Murphy Echoes Comments Made By His Supporters; Says McMahon Would Support Anti-Women Agenda

Congressman Chris Murphy reiterated statements recently made by his supporters, saying in a prepared statement issued Friday that his opponent in the U.S. Senate race would support an anti-women agenda.

“Linda McMahon is spending millions of dollars trying to kick up mud and distract voters from the issues, but they deserve to know the truth about the values and priorities of the candidates working to represent them, especially when it comes to something as important as women’s access to health care,” Murphy said.

On Thursday, supporters of Murphy, a Democrat, and the leaders of two pro-choice groups held a press conference at the Capitol in Hartford.  They criticized McMahon for not supporting the president’s health care law, which includes several provisions that benefit women, and for saying that she would support a funding cut for Planned Parenthood. They also said they were disappointed that McMahon said she would have supported the Blunt Amendment, a bill that would have allowed any employer with moral objections to deny the coverage of birth control.

Murphy’s prepared statement echoed his supporters’ comments, and he used various news headlines to illustrate why he thought McMahon would support an anti-women agenda.

“Women here in Connecticut are going to have a clear choice this election,” he said. “I am proud to stand up and fight every day for Connecticut women and families, for choice, for health care options, and for affordable access to women’s health care whether they are millionaires or not.”

McMahon has said she is for abortion rights and supports access to contraception. Her spokesman, Todd Abrajano, has said she would have “reluctantly” voted for the Blunt amendment in the interests of religious freedom and because she is against the overregulation of business.

McMahon’s campaign has said the statements made by Murphy and his supporters are mischaracterizing McMahon. The statements show that Murphy is running an “increasingly desperate U.S. Senate campaign,” McMahon’s campaign says.