Republican candidates in New Jersey that have campaigned and voted against abortion rights are now incapable of wiping away their abortion extremism.
It’s this simple: these Republican candidates would support their MAGA allies banning abortion and locking up women and doctors in New Jersey.
Highlights of the NJ Advance editorial below:
NJ Republicans can’t scrub their party’s abortion extremism | Editorial
After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to an abortion, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he believed that abortion should be left to individual states.
But now, less than a month and a half later, he’s reversed himself and proposed a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy with a few very narrow exceptions, which other top Republicans like Marco Rubio and Mike Pence were quick to get behind.
This is inconvenient for all the Republican candidates in states like New Jersey, trying to convince everyone they’re not really anti-abortion extremists in the run-up to the November midterm election.
Paul DeGroot, who’s challenging Mikie Sherrill in the 11th district, held a news conference on Thursday to stress that abortion is “a states’ rights issue” and that he is not the extremist in this race. Nearly all the GOP candidates in our most closely-watched congressional races told us the same.
So, should states be allowed to ban abortions with no exceptions whatsoever? “You got it,” DeGroot replied.
That’s extreme enough for us, and it tells us all we need to know about where the Republicans running in these races – including Tom Kean Jr. in the 7th district, Bob Healey in the 3rd district and Frank Pallotta in the 5th – actually stand on abortion rights, regardless of what they say their personal beliefs are.
Unlike the Democrats in our delegation, none of these Republicans say they will vote to codify the right to an abortion into federal law. And the bottom line is this: If you’re ok with banning abortion in some states, then you’re ok with banning abortion. You’re ok with forcing women to give birth.
At least DeGroot is upfront about this. Kean has been trying to have it both ways, like many GOP candidates, telling us abortion is “an issue best governed at the state level” while refusing to answer further questions about his views and making no mention of his opposition to abortion rights on his campaign website for the general public.
But you can still find it on another website left over from the GOP primary, as Tom Malinowski’s campaign pointed out. “It just shows they are presenting two completely different platforms and personas to different parts of the electorate, hoping no one will notice,” Malinowski said.
We also know that Kean voted against a bill to codify the right to an abortion into state law. So how likely is it that he would vote to protect the right under federal law, if elected to Congress? We asked his campaign, and got no answer.
We’ve seen what happens when women’s reproductive rights are left to the states. Kailee Lingo DeSpain, who was formerly “your quintessential pro-life Texan,” told CNN she had to leave her state for an abortion after learning that her baby had severe defects and would either be stillborn or suffocate to death within minutes of birth. “How could you be so cruel as to pass a law that you know will hurt women and that you know will cause babies to be born in pain?” she asked.
It is inhumane. Women are losing the right to make basic healthcare decisions that have been legal for 50 years, in exchange for what amounts to government-forced birth. A responsible member of Congress representing New Jersey would want to do something about that. Yet none of the Republicans running in our swing districts have said they will lift a finger to stop it.
The Democrats, however, are clear on this. “We must always oppose any attempt by those in Washington or around the country to roll back the clock and stand between a woman, her doctor, and her faith, when making personal health care decisions,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer. “This is about common sense versus extremism. This is about standing up for our Jersey values.”
The campaign of Republican Bob Healey tried to change the subject last week, after saying only that abortion should be left to the states – demanding to know where Democrats like his opponent, Rep. Andy Kim, stand on issues like parental notification for young people seeking an abortion, or health care providers other than physicians being allowed perform the procedure.
But these are all things that could be legislated if we codified a woman’s right to an abortion into federal law. We could still have debates on these questions, and many more.
“This is not the debate we’re actually having in America right now,” as Malinowski said. “We’re having this debate because Roe v. Wade was overturned and states across the country are banning abortion, period – including in some places where the life of the mother is at risk. This is what they brought about. And the question voters are going to have this November is, are they willing to return this country to the status quo under Roe v. Wade?”
The answer, apparently, is no: Republicans don’t seem willing to protect a woman’s right to abortion in America – their party is even doubling down with proposals for a national abortion ban. After all, the movement that campaigned for the repeal of Roe didn’t do so because they wanted to ban abortion in only half the country.
They don’t have the power to impose their will on the entire country right now, but as Graham said, “If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote on our bill.” Something to remember when you head to the polls this November.