Project Makeover, the Blake Masters edition, continues – this time with a good old-fashioned scrub of his abortion views on his campaign website.
It seems the Senate candidate who was “100% pro-life” – the one who wanted to confer constitutional rights on fetuses – is now a changed man.
What a difference a few weeks makes. That, and the need to scramble if he’s going to win over the moderate Republican women and independent voters who will decide this Arizona’s Senate race.
Immediately upon winning the Republican primary, Masters began wiggling on abortion, trying to soften his stance to appear in sync with the majority of Arizona voters.
On Thursday, NBC reported Masters went for an outright makeover, scrubbing his website clean of the hard-line abortion policies that were his hallmark when he was pitching himself to the Republican primary voters.
He once touted a federal personhood law
“I am 100% pro life,” he proudly proclaimed on his campaign website.
Until Thursday, when suddenly he apparently wasn’t because that statement is now gone.
The old Masters pledged to “support a federal personhood law (ideally a Constitutional amendment) that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed.”
Until Thursday, when suddenly that statement vanished, too.
Now he’s vowing to “support a law or a Constitutional amendment that bans late term (third trimester) abortion and partial-birth abortion at the federal level.”
The old Masters vowed to “strip funding from Planned Parenthood, all other abortionists, and any organization that supports abortion.”
Until Thursday, when suddenly he vowed only to “strip funding from Planned Parenthood” – giving a pass to those “other abortionists” and organizations that support a woman’s right to choose.
Now Blake Masters has backed away from that
The old Masters vowed to support “the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, the SAVE Moms and Babies Act, and other pro-life legislation.”
Until Thursday, when he apparently had second thoughts about the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would make performing an abortion at 20 weeks a crime.
Now he’s vowing only to “support pro-life legislation, pregnancy centers and programs that make it easier for pregnant women to support a family and decide to choose life.”
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The old Masters vowed to “remove funding for any research that uses embryonic stem cells of aborted fetal remains.”
Until Thursday, when that vow also vanished from his website.
The old Masters vowed to “vote only for federal judges who understand that Roe and Casey were wrongly decided, and that there is no constitutional right to abortion.”
Until Thursday, when that statement, too, went missing.
He is painting Mark Kelly as out of touch
The makeover continued as Masters took to Twitter with an ad that paints Sen. Mark Kelly as the candidate who is out of step, saying the senator supports abortion “up until birth”.
Kelly voted in favor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would bar states from banning abortion “after fetal viability when a provider determines the pregnancy risks the patient’s life or health.”
But abortions in the final weeks of pregnancy are exceedingly rare. Terminations at 21 weeks or later account for about 1% of all abortions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Masters, meanwhile, describes his views on abortion as “commonsense”.
His newly discovered views, that is.
“Look, I support a ban on very late-term and partial-birth abortion,” he said, in his ad. “And most Americans agree with that. That would just put us on par with other civilized nations.”
Funny, that’s not what he was saying in January, when he chided his Republican opponents who wouldn’t back a national abortion ban, according to a report by the Huffington Post.
Has Masters seen his errors or his polls?
“What good is actually winning elections if you don’t do what you promised to do when you get in?” he said, during a Jan. 27 forum in Gilbert.
Or in May, during an event in Carefree, when he said this:
“I think the 14th Amendment says you have the right to life, liberty and property. You can’t deprive someone with that without due process. Hard to imagine a bigger deprivation of due process than killing a small child before they have a chance to take their first breath. So I think you do need a federal personhood law.”
Masters didn’t define when “personhood” would apply.
But the Arizona Legislature in 2021 passed a state personhood law, conferring constitutional rights on all fetuses, embryos and fertilized eggs starting at the point of conception. It was blocked by a federal judge.
Now, suddenly, Masters is remaking himself to say he’d only ban abortion in the third trimester. You know, when it rarely happens.
And, oh yeah, that he is now perfectly fine with a recently passed A law that will allow abortion up to 15 weeks, should it take effect next month.
Because, what, Masters has seen the error of his ways?
Or because he’s seen the polls?
Reach Roberts at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.
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