Republican Candidates for Congress, NJ-2, Stance on Abortion

I have gathered information from each of the Republican candidates for The United States House of Representatives in NJ-2 regarding their public position regarding the issue of abortion.

Depending on the voter, the candidate's stance regarding this politically divisive issue can be a deal "maker or breaker."

Most of the candidates were responsive, one (David Richter) was not willing to provide his position on abortion, which I found very strange and unusual. Also, Richter's official campaign website does not include a position on abortion.

Here are the public positions for the four Republican candidates:

UNITED STATES CONGRESSMAN JEFF VAN DREW

Van Drew is a Pro-Choice candidate for re-election; until the third trimester and beyond, whereby he is strictly opposed to abortion. This is sometimes known as Pro-Choice, with exceptions.

BOB PATTERSON

Patterson is a Pro-Life candidate. He supports overturning Roe versus Wade. He is opposed taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. Patterson also supports the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

Patterson acknowledged that he would vote for a bill that had some limited exceptions, "because it is far better than the status quo and would save millions of lives," said Patterson.

BRIAN FITZHERBERT

Fitzherbert referred me to his website for his public position, which reads as follows:

"Brian is pro-life, and believes that innocent life needs to be protected. The United States is one of the few countries that still allows late term abortions (twenty weeks; when infants can live out side the womb. Developed countries in Europe such as Greece, Italy, France, Germany, and Austria all have laws that prohibit abortions past twelve weeks. Brian would vote for a bill that ends late term abortions during the last half of pregnancy. Brian believes a heartbeat begins a life just as it ends a life."

DAVID RICHTER

Richter provided a unique response to my inquiry. I asked Richter to send me his position regarding abortion. Here is exactly what Richter wrote me:

"Harry, I'm going to have to decline. Thanks for asking though," wrote Richter.

Richter's campaign website lists his position on many issues. The abortion issue is not listed on his website.

In this day and age, it's practically impossible for a candidate seeking federal office to not take a public position on this issue of abortion.

In a future column, I will share with you the public positions of the Democrat candidates regarding abortion. The candidates are:

Brigid Callahan Harrison

Amy Kennedy

Ashley Bennett

Will Cunningham

John Francis, III

Robert Turkvage, (a former Republican, who has recently switched to the Democratic Party).