• Press Release

EMILYs List Puts Doug Burgum, Tom Cotton, and María Elvira Salazar “On Notice”

June 11, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, added three more extremist Republicans to the 2024 Trump VP Shortlist “On Notice” List, highlighting the anti-abortion candidates Donald Trump is considering for his presidential ticket. By placing Doug Burgum, Tom Cotton, and María Elvira Salazar “On Notice,” we are highlighting their real records on reproductive freedom and the danger they pose to our rights, should they be included on the ticket. They join Ben Carson, Byron Donalds, Elise Stefanik, J.D. Vance, Kari Lake, Katie Britt, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Tim Scott, and Vivek Ramaswamy in the race to be part of the most anti-abortion presidential ticket in history. We have also updated the website with this week’s vote by several of Trump’s top candidates against protecting birth control.

EMILYs List President Jessica Mackler released the following statement:

“Reports that Donald Trump is considering three more anti-abortion extremists as his VP nominee are not surprising. From his support for the anti-freedom Project 2025 to his record and agenda, it’s clear that Trump’s Republican ticket is a clear and present danger to any American who believes in the right to choose. Donald Trump and his running mate will not rest until they criminalize necessary health care like abortion and end our access to reproductive care and birth control. The choice in November is clear – a vote for Trump is a vote for a national abortion ban. We must reelect President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to protect reproductive freedom for all.”

Tom Cotton

  • Earned an A+ rating from anti-abortion group SBA List.
  • Called a national abortion ban “reasonable” and supported a constitutional amendment banning abortion.
  • Called Roe v. Wade a “tragic mistake” and said that the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe was just the beginning of the Republican Party’s anti-abortion agenda in an address to the National Right for Life Committee.
  • Called to re-establish a “pro-life culture” in America during his first campaign.
  • Co-sponsored the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which spreads misinformation with the goal of banning safe and legal abortion.
  • Co-sponsored legislation that would lead to the national criminalization of abortion.
  • Co-sponsored legislation that would ban federal funds to universities affiliated with services that provide abortions. 
  • Co-sponsored parental notification legislation that would penalize younger individuals seeking abortion with up to one year in prison. 
  • Co-sponsored legislation banning any federal funding on abortions.
  • Co-sponsored the Life At Conception Act in 2013 and 2014.
  • Voted against the Right to Contraception Act.

Doug Burgum

  • “Applauded” by SBA Pro-Life America for signing a near-total abortion ban in North Dakota.
  • Called the overturning of Roe v. Wade “a victory.” 
  • Signed a near-total ban on abortion in North Dakota into law.
  • Signed a six-week abortion ban as governor of North Dakota, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
  • Signed multiple bills to limit access to safe and legal abortion.
    • Signed legislation that restricts state colleges’ ties with abortion providers.
    • Signed a bill banning access to safe and legal abortions. 
    • Signed an abortion-reversal bill mandating that physicians tell patients undergoing drug-induced abortions they can change their mind.
  • Because of his policies, North Dakotans currently have zero access to abortion clinics after the last one was forced to move to Minnesota in 2022.

María Elvira Salazar

  • Earned an A+ rating from anti-abortion group SBA List.
  • Praised the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to ban abortion.
  • Called abortion access and a woman’s right to choose a “culture of death.” 
  • Co-sponsored legislation that would lead to the national criminalization of abortion.
  • Co-sponsored legislation that would mislead pregnant people and prevent doctors from providing safe and legal abortions.
  • Voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 which would reestablish nationwide legal protections for the right to provide and access abortion care.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country with a goal of fighting for our rights and our communities. Our work is centered around a fundamental vision: Run. Win. Change the World. EMILYs List has raised $850 million in service to that vision and has helped Democratic women win competitive elections by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running one of the largest independent expenditure operations for Democrats, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country’s first woman as vice president, 175 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 20 governors, and over 1,500 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Visit www.emilyslist.org for more information.