Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin, Abortion Rights Advocates Highlight the Stakes of Maryland’s Senate Race

Hogan called Trump’s Supreme Court picks “incredible justices” months after they helped overturn Roe

On Tuesday, Senator and Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom For All Mini Timmaraju, Planned Parenthood Maryland President and CEO Karen Nelson, and Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Karen Darkes held a press conference in Baltimore highlighting stakes the Maryland Senate race for abortion rights.

Hogan, who was personally recruited by Mitch McConnell and vows to caucus with Republicans, has a real record opposing abortion rights. He also called Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks “incredible justices” months after they helped overturn Roe v. Wade, and has repeatedly said that he won’t support a pro-abortion rights litmus test for any judicial nominee.

WATCH A RECORDING OF TUESDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE HERE

“What’s at stake in this election goes far beyond filling one senate seat,” said Senator Dick Durbin. “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell personally recruited Larry Hogan to hand Republicans control of the Senate to help push an extreme agenda, including a nationwide abortion ban. If Larry Hogan wins Maryland’s Senate seat, that would cement a Republican majority in the Senate.”

“Larry Hogan can say a lot of things about what he would do in the Senate, but we have his actual record as governor of Maryland to show for what he really stands for,” said President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All Mini Timmaraju. “And I’ll just add that the most important vote for Larry Hogan is going to be for Senate leadership. He’s caucusing with Republicans. He’s supporting Mitch McConnell and his leadership. There is no way a bill to codify the protections of Roe makes it to the Senate floor in that circumstance.”

“If Larry Hogan hands Republicans control of the Senate under a Kamala Harris presidency, they will hamstring efforts to seat judges who believe in freedom. Worse, if Hogan hands Republicans control of the Senate under a Donald Trump presidency, they will continue what they started 8 years ago – packing the courts with extreme, anti-abortion judges and justices,” said Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Karen Darkes. “These judges could uphold a nationwide abortion ban. They could outlaw IVF. They could decide the fate of millions of Americans, including Marylanders, for decades to come.”

“Larry Hogan vetoed the Abortion Care Access Act,” said President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Maryland Karen Nelson. “It really made a statement as to where former Governor Larry Hogan stands on this issue. He was not willing to increase access to abortion care in this state.”

See also: Get the Facts on Republican Larry Hogan’s Real Anti-Abortion Rights Record

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