Midterm Election 2022: Where DMV candidates stand on abortion

As we near Election Day, FOX 5 is breaking down the issues that matter most to voters, including a hot-button issue that was re-sparked this summer – abortion.

A draft of a Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked in May. The formal decision to overturn the decision came down in June.

Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court that guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion.

READ MORE: Maryland's candidates for governor face off in FOX 5 forum

Most recently, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to protect access to abortion after the Supreme Court ended a constitutional right to the procedure and left it up to the states to decide.

Here are where candidates across the DMV stand on the issue. Jump to your jurisdiction: D.C. | Maryland | Virginia

D.C.

Mayor

Stacia Hall (R)

Abortion is not mentioned on Hall's campaign website. Her top issues include public safety, education, the economy, improving the climate and tackling homelessness.

Muriel Bowser (D)

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Bowser tweeted saying, "Washington, D.C. is a proud pro-choice city and access to abortion is still legal here." She went on to write a letter to Washingtonians acknowledging that D.C. is vulnerable to federal intervention due to a lack of statehood, but said, "We will stand with our partners at Planned Parenthood, with health care workers across our city, with our Congresswoman and our Council, and we won't back down."

MORE: DC 2022 Election Guide: Where to vote and how to register

Maryland

Governor

Dan Cox (R)

On Cox's website, he states that he is "100% pro-life." He also lists instances where he acted to oppose abortion access. His website states that he opposed a bill in the Maryland House that would allow Maryland to become a sanctuary state. He also voted against a bill earlier this year that would expand abortion care access.

Wes Moore (D)

Moore supports the idea of enshrining the right to abortion in Maryland’s Constitution and establishing Maryland as a safe haven for reproductive health care. He also says he will improve diversity in the reproductive health care field. He also supports releasing appropriated funding to expand training for reproductive health care providers.

Comptroller

Barry Glassman (R)

Glassman has been endorsed by Maryland Right to Life during his Comptroller campaign. His campaign website does not specifically mention abortion. Instead, his website focuses on fiscal efficiency and no new taxes.

Brooke Lierman (D)

Earlier this year, Lierman voted to pass a bill to expand access to abortion care in the Maryland House, a bill that she cosponsored. In 2020, she was also rated 100% by Pro-Choice Maryland.

Attorney General

Michael Peroutka (R)

Peroutka's campaign website lists one of his five key issues as "defend," defining it as "Defend the dignity of all human life by acting to protect the lives of all persons including the pre-born and the elderly."

Anthony Brown (D)

As a member of Congress, Brown sponsored the Women's Health Protection Act of 2021. He was also a cosponsor of a bill to provide access to contraception for service members and dependents. Brown is an advocate for a Maryland constitutional amendment that protects reproductive rights, according to his campaign website. 

U.S. Senate

Chris Chaffee (R)

While Chaffee does not have an official stance on the issue, he tweeted in February that Marylanders would be voting in Annapolis to change the Maryland constitution to "silence the unborn forever." He added, "Why do our legislators want to kill the unborn." 

Chris Van Hollen (D)

Senator Van Hollen is a cosponsor of the Women's Health Protection Act that would codify the protections guaranteed under Roe v. Wade nationwide. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, he put out a statement saying in part, "I am determined to fight with everything we’ve got to protect reproductive rights in our nation. We must act immediately to codify Roe v. Wade, and we can’t let anything stand in our way."

Congressional District 4

Jeff Warner (R)

Warner's official campaign website doesn't mention abortion specifically. However, one of his issues listed is, "In God We Trust," where he says the foundation of our national spiritual heritage is rooted in the Ten Commandments. He goes on to say, "I firmly want to stand with you and for you to help return to our spiritual foundation as a nation."

Glenn Ivey (D)

In a campaign ad paid for by Glenn Ivey for Congress 2022, Ivey says the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was "dead wrong." He goes on to say that if elected to Congress, he plans to fight for a woman's right to choose as "the law of the land."

Congressional District 6

Neil Parrott (R)

Maryland Right to Life also endorses Neil Parrott to represent Maryland in Congress. Parrott's "Issues" tab on his website does not mention abortion. However, according to Herald-Mail Media, Parrott re-introduced a bill in 2014 in the Maryland House that would prohibit abortions in the state at 20 weeks or later except in the case of medical emergencies. 

David Trone (D)

On Trone's campaign website, he says he is "100% pro-choice." His website says he supports the Women's Health Protection Act, repealing the Hyde Amendment which bars the use of federal funds for abortion services and funding Planned Parenthood.

Congressional District 8

Gregory Coll (R)

Coll is endorsed by Maryland Right to Life. In a video posted to Facebook in 2020, Coll says he believes in putting an end to late-term abortions when mothers are not at risk. "I believe there is no reason late-term abortion should be administered unless there is a health risk to the expecting mother," Coll says in the video.

Jamie Raskin (D)

As a member of Congress, Raskin says he opposed all efforts to undermine choice and repeal the Hyde Amendment. His campaign website says he is 100% pro-choice and introduced a bill in July that would prohibit any person from punishing Americans traveling for reproductive health care.

MORE: Maryland 2022 Election Guide: Where to vote and how to register

Virginia

Congressional District 7

Yesli Vega (R)

Vega's campaign website says she is proudly pro-life. She says, "As your representative in Congress, I will always stand on the side of the words in our Declaration of Independence and on the side of saving innocent life."

Abigail Spanberger (D)

Spanberger says she is the only pro-choice candidate in Virginia's seventh district. Her campaign website says she voted for the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022 to codify Roe v. Wade and she voted with a majority in Congress to pass legislation that would protect marriage equality, interracial marriage, the right to contraception and the legality of interstate travel for abortion care.

Congressional District 8

Karina Lipsman (R)

Arlington Now reports that Lipsman said she is anti-abortion at a recent forum, but says she promises to represent the people in the district and hear their views on abortion as well. Her campaign website previously had a section on her abortion stance, but it was removed in September, according to Arlington Now.

Donald Beyer (D)

Beyer says abortion is health care and to deny that right is to deny fundamental human rights. "Women should be able to make the family planning decisions that work best for them and their families.  They should also have the full range of reproductive health choices available to them," his campaign website reads.

Congressional District 10

Hung Cao (R)

"Every pre-born child is a human being deserving of protection as the most vulnerable members of our society," Cao's campaign website reads.

Jennifer Wexton (D)

Wexton says she believes women’s health care decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor and wants to keep the government out of those decisions. She cosponsored the Women’s Health Protection Act to guarantee the right to an abortion nationwide.

MORE: Virginia 2022 Election Guide: Where to vote and how to register

For complete coverage of the 2022 elections in Maryland, Virginia, D.C. and the 2022 Midterm Elections across the country, visit FOX 5 DC's Election page. 

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