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ICYMI: Three Months Ahead of Facing Voters, Steve Hilton Tries to Reverse Position on Extraditing California Abortion Providers
ICYMI: Three Months Ahead of Facing Voters, Steve Hilton Tries to Reverse Position on Extraditing California Abortion Providers
Modesto Bee: In reversal, Hilton says he would not extradite California abortion doctors.
Sacramento, CA — On Friday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton told a Southern California radio host that he would no longer extradite a California doctor to face abortion charges in Louisiana—seemingly trying to walk back an extreme position he repeatedly defended throughout the California primary and reaffirmed on a debate stage in May. California voters can’t trust Hilton’s abrupt change just three months before Election Day, as Republicans across the country work to bury their anti-abortion records that are disqualifying in the eyes of many voters.
Ahead of the three gubernatorial debates this spring, Reproductive Freedom for All pressed moderators to make Hilton answer for his support for allowing other states to reach into California and prosecute providers for delivering legal healthcare. At the CBS News California/San Francisco Examiner debate in May, moderators finally posed the question directly: Would you extradite the Bay Area physician whom Louisiana charged for prescribing abortion medication to a patient via telehealth? Hilton and fellow Republican Chad Bianco were the only two candidates on the stage who said yes—every Democrat, including the Democratic nominee, Xavier Becerra, said no.
Hilton argued that the question had nothing to do with abortion, telling moderators, “This is not about abortion…this is about one state trying to undermine another state’s laws.” Yet on Friday, as the Modesto Bee reported, Hilton now claims that “whatever one’s personal views on abortion, [he] wouldn’t actually extradite this doctor.”
Reproductive Freedom for All President and CEO Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Steve Hilton has repeatedly and forcefully defended his extreme position to send California providers to other states to face criminal charges for providing legal care. Now, with the general election approaching, he wants voters to forget. Californians across party lines value reproductive freedom. They deserve a leader who will defend patients and providers. In May, Reproductive Freedom for All sounded the alarm on Hilton’s disturbing position, and we will continue to reach voters with information on what’s at stake this November.”
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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