Busch Valentine's US Senate ad calls out AG Schmitt for 'un-American' abortion trigger ban

Trudy Busch Valentine is putting abortion front and center in a new TV ad that began airing Tuesday, linking her opponent's name to Missouri's statewide ban as her campaign aims to capture momentum in an uphill battle for a U.S. Senate seat.

The ad, titled "Un-American," opens with a rendition of Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office before opening a door to a doctor's office examination room as Busch Valentine says in a voice-over, "what happens here should not dictate what happens here."

"As a nurse, I respect people's freedom to make their own health care decisions," Busch Valentine says. "Eric Schmitt believes otherwise."

A graphic then appears of Schmitt's face next to a headline about Missouri's immediate ban of abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — the first state to do so — calls the ban the "Schmitt Mandate," and points to its lack of exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

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Schmitt issued an opinion as AG minutes after the high court's ruling, activating the state "trigger ban" as part of a law passed in 2019. "With this attorney general opinion, my Office has effectively ended abortion in Missouri," Schmitt said in a statement at the time.

"Government mandating women's health care decisions is un-American," Busch Valentine says. "I'll protect our freedoms."

Rich Chrismer, a spokesperson for Schmitt's campaign, criticized Busch Valentine's stance on the issue in response, claiming that she "supports abortion at every stage, including partial-birth abortion, taxpayer-funded abortion and even the live-birth abortion policies of liberals in New York and Virginia."

"This isn't the only issue where The Heiress is an extremist — she supports the extreme job-destroying, energy-price increasing, inflation-creating policies of Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer, which are crushing our economy and driving up the price of everything for Missouri families, which doesn't mean much to an Heiress with access to millions, but means everything to families who are working and struggling in the Biden economy," Chrismer said.

Busch Valentine's official platform says she will "vote to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law and will support efforts to end the filibuster to pass legislation to federally protect the right to an abortion."

The Democrat's new abortion ad will air frequently in the Springfield media market over the coming week. Busch Valentine's campaign has bought 92 30-second spots on KY3 starting Tuesday and running through next Monday, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission. It will air 76 times on KMIZ in Columbia in the same period.

It marks a new push by the Democrat's campaign to capitalize on what many in the party believe is the most motivating issue for voters entering the midterm election cycle, as Republican-led states ban or restrict abortion and Democrats in Washington, D.C. attempt to move toward codifying the right to an abortion in federal law. When Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina unveiled legislation to ban abortion nationally earlier this month, Busch Valentine released a statement saying "politicians need to get the hell out of our doctors' offices," in which she also tied Schmitt to Missouri's ban.

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"Unfortunately, here in Missouri, Eric Schmitt has already proven just how extreme and out-of-touch he is on this issue," Busch Valentine said in a statement at the time. "He personally signed — and then bragged about — triggering the country's first abortion ban that provides NO exceptions even in cases of rape and incest that involve child victims."

A poll of likely Missouri voters last month found that 58% of respondents agreed that it should be possible for a woman to legally obtain an abortion in the state of Missouri — a number that ticked down as the length of pregnancy increased, with 40% agreeing in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy (46% said they disagreed in that case). There were vast majorities of support for exceptions in cases of rape and incest — 75% and 79%, respectively.

Separate ad hits Schmitt for vote on foreign ownership of farmland

Another ad released Tuesday by Busch Valentine's campaign attacked Schmitt for his support of legislation that allowed foreign companies to buy up farmland in Missouri.

It opens with a farmer standing toward the camera, who says, "If Eric Schmitt wanted to sell farmland to communists in China, he should have become a broker in Beijing." The ad compares the amount of land sold thus far, about 146,000 acres, to "3x the size of the Lake of the Ozarks."

Schmitt voted in support of legislation allowing for the practice as a state senator. The line of attack is a familiar one, utilized by several of his opponents during a crowded Republican primary. Busch Valentine, too, has zeroed in on it, mentioning "communist China" several times at a recent candidate forum in Lake Ozark.

Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: MO Senate race: Busch Valentine's new ad targets Schmitt on abortion