John Locher/AP
Nevada Republican Senate hopeful Sam Brown, a retired Army captain and Purple Heart recipient, stands in a campaign office Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in Las Vegas.
Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Nevada Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Sam Brown says he has “closed the door” on support for a federal abortion ban, marking a break with his party on an election-year issue that has beleaguered conservatives in recent years.
In an interview that aired Wednesday on NBC, Brown sat alongside his wife, Amy Brown, who detailed for the first time publicly the experience seeking the procedure herself as a 24-year-old in 2008 and the emotional toll it took on her afterward.
Brown said during the interview that while he considered himself pro-life, he respected Nevada’s existing law protecting abortion access through the first 24 weeks of a pregnancy. The retired U.S. Army captain and perceived front-runner to challenge Democratic incumbent Jacky Rosen in November also called on politicians on both sides of the aisle to approach the issue with nuance.
“I’m not going to support a federal abortion ban,” Brown told NBC News. “I think the first thing we should say and acknowledge (is) that these are clearly extremely tough circumstances women find themselves in. Whether it’s an unexpected or unplanned pregnancy, or if there are complications in pregnancy, that women should always feel loved and supported. Part of that support is knowing there are other options beyond abortion.”
Amy Brown said her abortion was before she met Sam Brown, but that she confided in him about the procedure once they started dating and that she felt no judgment from him upon sharing the news.
“I could tell Sam understood that this hurt, and that it was a very difficult decision, and that it was one that I regretted,” Amy Brown told NBC. “And he understands the constraints of the law, he respects them, and he respects and understands fully what a difficult personal issue this is because he’s been with me through it all.”
Sam Brown added that the national conversation on abortion access had become too black-and-white and that each pregnancy was different.
“Things just get boiled down to, once again, trying to put something on paper or draw a line in the sand,” Brown said in the interview. “And it’s missing the point that there is at least a woman who is really going through something that is one of the most challenging things in her life. And shame on us if we allow the narratives and the positioning to miss the fact that she was doing that alone.”
Brown’s comments buck the prevailing consensus among Republican officeholders and candidates for a national limit on the procedure, including former President Donald Trump, whom Brown has endorsed and who has expressed support privately for a 16-week abortion ban should he be reelected, according to The New York Times. But Brown’s comments also contradict his recent advocacy with pro-life groups and previous statements that signaled he was at least open to the idea of a nationwide ban.
In October, Democrats sought sanctions against Brown for failing to disclose on financial disclosure forms he has served as executive board chairman for the Nevada Faith and Freedom Coalition, whose national chapter has advocated for some of the most stringent anti-abortion laws across the country. Brown was named the group’s chairman in November 2022 and his campaign told the Sun previously Brown had resigned from his post in May 2023 before launching his Senate bid.
Since the launch of his most recent senatorial campaign, Brown has been reluctant to talk publicly about his views on a national abortion ban, an issue that helped Democrats salvage a Senate majority in 2022 despite predictions of a so-called red wave. Democrats, including Rosen, have attempted to paint Brown as having extreme views on abortion.
Shortly after Wednesday’s NBC story was published, a spokeswoman for Rosen’s campaign accused Brown of lying about “his actual record” because it’s an election year.
“The truth is that Brown is a direct threat to Nevadans’ reproductive freedom, and he cannot be trusted to protect abortion rights in the Senate,” Rosen spokeswoman Johanna Warshaw said in a statement.
Others vying for the GOP nomination to face Rosen also attacked Brown, who has earned the endorsement of the Republican establishment and the National Senatorial Republican Committee, the official fundraising arm of Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell.
“We can’t afford to roll the dice on a RINO (Republican in name only) mouthpiece for Mitch McConnell who’s relying on swamp consultants instead of common sense,” Jeff Gunter, the former U.S. ambassador to Greenland under Trump, posted to X, formerly Twitter.
In July, Brown told KSNV-TV he considers himself “pro-life” and sidestepped a question about whether he would support a national abortion ban. He said he does, however, support the right to abortion in instances of rape, incest or if the mother’s health is in jeopardy. His campaign website states he will oppose any bill that allocates federal funding toward abortion and will support federal judges “who understand the importance of protecting life.”
When running for the Texas House of Representatives in 2014, Brown signaled support for a 20-week abortion ban that did not allow for exceptions in cases of rape or incest. As a candidate in the 2022 Nevada Republican U.S. Senate primary, Brown stated, “I’d want to see that specific language,” when asked if he would support federal legislation to limit the procedure.
Brown’s comments also come a day after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered human — causing some area hospitals there to immediately cease reproductive care such as in vitro fertilization, or IVF, for fear of prosecution.
Those seeking to limit abortion access could also see gains through the court system as well. The U.S. Supreme Court — which overturned the long-established constitutional right to abortion access in a 2022 landmark ruling — this term will mull a challenge to the legality of mifepristone, a medication used in more than half of U.S. abortions prior to 12 weeks on grounds the Food and Drug Administration had no authority to approve its use for medicated abortion when the agency did so in 2000.
