Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome removes name from anti-abortion letter

East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome asked that her name be removed from a letter sent by several Democrats to national party leaders Friday urging them to avoid making the right to an abortion a part of the party’s platform.

The letter requests that the Democratic National Committee acknowledge that Americans have “differing views” on abortion. It also asked that national Democrats not push Congress to allocate tax dollars for abortion.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and several Democratic Louisiana lawmakers who oppose abortion signed the letter. Broome’s name initially was on the letter Friday, but was no longer listed by Saturday.

“Due to miscommunication at Democrats for Life, Mayor Broome’s name was inadvertently added to the letter, but the organization corrected it over the weekend,” according to the mayor’s campaign.

The mayor has been a prominent anti-abortion elected official for years. She sponsored legislation that was meant to make women “think twice” before having an abortion while a leader in the Louisiana Senate in 2010.

But Broome is also running for re-election in the increasingly left-leaning East Baton Rouge Parish this year and she faces challenges from both ends of the political spectrum. The well-known opponents running against her include: Baton Rouge Metro Council Member Matt Watson, businessman Jordan Piazza, attorney “E Eric” Guirard, and state Rep. C. Denise Marcelle and former state Rep. Steve Carter.

In order to win the election, Broome needs to retain the support of Democrats who voted for her four years ago. Democratic voters are more likely to support abortion rights, even though it’s not unusual for anti-abortion Democrats to serve in Louisiana.