Endangered Republican Don Bacon Quietly Deletes Anti-Abortion Endorsements From Website
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One of the GOP’s most vulnerable incumbent lawmakers, Don Bacon, is feeling the heat on abortion.
In recent days, the Republican congressman from Nebraska quietly deleted the section on his campaign website touting a promise that he “will always fight to defend the right to life.”
The section that disappeared from the site also enumerated Bacon’s perfect ratings from the anti-abortion organizations like the Susan B. Anthony List, National Right to Life, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition, as well as an endorsement from the Nebraska Family Alliance.
Bacon’s efforts to downplay his long-standing positions on abortion illustrate just how politically toxic GOP efforts to restrict women’s reproductive rights have become in the wake of the Supreme Court decision overruling Roe v. Wade — even in Nebraska.
Bacon is running for reelection in Nebraska’s competitive second district, which includes most of the city of Omaha. It’s a district that President Joe Biden won by 6.6 points in 2020, and one that Bacon only narrowly won reelection to in 2022.
Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas — who lost to Bacon by just 5,856 votes two years ago — is hoping for a rematch this fall, when an amendment that would enshrine the right to abortion in Nebraska’s state constitution may be on the ballot. (Supporters must gather 125,000 verified signatures by July to ensure the measure will appear before voters in November.)
The general election hasn’t gotten underway yet, but Vargas has already sought to draw attention to Bacon’s anti-abortion positions. Last week, the Republican congressman took umbrage at Vargas’ charge that he “supports a nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions, not even for the life of the mother.”
Bacon posted on X that it was a “lie,” adding: “I’ve always defended the life of the mother.”
That is not true: The congressman has previously signed on as co-sponsor of the Life at Conception Act, not once but twice — in 2019 and 2021. The 2021 version declared that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution “is vested in each human being … including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.”
The legislation did not include abortion exceptions of any kind — including rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother. If it were passed, the bill would also end access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, nationwide. (Bacon has recently said he does not support restrictions on IVF, a sentiment that is in direct conflict with his co-sponsorship of the Life at Conception bill.)
Bacon has said he declined to sponsor the legislation this year specifically because it does not include an exception to protect the life of the mother.
Last month, Bacon was the only vulnerable Republican House member who signed on to a brief urging the Supreme Court to allow states to ban hospitals from providing emergency abortions. Doctors have repeatedly warned that such bans would prevent them from providing standard of care treatment in circumstances where the pregnant woman could die without intervention.
Prior to the recent changes, Bacon’s website read: “As your Representative, I will always fight to defend the right to life. I co-sponsored legislation to make permanent the Hyde Amendment (H.R. 18) and co-sponsored the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, prohibiting abortions on children 20 weeks and older (H.R. 1080). Through this advocacy and work in Congress, I have earned an ‘A’ rating from Susan B. Anthony List, 100 percent rating from National Right to Life and Faith and Freedom Coalition, and the endorsement of the Nebraska Family Alliance.”
That language is now gone, as is a letter from the National Right to Life Committee formally endorsing Bacon.
Rolling Stone’s inquiries to both Bacon’s campaign and his congressional office went unanswered.
Other changes to his website indicate Bacon may be feeling pressure from his right flank as well. On the immigration section of his campaign website, Bacon once touted his interest in “finding a bipartisan solution for those currently in our country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA).”
That pledge is gone, replaced by bullet points highlighting the congressman’s desire to “to resume construction of the border wall, reinstate the Remain in Mexico Policy, hire more border patrol agents, and stop the flow of fentanyl that is poisoning our kids.” The site also notes his co-sponsorship of “Sarah’s Law,” a bill he says “requires ICE to detain illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes.”
Bacon is being challenged in the Republican primary by Dan Frei, a one-time Tea Party candidate who has pledged to join the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus if elected. The primary is May 14.
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