Ads allege California congressman wants to ban abortion without exceptions. Here's his record

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Does U.S. Rep. David Valadao want to ban all abortion without exceptions for rape or to save the parent’s life?

That’s what his opponent’s campaign says.

Valadao did cosponsor legislation in 2022 that would have provided no exceptions. But he has also said he does support exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the parent, and has said that repeatedly throughout his re-election campaign this year.

Former Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield, and Valadao, R-Hanford, are vying in California’s 22nd Congressional District, home to one of the nation’s most competitive elections. It’s a contest that could tip control of the House of Representatives toward Democrats or Republicans.

“Mr. Valadao is a cosponsor of one of the most extreme national bans on this, abortion, women’s health care, issues,” Salas said at their October 2 debate in a clip widely shared on social media. “He wouldn’t even allow exceptions for rape. He would not allow exceptions even if the life of the mother is on the line.”

Another ad suggests Valadao is against abortion access without exceptions. An ad from the national Democratic committee that works on House races says, “Valadao’s ban would end access to abortion, even here in California. With no exceptions for rape or the life of the mother.”

Valadao said at the debate and previously that he supports abortion in these circumstances.

“No, I do not support a national abortion ban,” Valadao said at the debate this month. “I think since the Dobbs decision, it’s been left up to the state, and the states are going to manage it.”

“I am pro-life,” he continued. “I do support the exceptions, obviously rape, incest, the life of the mother, and I do support IVF.”

IVF, in vitro fertilization, helps people conceive through transferring an embryo into a uterus after combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the precedent that had set federal abortion policy for nearly 50 years, until fetal viability, generally regarded at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. This 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization allowed states nationwide to enact and enforce laws restricting abortion access.

Valadao told The Bee in February, “As a Catholic father of three, I believe that every human life is sacred and must be protected. I also believe in exceptions in the case of incest, rape and life of the mother.”

Asked whether he’d vote for a measure to limit abortion access to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, Valadao told debate moderators that was unlikely to come up.

“We’ve already seen that both candidates running for president aren’t going to touch a national abortion ban,” he said. “And I think it’s a non-issue, and it won’t come up in the Senate, because there’s not going to be enough of a vote majority one way or the other to actually bring it up.”

Valadao’s campaign said on Monday, “Even the Wall Street Journal called out Rudy Salas’ abortion ads as fiction. While Rudy Salas has to lie and fear monger to get votes, Rep. Valadao will keep working to deliver real results for the Central Valley.”

Valadao’s record

The California Republican, first elected to Congress in 2012, cosponsored the Life at Conception Act, which would have barred abortion without room for exceptions by finding life begins at the moment of conception, in 2022.

He did not cosponsor the legislation again in 2023.

Valadao’s campaign said he did not sign onto the bill this session because it did not address concerns he had about the exceptions for rape, incest and life of he parent, and that he thinks the issue of abortion policy should belong to the states.

“David Valadao is yet again trying to mislead Californians about his history of backing a nationwide ban on abortion with no exceptions,” a Salas campaign fact-check says. “The truth is — Valadao made banning abortion nationwide one of his top legislative priorities. Valadao sponsored legislation that would ban abortion in all 50 states with no exceptions for rape or the life of the mother, including California.”

Valadao has an A-plus from anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America this term. Most House Republicans got the same rating. Only eight score lower than an A, including neighboring Rep. John Duarte, R-Modesto, who got a C.

Valadao got this rating due to votes praised by SBA Pro-Life America that are denounced by abortion rights activists.

All House Republicans who cast a vote supporting the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in 2023, which would have required health care providers to try to preserve an infant’s life if they are born alive after a failed abortion procedure, a highly rare circumstance. Health care providers who failed to do so could have faced fines or up to five years in prison. The legislation did not became law.

It is already illegal to intentionally kill a baby that is born alive. Opponents of the bill said it was meant to intimidate health care providers who offer abortions.

In 2023, Valadao voted for an annual defense spending bill that had an amendment to bar the Department of Defense from reimbursing service members for travel to receive abortion care. The abortion measure was removed from the version that was signed into law.

The provision was added to the House’s defense bill again this summer, with Valadao voting yes on adding the amendment and the overall bill. The Senate has not voted on the defense spending package yet. Both congressional chambers must pass the same version of the bill before it can be signed into law by the president.

Valadao has voted on federal efforts in prior years to limit abortion access, including to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for instances of rape, incest and to save the life of the parent.

If the bill became law, health providers who conduct an abortion after this face a fine and a prison term of up to five years.

Federal law would override state law.

California voters overwhelmingly approved a measure in 2022 to enshrine abortion and contraceptive protections in the state’s Constitution. Salas, as a member of the Assembly from 2012 to 2022, was a principal co-author to get the provision on the ballot.

Voters in the 22nd supported the abortion measure by 8 percentage points.

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