GOP Senate candidate has no regard for women’s reproductive freedom

In a recent op-ed in the Las Vegas Sun, Republican Senate candidate Sam Brown made the outrageous claim that the overturning of Roe v. Wade actually “strengthened Nevada’s protections for abortion.”

Brown’s assertion highlights his deeply flawed understanding of the issue of choice. For Brown to declare that this has in any way been good for reproductive freedom is absurd and offensive.

The reality is the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has been a horrifying disaster for women and families — in Nevada and across our nation. Our reproductive rights have been gravely assaulted and continue to remain under attack.

As executive director of Nevada NOW, I’ve seen and heard from women who have had to grapple with the terrible ramifications of a post-Roe world. Twenty-one states across the country have enacted abortion bans or restrictions since Dobbs, including Arizona, Utah, and Idaho — all of which border Nevada. Women and even young girls have been the victim of rape or incest, and become pregnant as a result. But because of the Dobbs decision, they have been denied access to reproductive care that they once had protected.

Let’s be clear: Dobbs has put reproductive freedom in Nevada in jeopardy. Yes, we are a proud pro-choice state; but without the federal protections that Roe gave us — protections that Sam has repeatedly said he opposes — it would be far too easy for anti-choice extremists like him to do away with the state-level protections that Nevada thankfully does have.

Brown was a strong proponent of a Texas abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest that was considered one of the “toughest restrictions in the country.” Brown also managed the political campaign of a “100% pro-life, no exceptions” congressional candidate in Texas.

Just two years ago, Brown ran for Senate in Nevada on an extreme anti-choice platform that included banning abortion without exceptions for victims of rape or incest, and leaving the door open to supporting a federal ban. After losing that race, he became the local president of a national anti-abortion group that called Roe v. Wade a “moral atrocity.”

Brown has said that his views opposing abortion are “non-negotiable,” and even now, when there is a measure on the ballot in November that would further strengthen Nevada’s protections for reproductive freedom, Brown refuses to answer if he’d support it — because it’s clear that he wouldn’t.

Before the Dobbs decision, many thought the protections of Roe v. Wade would stand forever. Numerous far-right justices promised the American people that the issue was settled and Roe was the law of the land — until they overturned it. Now, Brown appears to be running the exact same scam. I don’t buy it, and neither should you.

This November, Nevadans have a choice. We can entrust our reproductive freedoms to someone like incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, who has a lifelong record of supporting women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions, or the promises of Brown, whose past words and actions show that he can’t be trusted to stand up for our reproductive rights. Rosen is an endorsed candidate by the National NOW PAC.

I urge all Nevadans to choose carefully.

Sue Burtch is executive director of Nevada NOW, the state chapter of the National Organization for Women network.