Brown and Ayotte are among the 37 cosponsors who say the bill would prevent intrusive federal mandates and protect religious freedoms. But the other two Republican senators from traditionally moderate New England - Maine’s Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins - are not supporting it, calling it overly broad.
Interviews with other moderate Republicans this week revealed that the split within the New England GOP delegation is reflected in the party generally. Some moderate Republican women say they wish more senators would stand up for reproductive health.
“I think they just want us barefoot and pregnant, and I’m disgusted,’’ said Priscilla Lockwood, a New Hampshire state representative from Canterbury. “The atmosphere of the whole Republican Party has been going backwards, and the moderates are lost. The religious argument is bogus, because I think they’re just using that as a political tool.’’
Meredith Warren, a Republican strategist in Andover who serves on the board of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, said it is a mistake for Republicans to be putting so much focus on social issues when polling shows that the economy is at the top of the public’s concerns.
A moderate when it comes to social issues, Warren said she supports Brown on nearly everything except the Blunt bill and feared his reelection campaign could take a hit.
“This amendment takes it too far,’’ Warren said. “There’s a lot of people in the base they’re playing to with this. But when the discussion becomes focused so much on things like birth control, it muddies the message and makes it harder to convince other independents to come over to the Republican side.’’
