Democrats, media misrepresent abortion policies on both sides of political aisle

Democrats and the media have misrepresented the abortion policies of Republicans and the Democratic vice presidential nominee, claiming that the former are secretly much more strict than they are and arguing that the latter is not as liberal as he appears.

From Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s abortion policies as Minnesota governor to Republicans’ stance on a national abortion ban, Democrats have distorted both their own record and their opponents’ on abortion in the months leading up to the presidential election.

Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which returned the abortion question back to the states, Democrats have made abortion a top priority in their campaigns.

According to a Gallup poll from May, 50% of U.S. adults said that abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances, while 35% believe it should be legal under any circumstances, and 12% said it should be illegal in all circumstances.

Abortion was a discussion topic in both the presidential and vice presidential debates.

Former President Donald Trump said in the last presidential debate in September that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' "vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth -- it's execution, no longer abortion, because the baby is born is okay, and that's not okay with me."

ABC News' Linsey Davis pushed back on Trump's statement during the presidential debate, saying, "There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born." NPR also said that abortions after birth are currently illegal in all 50 states.

“Nowhere in America is a woman carrying a pregnancy to term and asking for an abortion," Harris said during the presidential debate. "That isn’t happening; it’s insulting to the women of America."

However, the states of Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., allow abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy, according to the National Catholic Register.

During the vice presidential debate earlier this month, Walz was put on the defensive when asked about his state's law on babies surviving botched abortions and Trump's statement.

"The question got asked and Donald Trump made the accusation that wasn't true about Minnesota," Walz said.

Later on in the debate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said, "[a]nd maybe you're free to disagree with me on this and explain this to me, but as I read the Minnesota law that you signed into into law, the statute that you signed into law, it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide life-saving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion."

Walz pushed back, claiming, "[t]his is a very simple proposition. These are women's decisions to make about their healthcare decisions, and the physicians who know best when they need to do this. Trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point, that's not it at all."

When Vance asked Walz if what he said was incorrect, Walz responded, "That is not the way the law is written."

In Walz’s state and on his watch, five infants were "born alive" in 2021 during failed abortions, and none received life-saving care, though two got “comfort care,” the Minnesota Department of Health reported on July 1, 2022.

Three other infants were "born alive" during abortions in 2019, Walz’s first year as governor, and they too perished without life-saving care, according to a July 1, 2020, report from the same state agency.

Minnesota required such born-alive abortions to be publicly reported, creating a powerful statistic for pro-life and anti-abortion forces to draw upon. But in 2023, Walz worked with his new Democrat-controlled Legislature to eliminate both the reporting requirement and the state’s legal obligation for doctors, nurses and medical professionals to administer life-saving care to infants born alive during an abortion procedure. The governor-turned-vice presidential nominee signed an omnibus bill known as SF2995 that closed one of the few statistical windows on late-term abortions and the possibility that babies born alive were left to die.

In January 2023, Walz signed a bill into law following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision, which does not have any restrictions on abortion.

Meanwhile, the campaign for the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Maryland is claiming his views on abortion are being misrepresented by Democrats. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who is running for U.S. Senate, has been labeled as anti-abortion by his Democratic opponent and the Maryland Democratic Party.

“Mitch McConnell recruited Republican Larry Hogan to give them a Senate majority, which will pass a national abortion ban,” Maryland Democratic Party spokesperson Lindsay Reilly said in a statement in May.

“Hogan’s record has been clear and consistent — he opposes reproductive freedoms. That’s why he vetoed legislation to protect abortion access in Maryland. Larry isn’t fooling anyone with his desperate attempt to cover up the threat he poses to a woman’s right to privacy and to make her own health care decisions.”

Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic nominee for Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat, argued that Hogan’s governorship proves that voters “can’t trust” him regarding his stance on abortion.

While Hogan has called himself personally pro-life, he said that abortion is “settled law in Maryland.”

In September, Hogan released an ad with his daughters and granddaughters, defending him on his abortion stance.

“When Larry Hogan married my mom, he became a father to three strong, independent women, and he gained our trust,” Hogan’s daughter, Jaymi Sterling, said. “Now, once again, they’re attacking him as anti-women. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

“As governor, Dad kept his word to provide birth control at no cost, and he supports choice by restoring Roe in every state,” Hogan's daughter Julie Kim added.

Hogan’s campaign spokeswoman Blake Kernen explained the former governor’s position on abortion in September.

“Governor Hogan is committed to protecting our reproductive rights and women’s health—just as he has always been,” Kernen said in a statement. “As governor, he made sure access to abortion was never a question for Maryland women: he protected choice in Maryland for eight years, funding access to abortion in the budget every year. He was the first governor in America to provide over-the-counter birth control paid for by Medicaid." 

“He said in 2019, Roe was rightly decided and has been on the record against a national abortion ban since 1992. The legislation he vetoed threatened to lower the standard of care for Maryland women—it had nothing to do with access to abortion. In the Senate, Governor Hogan will work to codify Roe v. Wade as the law of the land and expand access to IVF.”

Maryland law has no gestational limit on abortion.

Reilly's statement claiming that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would work to pass a national abortion ban contradicts the senator’s statement from April.

“Yeah, I’m not advocating anything at this level,” McConnell said regarding abortion. “I think it’s gonna be sorted out all across the country and be very different in different states.”

He added that it is “possible” there could be a federal abortion ban but that it wouldn't make it through Congress.

“And the reason I said it was possible is because the Supreme Court has put this back into the legislative arena. And we’re seeing it play out all across the country. And I think in the end, it’ll reflect the views of these individual states,” McConnell said.

“But I said, ‘Possible.’ I didn’t say that was my view,” he added. “I don’t think we’ll get 60 votes in the Senate for any kind of national legislation. I think it’s a practical matter. It’s gonna be sorted out at the state level.”

Trump has also said that he would veto a federal abortion ban.

“EVERYONE KNOWS I WOULD NOT SUPPORT A FEDERAL ABORTION BAN, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AND WOULD, IN FACT, VETO IT, BECAUSE IT IS UP TO THE STATES TO DECIDE BASED ON THE WILL OF THEIR VOTERS (THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!),” Trump posted on X earlier this month.

“LIKE RONALD REAGAN BEFORE ME, I FULLY SUPPORT THE THREE EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST, AND THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER. I DO NOT SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATS RADICAL POSITION OF LATE TERM ABORTION LIKE, AS AN EXAMPLE, IN THE 7TH, 8TH, OR 9TH MONTH OR, IN CASE THERE IS ANY QUESTION, THE POSSIBILITY OF EXECUTION OF THE BABY AFTER BIRTH. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”