Democratic ad overstates Dave McCormick’s abortion position in Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race

Democrats are attacking Republican candidate Dave McCormick’s past abortion position in the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race, arguing he supports abortion restrictions in all cases.

"Dave McCormick is fully against abortion," a Facebook and Instagram ad from WinSenate, a Democratic political action committee, said. 

Similarly to ads we’ve seen against McCormick and other Republican Senate candidates, this ad focuses on the candidate’s position from a previous political race. The ad uses statements from when McCormick ran for the 2022 Republican nomination for Senate and ignores his current position in his race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey. 

Neither WinSenate nor the Senate Majority PAC, an affiliated PAC and the sole source of WinSenate’s funding, returned a request for comment. 

Different ads from WinSenate cite a 2022 Axios article as the source of the "fully against abortion" language. The article, which details that year’s Senate candidates’ abortion positions, paraphrased McCormick’s response in a Republican primary debate in 2022. The article’s author wrote: "David McCormick — who's facing a heated primary with his Trump-backed opponent, Mehmet Oz — said during a debate in Harrisburg last month he's fully against all scenarios involving abortion, apart from ‘in the very rare instances there should be exceptions for the life of the mother.’"  

During that 2022 debate, the moderator asked McCormick whether he believes there should be exceptions to abortion laws for rape, incest and when the pregnant woman’s life is at risk. McCormick said he believes in "very rare instances there should be exceptions for life of the mother." He did not mention support for exceptions in cases of rape and incest. 

During the 2024 campaign, though, McCormick has softened his abortion position and said if elected, he would oppose a national abortion ban if it were proposed. He said in an Oct. 3 debate that he supports exceptions to abortion laws for rape, incest and the mother’s life. 

"I support the three exceptions," he said. "I would not favor an abortion ban of any kind, legislation to support a national abortion." 

He said during that debate he believes abortion laws should be left up to each state. Pennsylvania law allows abortion until around 24 weeks of pregnancy, and after that if a pregnant woman’s health is endangered. The Pennsylvania law also requires parental notifications for minors seeking abortions and a 24-hour waiting period for all women seeking abortions.

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stated on November 21, 2024 in social media posts

A woman holds a sign that says, “I want my daughter to have the right to abortion that I didn’t have.”

McCormick took a more absolute antiabortion stance in 2022 when campaigning for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat Democrat John Fetterman now holds. His 2022 campaign website said he was "staunchly pro-life and believes life begins at conception." It also said he will "continue to advocate for the rights of the unborn." It did not clearly state a position on an abortion ban.

Elsewhere on the 2022 campaign trail, McCormick expressed support for changing abortion laws. He said at an event that year, "We have to change the law on life, but more than ever we have to change the culture," according to an X post from liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen. 

McCormick told Fox News in 2022, after the leaked U.S. Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn the federal abortion protections under Roe v. Wade, that overturning Roe "would be a huge step forward and a huge victory for the protection of life." 

Though McCormick did not mention support for rape or incest exceptions in his 2022 debate answer, his campaign has argued he supported those exceptions during that campaign. It also gave us an audio clip from a February 2022 event before the primary debate in which he said he supported those exceptions. 

In the audio clip, McCormick responded to an audience member’s question and said, "I do accept three exceptions, the ones you just said. Rape, incest and the life of the mother."

A Democratic PAC ad said McCormick "is fully against abortion." 

During a 2022 campaign, McCormick took a more absolute antiabortion stance and expressed inconsistent support for exceptions for rape and incest.

But during the 2024 campaign, McCormick has said he would not support a national abortion ban. He said he believes abortion laws should be left for states to decide, and they should include exceptions for rape, incest and the pregnant woman’s life. 

Although the claim contains an element of truth based on McCormick’s past positions, it does not reflect his current position. We rate it Mostly False.