22 Feb Nevada Progressive Organizations Respond to Sam Brown’s Attempt to Revise Extremist Anti-Abortion Stance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, February 22, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT: Shelbie Swartz, shelbie@battlebornprogress.org, 702-419-9410

Nevada Progressive Organizations Respond to Sam Brown’s Attempt to Revise Extremist Anti-Abortion Stance

Las Vegas, Nev. — This week, following more than a decade of maintaining an anti-abortion stance through his multiple failed electoral campaigns in Texas and Nevada, Sam Brown is now attempting to rewrite history, claiming to support a woman’s right to choose after announcing that his wife, Amy, sought abortion care in 2008. 

As the Brown campaign works to soften the candidate’s extremist abortion views and alignment with President Donald Trump — who has repeatedly applauded the overturning of Roe V. Wade and sworn to sign a total nationwide abortion ban — Nevada progressive organizations released the following statements, encouraging Nevadans to see through Brown’s smoke-and-mirrors: 

Lindsey Harmon, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Votes Nevada said: 

“Time and time again we have seen how politicians and judges will try to walk back their long-held anti-abortion beliefs to win elections, get confirmed, and gain political power, just to go back on their word and take away our reproductive rights. We lost Roe v. Wade for this very reason. The stakes are just too high. We must acknowledge that not only is the threat of a federal abortion ban highly likely, as it was revealed that recently Trump has privately committed to donors to do just that, but that when push comes to shove, Sam Brown cannot be trusted to stand up to his party and its leaders in the face of political pressures, especially when those pressures align with his deeply held beliefs. When it comes to abortion, Nevadans cannot trust him. We deserve proven leaders who will stand up for the freedoms we hold so dear, no matter what.”

Denise Lopez, Reproductive Freedom for All Director of Nevada Campaigns said: 

“Sam Brown has a decade-long anti-abortion record, supporting some of the most extreme abortion bans in the country. He is a MAGA Republican and a Trump loyalist who will rubber-stamp any anti-abortion legislation that comes his way, including a national abortion ban. The bottom line is this: Brown does not represent the vast majority of Nevadans who support the right to abortion and want the government to stay out of decisions about if, when, and how to start a family.”

Laura Martin, Executive Director of PLAN Action said:

“People of privilege have always had access to abortion, even before Roe. Regardless of Sam Brown’s statements this week, he has actively been a member of–and seeking support from–a party working to turn back the clock on women’s rights. Just this month, Sam Brown endorsed Donald Trump for president, who continues to brag about stacking the Supreme Court with conservative justices to overturn Roe, and has threatened to punish women like Amy Brown for having abortions.”

Shelbie Swartz, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress, said: 

“There is no universe in which Sam Brown — if elected to the Senate — would refuse Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump in advocating for a nationwide abortion ban. Women in Nevada won’t be fooled by Sam Brown’s attempt at revisionist history and rewriting his decades-long anti-abortion stance. While Nevadans have fought for decades to secure our abortion rights in our state, Sam Brown has regularly repeated his anti-choice stance, and his current attempts to fabricate his record reek of election-year desperation. Further, the ability of elected officials up and down the ticket to equivocate about their abortion positions drives home the need to enshrine our abortion rights in our state constitution through the Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom ballot initiative. Let’s be clear: Brown poses a direct threat to Nevadans’ reproductive liberties, and trusting him to defend abortion rights in the Senate is a reckless gamble.”

Sue Burtch, Executive Director of Nevada NOW, said: 

“Don’t be fooled, Sam Brown has supported extreme abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest time and time again. He’d be a danger for Nevada women in the Senate. We must make sure he is not elected.”

Alejandra Muneton, Health Equity Organizer with Make the Road Action Nevada:

“Brown’s sudden shift in stance is transparently opportunistic and rings hollow. Nevada women’s autonomy and health are endangered by his association with Trump actively seeking to undermine reproductive rights. We cannot afford to be misled by political posturing; the stakes are too high. Brown’s past actions and current alliances speak louder than his conveniently timed rhetoric. Nevadans must reject his candidacy and protect our hard-fought reproductive freedoms at all costs.”

Gariety Pruitt, For Our Future Nevada State Director: 

“Reproductive rights are central to the fight for economic justice for women and working families. Despite his pathetic attempt to rewrite his record, the reality is, Sam Brown has aligned himself with Donald Trump and other extremists who want to tear down reproductive health care access. Sending Sam Brown to the U.S. Senate would put our reproductive rights and Nevada’s quest for economic justice at risk.”