During the campaign, the Anthony Brown campaign dug into Larry Hogan’s past statements going back thirty years to try to scare some voters by making it look like Hogan could and would singlehandedly roll back Roe v. Wade if elected. Hogan initially said his past positions were “superfluous” because abortion is settled law in Maryland.
As the Democrats continued to hit Hogan, his campaign responded with an ad featuring his daughter. The ad included a pull quote from Hogan and a line from his daughter basically saying he wouldn’t do anything to restrict or roll back a woman’s right to choose.
I was a bit surprised that this didn’t result in further pushback by the
Democrats since Hogan answered a question about late term abortions by the Maryland Catholic Conference by saying:
If legislation were passed by the legislature that reflected reasonable restrictions to that effect on third trimester abortions past the point of fetal viability I would sign it.
Brown answers the same question, as I noted before, by saying:
I believe in a woman’s right to choose under Maryland law. This is a decision between a woman and her doctor.
Much legislation proposed now restricting late-term abortions is based on fetal pain and not just viability. I don’t foresee such legislation getting through the General Assembly yet for Hogan’s signature. I am more astonished that the Brown campaign did not hit Hogan on this issue and instead chose to dig up remarks he made in the early 1980s.
It’s either because they were incompetent (the election loss makes me think that’s why) or they were afraid to touch the issue themselves since Maryland has become a destination for late-term abortions.
The administration of Martin O’Malley and Anthony Brown gave a license to notorious late term abortionist Leroy Carhart, despite Carhart’s track record and his lies on his application. As a result, Jennifer Morbelli died after a botched abortion at Carhart’s Germantown facility. Complaints were filed against Carhart’s license, but “no deficiencies” were found in her death by the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
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Brown also told the conference that he had opposed a ban on physician-assisted suicide in the past when he was a legislator. As reported at LifeNews.com, Hogan would oppose legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
As I’ve noted before, I didn’t vote for Hogan in the primary. However, as I noted before the general election:
In the document A Brief Catechism for Catholic Voters, Fr. Stephen F. Torraco, PhD wrote that voting for a pro-abortion candidate is a mortal sin. Fr. Torraco also wrote that voting for a candidate who cites personal opposition to abortion while still voting for it would make the voter “an accomplice in advancing the moral evil of abortion.”
When none of the candidates for a particular office are completely pro-life, it’s necessary to choose the candidate that will do the most to promote a culture of life. There are many incremental steps that can be taken in Maryland to advance the pro-life cause. Otherwise, Maryland will continue to be a state where minors have to get parental consent to go to a tanning bed, but not to kill their unborn child.
Based on the principles I wrote about, I voted for Larry Hogan. I also detailed before the election about the reasons I couldn’t vote for Brown.
In the future, I will look at some of the executive actions and appointments that Larry Hogan can take as governor to protect the unborn – many of them non-controversial.
LifeNews Note: Jeff Quinton is the author of the Quinton Report, based in Maryland, where this originally appeared.
