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2026 Election

Planned Parenthood Plans Its Biggest Ad Buy of 2026 Against Susan Collins

The group’s PAC will spend $600,000 on spots criticizing Collins for supporting Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

U.S. Congress

One Planned Parenthood campaign ad features a woman saying she wouldn’t have voted for Sen. Susan Collins if she’d known Collins would back Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. (Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP)

By Torrie Herrington

August 17, 2026 06:03 p.m.

Updated: August 17, 2026 07:09 p.m.

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Planned Parenthood’s political action committee says it will spend $600,000 on ads against Sen. Susan Collins — the organization’s biggest ad investment this cycle.

Planned Parenthood Votes plans to use the ad campaign to criticize the Maine Republican, who is up for reelection, for voting to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who later supported the high court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

One of the ads, which has already been available on YouTube, features a Maine woman who said she regrets her vote for Collins.

“I can’t take my vote back, but I will not make the same mistake twice,” the woman in the ad says. “I’m done hoping Susan Collins will do the right thing.”

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While Collins has said she disagrees with the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which found the Constitution does not protect a right to abortions, she has also said she stands by her support for Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“I do not regret that vote,” she told reporters in June. Collins said she disagrees with the court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which found the Constitution does not protect a right to abortions.

Collins faces Democratic challenger Troy Jackson, who was nominated by Maine Democrats after the former nominee, Graham Platner, dropped out of the race over to sexual assault allegations, which he has denied.

The ad buy in Maine is part of Planned Parenthood Votes’ $47 million campaign this cycle.

In 2018, before Collins voted to confirm Kavanaugh, Planned Parenthood Action Fund also made a six-figure ad buy, launching spots urging Collins not to support him.

Planned Parenthood’s Maine Action Fund issued a memo in May 2025 backing Collins, saying, in part, “Mainers can count on Senator Susan Collins’ long record of supporting family planning programs.” The memo was available on the Planned Parenthood website until July this year.

Planned Parenthood Action endorsed Platner in June, a few weeks after The New York Times reported on his “unsettling” behavior. The PAC rescinded its endorsement of Platner on July 6.

A spokesperson for Collins said in a statement to NOTUS that Planned Parenthood “cares more about electing Democrats than any issue,” and noted the group’s support for Collins previously and the Platner endorsement.

“Now they are endorsing a candidate who as recently as 2013 received a 100% pro life rating,” Blake Kernen, a spokesperson for Collins, said. “As Planned Parenthood itself said, Susan Collins has always supported access to care for Mainers and all Americans, and she will continue to do so.”

This story has been updated with a statement from a Collins spokesperson.

Author

AJI-Fellow2025_Torrie Herrington.png Torrie Herrington is a reporter at The Washington Sun and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.

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