2023 matters: State-level Republicans and their anti-abortion platforms
Kentucky and Louisiana are both in play
A Trump-nominated judge in Texas issued a nationwide injunction that could block the provision of the abortion medication mifepristone. The ruling is one of the results of a decades-long plan by the Republican Party to limit abortion access.
If this far-reaching decision stands, Republicans will have successfully disrupted access to medication abortion across the country, including in states with strong abortion rights protections.
Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of where conservative and Republican candidates in four critical 2023 statewide races publicly stand on the issue:
Kentucky
- Gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron’s office during his time as Kentucky Attorney General declared that KY’s trigger law on abortions also outlawed medication abortion. He joined other Republican attorneys general in calling on CVS and Walgreens to ban the sale of medication abortion.
- Fellow Republican statewide candidates Mike Harmon, Ryan Quarles, Russell Coleman and Michael Adams were all endorsed after giving “100% pro-life responses” to a survey by Kentucky Right to Life. The survey Right to Life used asked if candidates were “morally opposed” to medication abortion.
Louisiana
- Louisiana gubernatorial candidate and current state Attorney General Jeff Landry signed a letter to the FDA Commissioner protesting the remote prescription of medication abortion.
- Another gubernatorial candidate, Republican state Senator Sharon Hewitt, celebrated when her law criminalizing medication abortion passed the Louisiana Senate and became effective when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
For years, Republicans have been fighting to reduce access to these types of medication, and now in the wake of the Dobbs decision, candidates — including those eyeing statewide seats this year — will have to own the consequences of their anti-abortion agendas.
