Last night at a fundraiser with anti-abortion Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Paul LePage once again lied about his own anti-abortion views. In an interview during the event with WGME, LePage was recorded saying, “I was the governor of Maine for eight years. You never once heard me address abortion. And you never will.”
This is a blatant lie. Throughout his eight years in office, LePage repeatedly and publicly opposed abortion rights in Maine:
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In 2016, LePage said point blank that “we should not have abortion”
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When asked about overturning Roe v. Wade, he said “let’s do it”
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He frequently attended anti-abortion rallies, including one where this iconic photo of LePage was taken speaking at a podium featuring a sign that says “stop abortion now”
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He said access to abortion should be restricted in a candidate survey for the Christian Civic League of Maine
LePage’s attacks on Mainers’ reproductive freedom didn’t stop with words. Between forcing cuts to the state’s family planning agency and blocking health care access for more than 95,000 Mainers, LePage pushed as hard as he could to restrict abortion access within the confines of Roe v. Wade. Now that Roe has been overturned, in a third LePage term, he could join fellow anti-abortion GOP governors in going much, much further to criminalize abortion.
LePage is not the only GOP candidate attempting to hide his unpopular plans to restrict reproductive freedom. In races across the country, Republican candidates who previously touted their anti-abortion credentials have been caught scrubbing their opposition to abortion rights from their websites, and backtracking on their previous stances. All of these candidates are following in the footsteps of LePage’s most recent campaign guest, Glenn Youngkin, who admitted on camera during his 2021 campaign that he could not win while being truthful withvoters about his opposition to abortion. Now in office, Youngkin is pushing hard for new abortion restrictions.
Earlier this year, the Maine GOP adopted opposition to abortion into their official platform, and Republican legislative candidates across the state are running on extreme anti-abortion positions. LePage himself has ominously refused to rule out signing abortion restrictions into law.
“After once again getting caught lying about his opposition to Mainers’ abortion rights, it’s clear that Paul LePage is trying to follow the national GOP playbook on abortion—hide your unpopular views from voters to get elected, and once in office, take away their reproductive rights,” said Misha Linnehan, spokesperson for the Maine Democratic Party. “Unfortunately for LePage, Mainers remember his eight years in office staunchly opposing our reproductive freedom. With abortion rights on the line this November, we won’t give LePage a chance