Amie Hoeber Abortion Debacle News Update
Even I’m surprised at amount of coverage that Amie Hoeber’s abortion stance got today in the mainstream media.
But the final half-hour got bumpy for Hoeber when the discussion turned to abortion.
A panelist asked Hoeber about her involvement with the National Women’s Political Caucus, a nonpartisan group that supports, among other issues, abortion rights. Hoeber’s campaign website biography notes that she was co-founder and past chair of caucus chapters in Northern Virginia and in Los Angeles. Earlier this week, the group endorsed Rep. Donna F. Edwards (Md.), one of the most liberal lawmakers in Congress, in her Democratic primary campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Trending: President Trump Must Be Reelected
“Ms. Hoeber, do you support abortion, and, if not, why did you have such an association with a militantly pro-abortion organization?” asked panelist Brian Griffiths, editor-in-chief of Red Maryland, a conservative blog.
Hoeber, the only woman at the table of candidates, noted that other Republican women were active in the group, including the late Kathy Wilson, who chaired the organization in the early 1980s.
“We stand united supporting women. I have supported women all my life,” said Hoeber, who sits on the board of the Maryland chapter of House of Ruth, an organization that provides services to women and children who have suffered from domestic violence.
“Do you support abortion?” asked a male voice in the audience of about 125. Hoeber tried to move on. “I do not think that’s a reasonable issue. That is settled law,” she said.
“Planned Parenthood funding is settled law?” asked another voice from the crowd.
In a separate round of questioning a few minutes later, Griffiths asked Hoeber again if she supported abortion. Again, Hoeber tried to evade a direct answer.
“I’m a mother. I’m a stepmother. I’m a grandmother,” she said. “I think I understand in ways unique to this group of candidates about the preciousness of life. But I believe the abortion question has been settled by law, and I support the law of the United States.”
But Hoeber later found herself in a cross fire over the issue of abortion, when one member of the panel posing questions—Brian Griffiths of the conservative “Red Maryland” blog—noted Hoeber’s past involvement in the National Women’s Political Caucus. “Do you support abortion, and, if not, why did you have an association with such a militantly pro-abortion organization?” Griffiths asked.
“I do not think that is a reasonable issue,” replied Hoeber, a onetime deputy undersecretary of the Army. Alluding to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, she declared, “That is settled law, and I have sworn on many occasions as a government and federal employee…I will uphold the constitution and the laws of this country.”
As Griffiths continued to press the matter, Hoeber, 74, asserted, “I am a mother, I am a stepmother, I’m a grandmother. I think I understand in ways unique in this group of candidates before you about the preciousness of life. But I believe the abortion question has been settled by law.”
At a candidate debate Thursday, defense consultant Amie Hoeber (R) was put on the defense when she was asked about her “about her involvement with the National Women’s Political Caucus, a non-partisan group that supports, among other things, abortion rights.”
“Do you support abortion?” a male in the audience asked. Hoeber said, “I do not think that’s a reasonable issue. That is settled law.”
“Planned Parenthood funding is settled law?” asked another audience member.
Hoeber and her campaign have seem to be on the defensive about the question and that somebody dared question her about her position on abortion. Hoeber even made a hastily arranged appearance on a little know radio show where I understand that she denied that she was pro-abortion, intimated that I was secretly supporting another candidare, and resorted to personal attacks against me and Red Maryland.
In an effort to provide her with an actual audience to air out her position on abortion, Red Maryland reached out to Hoeber to invite her to explain her position on this week’s episode of Red Maryland Radio. Hoeber rejected the offer through her campaign manager, Laurin Groover, citing “scheduling conflicts.”
Groover then proceeded to retweet personal attacks against me from her personal Twitter account.
Hoeber’s rejection of the invitation to appear on this Thursday’s show was quickly accepted by Delegate David Vogt, one of Hoeber’s primary election opponents, who has agreed to appear instead of her.
Most of what the thoughts that we are hearing about Thursday’s 6th District Debate are positive. Realistically only a rump faction of deadenders, liberal Republicans still bitter over Red Maryland’s endorsement of Senator Michael Hough in his 2014 primary election victory, have any gripes because they have now latched themselves on to Hoeber’s campaign. But surprisingly, this story seems to have legs. We’ll see where it goes from here.
