New Mexico Republican Leaves Anti-Abortion Past Off Campaign Website

A Republican running for Congress in New Mexico who once boasted of her anti-abortion credentials has cut all references to abortion from her website and campaign materials.

Yvette Herrell previously represented New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District for a single term before being defeated by Democrat Gabe Vasquez in 2022 after the state’s Democrats drew districts that are more favorable to their party.

That year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the legal precedent that made abortion a constitutional right nationwide. Herrell’s loss was one of several disappointments for Republicans, who wound up winning the House by a slimmer margin than expected, and they could lose it this year thanks again to voters repulsed by state abortion bans.

Before elections in 2020 and 2022, Herrell’s campaign website prominently featured her anti-abortion stance on a “shared values” page.

“With a consistent Pro-Life record in the New Mexico House of Representatives, Yvette will be a tireless advocate for the unborn in Congress,” the website said, according to cached versions accessed via the Internet Archive . “100% Pro-Life, Yvette believes life starts at conception and will never waiver in her beliefs.”

Now Herrell’s website doesn’t mention abortion at all. The “shared values” page talks about parental rights in the classroom and stopping “government overreach into our lives.”

It’s a small example of how the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that created a national right to abortion, has made being anti-abortion a problem for Republicans. In the 2022 midterm elections, protecting abortion rights played a key role in Democratic wins up and down the ballot in Michigan and Pennsylvania , as well