Dobbs anniversary: Peltola, Begich sharpen Alaska abortion stances

Two Alaska Democrats marked the Dobbs anniversary vowing to protect abortion rights — which the state constitution already has, since 1972. Anniversary politics, on cue.

Four years after the U.S. Supreme Court returned abortion to the states in Dobbs, two of Alaska's most prominent Democratic candidates marked the anniversary by restating where they stand on reproductive rights. What neither dwelled on: in Alaska, the right is already constitutionally protected.

The state constitution has guaranteed a right to privacy since 1972, and the Alaska Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the protection covers reproductive choice. Whoever wins this fall, that state-level protection holds unless a court or the voters undo it — which makes much of the anniversary messaging a statement about federal policy and symbolism more than an imminent threat at home.

Senate candidate Mary Peltola used the moment to call for federally protected abortion rights, arguing access shouldn't "depend on her zip code." She also accused her opponent, whom she didn't name, of repeatedly voting against Alaska's constitution and for federal abortion restrictions — without citing specific votes.

Gubernatorial candidate Thomas Begich, who picked up a Planned Parenthood endorsement the same day, pledged executive action. As governor, he said, he'd pull Alaska out of national lawsuits aimed at curbing reproductive rights, framing the matter as one that belongs "between patients and the doctors they trust."

A few things put the moment in context. Both statements landed on an anniversary — a messaging occasion as much as a news event — and abortion loomed far larger in the 2022 races right after Dobbs than it has since. Both candidates are also running under Alaska's top-four primary, where no closed partisan contest is pushing them to court a base. And the candidates on the other side of the issue weren't part of this exchange; their positions aren't represented here.

Alaskans narrow the field at the top-four primary on Aug. 18.