Jacky Rosen oversimplifies Sam Brown’s abortion statements in Nevada Senate race

Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is attacking her Republican opponent over his stance on abortion.

Rosen, who was first elected in 2018, faces retired U.S. Army Capt. Sam Brown in a highly competitive swing state U.S. Senate race. This is Brown’s second campaign in Nevada. In 2014, he ran unsuccessfully for office in Texas, and in 2022, had a failed Republican primary bid for U.S. Senate in Nevada.

In a 30-second ad appearing on TV and digital platforms, Rosen’s campaign argued Brown has shifted his public statements around abortion to suit his political aims.

"He's trying to change his story to get elected," the ad’s narrator said as an image of Brown speaking Feb. 21 on NBC News’ "Meet the Press"  flashed on screen. The show’s chyron read, "Nevada GOP Senate candidate says he wouldn’t support federal abortion ban." 

The narrator continued: "But for years, MAGA extremist Sam Brown has been pushing to ban abortion. He pushed to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said abortion should be banned without any exceptions for rape or incest."

Brown has made several statements about abortion, not all of them consistent. Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Brown described himself as "pro-life" but did not specifically say whether or not he supported exceptions to laws restricting abortion access. In 2014, he said he supported a Texas law that banned abortion after 20 weeks without exceptions. In his 2024 run, however, he has been clear that he does not support a national abortion ban but that in states that ban abortion, he does support exceptions for rape and incest. 

Polling has generally shown Nevadans support abortion access. Nearly two-thirds of Nevada registered voters in a July 8, 2021, poll from OH Predictive Insight described themselves as "pro-choice." More than 60% of Nevada registered voters said in an April 2023 poll commissioned by the Nevada Independent they supported amending the state constitution to guarantee a woman's right to obtain an abortion, a measure that will also appear on November’s ballot.

Rosen’s ad pointed to a June 2023 HuffPost article that linked to Brown’s response to a 2022 questionnaire from the Christian fundamentalist American Families Association. Asked, "Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?" Brown’s response read, "Risk of life to the mother."

Brown’s campaign in 2023 sought to distance itself from the 2022 response, however, saying a campaign staffer filled it out without Brown’s authorization.

Rosen’s ad also included a snippet of Brown speaking at a 2014 candidate forum held by the Far North Dallas Tea Party. In it, Brown said he supported a 2013 Texas law banning abortion after 20 weeks. Statehouse Republicans rejected a Democratic-backed amendment to that law that would have included exceptions for rape or incest.

"On issues of life, that is nonnegotiable for me," Brown said in the video clip.

Asked for evidence behind Rosen’s claim, Rosen campaign spokesperson Johanna Warshaw pointed PolitiFact to a May 11, 2022,  Reno Gazette-Journal article in which Brown was asked about his abortion views.

"In light of a recently leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that would reverse Roe v. Wade, would you stand behind any federal restrictions on abortion, and what exceptions, if any, do you support?" the newspaper asked.

Brown’s response did not address exceptions. It read:

"I'm pro life, and I always will stand on the side of protecting life. I gained a true appreciation for the value of life when I was in Afghanistan and nearly lost my own to a Taliban bomb. As a senator, I'll continue to protect life by voting against any federal funding of abortion and by voting to confirm justices who protect life."
 

We independently reviewed Brown’s abortion statements and also found:

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• During his 2014 campaign for Texas House of Representatives, Brown said the following on his campaign website: 

"Abortion is not an issue of choice. It is an issue of life and I am proudly pro-life. We need to do everything possible to support and encourage young mothers who are considering abortion to pursue adoption or to recognize the value of life and raise the child they have been blessed with."

The website included no statements about exceptions to anti-abortion laws.

• Starting in November 2022, Brown chaired the Nevada Faith and Freedom Coalition, a nonprofit faith-based advocacy group. Brown has described the Nevada chapter as a "spinoff"of the national group, but a separate organization. Ralph Reed, the national Faith and Freedom Coalition’s founder, has said his group will support any legislation that limits abortion, including a total ban. An archived version of the Nevada Faith and Freedom Coalition’s issues page does not mention abortion.

• On July 12, 2023, the day after he launched his Senate campaign, a KSNV-TV reporter asked Brown about his abortion stance. Brown said, "You know, I would love to see fewer abortions. I am pro-life. And you know, with exceptions for those tragic cases in which there is rape, incest, or a threat to the life of the mother, but I think we can do better in helping to sort of create a pathway for adoption."

• A Dec. 5, 2023, Nevada Independent article reported that Brown’s campaign said it "disavows" and had "no involvement" with the 2022 questionnaire in which Brown said he supports abortion law exceptions when the mother’s life is at risk. The campaign attributed the answer to a junior staff member who it said had not been authorized to respond.

• In a Feb. 12, NBC News interview, Brown’s wife, Amy Brown, described that days before she met her husband-to-be, she had an abortion because of an "immense amount of pressure that I had to do it." Sam Brown said in the interview that he supported exceptions to abortion bans for rape, incest and when the mother’s life is threatened. 

• In a June 30, op-ed for the Las Vegas Sun, Brown wrote: "Yes, Amy and I are pro-life. We believe in exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. It is our hope that women choose life, and more families experience the joys of parenthood.

Brown campaign spokesperson Kristy Wilkinson on Aug. 10 reiterated to PolitiFact that the American Families Association voter guide response didn’t reflect Brown’s stance.

"He never even saw it," Wilkinson said. "As he has stated many, many times on the record, he believes in exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother."

Wilkinson told PolitiFact that Brown’s support for the 2013 Texas law was consistent with his current belief that decisions on abortion restrictions should be left to the states. She said he also wanted exceptions for rape and incest included in the law. Wilkinson did not respond to PolitiFact’s request for examples of his 2013 advocacy for those exceptions, and we found no evidence of Brown’s advocacy for exceptions.

A Rosen campaign ad said Brown "said abortion should be banned without exceptions for rape or incest."

Brown supported Texas' 20-week abortion ban, which had no exceptions for rape or incest. Brown also said states should have final say on abortion access, which leaves open the possibility that states pass abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest. In a 2022 candidate survey, Brown listed "risk of life to the mother" as the only exception to an abortion ban he would support. Brown has since disavowed that survey, saying he was not the one who filled it out. 

In public comments since the Supreme Court ruled against federally protected abortion access, and on the campaign trail in 2024, Brown has said he supports exceptions, including for rape and incest. 

The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. We rate it Half True.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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