Rep. Don Bacon faces criticism for supporting national abortion ban
The Nebraska Republican congressman has supported measures that would have recognized a fertilized egg as a person.
Republican Rep. Don Bacon is being targeted for opposing reproductive rights — including his support for a 2021 bill that would have outlawed abortion nationwide — in his reelection bid against Democrat state Sen. Tony Vargas in Nebraska’s 2nd District Congressional race.
The debate over reproductive rights intensified after the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturned the 1972 Roe v. Wade decision and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, striking down the federal constitutional right to abortion and returning the decision to each state.
Bacon three times has supported measures that would have recognized a fertilized egg as a person with equal protections under the U.S. Constitution. Most recently, he was a co-sponsor in 2021 of the Life at Conception Act, which would have banned abortion nationwide. Bacon did not co-sponsor a similar bill that was introduced in January 2023.
Bacon also opposed the Women’s Health Protection Act in 2021, which would prohibit governmental restrictions on abortion services, falsely claiming it would allow abortion “even up to moments before birth.”
He also voted against the “Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022,” which would prohibit using a state law from interfering with a person’s ability to access out-of-state abortion services.
On his campaign website, Bacon touts endorsements from three anti-abortion political groups: Nebraska Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America, and Concerned Women for America.
Bacon campaign spokeswoman Danielle Jensen said in an email to the Nebraska Independent: “Congressman Bacon supports the Nebraska law that puts a reasonable 3-month restriction on abortions with exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother.”
Vargas, a Nebraska state lawmaker who lost to Bacon by fewer than 3 percentage points in 2022, has assailed Bacon for opposing reproductive rights.
“Nebraska women don’t want politicians making their reproductive health care decisions, but that’s exactly what Don Bacon is pushing for in Washington,” Vargas said in a statement to the Nebraska Independent. “He co-sponsored a total nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the mother’s life that could also end IVF nationwide. I hear from voters every day about how concerned they are with Bacon’s dangerous attacks on their freedoms, and I have no doubt Nebraskans will make their voices heard loud and clear this November.”
Dr. Elizabeth Constance, a OBGYN at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Heartland Center for Reproductive Medicine, hailed Vargas as a champion of reproductive rights.
“As a medical professional, I support Tony because I have seen how he has elevated our voices during the fight for reproductive and maternal health care, including expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage from two to 12 months, for his work to invest in public health funding, cancer research, and for his pledge to protect access to IVF,” Constance said in endorsing Vargas.
Vargas has been endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and Reproductive Freedom for All.
This story has been updated to include a statement from the Bacon campaign.
