On abortion, Eric Hovde says he backs 'a right to make a choice' early in pregnancy

Women "early on in a pregnancy should have a right to make a choice," Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde told reporters in Milwaukee Thursday, declining to state a specific point at which abortion should be banned.

The banking and real estate mogul also reiterated a position he shared shortly after lauching his campaign in February: He supports exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and thinks voters should decide the laws that govern the issue.

Hovde pushed back on a question asking how his stance on the issue has changed since he last ran for office in the 2012 GOP Senate primary, saying he has "never changed (his) position on exceptions."

But his comment Thursday about a "right to make a choice" early in pregnancy appeared to be a shift from his position in 2012.

At that time, Hovde said he was "totally opposed to abortion." In a Wisconsin State Journal candidate questionnaire at the time, Hovde said, "I am pro-life and I oppose legalized abortion. I believe contraception should be legal."

Speaking to reporters Thursday, he said: "As it pertains to abortion, look, I'm very clear on that issue. I believe in exceptions. I believe in the beauty of life. I think women, early on in a pregnancy should have a right to make a choice, but I think there is a point where once a baby can be born healthy and alive, that it's unconscionable that that baby could be terminated," Hovde said.

More: Donald Trump announces endorsement of U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde in Wisconsin

Hovde's first run came a decade before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide, in its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Care. The Dobbs ruling effectively put back into place in Wisconsin an 1849 law completely banning abortion, although a Dane County judge in December declared that the ban does not apply to consensual procedures.

The issues of abortion, contraception and fertility treatments have been at the forefront of races in Wisconsin and throughout the country since the high court's 2022 ruling.

Hovde aims to deny Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin a third term. Baldwin has been a staunch supporter of abortion access.

"Eric Hovde has made his position on abortion abundantly clear: he supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which led to millions of Wisconsin women living under a near-total abortion ban, without exceptions for incest and rape, Baldwin campaign spokeswoman Jackie Rosa said in a statement. "Tammy Baldwin is the only candidate in this race that Wisconsin women can always count on to defend our reproductive freedoms and restore abortion access nationwide.

Hovde confirmed his support for the Dobbs decision to The Associated Press, but said he would not vote for a federal abortion ban, instead leaving the issue to states.

More: Wisconsin U.S. Senate race updates: Eric Hovde reaches endorsement threshold with $1M raised

Hovde on Thursday also reiterated his support for access to IVF and fertility treatments, which he initially confirmed after the Alabama decision.

"Fertility treatments — obviously I want anybody that wants to have a child to have a child, of course. Birth control, if a woman wants access to birth control, get access to birth control. I have no problem with that," Hovde said Thursday.

The candidate noted that he has two daughters and three grandchildren, and said he will "always lean toward life and the beauty of life."

"But at the same time, I think we should, again, come together, find reasonable ground," he said, noting that western European countries tend to ban abortion somewhere between 12 and 15 weeks of pregnancy. "I believe early on in a pregnancy a woman should have a right to choose. … I'm not going to pick that time. I think it's put back to the voters of Wisconsin. I think we need to do a referendum in the state … and everybody should have the right to a vote and we'll come together as a state."

Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel contributed.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Eric Hovde says he backs 'a right to make a choice' early in pregnancy