Blake Masters' campaign website replaces stark abortion views with softer message

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters rebooted his campaign website Thursday, removing his "100% pro-life" message with a new one emphasizing limits on abortion rights.

Masters' changes, first reported by NBC News, continue a rhetorical shift on the issue underway since he clinched the Republican nomination in the Aug. 2 primary in his bid to oust Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.

Masters had called Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that guaranteed federal abortion rights, a "horrible" decision on his website, but now calls it a "bad" one.

The changes come as Republicans have seen voters in historically conservative Kansas reject an effort to allow lawmakers to roll back abortion rights, and after a surprise Democratic victory this week in a special congressional election in New York where abortion was a key issue.

The Supreme Court's June ruling that erased federal abortion rights has infused new energy for Democrats in the midterm elections and sent Republicans backtracking.

The Masters campaign did not immediately elaborate on the website changes. He launched a digital ad Thursday addressing abortion, in which he says, "Most people support commonsense regulation around abortion."

The Kelly campaign said Masters is trying to rewrite his history.

“If Blake Masters thinks that he can quietly delete passages from his website and disguise just how out of touch and dangerous his abortion stance is, he’s in for a rude awakening," said Sarah Guggenheimer, a Kelly spokesperson. "No embarrassing pivot can hide the truth: Masters has called abortion 'demonic,' a 'religious sacrifice,' and backs a national abortion ban. Arizonans know the truth and won’t fall for this."

Perhaps most notably, Masters removed a reference calling for "a federal personhood law (ideally a Constitutional amendment) that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed."

In an interview with The Arizona Republic earlier this month, Masters said he viewed such a law as preventing third-trimester abortions. Other groups actively promoting a personhood law have insisted it apply after conception, when they argue that life begins.

In February, Masters said that is his view, though he didn't say that he was advocating federal law provide protections beginning at conception.

"I think you need a federal personhood amendment," he said at an event in Queen Creek. "You know Congress is going to have a debate about where that is. I'm Catholic. I believe life starts at conception. I appreciate that people of different religious traditions and beliefs might disagree early on. It's more theological in some sense."

On his website, Masters still declares in a headline "Protect babies, don't let them be killed." But the language that follows has shifted significantly.

Earlier, Masters began that section by saying, "I am 100% pro-life. Roe v. Wade was a horrible decision. It was wrong the day it was decided in 1973, it's wrong today, and it must be reversed. But the fight doesn't stop there."

He then lists several priorities, including a personhood law or amendment.

The updated website begins this way:

"The Democrats lie about my views on abortion, because their candidate’s position is so extreme: Mark Kelly believes in nationwide abortion on-demand up until the moment of birth, with zero limits. That is truly shocking. 90% of Americans disagree with Mark Kelly’s radical position.

"I believe that Roe v. Wade was a bad decision, and Dobbs returned the power where it belongs: to the state legislatures and to the people. I am hopeful we'll soon see a slate of new laws that respect and promote life — the lives of both the mother and the child."

In both versions, Masters wants to strip federal funds from Planned Parenthood, but it no longer includes "all other abortionists, and any organization that promotes abortion."

Kelly has supported federal abortion rights and blasted the Supreme Court's ruling doing away with them.

"Today’s decision is a giant step backward for our country. Women deserve the right to make their own decisions about abortion. It is just wrong that the next generation of women will have fewer freedoms than my grandmother did," he said in a written statement.

"In Arizona, there are already restrictive bans on the books that will take rights away from Arizona women, without exceptions even in the case of rape or incest. I know that this decision and these laws are leaving many Arizonans frustrated and scared. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. I am resolved to defend and protect the right of Arizona women to make their own health care decisions."

Masters' claim that Kelly supports abortions "up until the moment of birth, with zero limits" is a reference to Kelly’s vote for the failed Women’s Health Protection Act.

That would have prevented states from criminalizing abortion and from banning abortions when the life of the mother is at risk, a determination made in conjunction with a doctor. PolitiFact, a fact-checking website, has ruled a similar statement by Masters as “mostly false.”

In Masters' interview with The Republic, he added new detail to his views on abortion, saying he supported Arizona's law banning abortion after 15 weeks.

"I would look to Arizona’s law and say I’m OK with it. I think it’s a reasonable solution, which reflects where the electorate is," he said then.

Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Masters' campaign site replaces pro-life message with abortion limits