Two progressive groups are reissuing an ad campaign to pressure House Republicans to pass the Violence Against Women Act, which is due for a vote in the lower chamber this week.
MoveOn.org and UltraViolet, a pro-women's-rights online community, are relaunching a graphic ad to pressure Congress to pass VAWA.
It shows a woman's face, seemingly after she has been beaten, slowly healing and then reverting back to her wounded state. The ad urges viewers to contact their lawmaker and urge them to back the law.
It will be backed by a relatively small five-figure buy, and will run on Washington, D.C.-area cable channels.
The ad comes as a version of the bill crafted by House Republicans will likely come up for a vote this week, but it lacks overt protections in the Senate-passed bill for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals, and does not provide the same level of protection of women on tribal lands as the Senate version.
Women's and LGBT rights advocates criticized the new measure when it was introduced last week, and Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet, in a statement echoed the concerns of opponents to the House bill.
"If they were serious about protecting women they would immediately pass the Senate bill. Instead they have, once again, decided to play politics with the health and well being of millions of women and men. The House bill is nothing more than a poison pill to once again block the Violence Against Women Act from being signed into law," she said.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the author of the Senate version, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) both slammed the House version, with Murray calling it a "non-starter in the Senate."
However, the Senate-passed version would likely face tough opposition from some House Republican lawmakers.
