Michigan GOP candidate for governor Tudor Dixon on Monday said she does not support abortions in any case except for protecting the life of the mother, arguing that a woman should carry a pregnancy to term even in the case of rape or incest.
Dixon told Charlie LeDuff on his podcast show No BS Newshour that even in the case in which a 14-year-old was raped by an uncle, she would not support abortion.
“A life is a life for me,” Dixon said. “That’s how it is. That is for me, that’s my feeling.”
Dixon also explicitly differentiated between the “health” and “life” of a mother, arguing she would only support an abortion to save the mother’s life.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade last month, around half of all states have moved to ban or severely restrict abortions in nearly all cases, with some even limiting abortions in the case of rape or incest.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is battling with the Republican-controlled state legislature over a 1931 Michigan law that bans abortions in nearly all cases, including for rape or incest.
Abortion remains legal in Michigan because of an injunction a high court placed in the state, but Republicans are pushing to lift the order after the Roe decision.
Whitmer, who said she can find “no common ground” with Republicans on abortion, is running for reelection in a state where she has grown increasingly unpopular, particularly over her pandemic policies.
In November, Whitmer will take on either Dixon or another GOP candidate, who are vying for the nomination in a packed primary. A Detroit News poll released on Tuesday shows Dixon is leading the pack ahead of the Aug. 2 primary against her challengers.
On Monday, LeDuff asked Dixon if her hardline stance on abortion would alienate some voters, but the GOP candidate said most Michiganders are against “abortion on demand.”
“They think that’s the winning issue, but most Americans do not believe in this third-trimester abortion, partial abortion, ripping babies out and pulling them out of their mother,” she said. “That kind of stuff, that’s on the ballot.”