’re doing to Republican candidates is unconscionable.”
He also stressed that his economic policies are good for women. His chief of staff, Alexandra Touhey, pointed to his economic policy record, claiming that he has lowered income taxes for middle-income single mothers, helped pass the property-tax cap and restored a program to help struggling widows stay in their homes.
Here’s NARAL’s ad:
