Where do Alaska’s four candidates for governor stand on abortion?

On Tuesday, the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood will endorse Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to be Alaska’s next governor, according to an advance copy of the endorsement provided to the Alaska Beacon.

Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Alaska called JKT “a proven advocate for reproductive health and LGBTQ2S+ rights,” and labeled his three, anti-abortion Republican opponents — Bernadette Wilson, Dave Bronson and Treg Taylor — as “three extreme, out-of-touch politicians who are intent on rolling back Alaska’s constitutional rights.” 

Morgan Lim, the Alaska state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said by phone that JKT was “a clear choice for us, and it’s a clear choice for folks who support access to abortion.”

Alaska Family Action, the most prominent antiabortion group in the state, is not making an endorsement in the governor’s race, said its president, Jim Minnery. 

“Essentially they’re the same in many ways, if not most ways, in regard to our issues,” Minnery said of Wilson, Bronson and Taylor.

In place of a single endorsement, Minnery said, his group is instead urging voters to “rank the red” and choose all three Republican candidates in Alaska’s ranked choice general election system.

In Alaska, the state supreme court has repeatedly ruled that the right to an abortion is protected by the privacy clause of the Alaska Constitution.

As a result, Alaska has no legal limits on abortion, but in practical terms, access is limited. Few medical providers here offer abortion services, and public data indicates most abortions take place before the 10th week of pregnancy and are performed through medication. 

In May, polling by Alaska Survey Research on behalf of Planned Parenthood found that 62% of Alaskans 18 and older believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. 

The percentage rises to 71% among voters registered as undeclared or nonpartisan, those considered political independents.

Kreiss-Tomkins, who served in the Alaska House for 10 years, repeatedly voted against legislation and budget items that attempted to limit access to abortion. 

In 2014, he voted against a law — later ruled unconstitutional — that would have restricted abortion to cases of rape, incest or medical necessity. 

He has said he would continue backing the Supreme Court’s position if elected governor, stating in a May discussion on the website Reddit, “Medical privacy and reproductive freedom should be fundamental personal freedoms in America and Alaska. Our administration will treat them as such.”

Two of the three Republican candidates outlined their positions in a May forum hosted by Alaska Family Action. Bronson is a cofounder of the group, Minnery noted at the time.

“We, the state of New York and the state of California are the three worst states in the country for abortion,” Bronson said at the event.

“The important thing, the biggest tool the governor has, is a great big red pen. He vetoes any bit of money, any funding that goes towards abortion in any way,” Bronson said. 

Wilson said that if elected, she would appoint a “pro-life advocate directly within the governor’s administration to monitor pro-life issues,” similar to an action taken by former North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

She also said she would encourage the state to advertise the risks associated with medication abortions.

“I really think that it’s time for the state of Alaska and for the Department of Health to start running an education campaign on these matters,” she said.

She said she also would want her attorney general to create a restrictive definition for “medically necessary” abortion care and should continue to fight with the state supreme court on abortion restrictions.

Bronson also said he thinks the state’s next governor should fight the supreme court on the issue and advocated for the state to get rid of its current merit-based judge selection process, replacing it with judges appointed by election.

Taylor did not attend the May forum, but he has been open about his opposition to abortion and worked to restrict it while serving as attorney general under Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

In 2023, Taylor sought to restrict the use of Mifepristone, a common medication used for abortions in early stages of pregnancy and has defended a state policy that restricts prescriptions for the drug through telehealth appointments.

Lim of Planned Parenthood said the group believes Alaskans will be more likely to support a candidate that supports abortion care than a candidate that opposes it.

“We’re about letting folks know where people stand on the issues that they care about, and the reality is that in this race, it is three anti-abortion extremists up against a proven champion, and that’s what the people of Alaska want to know,” Lim said.