White House slams DePerno remark, says GOP wants to 'ban contraception'

Todd Spangler Dave Boucher
Detroit Free Press

President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday blasted a reported comment from Michigan Republican attorney general nominee Matt DePerno likening Plan B to the drug fentanyl, saying he and other GOP officials want to "ban contraception" in the U.S.

"Another week and another extreme and backwards proposal from Republican officials that will strip women of their rights," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement provided first to the Free Press. "Make no mistake: these proposals from Republican officials expand far beyond a women’s right to choose; there are Republican officials that want to ban contraception."

Heartland Signal, a progressive digital reporting site based out of Chicago, reported earlier Tuesday it had obtained a recording of DePerno at an event in Texas last month. On the tape, DePerno initially seemed confused about the nature of Plan B — also known as the morning-after pill but then said, "You've got to figure out how to ban the pill from the state."

When the other speaker on the tape asked him how that could be done, DePerno said: "You have to stop it at the border. It would be no different than fentanyl."

The Free Press has not independently verified this recording.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration considers fentanyl and other synthetic opioids like it to be the "deadliest drug threat" in the country, responsible for two-thirds of the more than 100,000 overdose deaths in 2021.

Plan B, or levonorgestrel, is a hormone considered safe for helping to prevent pregnancy after intercourse by preventing or delaying ovulation. Since it doesn't cause miscarriage or abortion, it is considered contraception.

A Heartland release about the recording indicates it was "taken from a conversation at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas last month and provided by a Democratic source on the condition of anonymity."

"This is wildly out of step with where the American people are. The President is focused on expanding rights and delivering for all Americans, not taking us back," Jean-Pierre's statement continued. Although she did not mention DePerno by name, it was made clear that his remarks and others by Republican officials about limiting access to abortion in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's overturning of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision prompted the statement.

More:Michigan attorney general race: Dana Nessel significantly outraising Matthew DePerno

Jean-Pierre's statement was one of several raised against the recording on Tuesday. In South Carolina on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris said Republicans were pushing "a national ban on abortion." U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has proposed a 15-week national abortion ban.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, the Democrat who is running for reelection against DePerno, posted on Twitter that her opponent "has been crystal clear about how little respect he has for women’s autonomy."

DePerno campaign didn't immediately respond

DePerno's campaign manager did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A message sent to an email address DePerno previously used while working as a private attorney indicated the address is no longer active.

This is not the first time DePerno has appeared to attack access to contraception, but it seemingly contradicted statements he made during a recent meeting with the Detroit Free Press editorial board.

On Monday, he was specifically asked whether he believes the state should regulate access to contraception.

"No, I don't. Absolutely not. I don't know anyone who takes that position at all," DePerno said.

"Certainly as a Catholic, I don't support that. And I know of no Catholic priest that would ever support the idea that the state should prohibit contraception, if that's what you're asking," he added.

But before Michigan Republicans endorsed DePerno, he was asked during a GOP debate about his thoughts on Griswold v. Connecticut. That's the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling where the high court overturned an 1879 Connecticut law that made it illegal to use any drug or other item to prevent pregnancy or to distribute information about contraception.

During the debate, DePerno broadly attacked the Griswold decision and Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision affirming a constitutional right to abortion that was later overturned by the court.

"The Supreme Court ... has to decide, mark my words, that the privacy issue currently is unworkable. It's going to be a states' rights issue on all these things, as it should be," DePerno said.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.