Sununu makes rare admission of pro-choice stance while ripping abortion pill chaos

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu acknowledged his pro-choice position over the weekend while reiterating his concern that “hardline” stances from fellow Republicans will hurt the party’s ability to reach new voters.

Sununu, a Republican, made the comments Saturday while discussing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, facing protests while visiting New Hampshire Friday night after signing a six week abortion ban into law. The New Hampshire governor said he believed that some of his GOP colleagues taking extreme positions, and at times implementing them, was harming the party’s electorally.

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“My issue is I think it’s a terrible message for for the Republican primary, I really do, I think it hurts us in the general election,” Sununu said. “I think there are much more pressing issues, if you will, that are facing Americans like inflation, like fiscal responsibility, like border security. All of these are really the issues that have to be answered, that have to be provided solutions to.”

The governor said the electorate was on his side on this issue. He argued that Republicans who pushed federal abortion bans ahead of the 2022 midterm elections alienated disaffected Democrats and independents who may have otherwise considered voting for GOP candidates.

The governor was referencing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposing a national 15-week abortion ban just before last November. He called proposing such restrictions ahead of an election, “the dumbest thing you could possibly do.”

Many political observers and pollsters have argued that the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade last year was one of two primary causes for Republican’s lackluster midterm showing. Former President Donald Trump’s oft controversial primary picks failing to gain traction in the general election was also blamed for the party’s much-anticipated red wave turning out to be a ripple.

The Wisconsin state Supreme Court race earlier this month, where the winning liberal candidate centered her candidacy on abortion access, furthered those concerns.

A U.S. District Court judge out of Texas ruled last week that the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, one part of a two-drug regimen to induce an abortion, should be suspended. The ruling was at odds with a similar one out of Washington state. By Friday, the Supreme Court stepped in with a stay on order, setting the stage for a high court ruling on the matter.

Asked if he thought a Supreme Court ruling to uphold the mifepristone ban would hurt the GOP further with independent voters, Sununu answered affirmatively.

“Yes, yeah absolutely. Look, [mifepristone has] been around for 20 years. The issue isn’t so much about whether it gets banned or not. I mean, I’m pro-choice, I think it should be legal, that’s fine. But it’s all about these massive changes in precedent, right?” he said. “Roe v. Wade, whether you agreed with or not, there was a 50 year precedent there. There’s a 20 year precedent with [mifepristone]. So now to the American public it looks like Republicans are coming in and trying to massively change and blow up the system.”

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Sununu said that while abortion was not “a non-issue,” he believed some Republicans taking severe positions on the matter was turning away independents and “the younger generation of Republicans” which he said the party needs “to stop being so disenfranchised” so they “come back on the team.”

“I just think the messaging as a whole is not where it needs to be,” he continued, noting that “it’ll be interesting to see” how 2024 Republican presidential candidates navigate the issue. “Ether way, I don’t think it’s anything that helps us in the long term. I just want to win in ’24.”