Republican Scrubs Anti-Abortion Comments From Campaign Website

A Representative of Pennsylvania has scrubbed his campaign website, but it did not go unnoticed.

As a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Republican Rob Mercuri once described himself on his website as a "proud pro-life and pro-family leader" with a compassionate desire to "defend the sanctity of life" through "all its phases."

"That's why I'm proud to stand with women, families and the unborn as a pro-life member of the State House," he wrote. "I hope you stand with me."

Now a candidate for Congress in one of the country's most competitive districts, however, Mercuri appears to have backed away from his ardent anti-abortion stance as Republicans face the challenging prospect of maintaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024.

Shortly after announcing his intention Tuesday to run against incumbent Democratic Representative Chris Deluzio to represent Pennsylvania's 17^th Congressional District next fall, Noah Torok—a political science student at the University of Pittsburgh—noticed a conspicuous absence from his new platform on his campaign website: everything he'd previously said on the topic of abortion.

The deletion was later confirmed by Newsweek and The Keystone, a Pennsylvania-based politics site that first reported the story Tuesday afternoon.

Newsweek has reached out to Mercuri via email for comment. However, the House Majority PAC, a Democratically-aligned political action committee that is supporting Deluzio in his re-election next fall, was more than willing to weigh in on the move in a statement to Newsweek Wednesday.

"Rob Mercuri can run but he can't hide from his toxic anti-choice record," House Majority PAC Communications Director CJ Warnke told Newsweek. "We have the receipts, and HMP will ensure that Rep. Chris Deluzio, a champion for PA-17, will be re-elected in 2024."

Mercuri's record could prove a liability in his bid to win over PA-17, a battleground district that has steadily trended blue in recent years.

While Deluzio won his bid to represent the district by seven points during a tough environment for Democrats in 2022, the district has been deemed a possible pickup opportunity by the National Republican Congressional Committee, which included the 17^th Congressional District among a list of 37 Democratically-held seats it considered vulnerable in 2024, according to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

And after the overturn of the federal abortion protections under the 1972 Roe v. Wade decision last year, abortion proved a salient issue among voters in the highly competitive battleground state of Pennsylvania, helping Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro earn uncharacteristically broad margins of victory over their Republican opponents in the 2022 midterms.

Mercuri, meanwhile, has a well-documented history of voting to curb abortion rights.

As a state representative, Mercuri voted in favor of a constitutional amendment declaring that abortion is not a protected right under the state constitution. (A lawsuit challenging that effort is still pending, according to AP News.)

And in addition to appearances at anti-abortion events around the state, Mercuri released a public statement praising the overturn of Roe v. Wade, saying in a statement on Facebook he would stop at no end to oppose expanding abortion access.

"This is a major step forward towards advancing compassionate pro-life policies in our country and our state," he wrote at the time. "Now, the responsibility of protecting newly created life falls on the shoulders of individual citizens.... you and me. As a member of the House of Representatives here in Pennsylvania, I will continue to proudly and responsibly use my voice to advocate for those who do not have a voice in this debate and help lead the charge in defending the most vulnerable among us."