Politics |

Larry Hogan comes out in support of abortion access in latest appeal to Democratic voters

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday that he supports codifying abortion access in federal law, amending a previous position that his Democratic U.S. Senate campaign opponent has sought to use against him.

Hogan said in an interview with the New York Times that he is in favor of restoring the precedent set by the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade as the “law of the land,” and that he also would vote in favor of the ballot question to enshrine access to reproductive health care — including abortion — in Maryland’s constitution during the general election.

The popular, two-term former governor is battling Democratic Senate nominee and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks to represent Maryland, a fight that could determine which party has the majority in the Senate. While Maryland votes largely Democratic — the party enjoys supermajorities in its state legislature and congressional delegation — Hogan twice won election as governor with his appeal to moderates.

Alsobrooks is on the record in favor of abortion access, and said that she would co-sponsor federal legislation to codify abortion access on her first day in office.

Hogan said earlier this year that it’s “not necessary” to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution but that he would not vote for a federal ban, if elected.

“I’ll continue to protect the rights of women to make their own reproductive choices just like I did as governor for eight years,” Hogan told the New York Times. “I think Marylanders know and trust that when I give them my word, I’m going to keep it, and I’ve protected these rights before.”

Democrats say the former governor’s legislative track record shows a disregard for abortion rights.

In 2022, Hogan vetoed the Abortion Care Access Act, which requires the state to provide an annual $3.5 million to provide abortion care training to medical professionals who are licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by law to provide medical care. At the time, he said he felt that allowing professionals who are not specifically licensed physicians — like nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physician assistants and licensed certified midwives — would be a health hazard.

Additionally, Hogan wrote in a veto letter that his disapproval of the bill upheld his “commitment to take no action that would affect Maryland law where it concerns reproductive rights.”

“With this action, I am reaffirming that commitment,” he said in April 2022.

The Maryland General Assembly overrode Hogan’s veto, allowing the law to go into effect.

Months later, state lawmakers pleaded with Hogan to release the funding early following the June 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. He declined. Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, released the money to train medical professionals on his first day in office.

Hogan and Alsobrooks are seeking the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin. Maryland has not had a Republican representative in the U.S. Senate since Charles Mathias left office in 1987.

In a video posted Thursday, Alsobrooks said Hogan “is no moderate,” implying he will vote with the Republican party on big issues, like abortion. She lambasted the former governor for calling abortion access “an emotional issue.”

“Abortion rights are not ‘an emotional issue,’” Alsobrooks said. “It’s about our basic freedoms.”

In a sign that Hogan’s latest turn may not align with his Republican allies in Maryland and elsewhere, Maryland Republican Party Chair Nicole Beus Harris said in an interview with the The Baltimore Sun a few hours before Hogan’s comments Thursday that abortion was “not a federal issue at this time.”

Harris said she believed it would be an issue motivating Democrats but “not something we’re going to be voting on to make law of the land,” so it would be better for Republicans to focus on other issues instead.

“He has struck a pretty good balance for unaffiliated voters and even some of the Democrats,” Harris said before Hogan’s comments that appeared to be aimed even more directly at independents and Democrats.

Thursday’s statement in support of abortion access is the latest in a string of appeals Hogan has made to Democratic voters since he won the Republican nomination Tuesday.

Hogan has painted broad strokes of bipartisanship across his social media platforms, posting video clips of niceties that prominent Democrats like Moore, President Joe Biden and even Alsobrooks offered publicly during his gubernatorial administration.

“I applaud the governor for being so early and full-throated about the danger of this MAGA movement,” a pre-gubernatorial Moore said in a video clip Hogan put on X with the caption “Democrats for Hogan?” — one day after he posted on X decrying the current governor’s comparison of elections to “war.”

Hogan also has enlisted former Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Bobby Zirkin, a centrist Democrat from Baltimore County, to lead the campaign to convince members of his party to vote for Hogan in November.

In a separate video posted to X, Zirkin implored his fellow Democrats to look at Hogan’s track record on myriad issues, including criminal justice and tax policy.

“For those of you who believe like me — from both parties, but I’m talking to the Democrats right now — that the hyper-partisanship in Washington is not what we should expect from our leaders: that we should expect them to work together; that we should expect them not to care about politics over policy; that we should expect them to go down to Washington and work for us by doing the right thing, and not simply doing what the Republican or Democratic thing is,” Zirkin said. “And if you believe that like I do, then I would encourage you to come out and support Larry Hogan for the United States Senate.”

Baltimore Sun reporters Sam Janesch and Jeff Barker contributed to this article.