Beshear’s running mate ran as a ‘pro-life’ Democrat in 2014. Her stance has changed.
Five years ago, Jacqueline Coleman declared herself a “pro-life” Democrat, but now Andy Beshear’s running mate in the 2019 race for governor says she supports “each individual woman’s constitutional right to make her own reproductive and health care decisions.”
Her stance on abortion as the running mate of Beshear, who has said he supports legal protections for abortion, is much different than the position she took at a Mercer County candidate forum in 2014, when Coleman was running for a state House seat.
“I am a pro-life, compassionate Democrat who believes in exceptions for the life of the mother, rape and incest,” Coleman said at the time.
“I would not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion that that makes you pro-life,” she added. “In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born, but not a child fed, not a child educated and not a child housed. That’s not pro-life, that’s pro-birth.”
Coleman’s position could affect Beshear’s bona-fides in the more liberal parts of Kentucky. Lexington and Louisville hold outsized influence in the Democratic primary and Beshear’s campaign is currently battling for support there with former auditor Adam Edelen, who said he and running mate Gill Holland support abortion rights.
“In this time and place, when Kentucky is seeking to become the first state in the country to functionally eliminate a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, it is important for a Democratic candidate to be clear about where they stand,” Edelen said. “This isn’t about access to reproductive health care, this is about protecting what exists.”
House Minority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, has staked out his position as the pro-life Democrat in the race, solidifying that image last week when he voted to approve a bill that would ban abortions in Kentucky should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal in the country. His running mate, former Jefferson County School Board member Stephanie Horne, has said she wouldn’t personally get an abortion but the decision should be between a woman “her faith and her doctor.”
Beshear, on the other hand, has rooted his argument in the existing legal protections for abortion at the federal level. He has refused to defend some of the more controversial anti-abortion bills passed by the state legislature and sent a letter to lawmakers this year saying he felt a bill that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected would violate the U.S. Constitution.
When asked by the Herald-Leader about her stance on abortion rights, Coleman said she also supports Roe v. Wade.
“I believe life is sacred and that is why I am personally pro-life, but as a woman, I do not believe politicians should impose their views on others, which is why I support each individual woman’s constitutional right to make her own reproductive and health care decisions,” Coleman said. “Like many people, I continue to wrestle with finding the right balance between keeping abortion rare and protecting a woman’s right to make her own reproductive decisions.”
A Facebook post shared in 2014 by Coleman’s then-opponent, Rep. Kim King, shows a mailer describing Coleman as “pro-life, pro-family, religious freedom.”
At the time, a Kentucky case challenging the state’s then-ban on same-sex marriage was waiting to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, creating a debate about what constituted a family and how same-sex marriage might affect religious freedoms.
When asked whether Coleman supported marriage equality in 2014, Brad Bowman, the Beshear campaign’s spokesman, said Coleman now supports LGBTQ rights.
“Jacqueline is a strong supporter of marriage equality and opposes discrimination,” he said.
