Hogan argues abortion pivot during Maryland Senate race not ‘a major transformation’

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the GOP nominee for retiring Democratic Sen. Cardin’s seat in Maryland, argued Friday that his recent pivot on abortion, is not “a major transformation.”

Hogan said he supports “restoring Roe as the law of the land” and called himself “pro-choice” in an interview published Thursday in The New York Times.

Hogan doubled down on his remarks in that interview Friday, saying his position on abortion as he described it to NYT “really wasn’t a major transformation,” The Washington Post reported.

“The times have changed,” Hogan said, according to the Post. “Look, things have changed over the last couple of decades and over the last year or two.”

Hogan did not commit to being in favor of legislation codifying the right to abortion in federal law in March.

“I think that’s we’re going to have to take a look at that as we move forward,” Hogan said at the time. “… Whether it’s needed or not.”

The former Maryland governor said that his current position on abortion is clarifying and not new, according to The Washington Post.

“After the overturning of Roe, it really put us in a bad position, where we were having some crazy, unreasonable things taking place,” Hogan said, also noting recent legal battles around reproductive health like those in Alabama and Arizona, according to The Washington Post.

“We don’t want to go back to 1864,” he said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called Hogan’s change on the position a “flip-flop” Thursday.

“This is a total flip-flop,” Van Hollen said to The Hill Thursday. “Larry Hogan has tried to present himself as a non-politician, above politics. I agree with his new position, but let’s be clear, this is a total political move and so the question is, do you believe the old Larry Hogan or the new Larry Hogan and if you have to ask that question, voters have reason to worry.”