Free & Just Launches Repro Radar, A Weekly Tracker of Abortion Ad Spending
Repro Radar confirms that abortion and reproductive freedom continue to move Americans across the country
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Free & Just announced the launch of Repro Radar, a new tool to track how much political advertisers are spending on content related to abortion and reproductive rights, delivered weekly on Thursday mornings. The first edition goes out tomorrow, Thursday, September 10, and every Thursday after that through the November 3 election.
Built on data from AdImpact’s ad library, Repro Radar covers the week that ended the previous Sunday and estimates what political advertisers spent on abortion-related ads, which ads ran the most, and where the money went. Repro Radar comes as new data confirms that the conversation around abortion access and reproductive freedom is far from settled. According to research from Kaiser Family Foundation, a majority of voters (57%) say it is “extremely” (27%) or “very important” (31%) for candidates to talk about abortion policy. Every Thursday, Repro Radar will include:
Estimated spending on abortion-related advertising, broken down by party spending
The week’s top ads by estimated spend, with links to the creative
The districts drawing the most abortion-related ad spending
Other topics appearing alongside abortion in those ads, such as health care costs, inflation, or contraception
Week-over-week comparisons as spending climbs toward Election Day
"Campaigns spend money on ads that address the most salient issues for voters, and the data tracked in Repro Radar confirms that abortion is one of those issues," said Gowri Buddiga, Campaign Director, Free & Just. “Free & Just will continue to monitor the conversation around abortion access and reproductive freedom over the next few months, and we are excited to share this important data.”
MORE ABOUT FREE & JUST’S REPRO RADAR
Repro Radar is based on data from AdImpact’s ad library, which captures broadcast advertising and much — though not all — connected TV (CTV), over-the-top (OTT), and streaming advertising. Spending figures are AdImpact estimates and should be treated as directional, not as advertiser — or platform-reported spending. They are most useful for comparing spending within the same media type, and broadcast estimates are generally more reliable than CTV/OTT/streaming estimates. Ads are identified through automated topic tagging and transcript analysis, so the results may not capture every relevant ad and may include some where abortion is not the primary message.
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