New MoveOn.org Ad Accuses GOP of Promoting ‘Back-Alley’ Abortions

A new televised political ad launched Tuesday from liberal activist group MoveOn.org asks, "Why is the G.O.P. trying to send women back to the back alley?"

The controversial new ad takes a radical stance in tackling the current abortion debate in Congress. Republican-backed bills looking to limit federal funding for abortions have divided Capitol Hill and have pro-choice activists like MoveOn.org accusing pro-life members of "launching an assault" on women's health, forcing them to take measures into their own hands--symbolized by a lone coat hanger at the close of the ad.

To help deliver its controversial message, MoveOn.org recruited actress Lisa Edelstein, best known for her role on the Fox primetime drama House. The ad is set to run on cable networks nationwide, with extra attention specifically aimed at the Oxygen network, TPM reports.

Among the GOP's proposed spending cuts is an end to Title X, a federal grant program established in 1970 which provides contraceptive services to low-income women.  Last year, the program cost about $317 million.  According to the New York Times, the grant program does not directly provide funds to pay for abortions, but supports many organizations that provide them, including Planned Parenthood.

During a news conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday, congressional Democrats decried the GOP's plans to defund abortion providers as waging a "war on women."

The GOP's renewed efforts to defund the controversial practice come just days after one pro-life activist group's bombshell undercover investigations captured evidence of several Planned Parenthood engaging in immoral -- and often illegal -- behavior in its effort to provide abortions to desperate customers.

"The time has come to deny all federal funding to Planned Parenthood of America," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said during a speech on the House floor last week.  "Pro-life Americans and all Americans should not be forced to subsidize America’s largest abortion provider or continue to provide federal taxpayer dollars to Title X clinics that engage in this abhorrent behavior."