Even some MAGA Republicans are wary of abortion bans. That could be a problem for Brian Fitzpatrick’s challenger.

First-time candidate Mark Houck was supposed to be on friendly turf. The crowd at the Pennridge Area Republican Club had just booed the mention of incumbent U.S. Rep Brian Fitzpatrick, whom Houck is challenging in the GOP primary in the Bucks County-based district.

But then the issue of abortion came up.

Houck, who wants to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, said he’d support a ban that includes those exceptions in Congress if it meant “saving more babies.”

“They’re gonna kill you on that,” a man wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt, shouted out from the back. “That is going to turn a lot of women away, the suburban women —”

“I’m not running on that. I’m only answering the question,” Houck responded.

“But we gotta win,” the man said.

The exchange reflects how even some ultraconservative, antiabortion Republicans are wary of getting beaten on abortion rights again, and it comes as former President Donald Trump has tried to take a more cautious approach in laying out his abortion messaging with the presidential election looming.

Trump has drawn both praise and heat from antiabortion activists in his own party on the issue. He’s bragged about appointing the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, but he also called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ six-week ban on abortion “a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.”

This week he indicated he’d consider supporting a national 15-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, saying he thought it was something people could agree on. But in the same interview he also seemed to suggest reluctance to a federal ban.

While the economy and the border remain atop most voters’ lists of concerns, Democrats see abortion rights as a motivating issue, as polling shows people largely favor abortion access. The issue helped Democrats sweep statewide midterm races in 2022 and win a state Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania in 2023. Now, President Joe Biden is making defending reproductive rights a cornerstone of his reelection campaign.

Antiabortion groups are still a huge influence on the GOP and plenty of Republican voters want to see the procedure further restricted and banned in more states. But others in the party have expressed concerns that it’s a losing issue.

Houck, who made a name for himself after getting arrested protesting at a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood clinic, is a long shot candidate against Fitzpatrick, who is seeking a fifth term representing Bucks County and part of Montgomery County. But his campaign could provide material for Democrats seeking to portray the GOP as extreme on the issue.

“My whole thing is, I’m tired of losing,” said Carole Speakman, 69, at the Republican Club event in Perkasie. “I’m pro-life but I also realize we have a country with a wide variety of opinions and that most people do not agree with me.”

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Republican candidates have been somewhat more moderate on the issue.

GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick said during his primary campaign in 2022 that he believed abortion should be banned, except to protect the life of the mother. He told The Inquirer on the campaign trail this cycle that he misspoke then, leaving off exceptions that he believes should exist for rape and incest.

He said in the interview last month that he opposes total bans and that he didn’t want to suggest Pennsylvania’s law, which allows abortions up until 24 weeks, should change.

“There’s a lot of debate between 15 weeks, 16 weeks or, in Pennsylvania, it’s 24 weeks,” McCormick said. “The people in Pennsylvania have come together in support of that, so I wouldn’t be presumptuous enough to say the people in Pennsylvania should support something different than what they’ve chosen. That’s what I would say. I don’t expect it to change.”

Delaware County GOP chair Frank Agovino has argued that Republicans running in swing states like Pennsylvania, particularly in Philadelphia’s collar counties, need to engage sensibly on the issue so as not to be defined by Democrats as extremists.

“My advice just being in the trenches, have an answer on it, whether you’re for first trimester, 15 weeks … when you do that, people will say, ‘Whether I agree with you or disagree with you, it’s certainly a reasonable place to be.’”

Olivia Cappello, state communications manager for Planned Parenthood Votes, the political arm of the organization, said she thinks the moderation is a recognition of public sentiment. Polls consistently show most Americans believe abortions should be legal through the initial stages of pregnancy.

“I think it speaks to the fact that voters are starting to recognize that these are politicians who are looking to interfere with very personal and very complex decisions,” Cappello said. “We feel confident … that voters are going to reject this agenda and our goal in this election cycle is to hold opponents of reproductive freedom accountable.”

Fitzpatrick joined every Republican in voting against the Women’s Health Protection Act in 2021, which would have prohibited governmental restrictions on abortion services. He’s voted for and against other bills aiming to curb women’s reproductive rights, earning him a C grade from the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony Foundation.

Fitzpatrick has hung onto the 1st Congressional District — the last seat in Southeastern Pennsylvania still represented by a Republican — by appealing to voters as a moderate. Part of succeeding in a purple district has meant distancing himself from Trump. He has stayed mum so far on whether he’ll support the former president in November — which has turned off more conservative voters in the district.

“We’re not into middle of the road Republicans,” said Tony Wilwert, a repair shop owner and Houck supporter in Perkasie. “I don’t want to negotiate with liberals. That never ends good because you have to give up so much. We’re gonna stand our ground and support people like Mark.”

Houck’s entire political journey came out of his antiabortion activism. He was arrested in 2021 after he was accused of shoving a Planned Parenthood escort. He was charged with a felony under a federal law that prohibits intimidating someone performing abortion services. Houck was acquitted of the charges, which carried a maximum prison sentence of 11 years.

Now he uses that story on the trail, telling the crowd he, like Trump, is a victim of “Biden’s Department of Justice.” In November Houck announced his intent to sue the Biden administration for a “faulty investigation” and “excessive force.”

Houck has other obstacles. He’s running an amateur campaign without much money, and he’s come under some scrutiny for past comments about gender roles and pornography.

In conversations around the wood-paneled room in Perkasie earlier this month, many Republicans said they liked Houck and some even agreed with his stance on abortion, but worried about how the candidate would fare in a general election. The Democratic challenger in the Bucks County district, Ashley Ehasz, has already indicated she’ll campaign on protecting women’s reproductive rights.

Dave Christ, a candidate for Hilltown Township supervisor in Bucks County last year, lost along with most of the GOP slate. He called it a “slaughtering,” he doesn’t want to repeat.

“He’s a great guy, he’s got a good story,” Christ said of Houck at the event. “I just don’t think he’s got a shot in Bucks County. You can’t be that rock solid. You have to compromise.”