A Republican candidate has been nominated for the governorship of North Carolina new TV commercial where he reveals that he and his wife had an abortion 30 years ago.
In the ad, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and his wife speak directly to the camera, revealing few details about the procedure other than telling viewers: “Thirty years ago, my wife and I made a very difficult decision. We had an abortion.”
Later in the ad, Robinson says he agrees with existing restrictions on abortion in North Carolina that limit the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy, excluding rape, consanguinity or the life of the mother, and says: “current law.”
But the ad comes as news organizations and statewide Democratic groups have for months brought up Robinson’s controversial comments on abortion, including during a 2019 Facebook Live broadcast: “Abortion in this country is not about saving life. mothers… It’s about killing a child because you weren’t responsible enough to lower your skirt.”
Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein is running against Robinson to replace Gov. Roy Cooper, a term-limited Democrat. is used Facebook Licomments iattack ad against n the lieutenant governor in recent weeks.
Robinson during the GOP gubernatorial primary earlier this year told the voters at the campaign event“We’ve got it down to 12 weeks, the next goal is to get it down to six and then go from there,” the local Fox News affiliate said, referring to the abortion.
Robinson called abortion “murder” and “genocide”. on his personal Facebook page in 2018.
Robinson’s pledge in a TV ad to keep the state’s abortion ban in place for 12 weeks appears to be a departure from his earlier statements.
Asked how the lieutenant governor reconciled the revelation in the ad with his past comments, his campaign spokesman, Mark Lonergan, declined to comment on Robinson’s previous statements.
“The Legislature has already spoken on this issue,” Lonergan replied. “As Governor, Mark Robinson will strive to make North Carolina a place for life by building a culture that is more supportive of women and families, including through adoption, foster care and child care.”
Robinson is not the first GOP candidate to reveal that his wife had an abortion this year. GOP Senate candidate Sam Brown and his wife Amy in Nevada earlier this year She told NBC News she had an abortion In 2008.
In addition to Robinson, two other competitive GOP gubernatorial races this year, in Washington and New Hampshire, are running television ads promising not to change abortion laws if elected. The ads come as Republicans fight attempts by Democrats to label them as extreme on the issue.
Former New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte he tells the audience “No matter what they say, no matter how many times they say it, as governor I fully support New Hampshire’s abortion law and I will not change it,” an ad currently airing said.
And former Washington congressman Dave Reichert addressed the issue in one of his television commercials, saying, “As governor, I will not change Washington law on this issue.”