OLYMPIA, Wash. — Bob Ferguson wants votes taken by Dave Reichert as a Congress member to help shape the Washington governor’s race.
A Ferguson campaign ad, critical of Reichert’s voting record on abortion, features Dr. Erin Berry, an OB/GYN.
In the ad, Berry said, “As a doctor providing reproductive health care, the last thing we need is anti-choice Republican Dave Reichert as our governor. In Congress, Reichert voted for a nationwide abortion ban, with criminal penalties for doctors. For my patients, and all Washingtonians, we can’t give Dave Reichert the chance to take away our reproductive freedom.”
The ad notes federal bills Reichert voted in favor of in 2013, 2015, and 2017, when Reichert served in Congress. Each would have prohibited abortions after 20 weeks, with exceptions for a mother’s health risk, and in cases of rape and incest. The bills never became law.
Drew Stokesbary, attorney for the Reichert campaign, said had those bills passed, it would not be accurate to call them a nationwide ban on abortion. He said the proposals would have put restrictions on the procedure, adding, “abortions are already regulated in a substantially similar manner in Washington.”
Washington state law states, “The state many not deny or interfere with a pregnant individual’s right to choose to have an abortion prior to viability of the fetus.” Viability, the point when a fetus can survive outside the womb, is traditionally determined by a physician, and is widely accepted to be around 23 weeks.
Reichert, in response to the ad, issued this statement to KING 5 News:
“Bob Ferguson continues to blatantly lie about my voting record in Congress in an attempt to spread fear to the very people he wants to represent. By Bob's own definition he supports a ban on abortion in Washington. I have never supported a national ban on abortion. Such fear mongering should have no place in our political discourse, yet sadly the media continues to provide him the avenue to do just that.”
In an emailed statement, Bob Ferguson said:
"As a Congressman, Dave Reichert promised not to undermine Roe v. Wade. He then broke that promise with multiple votes that would have banned abortions that are legal in Washington state and instituted criminal penalties for the doctors performing those legal abortions. Congressman Reichert is lying about his anti-choice record. He cannot escape the fact that he repeatedly voted to erode Washington state’s voter-approved protections for reproductive freedom."