As part of The Baltimore Banner’s 2022 Maryland Voter Guide, we sent questionnaires to all the candidates for governor appearing on the July 19 primary ballot.

We asked them this question about abortion and gave them space to explain their position: “Would you propose changes to the ways Maryland limits, regulates or funds abortion?”

Here are their answers.

Democrats

Peter Franchot

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Yes.

I recently called on Gov. Hogan to release $3.5 million to train advanced medical clinicians to provide abortion care services to care for the influx of women who will come to the state to receive care due to the potential of rollbacks on Roe v. Wade. I will always advocate for a woman’s right to choose. I am committed to training more medical professionals to provide abortion care and will enshrine access to abortion in Maryland’s constitution. Medicaid should also cover abortion access, and we must make funds available for undocumented women to receive safe abortion care services.

Wes Moore

Yes.

I believe that abortion is health care and we must fiercely protect this right by enshrining it in our constitution and making access to reproductive care more affordable and accessible. Governor Hogan is refusing to release critical funding that will train providers and expand access to abortion. This is why governors matter and why I am running. Our administration will release this funding on day one and work with broad coalitions and organizations like NARAL and Planned Parenthood to advance access and ensure Maryland always remains a safe haven for reproductive health care.

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Tom Perez

Yes.

As governor, I will help ensure that everyone can access to safe and affordable reproductive health care by integrating reproductive services into primary care, increasing the number of trained abortion providers, and providing equitable access for coverage. We will make sure Maryland passes a constitutional amendment to further enshrine the fundamental right to abortion into the fabric of our laws and we will work with our next attorney general to ensure Maryland defends any provider sued by other states for providing care to all whom come to Maryland to seek access.

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John King

Yes.

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Abortion care is health care and health care is a human right. My running mate, Michelle Siri, was board president for Planned Parenthood of Maryland and we will make Maryland a North Star for abortion rights. We support having Medicaid cover abortion for any reason, removing Maryland’s parental notification law for minors seeking an abortion, and a constitutional amendment to protect the right to abortion care. We will protect those who come here from other states for abortion care, and making sure the training created by the ACAA [Abortion Care Access Act] is fully funded so that Maryland has enough abortion providers.

Doug Gansler

Yes.

As attorney general, I took on the Bush administration when they tried to chip away at abortion access through the federal rule-making process. We need to expand access and funding and make Maryland a leader not just in abortion rights but in the equitable provision of abortions. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, my lieutenant governor Candace Hollingsworth and I will be a brick wall against any attacks on abortion access. We also need to make sure Maryland is prepared to welcome women from Republican-controlled states who are in need of abortion care.

Jon Baron

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No.

The decision about whether to become a parent, and when, is just about the most consequential decision a person can make in life. The idea that that decision, from the moment of conception, should be made by the government — not the woman — is appalling. It is the opposite of conservative: It is government intrusion into our most important personal decisions. I am pro-choice, and I believe abortion rights should be enshrined in Maryland’s constitution. I was also proud of the General Assembly for their recent action to expand the pool of health care providers who can perform abortions in Maryland.

Ashwani Jain

Yes.

I was the first statewide candidate in Maryland to have a Reproductive Justice platform — which includes the need to (1) enshrine essential healthcare services (like abortion care, contraceptive coverage and gender affirmation treatment) in our state constitution; (2) require public schools to have comprehensive sex ed in health classes. Students must learn about everything from abstinence to contraceptives, to period poverty, to domestic violence, to LGBTQ inclusion, gender identity and reproductive rights; and (3) require all public schools to provide free menstrual products in bathrooms.

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Jerome Segal

Segal did not respond to The Baltimore Banner’s questionnaire.

Ralph Jaffe

Jaffe did not respond to The Baltimore Banner’s questionnaire.

Republicans

Kelly Schulz

Schulz declined to answer the questionnaire because the answers will not be used to determine an endorsement. The Baltimore Banner does not endorse candidates for public office.

In an interview and in public statements, she has said she is “personally pro-life” but would not seek to change Maryland’s law, which has protected abortion access since 1992. When Schulz was a state delegate representing Frederick County, she supported “personhood” legislation that would have conferred human rights “from the beginning of their biological development” on Marylanders. Schulz said she supported the legislation at the time because that was the will of her constituents. She recognizes that the will of the state as a whole is different. ”Despite fear-mongering from others, as governor I’ll do nothing to change Maryland law,” Schulz said in a statement on Friday.

Dan Cox

Cox did not respond to The Baltimore Banner’s questionnaire.

He has regularly taken anti-abortion positions on the campaign trail and as a state delegate in Annapolis. He has unsuccessfully tried to strip public funding for abortions for patients who use Medicaid. He also sponsored unsuccessful legislation that would have allowed only certain physicians to prescribe abortion medications. Cox said he’ll continue those types of efforts if elected governor. ”I firmly believe in pro-life values. I firmly believe in life from conception to natural death,” Cox said in an interview. “As governor, you can’t legislate from the governor’s office, but I absolutely would continue to support those policies of defending and protecting all life,” he said.

Robin Ficker

No.

Would not subsidize abortions with taxpayer money.

Joe Werner

Yes.

No state funding for abortion and pass the heartbeat bill. Ban abortion after the 15th week. Only exception would be for the life of the mother. I am for a baby to have the right to life. After the baby has a heartbeat the baby has feeling of pain and emotional feeling and dreams, it is an individual.

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John edits political coverage for The Baltimore Banner. Previously he's covered Washington, D.C. for WNYC public radio and politics and education in Maryland, South Carolina and Florida. 

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