ULTIMATE MANSPLAINING
GOP Senate Nominee: Abortion Decisions 'Belong' to GOP ‘Gentlemen’ State Reps

Jennifer Bendery - Yesterday 

New Hampshire GOP Senate nominee Don Bolduc told supporters this week that he thinks the future of abortion rights “belongs” to Republican “gentlemen” state lawmakers, who he claims know best how to give women a voice on their reproductive rights.

During a Wednesday night town hall in Auburn, New Hampshire, Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general, weighed in on whether he thinks abortion rights should be decided at the state level or the federal level.

“It belongs to the state. It belongs to these gentlemen right here, who are state legislators representing you,” Bolduc said, motioning to at least two Republican state representatives in the room, Jason Osborne and Jess Edwards.

Edwards, for one, voted against sidelining a bill in March that would have banned abortion upon the detection of a so-called fetal “heartbeat,” a misleading reference to cardiac activity in an embryo. That means the bill would have banned abortion after about five weeks, a point at which many people don’t even know that they are pregnant.

Here’s a shot of Bolduc’s campaign event, with Edwards seated nearby (HuffPost circled him with a yellow line). Bolduc tweeted out this image after the event.



New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc talks about abortion rights at a campaign event. (Photo: Don Bolduc's Twitter account)© Provided by HuffPost

Bolduc went on to say that “as a man,” he thinks that women “get the best voice” on their reproductive rights when state legislators decide how to regulate them.

“That is the best way, I think, as a man, that women get the best voice: at the state level, not at the federal level,” he said.

Bolduc said his opponent, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, simply doesn’t understand that the best way to regulate women’s access to abortion care is on a state-by-state basis.

“She needs to get on board with the Supreme Court decision” to end Roe v. Wade, he said.

Here’s an audio clip of Bolduc’s remarks on abortion rights.

Bolduc campaign spokesperson Kate Constantini did not respond to a request for comment on why Bolduc thinks abortion rights are best decided by Republican “gentlemen” state legislators, or why he thinks they know best how to give women “a voice” on abortion matters.

Instead, Constantini accused Hassan of lying about Bolduc’s record.

“Senator Hassan shamelessly continues to lie about General Bolduc’s position, trying to scare voters and distract from her abysmal record,” she said. “The general opposes a federal ban on abortion and believes this decision should be in the hands of the states. Senator Hassan needs to end the lies and face the fact that she can no longer hide behind her deceit.”

Sydney Petersen, a spokesperson for Hassan’s campaign, said it’s clear that Bolduc thinks politicians know better than women what’s good for them.

“Every chance he gets, Bolduc reinforces that he believes politicians ― and more specifically Republican men ― should control a woman’s most personal decision about her future,” said Petersen. “His most recent comment further underscores that if elected, he would dismiss half the population and it’s clear that he would be a yes vote for a nationwide abortion ban.”

Hassan has been leading in the polls against Bolduc for months. She has widened her lead to nearly 8 points in the weeks since Bolduc became the official GOP nominee.

A recent Axios story suggested that internally, though, her campaign manager is sounding the alarms that polling may be inaccurate and Hassan may be in more trouble than it looks.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

LACONIA, NH - SEPTEMBER 10: Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc greets supporters at a town hall event on September 10, 2022 in Laconia, New Hampshire. Bolduc is running against Bruce Fenton and Chuck Morse in the in the upcoming GOP primary. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)© Provided by HuffPost