Senate Race Heats Up Over Abortion

Here's what a gloomy male voice says in the Massachusetts Democratic Party's ad against Scott Brown: "Brown even favors letting hospitals deny emergency contraception to rape victims."

In 2005, Brown proposed a measure that would have allowed medical personnel with religious objections to refuse to provide emergency contraception to anyone. His proposal never passed.

By Tuesday morning, some of the allies of the Democratic candidate, Attorney General Martha Coakley, had joined the fray.

"Time and again," said Andrea Miller, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, "Scott Brown has shown he is willing to compromise — for political gain — the health and well-being of some of the most vulnerable women in Massachusetts, and this includes victims of sexual assault."

Scott Brown's daughters rallied to their father's defense with a press conference of their own. His oldest daughter, Ayla, took a jab at Coakley.

"Martha Coakley's new negative ad represents everything that discourages young women from getting involved in politics," Ayla said, "and as a young woman, I'm completely offended by that. Her attack on my dad is completely inaccurate and misleading."

As interest in the race picks up, Brown is accelerating his fund-raising. He says he raised $1.3 million in 24 hours, and he is spending some of his campaign's money airing his own ad. In the ad, Brown is standing in a kitchen.

"By now," Brown says, "you've probably seen the negative ads launched by Martha Coakley and her supporters. Instead of discussing issues like health care and jobs, they've decided the best way to stop me is to tear me down."

This battle over Brown's position on abortion comes as the race is becoming surprisingly competitive. Tuesday, Sen. John Kerry sent out an email to Democrats asking for contributions to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. Kerry called the race between Coakley and Brown "a dead heat."