Eric Hovde falsely says the morning-after pill is abortion, then compared it to narcotics

At a luncheon Wednesday, Wisconsin Republican Senate nominee Eric Hovde falsely claimed that most abortions are conducted using the morning-after pill. Plan B doesn’t cause abortions, as it does not terminate a pregnancy. 

“The vast majority of abortions today are done through the day-after pill,” Hovde said when asked about states having different laws on the issue and people crossing state borders for reproductive care. 

Wisconsin Senate GOP nominee Eric Hovde falsely says the morning-after pill is abortion (it prevents pregnancies.)

“The vast majority of abortions today are done through the day-after pill.”

He also compares the morning-after pill to “hard narcotics” trafficking. pic.twitter.com/TVhlO6xJuA

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) August 15, 2024

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an emergency contraceptive like the morning-after pill “prevents pregnancy by acting on ovulation, which occurs well before implantation.” This is vastly different from a medication abortion, more commonly known as the “abortion pill,” which is offered during the first 11 weeks of pregnancy at Planned Parenthood. 

The WisPolitics host then asked if the Republican Senate candidate was okay with preserving the use of emergency contraceptives. He responded saying that the country is “not changing that” — expressing this as a similarity to narcotic drugs and drug trafficking. 

“We can all talk in theory, let’s just talk in reality. You’re, you’re not changing that,” Hovde continued. “That pill will be around and just like hard narcotics transferred from state to state or from other countries into our country, medications move all over our country. And that’s just reality.”

Hovde said he wants to see “less abortions” but ultimately believes that each state’s reproductive laws should be decided through a referendum instead of via state legislatures.