Maryland's Wes Moore Frames Abortion Access as Economic Issue

Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a rising star in the Democratic party, says abortion access is an economic issue.

“Reproductive freedom and family planning is actually an important component to economic growth and an economic agenda as well,” he said this week in an interview with Bloomberg News. “I actually don't separate how we look at those issues. I think they're all actually intertwined."

Moore, 44, won office in November to become the first Black governor of Maryland. The political newcomer is a Rhodes Scholar who served in combat in Afghanistan, and is the former chief executive officer of the Robin Hood Foundation, an organization that fights poverty in New York City and is backed by many on Wall Street.

The Maryland governor has made reproductive rights a centerpiece of his strategy. In his first week in office, Moore said he was releasing $3.5 million in state funding to expand abortion training. His predecessor, Larry Hogan, a Republican, had withheld the funds last year.

The Maryland House voted this month to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. The measure is sponsored by House Speaker Adrienne Jones, a Democrat. If it passes the general assembly, Marylanders will have the chance to vote on the change in November 2024.

“It is something that I support, it's something that I'm going to make sure that I'm using my voice on and using my bully pulpit on, and I do believe that if it goes out to voters, the voters are going to align with both myself and the speaker of the House on this,” he said.