From Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia; also note that many Republican candidates for House of Delegates and State Senate either have nothing on their websites about abortion, even though they’re almost certainly in support of banning it, or just have very vague “pro-life” language on there. VERY telling!
ICYMI: Virginia Republicans Scrub Websites of Extreme Abortion Stances
This week, Brandon Jarvis reported, “Some Republicans in competitive races either moderated or completely removed abortion language from their campaign website.”
“According to the internet archive, SD-17 Republican candidate Emily Brewer had a stronger stance against abortion prior to winning her primary race in June.
Before the primary, she stated that during her time as a state delegate she ‘fought tirelessly to add language in the state budget that prohibits taxpayer funding for abortions.’ That sentence is no longer on her website.
SD-24 Republican candidate Danny Diggs removed ‘I will also vote to repeal reckless policies passed in recent years that spend taxpayer dollars on abortion and allow abortion into the 3rd Trimester,’ from his website at some point between March and now.
HD-21 Republican candidate John Stirrup removed all language about abortion from his website. In January of this year, his website stated: ‘In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier in 2022, John knows that life is precious and a gift from God. John will protect the sanctity of life and will always vote pro-life.’
That language has been completely removed from his current website. He also experienced a scandal when someone secretly recorded him saying that he would support a ban on abortion if elected. “
Jamie Lockhart, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, said:
“Anti-abortion Republicans will stop at nothing to ban abortion entirely, so it makes sense that they’d try to solicit votes through deception. Voters are vehemently opposed to banning abortion. These extremists know that they can’t win with their out-of-touch views on abortion, so they’re trying to back-peddle to distract voters. Abortion is on the ballot, and we simply cannot afford for anti-abortion politicians to keep control of the House and gain control of the Senate.”
A recent poll by Founders Insight found that abortion was a top issue for Virginia voters. A recent Washington Post-Schar School poll found that 75% of Virginians want abortion laws to be less strict or remain the same. This follows poll results from The Wason Center at Christopher Newport University in January that found that 72% of Virginians want our abortion laws to stay the same or be less restrictive. Nationally, Americans overwhelmingly support protecting access to abortion.
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