Scott Brown Splits With New Hampshire GOP On Personhood Restrictions

Republican Scott Brown smiles during a stop at Roger's Redliner Diner in Portsmouth, N.H. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, after meeting with supporters, following winning the New Hampshire Republican U.S. Senate primar... Republican Scott Brown smiles during a stop at Roger's Redliner Diner in Portsmouth, N.H. on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, after meeting with supporters, following winning the New Hampshire Republican U.S. Senate primary Tuesday. Brown will face incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen in the general election in November. (AP Photo/Portsmouth Herald, Rich Beauchesne) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Former Sen. Scott Brown, now the Republican nominee for Senate in New Hampshire, has taken pains to get as cozy with New Hampshire Republicans as possible. But one thing he’s not doing is signing on to the New Hampshire Republican Party’s strict platform on abortion.

On Saturday the New Hampshire GOP adopted a socially conservative platform that stated support for “the pre-born child’s fundamental right to life and personhood under the Fourteenth Amendment” and the “Life at Conception Act.” Those stances do not align with Brown’s.

A Brown aide told Politico that the former senator did not agree with the New Hampshire GOP’s set “Personhood” language on abortion.

“Scott Brown is pro-choice and will protect a woman’s right to choose,” Brown spokeswoman Elizabeth Guyton told Politico.

Nevertheless Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who Brown is trying to replace, attacked Brown for the New Hampshire Republican Party’s support for Personhood restrictions.

“They are dangerously wrong, and by signing on with tea party extremists, they’re showing just how irresponsibly out of touch they are with the needs and rights of women,” Shaheen said.

A number of Republicans have disavowed the Personhood stances on abortion, in same cases completely flipping from their previous support for the strict anti-abortion measures, and embraced making over-the-counter contraception available without a prescription. Two of the most high-profile Republicans to do this were Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO), running against Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) and North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-NC), running against Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC).

The TPM Polltracker average finds Shaheen leading Brown by 3.1 percentage points.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: