GOP Congressional Hopeful Wished Her State Had ‘Eliminated All Abortion’ In 2020
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In a newly discovered video, former Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.)said in 2020 that she wished her state had banned abortion entirely ― a sharp contrast to her efforts to appear more measured on abortion issues ahead of the November election, when she is hoping to regain her old seat in Congress.
“I wish we could have eliminated all abortion in the state,” Herrell said during a virtual candidate forum hosted that year by her state’s Republican Party of Valencia County. “I wish we could have gotten even that to go through. But we couldn’t.”
She was referring to the eight years, from 2011 to 2019, when she was a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives.
Moments earlier in the forum, Herrell was asked a strange question about whether she would plead guilty to being pro-life, and if yes, what evidence could be used to convict her.
“I love these questions you guys came up with, but absolutely I would plead guilty, and the evidence would be a solid 100% pro-life voting record,” she replied.
Here’s a video of the full event, which was originally posted on Facebook by the Republican Party of Valencia County. Herrell’s comments in support of eliminating all abortion in her state begin around the 22:20 mark. These comments have not been previously reported.
Herrell had represented New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District for one term. She was defeated in 2022 by Democrat Gabe Vasquez and is running for the seat again. The race between the two is expected to be one of the closest in the country as Democrats try to erase the five-seat edge that Republicans currently have in the House.
Herrell’s wish to end all abortions in her state shouldn’t be surprising: She has routinelytouted her anti-abortion views on social media and celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade. She also co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act in 2021, which sought to redefine “human being” to include “all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being.” It made no exceptions for in vitro fertilization (IVF).
But Herrell, like so many others in her party, is now scrambling to bury a longstanding anti-abortion record. In the nearly two years since Roe v. Wade fell, abortion rights supporters have been channeling their outrage at the ballot box, handing Democrats wins again and again in elections at all levels and prompting Republicans to downplay long-held positions.
Herrell has cut all references to abortion from her website and campaign materials. Her campaign has emphasized that she believes abortion rights decisions should be left to the states, a stance also recently adopted by former President Donald Trump.
Her campaign has also emphasized her support for IVF, a stance that doesn’t line up with her support of the Life at Conception Act.
A Herrell campaign spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment as to whether she still wishes that New Mexico had banned all abortion.
The Cook Political Report rates this congressional district a “toss-up.”
