Dobbs Anniversary spotlights Scott Brown’s abortion stance in 2026 New Hampshire Senate Bid

Massachusetts politician Scott Brown’s anti-abortion record sees renewed scrutiny as the 2026 New Hampshire Senate race heats up.

As the country marks three years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, former Massachusetts State Sen. Scott Brown’s long record of opposing abortion rights is drawing attention as he emerges as the Republican front-runner in New Hampshire’s 2026 race to replace Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

At issue is the political lability around Brown’s anti-abortion record, which spans decades and includes votes, sponsorships, and public positions that placed him in alignment with national efforts to restrict abortion access.

New Hampshire voters have long favored robust abortion protections, putting Brown in a weak position at the start of his campaign.

In 2010, during his campaign for U.S. Senate, Brown said he would vote to confirm a Supreme Court justice who opposed Roe, and he didn’t support the Freedom of Choice Act, which would have codified Roe’s protections into federal law. In 2017, he praised Senate Republicans for using the “nuclear option” to lower the threshold to confirm Supreme Court nominees, calling Justice Neil Gorsuch someone who “put me at ease.”

Brown also repeatedly supported legislative efforts to limit access to abortion and contraception. In Congress, he co-sponsored the Blunt Amendment, which would have allowed employers or insurers to deny coverage for contraception based on religious or moral objections.

Earlier, as a Massachusetts state legislator, Brown pushed an amendment that would have allowed hospitals to opt out of providing emergency contraception to rape victims on religious grounds. He also supported “Women’s Right to Know” legislation, whichrequired a 24-hour waiting period and mandated doctors provide fetal development images to patients seeking abortions.

Brown voted in 2011 for a federal budget bill that would have blocked funding to Planned Parenthood and barred the use of military hospitals to perform abortions, even in cases of rape or life endangerment, for servicewomen stationed abroad. In 2010, he opposed an amendment that would have allowed military service women to pay privately for abortion services at military hospitals, despite reports at the time that many did not have access to non-military clinics while serving overseas.

To top Democratic strategists in New Hampshire, Brown’s abortion record is just another log to the fire of his campaign.

“In the choice of ‘Live Free or Die,’ Scott Brown wants Granite Staters to choose ‘die’ — like women all around the country who are losing their lives due to the kind of restrictions that Scott Brown supports.” Said Monica Venzke, a longtime, high-profile NH political strategist and spokesperson at American Bridge 21st Century, a national Democratic research firm.

“He’ll lose this election, when he finally finds the courage to announce, just like he’s lost his last two Senate bids.”

Brown has not yet formally announced his campaign for the seat, but has positioned himself as a candidate nonetheless, stating his interest and campaigning throughout the state as though he has already announced.

Polling indicates Brown’s record may be deeply out of step with New Hampshire voters. A 2025 UNH Survey Center poll found that 66% of Granite Staters support a federal law guaranteeing the right to abortion, including 61% of Independents and 48% of Republicans. Additionally, 78% of state residents believe the right to abortion should exist in every U.S. state.

That polling is giving confidence to state leaders like New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley.

“Granite Staters overwhelmingly support access to abortion and reproductive health care, and they disapprove of anti-choice politicians like Scott Brown, whose extreme record on abortion was unpopular ten years ago and is even more unpopular now,” said Buckley. “People in New Hampshire continue to reject the efforts by Trump and Republicans to undermine reproductive freedom, and they will reject Brown if he runs for Senate.”

New Hampshire remains the only state in New England without codified protections for abortion access, making the stakes of federal abortion policy particularly high. If Republicans in Washington were to pass a nationwide abortion ban, the law could take immediate effect in New Hampshire — a scenario advocates say underscores the urgency of examining candidates’ records.

Brown’s abortion record is just one potential candidate liability that has Republicans spooked. His longtime ties to neighboring Massachusetts have given many conservative reason to vocalize concerns over his political viability in New Hampshire.

“Scott Brown’s issue won’t be with the establishment — they’ll love him. The problem for him will be the grassroots have never warmed to his Massachussetts-style politics. Big hurdle to clear in New Hampshire” Said former Republican Congressional candidate in New Hampshire Matt Mowers in a social media post in January.

Meanwhile progressive New Hampshire communications hub AmplifyNH has launched a provocative new social media campaign titled “Don’t Let Scott Brown Mass Up NH” tying Brown’s political brand to that of his home state.