MARYLAND — The most extreme gubernatorial candidate in state history, Republican nominee Dan Cox, could not be more out-of-step with Maryland voters. Nearly 70 percent of Maryland voters oppose the far-right Supreme Court’s ruling to overthrow Roe v. Wade and nearly 80 percent support a state constitutional amendment protecting the right to have an abortion in Maryland.
Cox knows his radical views are not acceptable to the electorate and that’s why he has chosen to lie about them. He has sponsored legislation to criminalize abortion and has made it clear on multiple occasions that he believes exceptions are “never” acceptable.
Here are the facts:
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Cox is an anti-abortion zealot who introduced fourteen bills to restrict abortion access in just one term in the House of Delegates.
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Cox co-sponsored the Maryland fetal heartbeat bill, which sought to criminalize abortion after as few as six weeks, before pregnancy is even known in many cases. Cox’s legislation aimed to subject physicians to felony charges with a year of prison time.
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Cox has vowed to end taxpayer funding for abortions in Maryland if elected.
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Cox has said he would refuse to release appropriated funding to expand training for reproductive health care providers so more people can access care.
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When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Cox praised the decision and said it was “a day to rejoice.”
- Two weeks ago, Cox dismissed a question about his anti-choice agenda, saying “The issue before us is not so much these moral debates that we’ve had so long, which everyone knows I’m pro-life. The issue is whether or not we can put food on our children’s tables.” Cox is too ideological to understand that starting or expanding a family is a vital kitchen table issue.
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During the primary, Cox promoted himself as “100% pro-life,” meaning he opposes access to abortion in cases of rape or incest. Even when a pregnancy is forced upon a woman or girl, Cox believes they should also be forced to give birth.
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Cox has declared that abortion should “never” be allowed, not even “in the case of preventing the death of the mother,” a circumstance under which he advises “other lifesaving measures should be sought, including potential for transplant of the embryo (ectopic pregnancies).”
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Cox is a proponent of personhood legislation that would completely ban abortion and also threatens access to IUDs and emergency contraceptives.