TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Katharine Kurz, Senior Communications Advisor for the Nevada State Democratic Party
DATE: January 22, 2024
SUBJECT: Sam Brown’s Extreme Anti-Choice Record on Display During Anniversary of Landmark Roe V. Wade Decision
Today would have marked the 51st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, but thanks to anti-choice extremists like Sam Brown, abortion rights are under attack now more than ever. In the year and a half since Roe was overturned, radical Republicans have enacted extreme abortion bans in states across the country, and they pushed for a nationwide abortion ban that would override existing protections in Nevada.
NRSC-backed candidate Sam Brown has a decade-long record of supporting extreme anti-choice policies, including strongly supporting overturningRoe v. Wade, stating that he believes abortion should be banned even in cases of rape or incest, and backing a radical Texas abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest. It’s a massive liability for Brown in pro-choice Nevada, where the overwhelming majority of voters support a woman’s right to choose and have voted to protect that right.
BROWN HAS AN EXTREME RECORD OF SUPPORT FOR BANNING ABORTION AND OPPOSING EXCEPTIONS FOR RAPE AND INCEST
- Brown filled out a candidate questionnaire in 2022 indicating that he believed abortion should be banned even in cases of rape or incest, and that the only exception should be if the mother’s life is at risk. According to the website hosting the questionnaire, “Responses are entered electronically by the candidate and are listed verbatim.”
- Brown “left the door open to potentially voting for a national abortion ban” during a GOP primary debate against Adam Laxalt in 2022. When asked directly if he would support a nationwide abortion ban, Brown did not rule it out and indicated he was open to considering federal restrictions on abortion rights.
- As a candidate in 2014, Brown endorsed an extreme abortion ban in Texas with no exceptions for rape or incest that was considered one of the “toughest restrictions in the country.” Critics of the law argued it was designed to shut down the vast majority of abortion providers in the state.
- When asked directly whether he would support federal restrictions on abortion and if he would support any exceptions to banning abortion last cycle, Brown responded: “I always will stand on the side of protecting life.”
- Brown strongly supported overturning Roe v. Wade and considered it a litmus test for potential Supreme Court Justices. He was caught on tape saying that he “would not vote for someone who would continue to support Roe v. Wade” and stated that he will only support Justices who “understand the importance of protecting Life.”
BROWN KNOWS HIS EXTREME VIEWS ARE A LIABILITY IN NEVADA AND HAS ALREADY WORKED TO HIDE THEM THIS CYCLE
- Sam Brown is currently facing an FEC complaint for failing to disclose his role as president and chairman of the Nevada Faith and Freedom Coalition, a “spin-off” of the national anti-choice organization that has backed a nationwide abortion ban, called Roe v. Wade a “moral atrocity,” and praised Texas’ six-week abortion ban that outlaws the procedure before many women even know they are pregnant.
- Brown was caught “quietly” attending a gala for Nevada Right to Life, a radical anti-choice group that “opposes abortion at all stages of pregnancy” and has praised abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest.
- Brown’s radical views on abortion have even become a liability for him in his primary, with his opponent Jeff Gunter warning that Brown’s support for banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest will “only lead to Democratic wins.”
NEVADA HAS A LONG HISTORY OF VOTERS PROTECTING ABORTION RIGHTS AND SUPPORTING CANDIDATES WHO UPHOLD THOSE RIGHTS
- Nevada is an overwhelmingly pro-choice state. In 1990, Nevada voters codified a woman’s right to an abortion into state law by a two-to-one margin.
- In 2022, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto won reelection despite a challenging political environment in part due to strong support among voters motivated by abortion. Democrats aired consistent and targeted ads attacking Adam Laxalt for his anti-abortion stances and for calling Roe v. Wade a “joke,” and exit polls showed that Senator Cortez Masto’s victory was built upon her overwhelming strength among voters motivated by the Dobbs decision.
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