ICYMI: How Republicans in Key Senate Races Are Flip-Flopping on Abortion 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With the hopes of getting elected this November, GOP Senate candidates in key states are trying to hide from their anti-abortion records. They’re using a softer, more neutral tone to manipulate voters. The most alarming shifts come from the most conservative candidates who understand the majority of Americans support access to abortion and that their out-of-touch positions could cost them at the ballot box. These candidates may go to great lengths to convince people their stance has changed, but none can be trusted to support our fundamental rights if elected.

In case you missed it, yesterday, the New York Times broke down past and current statements from Republican Senate candidates, in seven closely-watched states, who have flip-flopped on abortion. Read highlights from the article below:  

New York Times: How Republicans in Key Senate Races Are Flip-Flopping on Abortion

Bernie Moreno, U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio

• When Bernie Moreno, a Republican businessman, ran for a Senate seat in Ohio in 2022, he described his views as “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.”
• “Life begins at conception” and “abortion is the murder of an innocent baby,” he said on social media.
• He has since softened his position. In March, he said he supported a 15-week national abortion ban. But his spokeswoman also says abortion “should be primarily decided at the state level,” that he backs “reasonable exceptions” and that he has maintained those positions throughout the 2024 election cycle.

Kari Lake, U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona

• She praised the state’s 1864 abortion law that banned nearly all abortions in the state when she was running for governor in 2022, calling it a “great law.” She also said she would sign a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
• But last month, when the state’s Supreme Court reinstated the 1864 law, she denounced it as “out of step” with Arizonans and personally called Republicans in the statehouse to say she supported repealing it. In a video, she said she opposed federal funds on abortion as well as federal bans.

David McCormick, U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania

• [When] asked at a Republican primary debate that April if [McCormick] would support exceptions to abortion bans if Roe v. Wade was overturned, he said he believed in exceptions in the “very rare instances” when a woman’s life was at risk.
• Language saying “life begins at conception” has disappeared from his website, which now notes that abortion is legal in the state until 24 weeks — the federal standard under Roe. And a campaign spokesman told CNN in April that Mr. McCormick “inadvertently left out” exceptions for rape and incest from his debate answer two years earlier.

Mike Rogers, U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan

• Mike Rogers of Michigan, the front-runner in the Michigan Senate Republican primary, cosponsored multiple anti-abortion measures in the House, including bills granting constitutional rights to zygotes at conception.
• Also from the same article: “But now he says that, as a senator, he wouldn’t support federal proposals that would undo the protections Michigan voters have put into place to keep abortion legal until 24 weeks.

 Tim Sheehy, U.S. Senate candidate in Montana

• Tim Sheehy, a Republican running for Senate in Montana, accused Democrats of “murdering our unborn children” on a local radio show in 2023, before he announced his bid.
• Earlier this year, he described himself as backing “common-sense protections” on the procedure, said he believed further restrictions should be left to the states and said he supported exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.

Sam Brown, U.S. Senate candidate in Nevada

• Sam Brown, the Republican front-runner in the Senate primary in Nevada, was named chairman of his state’s branch of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. The announcement of his appointment said one of the group’s aims was “protecting life.”
• He sat for an emotional interview in which his wife, Amy Brown, told the story of her own abortion. In that interview, he said he respected a Nevada state law allowing abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and that he opposes a federal ban on the procedure.

Eric Hovde, U.S. Senate candidate in Wisconsin

• Eric Hovde, a Republican Senate candidate who in 2012 told reporters he was “totally opposed” to abortion, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
• Now [Hovde] says women have a “right to make a choice” early in a pregnancy.

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